I blame Kylie Minogue.
The year was 1988 and every girl in my class was sporting a spiral perm. There I sat, also with a head of curls but with one distinct difference – mine was natural.
So desperate was I though to be part of the defined curl brigade, I saved every penny I could and naïvely turned up to the hairdressers and requested a “spiral perm”. It was not to be the last time I would be laughed out of a hairdressing salon, but it certainly was my first.
“Honey, you already HAVE curly hair that (she wiggled her manicured, skinny finger at my head) cannot be permed!”
I’ve learned a lot about naturally curly hair since that day and following are the struggles only those of us who share this genetic curse trait can truly understand:
1. People continuously ask you if your hair is ‘naturally curly’? Oh no, no. I always go to the hairdresser and ask for them to transport me back to 1988. Do you honestly think I’d spend money to look like this?
2. You can’t casually run your fingers though your hair because you may never get them back.
3. Your hair looks great damp but when it dries naturally, not so much.
4. A fringe is just not an option.
5. You retrieve bobby pins from your hair in the shower. Three weeks after you last remember putting them in there.
6. You’ve had to stop buying sunglasses with nose pieces after they kept getting caught in your hair.