Please Help ME! Making Peace with your Hair

Last week I received an email and in the subject line it read, “PLEASE HELP ME!”:

Hi Jen,

I really need some help and I was wondering if you could help me out. I have really REALLY thick curly hair. It’s longer than shoulder length (about half way down my chest). I am so sick of looking at my hair this way. I was never taught how to manage my hair properly because my mother has the exact opposite of what I have (so I blame my father for my torture. haha.) I’m so sick of looking at it that I want to cut….I want it all done. I want to do a short hair style but is there one that you would recommend? (pictures would be helpful so I can take it to a salon) Thanks so much for your time. - S

My first reaction is empathy, deep, sincere empathy.

Dear “S” you are not alone,

I just got your message and would love to help you.  Have you spent any time on the naturallycurly.com website?  If not, if you could go to the http://www.naturallycurly.com/hair-types page and tell me what kind of specific hair type you have.

I am a 3A, and it sounds like you might be a 3C or possibly a 4A.  There are a lot of wonderful techniques and products that I would love you to try.   If you can, visit your library and check out the book, “Curly Girl,” by Lorraine Massey, the curly girls BIBLE!

And just hold off for a bit on the haircut until you have researched this out and found a hairstylist that really understands curly hair (not many do).  You will want a dry cut, not a wet one, you need someone who spends time to see your curl pattern and can enhance what you have, and no razors allowed, ever!!!

I grew up in a family where everyone had “normal hair” except me, so they were all as bewildered as I was!  It took me 38 years to discover the naturally curly method, and I am so happy you are going to learn to love your own hair, you really will.  Curly girls are IN, we are what is hip and what everyone wants right now, so by learning how to work with it is going to be an amazing experience for you.

I have written a ton of curly hair articles on Mythbuster Beauty, including the post where I worked with Tracy while she took the three week naturally curly challenge:

The Three Week Naturally Curly Challenge: On this post, you can read where we talk about specific curly hair rules, like no brushing, no shampooing, no blow frying, I mean drying!

Thank you so much for trusting me and sharing this part of your life with me.  If you can give me your hair type information then I can search for some photos and continue on this journey to fabulous hair.

Best,  Jen

*This is a picture of a rose in my garden, it is a “Love and Peace” rose, which I think is an appropriate theme to making peace with your hair!