My relationship with my hair is a love-hate one. People with naturally curly hair all understand the ultimate struggle of trying to embrace the “beast.” From hours spent on trying to straighten it to trying to make your curls look like you didn’t just roll out of bed, it is the ultimate struggle. Over the years, one must learn how to embrace what you’ve got and make it work for you.

1. Frizz.

This is literally everyone's worst nightmare. Frizz will get the best of you. No matter what you do and no matter how hard you try the frizz will find you. Rather you straighten your hair that day or leave it all natural the frizz will still be there. One can never truly escape this terrible monster.

2 Time.

Having curly hair involves a lot of time management. Straightening your hair can take hours on end and just simply trying to style your curls can take a while. Just straightening one's hair is a job itself.

3. Haircuts.

Another nightmare. Most of the time when one gets a haircut, the stylist sprays it with water and brushes or combs it out, just this alone can make one's hair grow in length and that's how they cut it, but once it dries it's going to be a lot shorter. Sure, they may cut an inch off, of wet hair. One inch of wet hair = 3 inches of curly, dry hair.

4. Humidity.

Humidity is the absolute worst enemy of those with curly hair. You can't fight it, you can't run from it and you sure can't hide from it, it will get the best of you. Humidity can take one's hair from normal volume to three times its size in a matter of seconds. Even in the middle of winter, humidity still gets the best of us. You can literally feel your hair growing and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.

5. Shedding.

Hair! Hair! Everywhere! I swear I shed more than my dog and it's so sad. All over my house, you can find curly hairs everywhere. On my clothes, jackets, school supplies, everywhere. It never fails. I'm surprised I still have any hair left.

6. Brushing.

It is a common rule amongst curly haired people, that one must never brush their hair when it's dry. If one does, all you're left with is a big ball of a frizzy, nappy nest, or as my dad calls it, a rat's nest. Brushing dry hair pulls out all of the curls and just leaves it poofy and unmanageable.

7. Rain.

Rain isn't that bad when you're leaving your hair natural, sure it could mess up the curls but sometimes it actually helps one tame it, but when it's straight that's another story. One drop of rain on straight hair can instantly ruin a day's work and makes it curly, if not just as curly, as it was before it was straight. What a waste of time. It never fails when I straighten my hair it rains.

8. “I wish I had your hair."

This is something I get a lot. Sure, I can wear my hair straight and curly and it looks good either way but having curly hair is hard work. Like I said earlier, having curly hair is a love-hate relationship. Sometimes I find myself wishing I had straight hair, but only few can actually have curly hair and that's something to be proud of.

9. Hair ties.

RIP to the many hair ties that I have broken over the years. It is always so hard to find a good hair tie and when one does you most hold on to it like a lost treasure. Once that one is gone, it's a struggle all over again to find a good one. Another rule amongst those with curly hair is to always have one. Rather it be a spare one in your purse or one around your wrist you always have to have an extra one because you never know when your trusty one may break.

10. “Yes, this is my natural hair.”

Why would one try to fake this hair? In case one hasn't notice, natural curly hair is not something that can easily be reproduced like straight hair and even with a curling wand, one can not come close to achieving hair that looks like it is natural.

11. Bad hair days. And a lot of them.

As a person with curly hair, one must embrace the fact that not everyday is going to be a good hair day, actually most of them will probably not be. Your curls are not always going to be perfectly curly and your hair isn't going to fall the way you want it to. Some days it's going to be more humid than others and some days it's going to rain, but that's okay. Take it with a grain of salt. Out of all the bad days one will have, one will have a good day to make up for it.

12. Bottomless pit.

I have lost so many bobby pins in my hair it's not even a joke anymore. Prom night I had over 30 pins in my hair and by the end of the night I could only find half of those. Over the course of the next three days I was pulling out the lost ones.

13. Bun days, fun days.

A majority of the time my go to hairstyle is a simple bun. Buns allow me to hide the frizzy mess of the day unlike ponytails. Ponytails are nice when the hair looks good, but on bad hair days mixed with a ponytail can cause one to look like they have a huge poof ball on their head.

14. “Why don’t you straighten your hair more? It looks better that way.”

