For those of you who do not know me personally, I have struggled with problem hair my whole life. As a child I suffered from seborrheic dermatitis. I was forced to use prescription shampoos that smelled bad and burned my eyes to the point where my mom would wash my hair in the sink for me.
Texturally, my hair was reasonably manageable until puberty when it decided it wanted to be mostly straight on the top layers and curly and coarse underneath. I never knew what to do with it so I would invariably brush it when it was dry, inadvertently poofing the curly underparts and causing a look that I affectionately call "The White Girl Afro." I was that girl in high school that was recognizable only by her hair and whose yearbook pictures had no noticeable backdrop because her hair took up all the space in the photograph. My shadow looked like a girl walking with a pyramid sitting on her shoulders. I never used a flat iron or a blow dryer and usually tied it back in a poofy ponytail to keep it from suffocating me in my sleep.
Texturally, my hair was reasonably manageable until puberty when it decided it wanted to be mostly straight on the top layers and curly and coarse underneath. I never knew what to do with it so I would invariably brush it when it was dry, inadvertently poofing the curly underparts and causing a look that I affectionately call "The White Girl Afro." I was that girl in high school that was recognizable only by her hair and whose yearbook pictures had no noticeable backdrop because her hair took up all the space in the photograph. My shadow looked like a girl walking with a pyramid sitting on her shoulders. I never used a flat iron or a blow dryer and usually tied it back in a poofy ponytail to keep it from suffocating me in my sleep.
After high school, I finally gathered the courage to chop it all off. It went from being mid-back length to about 3-4 inches long. I donated it to Locks of Love but I still can't imagine who would want a wig with my hair texture. The haircut wasn't the best but being free of all that hair was empowering. I couldn't believe I hadn't had the guts to do it sooner. I got to use cute barrettes, headbands, and scarves that would have gotten lost in my hair before. It took me 30 seconds to wash it and a fraction of the shampoo I was using before.
Ironically enough, during college I ended up with a job working as a receptionist at a high end salon in Delray Beach. This was quite the leap for a girl who'd never used a flat iron before. Needless to say, over the three years I worked there I had countless hairstyles and colors and learned how to utilize every type of heated styling instrument there is. For the first time in my life I had hair I wasn't embarrassed of.
When I got the ax from that job I went over a year without stepping foot into a salon. I suffered through the awkward growing out stages with headbands and scarves. As soon as it got long enough I started flat ironing it into submission.
Currently, my hair is about an inch past my shoulders. I still suffer from an itchy scalp and poofy hair. Most of the time I wear it curly, with a handful of product to try and keep it under control. If I'm too lazy for that I just pull it back in a ponytail. I rarely bother to straighten it and don't much like the way it looks when it is. Thankfully, I work at a job that requires me to wear scrub caps all day so no one sees my hair. This means bad hair days no longer cause me to be insecure about what I look like. The down side is perpetual hat head and an extra itchy scalp.
I wash my hair about three times a week using Selsun Blue or Dove depending on how much my scalp is bothering me. I am not attached to either brand. In fact, I find the Selsun Blue does nothing to improve my scalp and the Dove makes my hair extra poofy. I am ready for a change.
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