It was straight when I was little. Blond and silky straight, falling out of braids and hair ties.
Papa told me it was the color of spun gold and I would wrap the strands around my fingers and marvel. People seemed to like gold, according to storybooks, and here I had a whole head of it!
Then I turned eleven and it changed. The color darkened to a dusty brown. And, horror of horrors, it started to frizz. And when I say, “frizz”, I really mean it. I would brush and brush my poor brown locks, pulling them as straight as possible. let go and bzzzt! up they would frizzle.
By the time I was fifteen, I had learned the art of controlling frizz. I would brush my hair and then slather it with gel. It poofed, but remained somewhat flat and stuck together. Whew.
People would see me and say, “Oh, deary, is your hair naturally curly? What I wouldn’t give for natural curls.” And I would think, are all you people crazy-go-nuts? Do you SEE this pile of uncontrollable frizziness?
When I turned seventeen my best friend convinced me to do a crazy, crazy thing. I chopped off all my hair. When it was wet, it hung to my shoulders and when it dried the ringlets tucked up above my ears. For the first time, I realized what I had.
Turns out that all that weight was holding down real-true-Shirley-Temple-style RINGLETS. I stuck my head under a faucet each morning, wrung out the water, tossed in some gel and whalla! Perfection. I bought “Curls-Up” by the armloads and for an entire year my hair was hassle free.
I was never. ever. growing my hair long again.
Except, well, this startling thing happened. I kind of missed my hair. I missed the braids and the creative things I could do and the way it felt dangling between my shoulder blades. It was hassle free, yes, but also boring.
So I started to grow it out.
But this time I did some research. My uncle had married a woman from South Africa and I pestered her with questions. I learned some interesting things… like not brushing it (who knew?), using only specially designed shampoo (or none at all) and slathering it with oil on a regular basis.
And I found the world’s two best products. 100% Aloe Vera 
It’s a lot of work. When I do have to brush it out (only when it’s slathered with conditioner or oil) it takes about twenty minutes. For reals.
And on the average day I keep it in a side braid, which isn’t the cutest hairstyle in the world. But anytime I want, I can shake out the curls, toss in a little coconut oil or Super Gro and a smidgen of Aloe and long ringlets will re-enter my life.
I might cut it again someday, depending on where I am in life and what I’m doing… but for today, I love it.
Are you a curly girl? What’s your favorite curly hair tip? Stay tuned for more posts on curls and curly hair care in the future!
Hi! Do you still use the products for your hair? What do you use for shampoo and conditioner? Thanks
Yay for curly heads! 🙂 Speaking of, I came across this photo the other day. :O http://pinterest.com/pin/71424344061027376/
Wow! Those are beautiful long curls. 🙂
I love your hair! So very curly 🙂
I am an extremely frustrated curlygirl. I read all about curly-girl on ylcf a year and a half ago. I tried it (no shampoo, wash with cold water, don’t brush…) for 6 months but my hair was just very greasy….and I figured trying it for 6 months was long enough 😉
The no regular shampoo was definetly a succes though!I went from washing it every day with regular shampoo to doing it every 4 days with natural baby shampoo with no parabens or anything like it in it at all (it’s made from oils and a sugar solution). It was hard work finding that, too, since none of the products I read about on english sites are available in Belgium.
Every so often I put coconut oil in it and then I have to wash it with scorching hot water and use the regular baby shampoo to get the oil out. I read about giving your hair oil treatments everywhere but nobody mentions the fact that if you don’t wash it out with aggressive shampoo your hair stays greasy.
My hair is 2B, I think. The first day I wash it I brush it when it is wet and when it is dry the curls are pretty good. When I go to bed I braid it up but even so, in the morning it is a mess that look like very badly done dreadlocks. Nothing I’ve tried helps so I always end up brushing it out…
I certainly look forward to all the curly-girl tips I can get on here!
It makes a huge difference if your hair isn’t dry! My hair is so dry that if I’m not careful the ends will start breaking.
That said, if I want perfect pretty curls everyday, I have to get my hair wet. End of story.
When it was short, that was simple. I just stuck my head under a faucet. Now it’s a bit more complicated but if I have several “events” in a row, every day you’ll find me with wet hair. (I don’t shampoo or conditioner it, just wet it.)
We’ll definitely have to get some tips up here from girls with curls and finer hair! 🙂
Thanks! I see I was expecting a bit too much 😉 Looking forward to more tips and loving this site! Such a great idea!
