I went down the YouTube rabbit hole and it turns out, I’m naturally curly. I guess I kind of knew it, but I never fully embraced it.
But never fear, the Internet is here!
And they brought this manual, nay, Bible, that Curly Girls must read:
And roughly 4 bajillion videos about how to get your natural curl groove back
I like this channel a lot
and then there’s this lady, with a short primer about the 400 products one needs to get started with this journey (but I think her hair is pretty similar to mine; good to have realistic expectations)
I believe I am in love with this woman but I feel pretty sure my thin blonde hair will never do what hers does
We’re not big into “product.” I have little hair remaining, so I usually keep it short. And the boys like the freedom of wash-n-wear hair, because if there is water nearby, they’re going in it. And mostly we menfolk shower outside because the women hog the bathrooms in the morning. And RatWoman likes that she can do us all in fifteen minutes total.
I have wavy hair, which is just big curls, like different size waves in the ocean. If cut short, you don’t see any curls or waves. I like to keep it fairly long, though, which sort-of hides the fact that my head is huge by keeping things in good proportion. However, it becomes very unruly. I get parts that curl up consistently and won’t stay down if past a certain length - sort of like a cowlick, but not exactly.
I have a friend who does hair - he worked at a salon near here but recently moved to NYC and does hair for fashion shows and photoshoots and things. So I needed to find a new person to cut my hair, and found an amazing person who knew exactly what to do with my hair to make it look cool, but not like I intentionally wanted it to look cool, and be reasonably manageable with minimal effort, and have it last a good amount of time - I’m at a point long past where I should have gotten it cut and I’m not getting the impossible curls that I usually do because she knew just how to thin it without taking away the length I want and so that they stay in place longer. Haircuts with her are rather expensive, which is why I’ve gone longer than I should have before going back, but, you get what you pay for.
I also found a nice product called “R+Co Cactus Texturizing Shampoo” (I believe my friend got paid to promote the brand, but it seems to be genuinely good). I don’t use it very often because it’s quite expensive for shampoo, but it’s kind of amazing for what it does - it adds texture, as you’d expect from the name, but also has a mild hold-in-place effect. I mean, the amazing thing is not that, it’s that you just use it as shampoo in the shower and you don’t have to do anything afterwards. It’s fairly subtle - no Dapper Dan or Brylcream effect - but can make a nice difference with minimal effort (for a price). I also have a regular paste (as opposed to gel) product from the same brand that works well, but it’s meant to be a light hold with a matte appearance and doesn’t really help as much as would be ideal with the runaway curls. It does work well to keep everything overall in place though without needing as much combing (my hair gets pretty wild with just moderate wind), and it’s absolutely invisible, no shine or other obvious appearance that you’re wearing hair product.
My hair philosophy is similar to my choice in clothes - I want to look as good as possible without looking like I’m trying to look good. In clothing that means good tailoring and nice fabrics, but a casual, slightly rumpled vibe overall. Exactly the same with the hair.
My hair hasn’t resumed falling out post-partum yet. While it looks healthy and thick, I actually just want to have a manageable number of hairs on my head again.
I did the curly girl thing today and wasn’t really happy with the results - not terrible, but the curls were too crispy. So I did the forbidden and combed through my curls with a wide-toothed comb and now they little more wavy and less poodle-crunch. I think with my hair being so fine I need less gel than I am seeing a lot of YouTubers use. I’d even be interested in trying it without gel or with very little.
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