I have never understood girls who have thin hair. I admired how straight and shiny it always appears to be, how it almost never frizzes, and how low maintenance it appears to be (which I'm sure isn't true in reality). Don't get me wrong, I love having my thick hair. It's always so amusing to go in to get my hair styled, and surprising my stylist with how much hair I have. But even though thick hair can be fun, and is even desired in some cases, there are lots of downsides to having a head full of lots and lots and lots of hair.
1. It is always frizzing
No matter what type of hair product I put in, what type of anti-frizz shampoo and conditioner I use, or how I style my hair, it'll end up looking like a hot mess at the end of a humid day (yay Pennsylvania and Ohio weather!).
2. A sloppy bun is your best bet, every time.
More than anything, I want to be the girl who wears her hair down everyday. It's a good look on me, and it makes me happy. But it is impossible to wear my hair down during hot months, ever, because it is like wearing a 600 degree scarf around my neck at all times. It never looks pretty. It makes me feel gross and sweaty and tempted to try a bob.
3. Braiding your hair is physically exhausting.
If I could wear a French braid everyday, I would. But unfortunately it takes forever for me to create because for one I can't style my hair, and two it is physically exhausting to try and tame my mane. At the end of a braid, my triceps are so tired that I feel like I couldn't lift up my purse if I tried. Maybe I'm just a weakling (which is true), but for those of you with thick hair, you know that controlling the mane can be extremely tiring and often isn't worth the effort.
4. Dyeing your hair costs too much.
Hair dye costs a lot in general. But when you need twice as much dye to color your thick, crazy hair, the price goes up way too quickly and my blonde hair will end up costing a lot more than yours (but we all dye it anyway, let's be real).
5. Once it gets wet, it stays wet.
If I decide to wash my hair when I wake up in the morning and throw it in a ponytail (which is awful for your hair, I know), it'll still be slightly damp when I take it out to go to bed. There's too much of it and not enough time to naturally dry. I've just accepted that my hair will be partially wet at all times, so I'm not even going to try and change it.
6. There is no such thing as a "quick styling."
"Why don't you blow dry your hair before going to class?" Because I don't have the fifteen minutes it takes to dry it completely. "Why don't you flat iron your hair before we go out tonight?" Oh sorry, I don't have an extra half hour to straighten my hair completely. "Why don't you curl your hair like that more often?" Because this is a special occasion and this monster cost me an hour and a half of my time and three burn marks on my neck and thumb. "Why don't you do something with your hair other than a ponytail?" Because I'm too lazy and enjoy sleeping in too much to get up early and do my hair. End of story.
7. You need a new bottle of conditioner once a month (at least).
I don't understand how people have the same bottle of conditioner for months on end. That "dime sized squirt" of conditioner the instructions tell me to apply to my hair doesn't even cover it all. Yeah. I need at least 4 times that amount to cover all of my hair.
8. Ponytail holders don't last more than a few months.
I'm so jealous of those people who have their "lucky hairband" that lasts for months, if not years on end. Are these people even real? I have no clue. All I know about ponytail holders is that after about a month or so, my daily ponytail holder completely stretches out. After a couple of months or so, they either break or are so stretched out that they are unusable. And those little clear bands? Forget it. They basically are for a one time use.
9. After brushing your hair, it looks like this:
The poodle hair is a real, daily struggle How does hair look beautiful after being brushed? I have no clue.
10. You lose things in your hair.
Pencils? Yep I've lost those. Cute hair accessories? Those easily disappear. Small animals? Those can easily get lost in the mess that grows out of my head. And bobby pins? Not only do I need 60 of them, I will lose 72 of them in my hair too.
11. Shedding is real.
Yes my hair falls out. In the shower, all over my clothes (and your clothes), in my bed, all over my hairbrush.... everywhere. I am basically a human cat. And the worst part is that I have really strong hair; theres is just so much of it that it falls out everywhere. Take my hair being all over your stuff as a compliment: I'm giving you a piece of me because I love you (or something). #sorrynotsorry
12. Your hair is so strong... it will break your hair brush.
If you like to admit it or not, at one point or another we have all had a brush break off in our hair. Maybe it was a particularly bad knot, maybe it was while trying to get out some of that excessive hairspray, maybe it was just a bad hair day, we have all experienced it and it sucks every single time.
13. Thick hair has a mind of its own.
Are you running late? Your hair is going to refuse to do anything you want. Are you going on a date? Your hair is going to frizz and look awful. Do you have a formal event you're going to? Your hair will not only take 3 hours to do, 150 pins to hold in, and will of course fall as soon as you arrive to whatever important event this is.
Having thick hair is both a blessing (people buy volumizing shampoo and get extensions... what?!) and a curse (see article above). But would I trade my hair for a million dollars? Absolutely not (okay maybe I would... student debts are a thing... but you know what I mean)!
