Somehow over the course of the last year, millions of girls on the internet – particularly Instagram and Tiktok, have discovered that their hair is actually curly. They all had the same story – years of straightening and bleaching their hair left it damaged and frizzy, only to discover the curls hidden underneath years later.
But that’s not my story. Growing up, my hair was long, healthy, and straight. Puberty triggered frizz, and knowing the damage consistent heat could cause, I didn’t bother with the flat irons. I took good care of my hair, so I never would have guessed that the frizz was actually curls dying to come out.
In April 2021, I came across a video on Instagram, in which a girl showed what her brushed out hair looked like. It looked similar to mine, with weird bumps where smoothness should have been. She then cut to another clip, revealing that her hair was curly. I was confused, but realized it as a possibility. I would always brush my hair wet, which I learned was the reason my hair texture looked wrong. Letting my hair air dry without brushing resulted in a curl pattern I had never seen before on my own hair.
Then I dove into research behind the care of curly hair, and YouTube video after YouTube video showed me new things – like a curl cream won’t enhance your curl shape if you don’t use a gel with it, or styling your hair soaking wet will yield better results than styling it damp. And even though my curls were nowhere near as tight as the people in those videos, those techniques still applied.
But it’s honestly a lot of effort and a lot of care that goes into maintaining curls that I wasn’t able to uphold. It felt like there were so many rules, like only sleeping with silk pillowcases, consistently using deep conditioning masks, or understanding when your hair is in protein or moisture overload. When you live in a college dorm with limited space and limited time, it’s hard to style your hair the “right” way. So taking a step back from that to just let my hair dry naturally without any product and put it up in a clip all week was what my hair needed to just take a break and figure out exactly who she was.
This hair journey is going to be a long one, but a lack of consistency doesn’t mean I’m less likely to get results, just that it’s going to take longer. I’m okay with that, and if you’re in my shoes, then you should be too. Our hair is always evolving, so we’re on a never-ending journey to find the right products and the right routine for us. So don’t worry.
Take your time, do your research, and be patient.