My natural hair texture falls into a couple of different categories. The top layers of my hair have a very loose wavy pattern, and the right side has tighter waves than the left side. This weirdness/uneven curl pattern business made finding a hair stylist a nightmare adventure, and speaking of that, when my friend Alis, who has been doing my hair for years — she lives in Las Vegas now but comes back to the Bay Area every few weeks to do her clients’ hair — finally decides that she’s over traveling and stays in Vegas for good, I’m gonna cry so many glittery tears…
Anyway, what was I saying?
Oh, yeah! — that whole uneven curl pattern business has led to many disastrous haircuts over the years, with the right side ending up shorter than the left. It’s been a verifiable pain in the @ss.
To make matters even more complicated, underneath my top layers my hair is straight, so I have TWO different textures going on, and at this point in my life, I don’t really do anything to fight it. I kind of just go with the flow. At the most, I’ll wash it and let it air dry, then use a large-barrel curling iron to add some waves around my face to kind of get them to curl out and away from my face.
But, girl, you should’ve seen my hair in the the mid-’90s and early-2000s. Basically, I fought the law, and the law won.
No, really, I fought my waves so hard. Straight hair was the thing, and this was way before the era of flat irons, so I had to use a round brush, a hairdryer and lots patience to blow out my hair. I had straight hair from like 1996 to probably about 2006… It took a lot of effort to fight the waves.
Now I just go with it. It’s just so much easier, and my hair is in much better shape.
So, what’s your natural hair texture like, and do you try to go with it, or do you like to change it up? Let me know in the comments.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. Shoot, I just realized that I didn’t even watch ONE scary movie this Halloween. I usually at least watch the original Halloween (the one with Jamie Lee Curtis).
P.P.S. Well, it looks like Connor Claire finally has her first real cold. She was very uncomfortable all night. That other cold-like thing she had a couple months ago turned out to be teething, I think, but the symptoms were just like a cold, except that they went away overnight. This time, though, really seems like a cold. Poor thing is currently not very happy.
She had tons of fun trick or treating, but then around bed time her nose really started running, and it went downhill from there. Her Uncle Tabby has been very attentive and trying to cheer her up.
My hair is naturally very fine and straight. I’ve given up on fighting it because it doesn’t work anyway ? I’d love curls or waves bit my hair just does not hold it, and my natural hair is pretty low maintenance. I wash, condition, usually do some sort of leave in detangler or something almost every day, air dry, and it’s pretty healthy, especially considering it’s really long (mid back)
My hair used to be all straight, but after the pregnancies I now notice some waviness in the bottom layers, very loose waves. They make my hair look unkempt if I leave them be, si I usually wear it up.
My hair is very straight and flat and I have a cowlick right in the front on the right. Even the stylists I’ve gone to have had trouble coaxing it into a bob (it’s a little below chin length) so I usually rough dry it and then curl it with a curling iron. But since I live in Florida, the curl only lasts as long as it takes to go outside and then my hair just looks bad. I tell my husband I haven’t had a good hair day since we moved here.
Naturally curly (2B/3A) with coarser hair in the back and finer hair near the front. I have never tried to fight it and finally got it under control in my early 20s with a combination of a decent haircut and product. I’m slowly growing my hair back out (it’s very slow because my hair gets curlier as it gets longer) and I’ll keep it long once I get it to BSL.
My youngest sister, with similar hair, did fight it, but it was an hour blowout each time. She has also given up on trying to straighten.
My hurr is on the oily side, fine and quite straight, no matter what kind of cut I get. I had a lob for a while there, but got sick of it and got short layers in the front. I want to grow it just to boob level ha ha. I haven’t dyed my tresses in a few years and I appreciate my natural color now! I never did in my teens, but I get compliments on more than I ever thought I would. Do I fight it? I wish! My hair holds nothing! Ever! I would love to have curls or waves sometimes but it always goes flat no matter the temp outside or the products that I use. Le sigh. Typically I wash, air dry a bit, blow dry to complete dry, and put it up because I cannot stand hair in my face when I’m at work. The only time it’s down to dangle in my eyes and tickle my face is for pictures or date nights. Husband better appreciate! Ha.
So much to address! First of all, that is a beautiful picture of you. 🙂 Secondly, your hair grows so fast – I can’t believe how long it looks again. It must be awesome when you want a hair cut you don’t like to grow out. HAHA!
