Me and My Hair: A Love-Hate Relationship

After rereading Bri’s “hair tips from a redhead” from last year and reading Emma’s “My curly hair journey” from last week, I’ve been inspired to also talk about my hair!


When I was younger and my curls were still completely unruly, older women would always come up to me and ask if they could have it.

“Oh, I wish I could have your hair!” 

“Would you just give me some of your hair? You have enough for both of us!”

“I wish I had hair like yours!”

As a child, I used to think they meant it literally. So when they asked, I just stood there awkwardly and said thank you, even though on the inside I was trying to figure out how to tell them that I was too young to be bald.

Even still, I absolutely hated my hair.

The girls in my class started spending hours styling their hair before school as young as the second grade! Of course, some would sleep in rollers to curl their’s the night before an important day, but I always seemed to focus on the other curly/wavy haired girls that would could to school with their hair straighten.

My sister and I are the only ones in our family with curly/wavy hair. Everyone else’s is straight as a board, so there was no one to teach us how to take care of our hair properly. That’s probably why it’s taken until this year for me to really understand what it takes to have curly hair.

I used to try and straighten it, brush it out, and cake on products after products just to get it to lay down flat. My hair was fizzy and crunchy and just overall awful, which didn’t help my feelings toward it. Now I know that I was going about it all wrong.

The first thing I stopped doing was washing my hair every other night. I learned that when I shampooed my hair daily, it hurt it more than help it. From what I could gather, shampoo dries out curls and rids the hair of the natural oils that hold the curls together! So while I do still shower daily and condition every other day, no more shampoo!

I’ve also started cutting my own hair. The woman who used to cut my hair would straighten it first, then cut it, which didn’t look good curled. I’ve learned that my hair needs more layers to look good and while I still have a lot to learn, I’m enjoying the outcome so far! And I’m saving money, so that’s always a plus!

I’ve also cut down on the number of products I use on my hair. I use one conditioner in the shower, wash it out, put in leave-in conditioner (along with some oil I don’t know the name of) while it’s still wet, and then brush it out. I then wrap it in a t-shirt and usually just go to bed with it like that (I’m just lazy). In the mornings I use some sort of mousse (or gel/cream stuff) to make everything look okay and then I go on with my day. 

I understand that could have been a little confusing to read, considering that I don’t know exactly what any of the products I use are called, but I do hope it was somewhat helpful.

I found Bri’s and Emma’s blogs helpful and reassuring, so I just thought I’d give my two cents! Of course, I’m still learning. But I think that with every new thing I learn about my hair and how to take care of it, I grow to love it even more!

Of course, I still have bad hair days. Even as I write this I’m not too happy with how it looks. But even still, I love it. It’s beautiful and it’s something that I should love and take care of because’s it’s apart of me! And if another curly-haired person is reading this, just know your hair is also worth the time, effort, and love!

Author: Addison Laird

Just a Media trying her best

One thought on “Me and My Hair: A Love-Hate Relationship”

  1. oh my gosh, are we living the same life? I’ve been through all of these experiences…and girl drop the products you use..don’t be shy. (If I were on my phone I’d add a bunch of emojis behind that) BUT I’m so glad me and Bri inspired you to talk about it because it was such an enjoyable read. (Also) I’m so happy you reclaimed your curls, it took me a while too, but we did that. Our curls are BEAUTIFUL.

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