With multiple beauty brands making products and advertisements about embracing natural texture over heat styling, more women are deciding to show off their curly styles to the world.
These styles, though, are anything but wash-and-go. Whether you have loose beachy waves or bouncy ringlets, there are a couple of daily struggles all curly girls understand 100%.
1. Brushes bring out a lot of emotional trauma.
Whether you grew up in a home of curly-haired women or not, you understand the hairbrushes are the number one enemy to a (somewhat) manageable due. Unfortunately, most of us have had to learn this the hard way. I, for example, only understood the frizzy disaster that results from brushing out my dry hair when my hair stopped fitting in the frame of my yearbook pictures.
The bristles attack your locks, ripping them apart to leave a fluffy mop of frizz and poof. While most curly girls don’t even own a hair brush, some of us keep one stashed in a drawer where it will hopefully never be touched again.
2. There is never enough conditioner.
Part of the blessing that is curly hair is that our hair is naturally more dry than straight hair, which makes is lighter, thus producing the twisted locks. Unfortunately, though, dryness means frizz. When there’s too much of these lovely poofy pieces, the strands lose definition, which brings us to a lesser trauma that is similar to brushing the hair out. The solution, though, is a magical ingredient called conditioner. We are somehow lucky enough that we have access to this lovely moisturizing agent, so much so, that we have it in every possible form. Whether it be the normal product that follows shampoo, a deep hydrating treatment, or a leave-in form, conditioner is a staple in every curly routine.
Not only do we use it often, but we also use a lot of it. A handful seems to be enough, but then again, why not dump half the bottle on our head? It’s all in the name of a fully defined look, which completely justifies the fact that we will never finish a bottle of shampoo and conditioner at the same time.
3. Don’t mess with the ritual.
Over the years, most of us have developed a signature routine specifically designed to our curl pattern. Finding our system seems almost like winning a major war over frizz and undefined locks, and we aren’t giving it up any time soon. Though these routines can change a little over time, they still have the same core concepts: shampoo, condition, deep condition, leave in condition, curl defining product, pray to the curly gods, style, and ultimately hope for the best.
These rituals may take forever, but it’s the only way to ensure a *somewhat* acceptable style. Even though it means hair-washing day is an all-day affair, it’s got to be done.
4. It’s expensive.
Because curly hair is so sensitive to the products we put in it, any girl blessed with these textured locks are lucky enough to go into debt supporting their style. Affordable products are great and all, but they usually have these lovely things called parabens, sulfates, and silicones that are a major no-no for our look. This means that we have to devote the time to reading the long lists of chemicals and ingredients on the back of shampoo bottles to find the perfect blend of safe ingredients. Unfortunately, these products can be more than twice the cost of the normal ones.
Plus, this isn’t including the extras, such as leave-in conditioners and styling cream, that our straight-haired friends don’t need. To put it simply, an everyday style that would cost about 10 dollars in products for straight hair would be anywhere from 30 to 50 for waves or curls. This doesn’t include the cost of special towels, pillow cases, or diffusers, which we are not even going to try to add up. It sucks, but it’s literally the price we have to pay for curly hair.
5. It’s all a game of chance.
Even if you devote hours to making sure that you used the perfect products and amounts, as well as styles every strand of hair individually, there is always the chance that you’ll end up with what I like to call the “wild card effect.” No matter how you do your hair, there is always the chance that it’s going to decide it doesn’t want to work, which leaves you with a big mop on the top of your head. Whether you have random bumps or undefined waves, there’s nothing you can do about it. This means that you have to now devote even more time in the morning to fixing whatever your pillow messed up. Sometimes, though, there’s no coming back from the wild card. Luckily, we have pretty great messy buns.
Curly hair is an adventure, to say the least. Whether you have waves or ringlets, we can all band together to grieve over the daily struggle that is our hair. Still, we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Most of us have identified with our style, and we have a soft spot for each little twist. Though it can be frustrating, we love curly hair, and are proud to call it our own.
Plus, every time we see a girl with a defined style, we know exactly how much work she had to put into it.