Those who have naturally straight or just mildly wavy hair will never understand the struggles of us girls with a lion's mane. They may say they can "totally relate" but really they have no idea. From maintenance to looking good, here's some things your curly-haired friends want you to know.
1. We need time to get ready.
Don't go texting us 10 minutes before for something you want us to go to that requires nice hair. We won't go. We need at least an hour, maybe two so that way we can make a decision on what we want to do. Do we want to straighten it, wand it, leave it natural? Who knows, but all of that requires time.
2. We can't just do a "quick straighten."
You wavy-haired girls run a straightener through your hair for a solid two seconds and voila! A perfectly straight look. We do that and we just have sad looking fluff. We need to separate it layer by layer and go through it a few times.
3. Curling our hair is different than natural curls.
So many times people will look at me and ask "Why do you curl your hair if your hair is naturally curly?" Excuse me? What was that? My natural curls are a poofy disaster that are weighed down by mousse and curling gel. Curls from a wand or curler are smooth and luscious and so runway. Natural curls are too boho for certain events.
4. No, we probably don't brush our hair.
Have you seen a girl with curly hair brush their hair? Instead of bouncy little ringlets, brushing turns our hair into a clown/rocker afro. It's not cute. Do not look at us and tell us to just brush our hair.
5. Don't judge me when I straighten my hair and then curl it immediately after.
I want smooth looking waves/curls just like you straight hair girls. I want the tops where I don't curl to look nice so I'm going to straighten it first. Don't look at me like I have two heads just because I have both things plugged in.
6. DO NOT play with my hair.
This may be okay for people with flat super smooth hair, but touching curly hair will make it poof even more. Also, avoid at all costs rubbing your fingers through my hair. They'll get caught and I am not responsible for the possible removable of any appendages.
7. I can't just roll out of bed with perfect hair.
Curly hair is very form-able and will shape to the surface you lie on. It will flatten out and turn boxy after sleeping on it.
8. If I wear my hair natural, I probably have to wash it first.
I don't know if this is just me or all curly hair girls, but I have to wash my hair immediately before I wear it naturally. Adding product to our dry hair makes it super greasy and freshly washed curls always look best.
9. We leave our hair straight for like a week.
When it takes you an hour or maybe even more to straighten your hair, you don't just let that perfectly good hair go to waste. We milk it so much. Dry shampoo is our best friend in the whole world.
10. We have to check the weather 50 times before we plan something.
Is it going to rain? If so we can't straighten our hair. Straightened curly hair resembles that of a wet dog when it rains. Is it humid? Forget it, not even stepping outside.
11. In the end, no matter how much we complain, we love our curls.
Having nice curls is actually a blessing once you realize how to care for it and learn all the different things you can do to style it. At least ours will actually hold curls when we style them. I'd flip my hair and walk away but my hand would probably get stuck in the mane.