I think the best thing for my hair on days I don’t wash it is a sloppy braid. Brushing it when it is dry makes me feel more cleaned up but I can feel it’s very damaging to my hair.
omily ~
My hair is about 2B as well and I went through quite the journey to find my own happy head of curls/waves. I have found that for me what works best is to shampoo it with a natural shampoo (Avalon Organics lavender from vitacost.com) every other day (or any day I want really good curls). Once I shampoo it, I am done with it in the shower. Next I scrunch a bit of the water out with a towel, comb it through with a shower comb, and scrunch in approximately 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of 2chic elixir/leave-in-conditioner. The other routine I do after I shampoo it is to scrunch in about 1-2 tablespoons Avalon Organics lavender condition and then rinse it out after letting it sit in my hair for 3-5 minutes After either one of those routines (but especially after the last one), I will scrunch in about 1 tablespoon of Giovanni hair styling mousse.
Some differences that I have found between super-curly-girls and us wavy girls is that 1) we need a cleanser more often and 2) our conditioners and styling agents need to be lighter. Lastly, I have found that a shorter type hair cut (mid-shoulder blades) with layers really brings out my curls.
I hope that wasn’t saying too much. 🙂 I always like to hear what other curly girls are doing. Stick with it and you’ll find what works for you!
Blessings ~
Moriah
Love these tips for those with lighter curls, Moriah! Thank you!
Thanks so so much for these tips! And it’s shampoo I can order, I’ll have to do that 🙂
I just want to second this a little! My hair was quite curly, but my curl pattern was larger, looser curls and I could never get by with just conditioner on my scalp. In fact, I couldn’t really use any conditioner at all on my scalp itself if I didn’t want to look like I had never washed my hair.
I use ACV/Baking Soda rinses, conditioner on the ends and lighter gels. Also scrunching with an old T-shirt helps a lot with the fuzz! For me, shorter hair does away with my curls. (Going back to that larger curl pattern, I think….) But layers are always a great way to lighten up the hair. 🙂
Really, curly girl method has great tips, but the important part is modifying it until you find what actually works for your scalp.
A second the ACV/Baking Soda rinses. Using a Baking Soda rise always made my hair feel SO soft, I loved it. I stopped using it real often because I came under the impression that it can strip your hair of needed oils. Any insights on that? I”d be great if I could use it more often – I always really liked it.
I’m using baking soda for my scalp instead of shampoo now, too, and really like the result. Just as clean as shampoo could get it, but without the sulfates! I’m not sure how often you should use it, but I’m planning to only use it once a week. I’m going to (hopefully) be cleansing my scalp with conditioner two other times during the week, so my hair doesn’t become greasy.
Whenever I’m in your stories, I feel like I’m the best friend in “A best friend for Francis.” But on the plus side, look how cute my husband is, everyone! (He’s the tall, dark, and handsome one.)
Tashi, I’ve liked your hair every way, though- you neglected to mention the blow out method. 🙂
Ooohh… Brianna, that will have to be another post. The “Pantene Commercial Hair” post. 🙂
My, what a change from straight blond to curly brown! But your hair IS lovely. I have always had curly hair, though it’s more a pretty “mousey brown” more than blond color now. 😉 Hehe. I’ve been needing to branch out and be brave in the way I treat adn care for my hair…as I’ve gotten older and have had some health issues my hair has gotten a little limp and “dull” looking because it’s so dry. :/ So I shall look into the products you suggested! 🙂
Coconut oil is so great for dry curls! 🙂 Stay tuned, too, because we have a lot of great curl care posts coming up in the next few months. <3
Definitely try coconut oil. It helps tremendously with dryness!
Okay, Great! Thank you ladies for the tip! 😀
While my hair falls into the natural wave vs. curly category, I am thinking it could benefit from similar treatment. Going to check out the “Super Gro”!
Super Gro was made for African American women, I believe. Which makes it perfect for my hair. 🙂 It smells marvelous because it is made with coconut oil and can be used on wet or dry hair.
If you get some, use just a little tiny bit at a time to see how much you need. (I need a handful but I can also dump a cup of oil on my head and my hair soaks it all up, so probably you won’t need as much as me! 🙂 )
Natasha, this was a great post! Your hair looks beautiful! It’s really cool too how you use Aloe vera in your hair.
I love it because it works just like gel without having all the yucky stuff in it. The only downside is that it doesn’t have any scent (I like pretty smells!) but other than that, I adore it.
Natasha, what a great story…I can so relate. 🙂 I’m going to have to look into these products, too! Thank you!
Actually, when I first saw your picture I thought, “Hey, that girl has my hair!” 🙂
*gasp* Separated at birth. 🙂