Bad Hair Day

I hear so many people vent frustration over their hair. Growing up with curly hair and being called “mop head” in school, I was unhappy with my hair well into my 30′s. Then, one day I found a t-shirt “Bad hair day” and stopped caring. What a do-rag won’t cover up, the t-shirt will explain the rest.

To anyone with the slightest bit of wave, I highly recommend reading “Curly Girl The Handbook” by Lorraine Massey. The book is obviously advertised for women. I suspect men are unlikely to find many of the suggested hair styles useful and prefer beer to lavender in their hair treatments, but the same advise definately applies to men.

“The Curly Girl” has a tag line “more than just hair … it’s an attitude.” Indeed, hair is not just about the stuff on top of your head, but how you carry it. I selected the “I could give a rats ass” attitude. Sure, people might talk behind my back, but it hasn’t become bad enough for anyone to tell me to my face. Besides, I already beat them to it. “Bad hair day”, remember?

Before reading more on hair care, I fought with drynesss and frizz daily. To improve it, I said screw society’s social pressures and followed the advise of hair professionals. Stop using so much shampoo! Some say to use no shampoo at all, substituting instead conditioner with baking soda to exfoliate the scalp. Others advise to be more selective of the shampoo you do use and learn to use it properly. Shampoo is made for the scalp. Conditioner is made for the hair. Some shampoos contain harsh chemicals that remove the natural oils needed for health hair and Hair Loss Buddy even claims it can cause balding.

Conditioning habits also affect what kind of day your hair has. First you’ll want to pick the right conditioner for your hair. For your typical conditioning check out the WikiHowFor a deep conditioning Myth Buster Beauty has some advise. For advise on shampooing and conditioning natural hair, I give you the Hair Doctor video.

Finally, a lot is to be said for a good hair stylist. If you have curly hair, find someone that understands curls. This person does not have to be a pricy $50 a cut stylist. A stylist from SuperCuts refused to use thinning shears on my hair, because they damage the hair and cause poofiness and frizziness. Getting the right hair cut is what I needed, not the thinning many other stylists performed. Curls behave differently than straight hair and therefore need to be cut differently than straight hair. Finding a stylist that is right for your hair might not happen in one try or ten, but locating this person is the best way to keep your tress from becoming a mess.

Curly hair items I love:

Marc Anthony Strictly Curls products

Matrix Curl.life products
Citre Shine – Wound Up Curling Mousse
Samy Curl Constructor mousse

What are your favorite tips, tricks, and products?