Emotional Stages of Having Curly Hair

[Saryn Jumail]

My friend recently sent me this along with, "this sounds like you except off a couple years."

http://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/advice/emotional-stages-curly-hair?src=spr_TWITTER&spr_id=1440_50622218

I clicked on it, not actually ready for what I found. It's hilarious! And so true! Anyone else who can relate??

[HazelBug]

That's pretty funny. I always felt bad about having straight hair. I spent too many hours curling it growing up. My mom got her hair permed and really made me feel that curly hair was the only hair that looked good. I was finishing middle school when I finally gave up on having curly hair. It was liberating. I didn't know hating curly hair was a thing untill girls started asking if I straightened mine.

[Nadine <3]

HA! I couldn't relate but my curly haired roommate was rolling around on the floor laughing :D I was the opposite. I used to blow dry my hair upside sown for volume and then if I had time, I curled it. Every morning. Now if I want body, I just braid it before bed. I get more sleep this way too lol

[LanaBanana]

I love that! I think I went through those stages about 5 years ahead of the ages listed, but everything was so true. Especially the part about extra hold gel, ha!

[lapushka]

Well, I'm "only" a wavy, but I certainly went through phases like that. My hair started to change texture (from 1b/c to 2a-2b/c) when I went through puberty. I only got the hang of it in my late thirties, with Lorraine Massey's book and all the information that's online.

[BrendaLoan]

:spitting: I'm a wavy but I feel identified with this article as well. I used to straighten my hair A LOT

[chen bao jun]

Hilarious. It took me FIFTY years to get to the last stage.
And people never thought I was Jewish or Italian. they assumed that the frizzy part way 'fro (I did try to have a real afro once and had to curl on 85 pieces of paper every because the middle wouldn't go straight up in the air for anything) anyway, they assumed the frizzy part way 'fro was how my hair is because I'm black--not that I shouldn't have been anywhere within miles of sulphate shampoo and especially not a hairbrush.
But the Puerto Rican girls were always whispering advice to me about 'doobying'--would have listened but honestly had no idea what they meant.

[Weewah]

I went through stages 5 and up because my hair was straight up until puberty. I'm not at the last stage yet though, is that even possible?

I remember when I first discovered the flat iron, I was soooo happy to finally get rid of the puffy frizz, my confidence went up and I started partying lol.

[blace]

:spitting: I'm a wavy but I feel identified with this article as well. I used to straighten my hair A LOT

Same here.

As a kid it was fairly straight and my grandmother (a fine/straight-haired-hot-tools-and-perm-addict) would always say something about curls/body looking better. As a result, I had a perm done at age 4 (without anyone's permission) and after that was always sat down in the bathroom so that she could curl and Aqua Net my hair anytime I visited.
During puberty, my hair started moving towards my mother's more curly texture at the same time flat ironed hair was the "thing". I couldn't go to school or leave the house without it being done. Around that time I also started coloring it into oblivion.

And now here I am, rejoicing in my waves and discovering my natural color. It's amazing the impact everyone else can have on our perceptions of ourselves.

[mrs_coffee]

Funny! I just started to embrace my hair texture within the last couple of years. And I actually AM Jewish. :D

[Marbid]

Bwahaha...bwahaha, really funny... I found out how to manage my curls with conditioner when i was 13... But for some reason when i entered high school, i went the straighten all the time way and lost my curls to curl the root and become straight towards the ends because of heat damage... Now I'm back to liking my curls now, more or less..... I just don't want them every day..... But i wont straighten because when i do want them, i would like them to be there in all their curly gloriousness.

[Hootenanny]

Loved it and totally identified! Probably because I am most of the things she says she's not. Especially the child of a Brillo pad. :lol:

[PrincessIdril]

Love it! I skipped the flat iron stage but at the age of 24 I'm at the last stage!

[CremeTron]

So funny and true for me.

I had chemically straightened hair till 25. I grew it out and used to brush it and comb it every day- looked a mess but I figured it was worth it to be natural. Got a comment from a guy one day that made go to the salon after only a month of wearing it "out" and chemically straightened it again for another 7 years!!!!!

Fortunately I grew up and realised my opinion is the important one. I practically shaved my head three years ago and then found out it actually looks fine, if I don't style it dry. Yeeah...

[Sharysa]

I'm only a wavy (and a borderline 1c/2a at that), but SWEET LORD THE STRAIGHTENING. Stage 6 for me was 15-19 ish, though, but luckily I've skipped Stages 7-9 thanks to growing my hair out and taking care of it. At age 24, I'm right on schedule for Stage 10. XD

I think my hair used to be straight until puberty, since it looks very straight in old photos and high school was when I started straightening like crazy, but I'm not sure if that's because my hair was just short.

