***This is a guest post written by Ella of My Curly Journey!! I’m so thankful she was willing to share her experiences with you all! Learn a little more about this sweet friend here.***
I’ve always been known for my hair. It’s big and red and curly, and I hated it. It was cute on a 4-year-old with ringlet curls, but it wasn’t so cute on an awkward 10-year-old whose mother had given up on brushing out her knots. I would see pictures of curly girls and their hair would always look so perfect, and mine just…didn’t. In fact, I remember one time when I was turned away from a hairdresser because my hair was too knotted.
By the time I was 12, my hair was one of my biggest insecurities. I stopped getting compliments on it, it made my face look chubbier than it was, and it was always just one big knot. People started saying things like “Oh, I wonder what your hair looks like when it’s straight!” In hopes of getting me to straighten it. I would stand in front of the mirror and wish I had straight, silky hair like so many of my friends. What I realize now is that if I had stopped looking in the mirror and hating my hair and used that energy to learn how to take care of it, I could have saved myself a lot of time.
It wasn’t until I was 16 that I realized how beautiful my hair could be if I simply took the time to take care of it. So, I asked my mom to make an appointment with her hairdresser (she goes to a swanky, upscale salon that makes me feel very adult-ish 😉 ). I spent 2 hours in the shower brushing out the knots in my hair and when I sat down in Jess’ (a fellow curly girl) chair, she proceeded to tell me how beautiful my hair was and gave me samples of products to try that would enhance my curls. That night when I went home, I looked at my hair in the mirror and saw something that I had never seen before: potential.
The next day was the first time I had ever put product other than shampoo and conditioner in my hair. I started using the products Jess gave me. I brushed my hair out every shower, and I would braid it at night in hopes of keeping the knots out of it. It wasn’t until June of 2017 that I discovered the Curly Girl Method that soon completely transformed my hair’s life.
For those of you who don’t know, the Curly Girl Method is a way of taking care of your hair that eliminates silicones, sulfates, heat, brushes and many other things that are damaging to your curls. Now, I am 8 months into my Curly Girl journey and I get complimented on my hair daily. Washing it is one of my favorite things, and I never, ever have the desire to straighten it.
You might be reading this thinking, “Okay, calm down. It’s just hair.” But, to me, it’s not just hair. My curly hair journey represents a new found self love that I never thought I would have. It represents a sense of confidence, passion and self care that I have never before possessed.
I spent 16 years of my life hating my hair. It was one of my least favorite things about myself. Now, I take better care of my hair than some people do their children, and I probably show it off more, too. I took one of the things that I hated most about myself and turned it into one of the things I love. All it took was a good look in the mirror, a little self love, and a whole lot of product.
So let this be a lesson to you. Your biggest insecurity now, whatever it may be, could someday be one of your biggest assets. You just have to embrace it. I promise, you CAN learn to like it. Maybe, just maybe, you could even learn to love it.
Love, Ella
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