Hair is a pretty political space on the body. No doubt about it, if you are a person of colour (POC), at one point or the other you have probably felt something negative towards your hair. Black womxn have written enough books asking people not to touch their hair for us to doubt the political space hair holds. As a coloured womxn, who has curly hair, I can say it has taken a while for me to accept my hair the way it is. This is not to say that white people don’t have curly hair, rather, that for POC’s it is yet another way you don’t conform to the hegemonic beauty standards (the tide is changing though). This is also not meant to shame those who choose to straighten their hair. It’s all about choice. Growing up though, when I reached a certain age, I realized all the contempt I was harbouring for my hair. This is my journey into self-love and starting my curly journey. Hopefully this will help start yours.
Let’s start with what I thought was the most beautiful hair texture in the world. Straight hair! I can tell you, I would feel out of place and uncomfortable when I had not sat the night before, GHD in hand, straightening my hair throughout the night. My hair was very thick. I remember receiving compliments when my hair was straight, and radio-silence when my hair was “reaching for the sky.” Something that I do remember vividly was someone telling me, when my hair was straight, that it felt like straw – that’s how unhealthy it had become. But, I also remember being told my hair was a bush when it was natural and even thinking about it that way myself. Disclaimer: I went to a predominantly white junior and high school, so the number of people with curly textured hair was non-existent.
The beginning
Womxn everywhere, if your hair has a slight wave to it, you can probably cultivate your curls. At the start of my natural-hair journey, I didn’t know there was such a big community of natural-hair lovers out in the world. I did not know about sulphate-free products. I did not know about the ‘big chops.’ The beginning of my journey started when I noticed the waves in my hair. I also noticed how obsessed I was with others’ opinions of me, to the extent that I hated something that was a part of me (I also got lazy half-way through trying to straightening my hair). It is worth the mention that I went for one of those straight-hair-making-treatments, which resulted in my hair thinning a little and having weird textured hair for a while. The beginning of any curly girl journey is waiting for your hair to recover from all the heat damage it has been subjected to over the years. So, if you are planning on cultivating your curls, no more straightening or blow-drying until the heat damage has subsided.
The in-between
Shout-out to my cousin, Sharee, who fully exposed me to curly hair culture. She had been on a curly journey and was using all the right products. She had done her research and told me about it. I had been 6 months without the straightener. On the journey, your hair gets to a strange in-between phase where it’s not curly but it’s not straight either. The heat has damaged the curl pattern and now it’s recovering. The truth is you have to wait this period out, but you will be rewarded in the long-run. During this period, I watched so many YouTube videos and read about the topic. The hair transformations are amazing! The curly girl aisle in Clicks and Dischem are my favourite aisles now. An entire aisle dedicated to curly hair! It is important to hydrate your curly hair with conditioning masks and products. I started with a product that was masquerading as sulphate and silicone free. Then I started to stock up on Shea Moisture and Aunt Jackie’s (the cheaper products in the aisle for us students). The trick is to test and see which one’s work for the result you want. I started with a shampoo, conditioner, coconut spray and leave-in conditioner. Slowly, my hair was coming to life. Some people do believe in no-poo, which means excluding shampoo completely from the routine. This step only comes once the hair has started to recover.
The representation
I did the ‘big-chop’ (tailored to curly hair) in first-year, owing to a traumatic childhood event that left me not wanting to cut my hair ever again. I also had, and wanted to keep my really long hair. The ‘big-chop’ is necessary to cut off all the extremely damaged hair that won’t curl at all. Finding a salon that can cut curly hair is difficult. Unlike people with straight hair, you can’t just walk into any salon. We also don’t have a Devachan salon in South Africa cutting curly hair (though Devacurl is in some pretty hot water at the moment). Eventually, I found one and I can say that I hyped up hair-cutting way too much. At this moment in time I have had another extremely short hair-cut and I am quite happy with the results. Curly hair generally looks great in layers, so you can distinguish each curl. Pro-tip: never forget to ‘scrunch’ your hair after applying your post-shower products. Also, thanks to the wave of change in mainstream TV, shows like Black-ish and Mixed-ish representing hair that is natural, I have come to love mine even more.
The self-love and acceptance
Solange said it herself: “don’t touch my hair, for it’s the feelings I wear.” My hair has fully become an extension of myself and I love it whether it chooses to cooperate with me or not. No matter how curly, wavy, flat, skew it is after I wash it. I no longer seek approval in others and I don’t feel the need to straighten it. I discovered my reason for straightening was not to feel good about myself, it was to seek the approval of others and to distance myself from my ‘natural’ self. I was obsessed with fitting in. The truth is, no matter the type of curl I have, I will always love each and every one. Everyone’s curly journey is different but you don’t start the journey alone anymore.
Note: Most of the Instagram accounts featured have YouTube channels that can help give tips and share their own journeys.