[seamstress]

3A here. I never wanted to wake up early to straighten my hair before school, but I did used to brush it. It was a fluffy mess until my super-curly friend gave me a hint to just use a comb. I'm at the 29-30 on the article- if I don't pull my hair out of the way because of the wind here, I might put a little gel in it and that's all. It works great for me!

@ Sharysha- My hair was straight and partway down my back until I cut it to chin-length in 5th grade. Suddenly, it was super poofy and I didn't understand why.

[Syren_Curls]

Yup, I can relate. Except I never really did the flat iron thing, just professional blowfryers and round brush. But I've been loving curls for a number of years now ;-)

[ositarosita]

I'm currently at #11 and only 2 years early :) sadly enough that made me feel a little better

[Sharysa]

My hair turned literally half wavy and half straight when I got a bob. Or when I tried side swept bangs. The left half tended to curl halfheartedly, to be exact. :P

[ArtThistle]

I'm a 3A and I've come to terms with it. I'm at stage 12. When I was younger, and my hair was shorter, it was easily a 3B. I think the length is weighing it down. I like that. It's extremely unmanageable.

I used to straighten it every. single. day. It was so fried and I actually thought I looked better. Looking back, I think I was really dumb to do that. It's taken a lot of work to make my hair look good again. Now, I can shower the night before and go to bed with wild hair and wake up with even wilder hair. I look hot. Sure, my hair is wild. But wild is wild. I look like that girl from Brave. Now, I always want to look like the girl from Brave.
And then I step outside and the wind is blowing (because I live in rural Alberta and the wind is always blowing). And then I braid my hair because otherwise wild becomes matted and that makes me sad.

But if I don't have to go out, I look hot without even doing anything. Because I have wild curls.

[ExpectoPatronum]

I'm embracing my curls and waves and I found this article to be very true. Also, I'm actually Italian.

[Aderyn]

Hahaha, what a nice article and I love the comments here!

Stage 1 - I had pin straight hair as a child, so missed that one.

Stage 2 - I had that stage for a very long time.

Stage 3 - Kids detangling spray works really well, though! :D

Stage 4 - Slathering cream/serum/whatever all over my hair in the morning.. disaster..

Stage 5 - Hahahaha, the crunchiness.. it's everywhere!

Stage 6,7 - Skipped the flat ironing stage. I stuck with brushing my hair out in the morning than slathering cream all over it for quite a long time.

Stage 8 - Am 20 now, am not a partier, have never been a partier.. Never been big on heat styling my hair, my ends were horrible from the rip-through-brushing every morning, though.

Stage 8-11 - Didn't really have much of a transition, just cut off the ends, starting taking better care of my hair, ditched most of the products and here I am.

Stage 12 - Should I wear my hair down, it is definitely the, "I just woke up, undid my braid and left" look. :D Usually wear it up, though.

[Vampyria]

:laugh: I had curly hair as a teen (I was probably 3b), and I think I wrote that article, or at least some stages. ;) Stage 4, and yes I had John Frieda Frizz Ease serum. And 6, it was so amazing when the wind was blowing and my hair actually moved. I can relate to some others too, but then stage 9 captured my age, when I figured out that I completely destroyed my hair. My hair got wavy after I was 19-20, but it's not like I could really figure that out with all that damage and frizz, so I kept on straightening until I was 23.

Where's the: "Blow-drying for 3 hours with a round brush and professional strengthening serum (this was before I got a straightener), accidentally breaking the brush, going out of the house next day and ending up with a puffy mess again, because there was a slight humidity in the air, and deciding you'll be wearing a hoodie from now on". and "Yes, you might not believe it, but I did brush my hair in the morning and that's probably why it looks like that in the first place." though. :laugh:

[Aderyn]

Ahhh, the humidity! The pacific northwest has high humidity .. pretty much left my brushed-through hair a frizzier, poofier mess every day. Much better now, though. :D

[Rosetta]

That's pretty funny. I always felt bad about having straight hair. I spent too many hours curling it growing up. My mom got her hair permed and really made me feel that curly hair was the only hair that looked good. I was finishing middle school when I finally gave up on having curly hair. It was liberating. I didn't know hating curly hair was a thing untill girls started asking if I straightened mine.
Lol, this is just like my story, except that the first I ever heard of people disliking curly hair was here on LHC (and I still haven't heard it anywhere else)...

[Salwety]

Hahhahaha ... It is nice to find out that you are not the only one suffering with your hair. I have passed by all the mentioned stages. In fact I can add more.
There is the stage where I started to chemically straighten my hair with all thee split ends and shedding.
Another stage of straightening my hair with black henna
Then having a keratin treatment - again to sstraighten my hair.
Now I am in the stage where I am embracing my hair natural texture, but struggling with the difference between the curly roots and the super straight ends. And will havveto accept staying in this stage for another year at least.

[reilly0167]

Oh my lord and lady! A story about me, so funny relatable:lol: