I’m addicted to my hair dryer.
And my hair straightener.
And not looking just like “I woke up like this’.
I don’t know exactly what my hair would look like if I didn’t see my hairdresser every 8 weeks to colour it.
My hair, quite simply isn’t ‘me’.
Age has taught me how to appreciate some wrinkles – I think of them as my happy lines, it has taught me how to say ‘No, I really can’t do that right now, I need to stay home with my kids’, and be entirely comfortable with that statement. I rarely experience fomo or jealousy, I understand the importance of always being sincerely nice, even when I don’t want to be and as a (mostly!) fully-functioning adult, I can cook, work, spend and save in some semblance of responsible order.
I really should be able to leave the house with my hair in its natural state.
I scrolled through my Instagram profile and as I suspected there are no shots of me without straightened hair. Not. One. On a sub-par hair day I simply wear a cap, even in winter. I’m 37 years old and don’t know how to wear my hair so I look like myself.
That’s kinda sad right?
My hair today is all cowlicks and volume, there’s lots of it and not one strand is straight. My waves go in all directions, without rhyme or reason, which is why I have always struggled to style it in a way I’m comfortable with. I’ve thought about this a lot; how it is that, despite seeing more hairdressers than I can count and spending more money than I care to remember on my frizzy tresses, I’ve never left a salon loving my hair. I mean, sure, I walk out the door loving how the stylists have made my hair look……………….but that’s an entirely different thing.
Last week as part of the Dove Love Your Hair campaign, I met with a new hair stylist for the first time. She had no preconceptions about my hair or about how I usually wear it. She looked at it, she washed it and she naturally styled it, following its own (unruly) direction.
And I LOVED how it looked.
How it felt.
How it made me feel.
It was the fastest, but most meaningful hair appointment I’d ever had in my life. Without projecting all of my standard, hair-hate onto yet another stylist (“it’s too frizzy, boofy, messy, unpolished”), I had allowed her the opportunity to respect my natural waves and run with it. Something I’d never attempted to do before.
Ironically, wearing my hair naturally would cut styling time, reduce damage and require less product than my regular dry and iron routine – which I can’t be bothered doing most days anyway, hence the hat.
How do I feel now?
Liberated. Seriously.
It may seem a little melodramatic, after all, we are only talking about HAIR, but, over the years I’d constructed a little ‘curated’ template of how my hair should look and feel ie straight, shiny, and contained! What I learnt was how to style my hair in a way that’s quick, totally doable at home and which celebrates my quirky waves in a way which makes me feel amazing. I’m finally ready, after 37 years, to wear my hair naturally, with confidence and love my hair.
Tips for Styling Wavy Hair
- Brush hair before washing
- Wash gently, not vigorously. I’m using Dove Nourishing Oil Care shampoo and conditioner.
- Use a mitt diffuser rather than a rigid model. This dries hair while maintaining curl without frizz
- Twist curls to give shape and prevent fly-aways
This awesome opportunity was made possible for me thanks to Dove and their fab #LoveYourHair campaign.
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