I'm often complimented on my hair but what most people don't know is that for years it was my achilles heel. Up until about 5th grade, I had straight hair. It always fell into place and was easy to style. No complaints. Then again, I was so young that good hair wasn't really on my mind. Around the time I turned 12, my dad took me to get a "Mariah Carey" perm because I wanted Mariah's exact hair from her music video Someday. (I was obsessed!) Aaaaand, that was when my hair never went back to being the same. Don't get me wrong, I loved the perm! But after it grew out, I wasn't a fan of what was leftover.
What changed my hair's texture? I'm pretty sure it was a combination of the perm's harsh chemicals (it was the early 90's afterall) and my onset of puberty. Again, not complaining as worse things have happened in my life, but as all wavy and curly-haired girls know, learning how to style curls is freakin' hard! Especially fried post-perm curls. I had gotten used to straight hair throughout my childhood so this was entirely new territory for me!
I spent years fighting my hair. I often resorted to pulling it back in a tight bun so I wouldn't have to deal with it. Eventually, I learned to blow dry it really straight to hide the waves. I wanted my hair to look like every elses, especially the popular girls in highschool who all had pin straight do's. I just wanted to fit in. Can you blame me?
In my 20's, I hesitantly experimented with wearing my hair natural. It was a rare ocurrence proven by the fact that I could only dig up these 2 pics of me sportin' waves.
Fast forward to now. As much as I still love a silky smooth blowout, I learned to appreciate my natural waves. It took a while though and lots of coaching from my hair stylists and beauty expert friends who taught me lots of tricks and shortcuts. I now own a ton of hair care products that help me repair, nourish and shape my hair. As much as styling can be time consuming, it's been liberating to let my waves come out of hiding and do their thing.
I can finally say I love my wavy hair! To celebrate my curl confidence, I recently downloaded Dove Hair's Love Your Curls emojis. It lets me authentically represent myself through social media communication. I'm just kind of tired of of all emojis looking the same, so I spiced up my emoji keyboard with these...
I think it's super cute that these emojis look like real women of different ethnicities with varying curl personalities. They're totally free. GET THEM HERE and share with another curly-haired girl you know.
My Curly Hair Fitness Tips
- I highly recommend recommend Invisibobble ponytail rings (shown above) which you can find at stores like Urban Outfitters. Their spiral design distributes pressure unevenly on your hair to avoid denting it when you put it up in a pony or bun while you work out. This a godsend for ALL hair textures, but when you have curls, nothing is more upsetting than a big kink halfway down your head that doesn't match your curl. I'm crushing on these hard and hoping to include them in my next Mizzfit Quarterly Box. What do you think?
- Another way to save your curls while you work out is to secure your hair in braids. Like Invisibobbles, this highly diffuses tension, denting and breakage.
What's your Curl Confidence story? Tell me in the comments section! And don't forget to download the Dove Love Your Curls Emojis in the App Store and Google Play Store to show how you #LoveYourCurls!
Disclosure: This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Dove, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #LoveYourCurls #pmgdove http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV