Since watching the docu-comedy, Good Hair, with Chris Rock, I’ve had hair on the brain. I’ve also had a few hairbrained ideas about how to tame the hair that sits on top of my daughter’s head. Iz has hated her beautiful locks since she arrived at the ‘tween stage of her life. She now spends a lot of time each day with the straightening iron in her hand, whipping her curls into submission. Any comments, or compliments, about her hair from either parent often results in tears.
I grabbed this shot on a day when her hair was left to its own devices...
In one of my many attempts to get my daughter to make peace with her hair, I picked up this book:
I placed the book into her hands, and she seemed grateful to receive it. Maybe she was thinking it would help her eliminate her curly locks once and for all.
Now if this book was one that Iz was at all intrigued by, she would have taken it up to her room and read every word in private. When she left it lying on a table in our living room, I knew that she didn’t intend to pick it up again.
So, I borrowed the book and took the “Are you a curly girl?” quiz. Based on the results, I decided to see what would happen if I followed the author’s advice, taking the steps she recommends to bring out my inner curl.
And guess what?
I’M A CURLY GIRL TOO!
These photos were taken today. Day four. No shampoo.
Lorraine says that the worst thing you can do to curly hair is shampoo and blow dry it. She has actually made her home a no-shampoo zone. I’m not going that far. Since I don’t have the corkscrew curls she does, I’ll be shampooing mine eventually. She recommends about once a week for my type of curls. I’ve spent a lot of time round brush rolling and blow drying my hair over the years, only to have it work like a weather barometer, frizzing at the first sign of humidity. When is it not humid in Portland?
“It’s your head, not your hair, that needs straightening,” says Lorraine.
Now, how do I persuade my daughter to embrace her curls?