Curly hair is a STRUGGLE. And no, I don’t mean wavy hair that is actually brushable, I mean frizzy, impossible to tame curls. The biggest struggle has always been that I’m the only person in my family with this type of hair so no one has ever known what to do with it. People used to ask my mom if she got my hair permed, her response was, “uhhh… no… she’s two years old.”
Amanda circa
2008 Middle school was when I began to experience a lot of insecurities and my hair was definitely one of them. In 6th and 7th grade I ALWAYS wore my hair in a braid so that I didn’t have to think or worry about it. Then, in 8th grade, I decided it was time to cut off 10 inches of hair and start flat ironing it every day. This made me feel a lot more confident but the use of a flat iron a few times a week caused a lot of damage despite using heat protectant products.
Amanda circa 2013
And here I am now, almost 21 and heading into my junior year of college but I still feel insecure about my hair no matter how many people tell me how beautiful it is. Until one day this summer when I was wandering the aisles of Ulta during their jumbo haircare sale and decided to finally bite the bullet and drop a ridiculous amount of money on fancy shampoo and conditioner. I purchased Devacurl No-Poo Original Zero Lather Cleanser and One Condition Daily Cream Conditioner. Curly hair is very different and needs special care. I’ve always known this but never bothered looking into anything and stuck to whatever products my mom had a coupon for at CVS. My new Devacurl products are sulfate-free and cleanse without stripping away the natural oils that curls need to stay healthy.
After just one use I could tell a difference in my hair. Less hair fell out in the shower, it felt more moisturized and overall just looked and felt better. Even when I went on vacation and was in and out of the pool and ocean water all day it STILL felt amazing. When I flat ironed my hair the process was a lot quicker because I didn’t have as many tangles to brush out.
Does this mean that I’m magically more confident and ready to embrace my curls every day? Definitely not, but I am working on it. Little did I know what a huge impact some new shampoo and conditioner would have on me, but here I am wishing I had tried it years earlier. If you’re debating trying an expensive shampoo that’s meant for your hair type I recommend doing so as soon as possible.