Note: This is long, so like my skin post, I have sectioned it out. If you don't care for a certain area and want to skip it, then go for it. I bolded the sections to make life easier.
History
When I was a little girl, I had fairly loose, easy to manage hair. It was wavy, frizz-free, and all I had to do was shower, get out and have my mom dry my hair (I was stubborn and preferred her method over mine).
As I grew older, in about 7th grade, I began noticing some changes happening. My hair had developed an unnormal amount of body and frizz, yet it was still retaining that wavy texture -- so I basically looked like I was carrying a weight on top of my head. It just refused to sit down like it used to when I was younger. Dealing with it was out of the question, because I was twelve and was illiterate in terms of beauty or style. I just wanted to get out of the shower and be done with everything. So in eighth grade, at age thirteen, I got my hair relaxed. Finally. I could get out of the shower, have it air dry, and have perfect, pin straight hair every time. I was ridiculously excited about it!
... Until my hair started to grow out. Imagine thick, frizzy, wavy roots with pin straight hair. It just wasn't pretty. At this point I was sick of having straight hair and just wanted to see what my old hair looked like. So I started to grow it out. At age fifteen, I went through an emo-going-on-scene-kid phase and religiously started ironing my hair every day. I got blunt bangs and began wearing ribbons and bows in my hair. This look transitioned into eleventh grade and the beginning of twelfth. I ended up dying my bangs and lower portion of my hair a weird, orange blonde.
When I started to venture out into a more natural look after high school, I dried my hair without the intention of straightening it afterward. That was when I found out that I suddenly had curly hair.
My Cut
I've gone through so many haircuts in the past, and they all catered to straight hair. I do like to blow dry my hair every now and then for a sleek look, but the goal was to find a cut that worked for both situations. And also, bangs. I'm a huge bang fan. I switch off from straight to side bangs quite often. I usually have straight bangs during the winter time, because it looks cuter with my snug outfits and just provides warmth. I let it grow out into a side bang during the summer so I can twist it up and out of my face when I'm feeling too hot.
The length of my hair is just cut into long layers. I've realized while short layers look great on straight hair, I just can't get the look I like with curly hair. My shortest layers are about an inch or two under my ear, while curly. When straight, they are much longer. Going any shorter would cause the triangle hair look, which I'm not a big fan of!
I generally get my hair trimmed every few months. I'm letting it grow out long, at least waist length while curly, before I decide on any major chopping for the future. But for now, I'm craving fairy tail hair! I generally trim my bangs at home when they get too long, but if I need a major cut in that area, I'll get it done professionally.
Color
My hair is its natural color. Pretty simple. After the blonde situation, I didn't get it dyed until about a few weeks ago. I really wanted red hair (and still do!) because I feel like it looks gorgeous with curls -- so instead of making the full transition, I ended up getting extremely natural red lowlights on the bottom section of my hair. It's so natural that you can only see it under the sun, but it looks gorgeous. It's like she tinted my hair from a brown to red! Because I love my natural hair color, I'm trying to keep it at my roots and as visible as possible until I start to majorly get grey hairs.
Products
I use different methods depending on what look I want to achieve. When I just want to go natural/curly, I use Kinky-Curly products. I'm obsessed, obsessed, with this line. They're all organic and genuinely work wonders on making my curls look vibrant and fresh!
I use the Come Clean shampoo, and just shampoo once. I feel like shampooing twice just dries out my hair. After that, I use the Knot Today conditioner. I put some in my hands and work it through the lower half of my hair, making sure it doesn't touch my scalp, because I'm prone to oiliness. Once I'm done, I grab a wide toothed comb and comb through. I let the conditioner sit on my hair as I do whatever else I have to do in the shower (usually shave or scrub my face), then I rinse it out while combing it slowly under water. It makes your hair feel ridiculously soft, and smells amazing!
If I'm going to use hot tools on my hair, I use Giovanni Cosmetics Smooth As Silk Shampoo. I use the Kinky Curly conditioner again, because I just love the smell and it conditions my hair well.
This is a random trick I learned: using an old t-shirt as a towel. It soaks up more water after you shower and promotes less frizz. It's pretty light weight too, and you won't feel like a bobble head walking around.
After I gently press the water out of my hair, I apply a minuscule amount of coconut oil to the ends of my hair. This helps to keep my hair fairly split-end free (unless I've gone hot tool crazy).
After this, I'll do either one of two things. If I'm going for natural/curly, I use Spiral Spritz by Kinky Curly. I spray about three pumps into my hand, rub my hands together and work it into my hair by pushing and squeezing my hair from underneath. The formula acts like a gel, but absolutely, positively does not leave your hair crunchy. It keeps it looking smooth and frizz free, but soft and easy to run your fingers through. I promise this works so well. I even use it on dry and it still keeps it nice and soft.
