All the people who told me they would die for my hair when I was younger obviously never had to deal with it on a daily basis.
I have extremely curly, thick hair that is almost impossible to tame. When I was younger, the only way to deal with it was by wearing it extremely short. When I was in sixth grade, I decided to grow it out – a process that took two years.
After it grew out, I encountered a catch-22 – there were more ways I could style my hair, but the length made it even harder to manage. With my hair being as thick as it is, it was almost impossible to straighten.
I attempted several methods to try and straighten my hair. I had it professionally chemically straightened, straightened out of a home kit and used curling irons and straightening creams with a blow dryer. Nothing worked. When I was a sophomore in high school, a friend from choir class introduced me to my new best friend.
She told me about a flat iron called the CHI, Ceramic Hair Iron. I saved up for a month and bought one from a hair salon and immediately loved it. The iron gets hot enough that it can tame even the wildest frizz, the kinkiest curls and also can get close to the scalp for best results. It’s the flat iron the professionals use. Twenty minutes with that flat iron, and I could get my hair beautifully straight.
When I wash my hair, I spritz it afterward with John Frieda’s Frizz-Ease Detangling Conditioner and brush it through. I still go to the hairstylist every three months to get my hair trimmed and thinned out – a process involving a special pair of scissors which cut pieces off of each strand.
Every six months, I also get my hair relaxed. The relaxer makes it less frizzy and easier to manage. Though my hair is chemically relaxed, it still needs extra attention to make it presentable.
Recently, I discovered a procedure so I can wear my hair curly. Immediately after getting out of the shower, I put the detangler in and brush it through. While it’s still damp, I take a fairly good-sized amount of Garnier Curl Cream and apply it throughout my hair. Then, I put on a lot of hairspray, so when it dries, it will hold the curl. This formula helped erase a lot of problems with frizziness. Instead of having small curls that go everywhere, I have perfect curls that have enough weight and product in them to fall straight down.
My hair is a part of my life. Hopefully with these tips, I can help someone else learn how to tame their crazy curls.
Wendy Haun is a senior in print journalism. Please send comments to edge@spub.ksu.edu.