My entire life whenever someone has asked me "What's your favorite thing about yourself?" I have never hesitated to answer...
My hair
Ever since I was a tiny babe I have had a huge mane of curly hair. Just curls upon curls. My hair was so curly my parents constantly struggled with it. My mom had a massive collection of detangling sprays and carried around a special comb for curly hair in her purse. There is even actual audio recording of me crying while my dad brushed my hair when I was six years old because it was just so impossibly thick and curly. I eventually just stopped brushing it when it became my own chore to which my dad just would scoff and respond "RATS NEST"
My grandma used to always tell me this little poem in her sing song voice while she buttered and rolled my bread crusts (BECAUSE CRUSTS MAKE YOUR HAIR CURL as she always told me since I would otherwise refuse to eat them.)
There once was a girl
Who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forhead
and when she was good, she was very very good
but when she was bad, she was HORRID
Then her and my mother would laugh because it was just so true about me. I just liked that it was about my curls and not how I was a horrid little monster.
When I got into middle school I started getting bullied. Kids called me "Carrot Top" (I had strawberry blonde, curly hair and since kids made fun of me for being PALE I tried to use self tanner which just made me turn orange. Hence.... Carrot Top) They even drew cartoons of me as a carrot. This was the first time I was ever self conscious about my hair. I tried to straighten it for the rest of middle school but I realized how my love for my hair was stronger than some stupid kids.
My hair has been many different lengths and MANY different colors but always, always it has been curly. With this much hair it can tend to look pretty... messy. Especially since my hair can't be brushed. It may look like it doesn't take a lot of effort but my hair takes HOURS to do. I am not shitting you, my hair takes around 6 hours to fully dry. If I ever tell you I can't hang out because I need to wash my hair, I am not joking. The most frustrating thing? It dries different every single time. So my curls will never, ever look the same. It's a crap shoot on if the 6 hours of drying is even going to turn up good results. But it's worth it. I wouldn't exchange my curls for anything in the world.
Now that I am a full fledged adult I have learned how to properly take care of my hair. I don't just spray it full of detangler and pray for the best. I have a very specific routine that I follow religiously and my hair has never been healthier or had better curls. Except for when I was little, why was my hair SO BEAUTIFUL when I was little for no reason???
Deep Condition and leave-in for 1-2 hours with
Shea Moisture Coconut Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie
Cleanse roots and massage scalp with DevaCurl Buildup Buster
Cleanse hair with DevaCurl No-Poo Decadence Milk Cleanser while finger combing
(After rinsing it all out I leave two pumps in and soak my hair with water)
Leave-In DevaCurl Leave-In Decadence (Rake in upside down)
Gel Aussie Instant Freeze Sculpting Gel (Rake In upside down)
Plop for 15 minutes and then air dry to 100%
Scrunch out the crunch with Shea Moisture 100% Pure Argan Oil