If I'm going to use hot tools on my hair, I use Aveda's Smooth Infusion Style-Prep Smoother. I squeeze a few pumps into my hand, about two or three, and run it through my hair.
Drying
Again, drying my hair depends on the effect I want. If I'm going natural/curly, I'll use a diffuser on the blow dryer and set it on the low setting with warm air (not the hottest, not the coolest -- right in the middle). I gently cradle my curls with the diffuser and let my hair gently dry. This gives it the natural curl it needs. I'll alternate between cool air and warm air to reduce frizz yet again. When I wear my hair curly, I twist or braid my bangs to the side, because I feel like my curly hair just doesn't look good when my bangs are down/straight. It just looks like I'm surrounded by too much hair. Most importantly, I do not brush my curls. Unless I want to be a disco diva.
If I'm going to use hot tools, I'll use the blow drying nozzle (the flat and narrow one), and just use the high speed setting and alternate between hot and warm air. At this point, I just want to get my hair as dry as possible so I can use my flat iron or curling iron -- symmetry isn't important here, just dry hair. Once it's done, I twist my hair up into a ballet bun on the middle back of my head and sit around. This will shape the hair and make it just a bit smoother, so when the time comes to iron or curl, it reduces the need to iron my roots as much. After I'm done curling or straightening, I rub some CHI Silk Infusion in my hands and run it through my hair. It's not organic, but it smells nice and makes my hair look smooth and shiny!
Finally ...
Love your hair. Please, don't complain about it so much -- make it work for you. The more you get frustrated, the more you'll miss out on some great results. Investing so much time in being frustrated with your hair, or looks for that matter, will never ever help you appreciate and love what you have. So please, practice some self love. You won't achieve the same exact results as someone else, but that just means your look is meant to be your look. You will definitely make it work for you, I promise!
History
When I was a little girl, I had fairly loose, easy to manage hair. It was wavy, frizz-free, and all I had to do was shower, get out and have my mom dry my hair (I was stubborn and preferred her method over mine).
As I grew older, in about 7th grade, I began noticing some changes happening. My hair had developed an unnormal amount of body and frizz, yet it was still retaining that wavy texture -- so I basically looked like I was carrying a weight on top of my head. It just refused to sit down like it used to when I was younger. Dealing with it was out of the question, because I was twelve and was illiterate in terms of beauty or style. I just wanted to get out of the shower and be done with everything. So in eighth grade, at age thirteen, I got my hair relaxed. Finally. I could get out of the shower, have it air dry, and have perfect, pin straight hair every time. I was ridiculously excited about it!
... Until my hair started to grow out. Imagine thick, frizzy, wavy roots with pin straight hair. It just wasn't pretty. At this point I was sick of having straight hair and just wanted to see what my old hair looked like. So I started to grow it out. At age fifteen, I went through an emo-going-on-scene-kid phase and religiously started ironing my hair every day. I got blunt bangs and began wearing ribbons and bows in my hair. This look transitioned into eleventh grade and the beginning of twelfth. I ended up dying my bangs and lower portion of my hair a weird, orange blonde.
When I started to venture out into a more natural look after high school, I dried my hair without the intention of straightening it afterward. That was when I found out that I suddenly had curly hair.
 |
| (Excuse my dramatic pose here.) |
Well, curly hair that I didn't manage so well. I used to just let it do its own thing, so it was fairly big. Of course, I didn't have the proper hair cut for curly hair, as I would usually take photos of straight hair to the stylist and say 'GIVE ME THAT PLEASE'. And so began the journey to discovering my natural hair.
After years of growth, trial and error, and the usage of hot tools (which I still do, shame on me), I've finally grown my hair out to a manageable length. I've also found a routine that works perfectly for me, when I'm feeling curly.
I've gone through so many haircuts in the past, and they all catered to straight hair. I do like to blow dry my hair every now and then for a sleek look, but the goal was to find a cut that worked for both situations. And also, bangs. I'm a huge bang fan. I switch off from straight to side bangs quite often. I usually have straight bangs during the winter time, because it looks cuter with my snug outfits and just provides warmth. I let it grow out into a side bang during the summer so I can twist it up and out of my face when I'm feeling too hot.
The length of my hair is just cut into long layers. I've realized while short layers look great on straight hair, I just can't get the look I like with curly hair. My shortest layers are about an inch or two under my ear, while curly. When straight, they are much longer. Going any shorter would cause the triangle hair look, which I'm not a big fan of!
