Whether you born with it or grew into it, having curly hair is a struggle like no other. For every person who's ever took one look at me and remarked, "I wish I could have your hair," I hope these reasons make you think twice before cursing yourself with my lion's mane. These are the biggest struggles faced by people with curly hair across the globe everyday:
1. Frizz
First and foremost, frizz is hands down the worst part of the beautiful ringlets and s-waves that frame my face daily. No matter what products I put in while my hair, damp or dry, there seems to be nothing that prevents that little fuzzy halo from making an appearance all over my head. For every straight-haired girl who complains about having frizzy hair, you don't even know the half of it until you're blessed with a head full of thick bouncy con-artists.
2. The Shedding.
No matter where I go or what I'm doing, I manage to lose what looks like half a head of hair a day. After visiting someone's house for the first time, I get complaints that my hair is everywhere, I can't blame my hair for not wanting to be attached to my head anymore! Either way, I hope that wherever all my shedded hair ends up it's happy and thriving.
3. The Product Graveyard
We all have the product graveyard hiding under the bathroom sink. It's full of gels, mousses and curl creams that led us astray at one point or another. The packaging, claims or price always draw you in, but eventually it will end up in the graveyard. We struggle with parting with it because we're still hoping someday it will work out for us. I'm here telling you it probably won't.
4. Bad Hair Days
If I had a dollar for every bad hair day I've ever had, I'd definitely have enough money to at least pay off my college tuition. Bad hair days go hand in hand with frizz; it's like they sign a contract that they have to work together in order to succeed. Somehow, even if you use the same routine every time you get out of the shower, your hair always looks different every single time. I'm still investigating how thats scientifically possible or fair, but I'll keep you posted.
5. Humidity
Why this horrible act of nature must exist is still a question among many others for me. A perfect hair day turns into a poof ball or a lion's mane after a mere 10 minutes in the humid air. Every morning I check the weather before getting ready for class. If the humidity is high, my hair will start and end the day in a bun. No question.
6."Can I touch your hair?"
Random strangers come up to you and ask you if they can touch your perfect-looking ringlets, probably conveniently on the only day of the week you've had a good hair day. We all wish to politely decline, thinking about the horrific amounts of frizz this incident could cause, but then we remember there's no nice way to say no in this situation.
7. How Long it Takes to Straighten
If you wish to straighten your hair, get ready to set aside at least a two-hour time frame for the process. Odds are, halfway through your arm will get tired, or you'll consider giving up, so two hours is a must. The worst part of it is, by the end of the process, you won't ever be perfectly happy with the way it looks.
8. Tangles
Untangling curly hair is a nightmare comparable to being chased by a serial killer. Not only is it wicked painful, but you lose about half your head of hair in the process. Taking out ponytails and buns is either a huge fight or really easy thanks to tangles and snarls.
9. It Gets Caught on Everything
Backpack straps, tree branches and the backs of chairs are only few of the painful objects that my hair has gotten stuck in over the years. No matter how hard you try with length or hair placement, catching your curls simply can't be helped. Nine times out of 10, this could be the sole cause of a bad hair day.
10. "You don't brush your hair?"
People discover this little tidbit on the daily and are ignorantly grossed out. Just a PSA to all my straight haired friends: curly and straight hair are not made equal. I do not need to run a wire brush through my hair daily so it's shiny and flawless. After years of having my straight haired mother brush my dry hair daily, I never ever ever want to go back to that. But if anyone were to see my hair brushed out on the daily, I guarantee they would not want to be my friend.
11. "Is your hair naturally like that?"
Getting asked this question fairly regularly has driven me to a new level of frustration. Most of the time I want to reply no, I hand curled all 300 curls on my head every morning before I go to class. Instead I answer with a polite yes and hold my sarcastic tongue.
12. No Product is Enough
The secret of curly hair use is the amount of products that goes into maintaining it. It took me six years and many failed attempts to get even 50 percent right. No matter what products you use, some days the curls have a mind of their own and really just do whatever they want.
At the end of the day, the real struggle of having curly hair is that it plays by their own rule book that we know nothing about. Curls are con artists, deceptive and easily manipulated. I love to hate my hair, but wouldn't wish it on anyone.
