Curly Girl

PHOTO: HALF OF MY CURRENT STOCK OF HAIR PRODUCTS

I have natural curly "botticelli curls" hair. Day in and day out I hear how lucky I am for this. And although I do appreciate the fact I can have curly hair one day and straight the next (courtesy of a straight rod, weather permitting, and if I don't sweat), day in and day out I have to explain why natural curly hair is NOTHING like having a perm which is what some people think. (My mother used to put a perm in my hair as a child so it would be easier to manage!)

With a perm, you can scrunch/style your hair while blowing it dry. You can even spray a little water on a dry mop and wa-la, frizz less curls bounce up. With natural curly hair, you spray a little water and you get a freaky afro (trick: put a couple drops of lavender oil in distilled water and spray on your hair instead)! One side can be curlier then the other, or you just plain and simply have a patch of straight locks in the middle of your head. Normally you can not use a hairdryer, even on a cool setting, on your natural curls unless you use a pound of gel, mousse, or serum (no matter how much the product cost) with a diffuser, then your hair usually looks wet all day long (defeats the purpose of getting highlights, doesn't it?).

Nor you can't wash your hair in the morning and let it drip dry, because you will have a mad amount of frizz to deal with, unless of coarse you live in the desert where there is z-e-r-o chance of 1% humidity. For soft-non-brittle curls, you must only shampoo your hair once to twice a week. That does not mean, however, you don't rinse your hair in the shower with water and conditioner every evening. (you keeping up on this?) Then and only then can you let it dry on it's own in a normal temperature-humid free room overnight. Let's not forget to rotate your hair products every few weeks. And there is no need for a comb/brush. If you comb/brush a wet head of natural curly hair, it will dry frizzy. Natural curls only work with fingertips, but picks work in the shower when you are trying to rid snarls.

SNARLS! YES! Forget the thought of having anyone run their fingers through your dry hair. Naturally curly hair is usually one ball of snarls. If you try to rid them, you guessed it, frizz.

So with that said; I beg to differ when people say "I wish I had natural curly hair". No, you wish you had a perm. They are about 70 bucks (depending on length) in salons these days or $15.00 for a box at the drugstore, they are no more expensive then the mass amount of hair products one needs for natural curly hair, and they are easier to take care of.

P.S. If you suffer from natural curly hair woes, I strongly suggest the book - Curly Girl: The Handbook by Lorraine Massey. She talks about the three different types of natural curly hair: corkscrew, botticelli curls, and wavy curls, how to have your hair cut, how to wash your hair, and what products work best (this is where I learned the lavender trick).