Going Au Natural: A Journey From Straight to Curly

August 11, 2009 by Blair Edelman
Filed under Beauty and Grooming, News, W. Beauty, W. Hair

From the time I could physically hold a blow dryer, I was straighting my naturally kinky curls. I spent most of my tween years trying desperately to straighten my hair with a “brush” blow dryer, and most of my college years anxiously waiting in a salon while the-very-popular Japanese straightening treatment turned my natural curls into flat pin-straight strands. I’ve even had Brazilian straightening with formaldehyde and, of course, without. Most curly-haired girls empathize with my plight…we all want what we can’t have.

However, once you step outside into a 92-degree humid mess, ruining your hour-plus of straightening, you start to question to your beauty routine.

During the hotter-than-humid summer months and even into early fall, the weather can be a disaster for naturally curly-haired girls who live their lives with straight hair, fooling even some of their closest friends. Normal summer-time activities such as going to the beach and swimming can be a bit trickier for those who don’t want to show their true look. From the expensive treatments to the hours spent styling in the bathroom, covering up curly hair is exhausting, which is why we are challenging you to go au natural.

Whatswear.com guest columnist Alison Stewart, she also happens to be a stylist and online style show host, has worn her natural blonde ringlets stick straight for the past eight years. Alison went through a time where she had her tresses repeatedly treated with the Japanese straightening process every four months and was never found without her flat iron. No one knew Alison without her straight hair.

One rainy humid day, one of the many rainy humid days that hit New York City this June, Alison decided she had had enough; she was fighting off the frizz constantly.

“It was one of the busiest times of my career,” she said. “I felt like I couldn’t spend an hour a day in a bathroom with my iron and blow dryer.”

When Alison debuted her loose blonde ringlets in public, friends barely recognized her.

“Anyone who has known me for the past 10 years has known my straight hair. To me it [curly hair] was natural, to everyone else I looked liked I had completely changed my look.”

Within the first two months of going natural, Alison noticed her hair was healthier, growing longer and actually hiding her roots! She is truly enjoying her curls and doesn’t even know if she will return to her straightened locks come fall. “Now I’m looking at straight hair as more of an option.”

Rain doesn’t bother her, the beach is never off limits and humidity can’t touch her natural curls.

Alison is one of the lucky few whose curls don’t dry with frizz. The rest of us must rely on products and special curl-friendly hair tools.

The most important thing to remember when wearing your hair curly is to never brush your hair after you shower. Combing through wet hair to get out kinks and knots is allowed, but then you must put that brush away to avoid creating more frizz. To truly enhance your curls, try putting a little product throughout damp hair and then dry with a diffuser ( we love Frederic Fekkai’s Luscious Curls Cream). A diffuser is a small attachment that connects to the end of your blow dryer. Simply scrunch your hair with your hand, while bringing the diffuser up into your curls to dry your hair faster. You can also scrunch your hair without a diffuser and fix wayward curls by twisting them around your finger and holding for a few seconds (after putting product into your hair). Letting your hair go curly or wavy is a great way to get a beach-ready look in minutes.

So are you willing to go au natural?

To learn more about Alison check out her two websites www.runningwithheels.com and www.stylewhipped.com.