Having curly hair is by far one of the most difficult things to manage on the face of the Earth. It seems no matter how hard you try to tame it, curly hair never wants to cooperate with you. It’s messy, frizzy and totally unpredictable. Us girls who are “blessed” with such a hair type can always relate to each other with the everyday struggles we go through having this thing growing out of our heads. It’s almost like we have our own secret club. So what struggles are non-club members unable to relate to?

1. You can’t run a brush through dry hair.

Unless you want to try pulling off the afro look, I’d suggest you stay away from dry brushing through a mop of curls.

2. Straightening your hair takes forever to accomplish.

Running the straightener through just one section of hair can take up to five or six tries before it even starts to look somewhat straight. It almost feels like you should just set your hair on fire and save yourself the trouble.

3. You become an unofficial official product tester.

Hair product companies should be paying you for the amount of hair products you’ve tested out for them. Gel? Hairspray? Mousse? I still don’t even know.

4. Having long hair ruins your curls.

The longer the hair, the more stretched out your curls will be and the less they’ll look like curls. Bummer.

5. When you finally cave and go get a haircut, it almost always turns into disaster.

How hard is it to understand that when you cut curly hair when it’s wet, it dries and then shrinks a few inches?

6. Curly hair is knot central.

You think it’s going to be easy to brush through my hair? That’s funny.

7. You’re constantly asked, “Is that your natural hair?”

As if I have time every morning to wake up and curl my hair like this. Who do you think I am?

8. The amount of missing bristles in your hairbrush is never a surprise to you.

Breaking brushes just comes with the territory. Just be prepared to buy a new brush every few months.

9. You’re thoroughly convinced you spend most of your life doing your hair.

You can’t just run a brush through it and go. Brush it, apply your product of choice, flip, scrunch and situate the placement. Curls require time and a lot of it.

10. Your hair is always being touched.

I’m never going to understand what’s so fascinating about my hair. Unless you’re picking out a piece of fuzz from my curls, please refrain from touching my hair. Thanks.

11. A full bottle of conditioner lasts a whole week if you’re lucky.

We somehow believe that if we use three times the amount of conditioner than the average person, our curls will behave. Even when we’re wrong, we still continue to glob it on.

12. You never know what kind of hair day you’re going to have.

Curly hair is unpredictable. If you don’t like the way your hair comes out in the morning, the only way to fix it is to take another shower and start from scratch.

13. Constantly being told, “I want your hair.”

No you don’t. Trust me, I’m saving your life.

14. You will always have a love-hate relationship with your curls.

Some days I love my hair, and some days I hate it. I don’t think you’re going to meet one curly-haired person who has decided on just one of these two feelings.

Having curly hair can be a struggle, but in the end, I wouldn’t want to trade it for the world.