An Ode to Curly Hair

Nearly 11 years in Australia has made me curious. About the millions of women with lovely, curly hair who every morning spend ages straightening it. Are you one of them? I would love to hear what makes you do it. Why you prefer it like that. Is it for you or for others?

I’m aware that the humidity doesn’t go well with curls, you easily end up looking like a haystack after a storm. But is that enough to hide it away every day? I’m on the urge to start a rally to free curly hair. Let it be, let it bounce our lives. But again, I may be the only one having that thought.

I know I’m not normal. In so many ways. But what is normal anyway? I have always liked my curly hair. I have only every straightened it twice (and a half… regretted half-way through between sound check and a concert, as not any of my friends were greeting me and it felt really lonely not getting any of the usual smiles when our eyes met from a distance. They simply didn’t recognise me).

Well, I like my curls. They take attention away from my big nose and high forehead. They hide the grey hairs for longer every month. And it’s so easy to toss after your shower, you’re done within minutes. All of this only applies to one condition, though: the right hair product!

You may have experienced life crisis, but I believe mine was up there with the most stressful periods in my life when my beloved, usual Liquid Roller (from EVO, let’s just give them a plug, I recommend it to all curly-heads I meet anyway) was out of stock. Not only did my self-confidence take a hit those weeks, but I also tried 4 different recommended products from the hair salon, and my hair was either stiff like a board, frizzy or looking so wet that one of my former neighbours asked if I had been swimming (this was a late afternoon). I handed them all back to the salon with the feedback, frantically waiting for the online order from abroad to arrive and get me back in my comfort zone.

Weeks with attention and decisions on my hair situation – time I would rather have applied to the more important stuff in my life and business – but nevertheless a reminder of why I LOVE routines, discipline and systems. Isn’t it great having things that are working for you and your teams that you do NOT need to reevaluate, test or think about daily, but simply just tick along with? Like me and my hair product on any given day or week. And maybe that’s what the straightened hair is for you. It’s worth the time because you know the outcome. It keeps things under control.

What are the tested and proven routines and decisions you run with, that make your life simpler? And with that certainty and predictability in place, where are the other areas where you should let your curls out so to speak, let your hair down – in business and life?

Let’s rally our curly hair.