Growing up, my mom and aunts had pin-straight hair. My dad had dark, curly hair that he cut so that the curls were not noticeable, nor did he have to maintain them. As a result, I have never had any close influences when it came to curly hair and maintenance. It has taken me until college to truly find a routine that works for me at least eighty percent of the time. I will say I am far from perfect when it comes to curly hair knowledge, especially “hair types” (2a,b,c, 3a, b, c type curl patterns). Mine is on the looser side, but not quite waves; there is somewhat of a spiral.Â
As a kid, my hair had knots upon knots in it constantly. It did not matter how much detangler I sprayed and worked through my hair; there were knots that seemed to get worse the more I tried to get a brush or comb to detangle them. I would sit for hours as my mom pulled my hair and I tried to figure out how to avoid the knots.Â
My hair curled up in random spots and was in a constant state of frizz from when I was in preschool to fourth grade, when I decided to chop my hair a few inches below my ear after a knot had to be cut out from the back of my head. I donated the chopped hair to Locks of Love. I loved donating my hair for a good cause, but I was unaware of the consequences of getting curly hair cut wet at Cost Cutters. My hair curled up, and I hated my pin-straight roots to curls at the ends of my hair that caused the hair to curl around my ears.Â
The short hair was easier to maintain, but not my style. As it grew out, my curl pattern became more wavy. I tried various routines to hide the inches of frizz that came with brushing my hair into small waves at the end. Which led to most of my middle school years being the years of fun hairstyles. High bun, side ponytails, pigtails, braid, braids, headbands, ponytail, you name it I probably tried it.Â
That is, until my Aunt Katie saw the inches of frizz on the top of my hair and started me on the infamous curly hair product search. I started on green bottles of “No-Poo” and advice to quit Pantene and start DevaCurl. It was a massive improvement, but incredibly expensive.Â
So I scoured the internet (and continue to search) for new curly hair products. Currently, I work with Not Your Mother’s Shampoo and Conditioner, Curl Smith shampoo and conditioner, and the entire brand of Ouidad on a consistent basis. I recently tried some Rizzo’s Curls products and love the curl-defining cream and mousse. For breaking the gel cast, Amika’s superfruit star hair styling oil is a perfect mix, although I’ve found almost any hair oil works. The real game changer has been a beloved water hair spray bottle, diffuser attachment, curly hair tip videos, and “get ready with mes.”Â
I have completely fallen in love with working with my curly hair and have truly learned to embrace the curl. However, you might catch a straight hair Ella, on occasion. Or as my boyfriend refers to my straightened hair as a rare, random specialty that feels like an exclusive, but also hopes for the curly hair to return ASAP.