What’s your daily hair routine? It’s probably fairly simple, wake up, brush it, shower at night. But for those of us blessed with oval shaped hair follicles, it’s not so simple. If you have curly hair, chances are you have a very specific hair routine you follow every day. You can’t have too much product in it, or it will be weighed down and crunchy. But if you don’t have enough product in it, it will be too frizzy.
When asked about her daily hair routine, senior Kleo Gaiera said that she braids it every night before bed if she doesn’t shower to protect it and make it less frizzy in the morning. “I shampoo it twice a week. I condition every time I shower, which is about every day. I wet it a little bit, put some conditioner, and twist it. If I don’t shower, I don’t do anything to it,” she said. Gaiera stated that the back of her hair is much flatter than the front, which is also a problem I have with my hair.
“In middle school, I had straight hair because I would always wear it in a ponytail, I really didn’t know my hair was curly at that point,” Gaiera said.
This is a common thing for people with curly hair. Her favorite products are Strictly Curls by Marc Anthony and the Shea Moisture shampoo/conditioner. Elana Griffin, another senior at Arcata High who has curly hair, also loves the Shea Moisture products. When I asked Kleo who at the school has the best curly hair, she said she thinks Danielle Witten does, and also Kayla Fiedler, who just recently transferred to Arcata.
The Queen herself, Danielle. Witten said: “So, when I was younger, my hair was straight, but when I hit puberty, my hair got curly. And so there are pictures of me in 5th grade, where my mom was combing my hair, and it was just this massive fro. It was really unfortunate.” She also said that in 5th grade, she went to an outdoor learning camp for a few days. Her parents didn’t go, so she didn’t comb her hair the whole time, even though she did shower. When she came back, it was all curly, and that’s how she discovered she had curly hair.
“All through the 90’s, I had a lot of hair shame,” Witten said, “and especially in the 2000’s. It wasn’t until really recently that I stopped straightening my hair. Now, I just let it do its thing. I’ve learned to embrace my full self exactly as I am.”
Everyone with curly hair undoubtedly had dark times. My hair used to be frizzy and knotted all the time. It took Witten around 20 years to fully develop a system that works for her hair.
“As a kid, I had a side part afro, and I think that was one of the darkest times in my life,” Owen Peterson said. It’s all about finding what works for you, all curly hair is different. Learning to embrace it can be hard, especially if you don’t know how to take care of it. But there’s time, try things out. Find your groove.
I used to say: “I hate my hair.” Now I say, “It’s still annoying but at least now it looks good. (Most of the time.)” #curlyhairrocks!
