In the beginning of 2008, I was a senior in highschool anxiously awaiting the end of IB (a special program that rigorously prepares gifted high school students for college and beyond) and the dreaded time when college acceptance and rejection letters go out. I was overworked, tired, but still happy. I was in a very good relationship (still am) and that gave me great happiness. He's an incredibly supportive guy and he always tells me I look gorgeous no matter what I actually look like.
Even though I was pretty happy with my love life and pretty optimistic about my school life and my chances with the colleges I had applied to, I was very unhappy with my hair. I never liked it curly. The only reason I stopped flatironing in 2007 was because I knew that it wasn't good that I could pick any random strand of hair and odds were, it ended in at least one split end (sometimes it was a split end that had it's own split ends).
My solution from January through October was to just deal with the fact that I had horrible curly hair. The people around me insisted it was pretty, but I knew that undefined frizz was not pretty by any scale. I had an extreme simple routine: shampoo, conditioner, leave in. I thought gels and creme would just make my hair greasy, since I had to shampoo every day to get rid of the greasy scalp.
The ponytail was my best friend. I figured that highlighting my big forehead was ok if it meant that the frizz was out of my face and out of view (at least from one angle).
I spend a good summer working as an assistant manager at a local pool, treating my hair to chlorine and sun. Those two things changed it a few shades lighter just like every other summer I've ever lived.
So coming into school this fall I had naturally light brown, undefined curly frizz hair. I turned into one of those people who you become surprised to see them with their hair down.
Then in October, I was anticipating my much needed haircut. Maybe this could be the haircut that would make my hair look amazing somehow. I looked online for some pictures of curly hair cuts, but to my dismay there were hardly any to be found using google images. So I did a google search for "curly hair". Then everything changed
I found naturallycurly.com, started a thread asking how I should get my hair cut, and then people asked me if I was "CG". And the rest is history.
I think it's really cool that if I compare my hair and even just my outlook on my hair from the beginning of 2008 to the beginning of 2009, I find that they've both changed completely. I love my hair now. CG has completely transformed it. I love buying new products to experiment because I know that even if those products don't work just the way I want them to, my hair will still look amazing if I go back to my tried and true KCCC routine. I love that I don't have to wash everyday, and that I know that I don't really have an oily scalp. I love that I get compliments and looks and questions from total strangers. I love that I have a great before/after set of pictures, and I know that whenever I show them to people, they will be amazed.
2008 is by far the best year my hair has ever seen. I can't wait for 2009 because I'm reigning in the new year with new hair and new hair optimism. I want to wish all the curlies out there a happy new year, and happy curls :)
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