confession

Hello.  My name is Darci, and I'm addicted to my flat iron.  I haven't used (it) in 18 days.  But this morning I came very, very close. 

Many of you may be a little shocked to know that I don't actually have straight hair.  I just pretend that I do.  See, ever since I got a straightener around age 14 or so, I have basically had 2 hairstyles:  straightened until you can't see an ounce of a wave, or pulled into a bun when I figure the 30-40 minutes of straightening isn't worth it. 

Maybe it was my hair getting a bit long.  Maybe it was a new level of lazy and wanting to sleep in just a few more precious minutes in the morning.  Or maybe it was pure jealousy that my dear (balding) husband only takes 20 seconds (really, though...) to do his hair in the mornings.  In any case, I borrowed "Curly Girl" from a curly-haired friend, and took diffuser advice from another curly-haired friend, and before I knew it I gave up the straightener altogether. 

So far, anyhow.  In case anyone wants to know, here's the run-down on why and how I did it am doing it.

In a nutshell, Curly Girl talks about how damaging blow-drying and particularly straightening is for your hair.  I knew this, which is why a few years ago I started using better shampoo and a heat protectant spray, to combat my breaking hair.  But Curly Girl is a step beyond that.  It maintains that straightening your hair EVER will destroy any kind of wave you have.  In order to preserve and even ENCOURAGE that wave, blow-dryers and flat irons are a big no-no.  The longer you refrain from using them, the more and more your hair can move toward its true wavy potential.

Yes, a bit cheesy.  But its true.  And luckily my curiosity for just how wavy my hair can be is overriding my need to reach for that straightener.  That curiosity has led me to take the full curly girl approach--looking at ingredients on shampoos/conditioners, buying mousse, putting away my brush, scrunching, diffusing, all of it.  And just how curly is my hair, you ask?  Well...

So there ya go.  I'm having a bit of a hair identity crisis.  All my life I've had straight hair, and now I'm wavy.  Its a lot easier, that's for sure.  But some days I kinda agree with the five year old that saw me at work and said, "What's wrong with your hair?!"  I guess we'll just see how long I can stay off the straightener ( :

love, the hills