(no subject)

There was a little girl,
Who had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good,
She was very good indeed,
But when she was bad she was horrid.

my hair was short, above the ears short, for most of my childhood. there was a mullet at one point, and it did once get just past my chin all over, but i didn't actually grow it out until i was about 17. it always wanted to stand straight up or stick out. mom was always trying to smooth it out and turn the ends under, and complained about all my "cowlicks". she also had a thing about stopping stylists from layering my hair. what i discovered when it got long enough all over was that it wasn't actually straight-but-unruly, it was wavy.

it's only in the last few years that i've made a genuine effort to embrace the curl, and accept that what it wants to do is be messy. i'm on curly girl method attempt 2.5, and it's finally doing things i like.

stuff i had to learn about my hair:

• my hair hates added proteins - silk, coconut, all that (i have a little conditioner graveyard)


• no towels for drying hair, only t-shirts


• don't brush it


• stuff that works for tighter curls will often straighten my hair


• anything that seals moisture in also seals moisture out and has to be completely stripped, if used at all


• too short and the curl pattern won't develop, too long and the weight pulls it out

i don't get knots in my hair anymore, and most days it doesn't get touched with a comb at all. my curl pattern is tightening up - i would have called myself 2a/2b when i started out, now i see more 2c and i'm starting to get a 3a ringlet falling over my right eye. i'm thinking more about what i'm doing, but i'm not spending any extra time.

the best part: after a bunch of faffing around, the 99 cent Suave conditioner that smells edible is better than any expensive stuff that i've tried. i do still have a bottle of everything-free fancy shampoo, but since i only shampoo about once a week, it lasts forever.

currently i'm trying not wetting my hair in the shower on at least day 2 and day 3 after a wash. i have a spray bottle of water mixed with a dollop of the aforementioned conditioner; a spritz of that all over and a little finger-raking conquers bedhead.