I generally get my hair trimmed every few months. I'm letting it grow out long, at least waist length while curly, before I decide on any major chopping for the future. But for now, I'm craving fairy tail hair! I generally trim my bangs at home when they get too long, but if I need a major cut in that area, I'll get it done professionally.
Color
My hair is its natural color. Pretty simple. After the blonde situation, I didn't get it dyed until about a few weeks ago. I really wanted red hair (and still do!) because I feel like it looks gorgeous with curls -- so instead of making the full transition, I ended up getting extremely natural red lowlights on the bottom section of my hair. It's so natural that you can only see it under the sun, but it looks gorgeous. It's like she tinted my hair from a brown to red! Because I love my natural hair color, I'm trying to keep it at my roots and as visible as possible until I start to majorly get grey hairs.
Products
I use different methods depending on what look I want to achieve. When I just want to go natural/curly, I use Kinky-Curly products. I'm obsessed, obsessed, with this line. They're all organic and genuinely work wonders on making my curls look vibrant and fresh!
I use the Come Clean shampoo, and just shampoo once. I feel like shampooing twice just dries out my hair. After that, I use the Knot Today conditioner. I put some in my hands and work it through the lower half of my hair, making sure it doesn't touch my scalp, because I'm prone to oiliness. Once I'm done, I grab a wide toothed comb and comb through. I let the conditioner sit on my hair as I do whatever else I have to do in the shower (usually shave or scrub my face), then I rinse it out while combing it slowly under water. It makes your hair feel ridiculously soft, and smells amazing!
If I'm going to use hot tools on my hair, I use Giovanni Cosmetics Smooth As Silk Shampoo. I use the Kinky Curly conditioner again, because I just love the smell and it conditions my hair well.
This is a random trick I learned: using an old t-shirt as a towel. It soaks up more water after you shower and promotes less frizz. It's pretty light weight too, and you won't feel like a bobble head walking around.
After I gently press the water out of my hair, I apply a minuscule amount of coconut oil to the ends of my hair. This helps to keep my hair fairly split-end free (unless I've gone hot tool crazy).
After this, I'll do either one of two things. If I'm going for natural/curly, I use Spiral Spritz by Kinky Curly. I spray about three pumps into my hand, rub my hands together and work it into my hair by pushing and squeezing my hair from underneath. The formula acts like a gel, but absolutely, positively does not leave your hair crunchy. It keeps it looking smooth and frizz free, but soft and easy to run your fingers through. I promise this works so well. I even use it on dry and it still keeps it nice and soft.
If I'm going to use hot tools on my hair, I use Aveda's Smooth Infusion Style-Prep Smoother. I squeeze a few pumps into my hand, about two or three, and run it through my hair.
Drying
Again, drying my hair depends on the effect I want. If I'm going natural/curly, I'll use a diffuser on the blow dryer and set it on the low setting with warm air (not the hottest, not the coolest -- right in the middle). I gently cradle my curls with the diffuser and let my hair gently dry. This gives it the natural curl it needs. I'll alternate between cool air and warm air to reduce frizz yet again. When I wear my hair curly, I twist or braid my bangs to the side, because I feel like my curly hair just doesn't look good when my bangs are down/straight. It just looks like I'm surrounded by too much hair. Most importantly, I do not brush my curls. Unless I want to be a disco diva.
If I'm going to use hot tools, I'll use the blow drying nozzle (the flat and narrow one), and just use the high speed setting and alternate between hot and warm air. At this point, I just want to get my hair as dry as possible so I can use my flat iron or curling iron -- symmetry isn't important here, just dry hair. Once it's done, I twist my hair up into a ballet bun on the middle back of my head and sit around. This will shape the hair and make it just a bit smoother, so when the time comes to iron or curl, it reduces the need to iron my roots as much. After I'm done curling or straightening, I rub some CHI Silk Infusion in my hands and run it through my hair. It's not organic, but it smells nice and makes my hair look smooth and shiny!
Finally ...
Love your hair. Please, don't complain about it so much -- make it work for you. The more you get frustrated, the more you'll miss out on some great results. Investing so much time in being frustrated with your hair, or looks for that matter, will never ever help you appreciate and love what you have. So please, practice some self love. You won't achieve the same exact results as someone else, but that just means your look is meant to be your look. You will definitely make it work for you, I promise!
2 comments:
Love your red!! It looks so good on you! I'm planning on going red this summer, too.
@alex: Thank you so much! For some reason it came up on the webcam, but in person you can barely see it -- it only shows through under the sun. It's super natural. :) You should definitely go red, it'll match you. <3
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