LOVE YOUR CURLS

This post is for my fellow curly heads. Most especially the ones in hiding.

I am an advocate for CURLS. I'm pretty sure I have annoyed a few people around me for how often I talk about this topic (sorry!!!) but I guess you could say I kind of have a testimony of the wonderfulness of curly hair. 

I straightened my hair a couple Saturdays ago. I used to straighten my hair every day because for some strange reason I thought my hair was ugly curly. But this last time almost made me think I may never do it again. It took me over an hour, then stressed me out the rest of the day... Does it still look good? Is it getting frizzy? Does it look like an ugly witch wig? Oh no, I just broke a sweat! UGH. Then Sunday morning I had to spend another hour on it to get it to look good, only to end up pulling it back because I wasn't satisfied that it looked good enough. I was so impatient to wash it and get my curls back!! 

Now, I'm not going to lie. I really, really think my hair is pretty. I know that sounds conceited and awful, but I feel like there's nothing wrong with loving what God gave you. 

I love this picture because I think my hair looked freaking gorgeous that day. Yeah, I just said that.

I also feel like I deserve to love my hair because of how much of my life I spent hating it. My dear, wonderful, talented, freaking awesome mom who can do anything in the world she puts her mind to had no idea how to deal with my curls. (Hi, Mom!) I grew up feeling like my hair always had to dealt with- braided, pulled back, hot rolled, straightened, anything but its natural state. Mom always had me looking my best as a kid, but it was never with my natural curls. It was a horrid fuzzy, awful mess- unless it was "tamed." In junior high my older sister suggested I put some leave in conditioner in it, which I did and I was amazed that that frizzyawfulmess became lovely curls! I wore them off and on in junior high because I still didn't really know how to deal with them. Then in about 9th grade I straightened them every day. (I thought curls weren't cool enough for high school, apparently...) That year the school boundaries changed and I was slated to go to a different high school for 10th grade. I decided that with the new school I would get a fresh start. I grew out my bangs that summer and finally learned how to work with my curls. And I began to LOVE them.

Which brings me to the present day. I know soooo many women who battle with their curly hair. And it makes me sad. Every time I straighten my hair I feel sorry for women who think they need to straighten theirs.

After I straightened my hair a couple weeks ago, I was telling Dan that I really feel silly admitting how much I really love my curly hair and how I wish other people could find their curly hair zen. He told me it wasn't silly and that I should start a blog about curly hair tips and tricks that I've learned over the years. I don't think I have enough to say for a whole blog, but I have decided to just do a little series on "How to LOVE your curls." I've had several friends with curly haired daughters ask me how to deal with their little girl curls, so this will be for them, too. So watch for that in the coming weeks. In the meantime, give your curls a chance. Try different products (tip #1, expensive does NOT mean better.) Let your curls be big and beautiful, or small and subtle. Let them be themselves! Enjoy them! LOVE THEM, whatever shape they take!!