I don't straighten my hair very often and when I do its mostly for holidays and a few events throughout the year. Some thoughts on straightening our hair more often:

1. Straightening the hair takes hours.

2. Who has the time to spend that long on HAIR?

3. I could watch three episodes on Netflix instead of straightening my hair.

4. Is it really worth it?

5. If you like it so much, you do it for me then.

15. The best of both worlds.

With having curly hair, your pretty much guaranteed two different looks. When one straightens their hair they become a whole new person. Most people get used to you with curly hair so when they finally see the straight hair side of you they find it hard to believe it's the same person.

16. The surprise.

Waking up each morning and looking in the mirror is a surprise. You have no idea how your hair will look that day and what you have to work with. It's sort of a scary process to go through each day when you think about it.

17. “Can I touch it?!”

This is something I have never understood. Why are people obsessed with touching our hair? Even when my hair is straight people still want to touch it and as much as one wants to say, "No, please don't, your hand may get lost in there,' you let them do it and pray their hand actually won't get lost.

18. Becoming your own weatherman.

It becomes a habit to look at the weather every day, not simply for the fact of what to wear but how you should style your hair. Sunny and a 90 percent chance of rain... right to a bun.

19. Washing.

I will be the first one to admit that if I have straightened my hair or if I'm having a good day I will try to make it last as long as I can. Three days tops without washing your hair is enough though, it's time to let it go.

20. Broken hairbrushes.

I can not tell you how many hairbrushes that I have broken in my lifetime. Hairbrushes constantly get stuck in my hair and while trying to pull them out they either end up breaking at the handle or the actual brush part pulls apart from the body of the brushes. That's why it's a good idea to invest in sturdy hairbrushes and combs.

21. Arm workouts.

Who needs to go to the gym for arms when you have a head full of hair to tame? Straightening your hair is an arm workout in itself.

22. The hair products.

So.Many.Hair.Products. You can spend so much money on hair products and by the time you find one that actually works, you may as well stock up on it because before long stores will stop selling it... trust me.

23. Drying.

It takes my hair pretty much all day to fully dry, and forget hair dryers because all they do it make your hair look frizzy. Air-drying is the way to go but if it takes all day, good luck my friends.

24. Bangs are a no-go.

Trust me on this one. I wanted bangs so badly my senior year of high school so I got them... big mistake. Bangs mixed with curly hair only make your bangs look choppy and you have yourself a one-way ticket to the Hot Mess Express. It takes forever for them to grow back out and they take so much work.

25. "Why do you always wear your hair up?"

Along with being really curly, my hair is also really thick, meaning its super hot even in the winter. Along with this and the bad hair days, my hair is always up in a bun or in a braid.

26. Eating your hair.

Ninety-nine percent of the time, you end up having more hair in you mouth than the food you are actually attempting to eat. If your hair was up or pinned back then this problem would occur less.

27. Short hair.

If you have short, curly hair then props to you. I cut my hair in 6th grade and had a mini Afro and everyone called me Fluffy (really bad times). One has to find the right length for their style of hair, if not you may end up being called Fluffy like I was. I have found that the longer your hair is the more defined the curl is.

28. Obsession with having straight hair.

When I do straighten my hair, I have a really bad obsession of making sure every piece of hair is pin straight and even that doesn't happen. Why waste your time straightening your hair if it's not all straight?

29. Trying to put on clothes without ruining your hair.

Ever had a really good hair day... until you got ready for the day? It happens to the best of us. We all go through awkward methods of putting on clothes just to make sure we don't mess up our hair.

30. Growth.

Curly hair can grow in length when it's wet or straight. It's amazing to see shoulder length curly hair grow three inches just by straightening it. It's actual magic.

31. Wind.

Ever wanted to be one of those people that can ride with the windows down in a car and look hot while doing so? Well forget that. When you have curly hair wind and hair do not mix well. Instead of looking hot, you're going to end up looking like a hot mess trying to keep your hair at bay and from knotting.

At the end of the day, one must embrace what they have. Sometimes, as much as I wish I had straight hair all the time, I know deep down that curly hair fits me and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Love what you've got and Work it!