My hair is something I’m learned to appreciate more than complain about as I’m older. It’s fine, but I do have a lot of it, so it doesn’t look thin. The top is very slightly wavy and from about the bottom of my ears down, it has more of a loose spiral curl pattern. Sadly, I have terrible cowlicks in the front so my bang area is always a disaster. 🙂 I’ve always preferred curls for myself – I find it really hard to pull off stick-straight hair (unless you have perfect features), so I don’t fight it. Except the bangs and, like you, Bobby Fuller Four. HAHA!
I only play a doctor on Google but don’t be surprised if the teething goes on for quite a while (it always seems like a cold but most kids will chew, noticeably, their fingers or other objects). That said, my boys were always sick with something (daycare) and, by the time they were in Kindergarten, their immune systems were champs, so there is an upside. 🙂 Children’s Advil was a winner for us when they poor things were really miserable.
So glad Connor had a great time Trick or Treating! The fellas didn’t change their minds and were definitely too cool. 🙁
My natural texture is… kinda weird? My hair is relatively fine and more smooth than coarse, but can be coaxed straight or curly depending on the products I use. It gets greasy pretty quickly – within a day, typically, though I’m slooooowly stretching that. (thank heavens for dry shampoo.)
If I leave it to its own devices (no styling whatsoever), it’s usually relatively flat, somewhat wavy one one side, and straight on the other! Over the last few months, though, I’ve been co-washing (full disclosure, I joined a somewhat-cultish “curly girls” co-washing facebook group, LOL) and have been learning how to encourage the natural wave. Mousse has been my go-to styling aid, and my mind/preconceptions about my hair have been blown to bits! When I really work hard to encourage the natural “curl,” I – every once in a while – get one or two LEGIT SPIRALS amid the waves! I almost never brush my hair anymore. I use weird words like “plop” and abbreviate phrases like “scrunch out the crunch.” Life is crazy, lol.
I always thought I had really bad cowlicks at my temples – turns out they’re curls that just didn’t have an opportunity to make an appearance! I’ve also noticed the curl/wave pattern tends to be a bit tighter towards the base of my head… which is sort of weird but also interesting, lol. I’ve really had to come to peace with the fact that my hair will always be a little cray when I wear it wavy, but that’s part of the beauty of it. Let it goooooo, haha.
My hair is fine, limp and dead straight. I’ve been hiding these qualities all my life! For years I had perms so it would look long and curly. Now, I leave it straight but sometimes use a curling iron to get some body, but I always get it dyed a shade that I call ‘Hollywood Blonde’ to give it some thickness!! Like Savannah, I wear it up most of the time and I’m trying to find a sexy updo. Mostly I wear it like saw the 19C ladies in Bergman’s film Fanny and Alexandra…
I have kinky curly African American hair. I wore a relaxer for many years but never wore my hair straight it was always curly. About 5 years ago I shaved my hair off and grew it out natural. It got really big over the years and a few months ago I cut it down to a tapered cut for easier styling. These days I do not manipulate the texture at all. I just enjoy all of my kinky curly goodness.
Super fine hair that’s straight when it’s short and slightly wavy when it gets to be chin length. I sometimes put product in it to create more volume, but mostly I just leave it be. I haven’t the patience to fight with my hair.
Sorry to hear Connor is not feeling well. I hope she feels better quickly. Virtual hugs and snuggles from me and Nora kitty to her.
I naturally have messy wavy hair. I mean I have undefined waves. With some nice volume though. But I like to straighten my hair to tame it and make it easier to deal with. I wear my hair mostly down or half up if it’s not clean.
Wow Karen! The description of your hair sounds EXACTLY like mine. I’ve said for years my hair has multiple personality disorder. I too straightened my hair with a blowdryer and round brush for years every single day (dry shampoo just wasn’t a thing in the 90’s right?)! No need for pushups, my arms were ripped just from blowdrying my hair.
About 15 years ago, I finally accepted my wavy, strait, curly hair type and now just let it air dry and do its thing. I swear my hair only looks okay if I ask my stylist to cut my hair dry. Sure my arms aren’t in shape anymore, but at least my hair is a lot healthier. Any chance I can borrow Alis sometime? 🙂
I have wavy hair and I tried to fight its natural texture for a long time. Then waves became cool and I discovered the joys of air drying!
One funny thing is that my hair got much wavier as I got over 30. It was straight-ish when I was young, but now it’s almost curly at the tips.
I have thick, 3A, belly button length curly hair~! I never wear my hair straight ahaha. I love to show off to the world, curly hair don’t care!