I have curly hair.
There, I said it.
I’ve spent the majority of my life fighting against it. For most of my teens and 20s I woke up at 5:30 a.m. M-F to spend an hour getting it straight (no flatirons back then). That – paired with my strange need for baby bangs – has led to some very unfortunate hairstyles over the years.
No, I won’t share any.
Yes, if you’ve been with me for any length of time you’ve already been exposed to a few. My apologies. Let’s not forget the Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame 2003 BUN incident, shall we? <shudder>
After having kids, 1.5 hour blowdry sessions were impossible. So I tried growing it long. And spent my 30s in a ponytail (with the baby bangs, natch – good GOD, why didn’t my friends tell me to stop the madness??). Then tried cutting it. And cutting it. Shorter and shorter and shorter. And wearing lots of hats.
OH, the fact that we’ve mostly lived in humid climates. Short, curly hair dried straight + humidity = a hot mess.
Finally I just said screw it. And stopped drying and cutting it altogether.
And…huh. Kinda thought it was ok. Humidity? No problem. Bangs? No longer look like Tootie from the Facts of Life circa 1982. And hey, my nose doesn’t suddenly look bigger. Styling time? About 5 minutes.
The problem? My hair is REALLY THICK so it takes a long time to air dry. Blech. I tried using my diffuser, but it just made a frizzy mess.
Then I found this floating around on Pinterest. AAAH!!! First off, how adorable is her cut?
Then she posted a follow-up here. Drying your hair upside-down with the diffuser? Brilliant!! I don’t think I need to go the leave-in conditioner route; fortunately my hair isn’t really very dry. And there’s no way I could skip washing every day – I work up a mean sweat at the gym daily.
Do you like my blown out 70s face? Very chic, eh? Thank you, iPhone exposure. ANYWAY – this is about 10 minutes post-shower. I only dried it a little (running late for Ava’s teacher conference), but I likey. Not soaking wet, not frizzy. I do need a trim, though. And I need to find some sulfate-free shampoo, apparently. I also picked up a bottle of the spray gel she uses.
If you’re a curly girl like me, go check out Mandey’s posts. They might just change your life.
P.S. what is on the counter behind me?? I just went and looked and it’s gone now…forever a mystery.
P.P.S. Did you vote???
Amber - Yay for embracing your curls! My stylist earned my lifelong loyalty when she had me stand up and flip my head over to diffuse my hair upside down. That is the only way I dry my hair. It is key. I wash my hair everyday, too. I swear by a curl creme (no particular brand) followed by a little gel for definition and some hairspray to finish it off. Anyway…cheers to curly hair!
Rachel - The curls look great! I just had to replace my blowdryerz, and the Girl convinced me to get an ionic blowdryer…I thought it was a scam, but I have a TON of hair, an the difference is amazing. Definitely dries much faster!
Leonie-Australia - I really like it Lisa, looks great. Embrace it!
Lisa - Amber, I LOVE Redken Ringlet – hadn’t thought about using that *and* a gel spray – I’ll have to give it a try! I wish I’d known about the upside-down diffusing ages ago!
Rachel, mine is an Ionic. Never noticed a difference, but I never really dried my hair – ha!
Leonie – thank you!
Shelby - Yay for curls! I’ve got them too. I finally cut it 6 months ago and started straightening it, but that’s just me. Mixed chicks shampoo is an awesome sulfate free shampoo for curly hair
I love your new style!!
Katie - Aunt Lisa, I have finally given into the curl at the age of 32. I use a curl cream and when it doesn’t need to be down for work try to let it air dry. There’s no way I can even begin to straighten it myself anymore!! With it halfway down my back now and it soooo thick I just let it curl!! Upside down is a definite must though, I even flip it and shake when air drying.