My Curly Hair History

I always thought my hair history was crazy… until I started talking to other curlies. Turns out, we all have a similar, horrific past when it comes to our hair. You probably didn’t discover your curl potential until late in life because you brushed too much, you probably had your hair ruined by a hairdresser who insisted she had experience in cutting curls, and you probably straightened your hair way way way too much. We’ve all been there!

The Forgotten Years

Up until the age of 13, I had no idea what to do with my hair. It was mainly straight, but with an undeniable frizz, so everyday I brushed it and pulled it right back into a tight ponytail. Cringe. I hated my hair and couldn’t stand all my friends with straight, shiny hair. Bitches.

Trendy!

The Getting There Years

Until! My mum’s curly friend gave me a product to try, some kind of Herbal Essences cream, that absolutely wasn’t CG friendly. It wasn’t perfect, and I was still dry-brushing my hair (yikes), but wearing my hair kinda curly got me so many compliments that I never looked back!

I called this the 'super noodle' look

My hairdresser at the time had always claimed she knew how to cut curly hair, but she ruined my whole life. She insisted I needed layers, but cut only TWO, yes two, layers. The bottom half was so much longer than the top half, and no matter how hard I protested she insisted it was what I needed. This led to my addiction of half-up-half-down hair, an addiction I’m still trying to beat almost 10 years later!

HORRIFIC

The Almost There Years

My life was finally saved at age 16, when I bought my prom dress and the store owner recommended a new hairdresser. I remember she took one look at my hair and said, ‘where’s the other half? You have a chunk missing!’ It took about a year of visiting her regularly to get my hair looking right again. I still have no idea if layers are right for me or not, but what I do know is that I am TERRIFIED of even trying them… but I’ll get there.

It was with this new hairdresser that I started bleaching my hair with blonde highlights. I LOVED IT. I know, I know, bleach does nothing but damage, but I was finally happy with the way I looked (I also have to thank puberty and makeup tutorials for this). HOWEVER, I was in college at this point and I could only afford to have my highlights done about twice a year, which meant that for most of my life I looked like a dark-rooted monster. I decided it was time to go with a box dye (actually, three boxes). This was three years ago, and I just topped it up last week. I know this is a curly girl sin, but I just prefer my hair dyed. My natural colour isn’t too different to the colour I choose, so I could quit anytime… I promise…

Damage city

Browny brown brown

The Perfect Years…?

So what does the future hold? Somewhere along the line I’ve picked up bad habits and I’ve stopped my hair from reaching its full potential. I get major frizz, I’m terrified of wearing my hair entirely down, and I generally do not treat my curls with kindness. It’s time to make a change, starting with delving right into the Curly Girl method, finding the perfect product and building up some damn confidence!

Here’s to the cringey curls of the past!

Leah

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