The Curly Hair Story

Jul 19
NabanitaDhar

A fine head of hair adds beauty to a good face, and terror to an ugly one.  ~Lycurgus

It was early 2008; it had been just a few months that I had started working. I was in a new city, Bangalore. I had just begun my solo journey in the big bad world. How bad really? Well I was about to discover on a sunny afternoon outside an ATM Vending Machine. As I stood in the long queue of people to withdraw some cash suddenly the lady behind called out to me saying ‘Excuse me Miss. Hope you don’t mind but you know you have really awful hair. I pity you’. Yes she said just that. For a moment I tried to figure out if I knew the lady at all but I didn’t. I felt insulted, puzzled and angered at the thought of being commented by a person I didn’t even know. Ofcourse, I fell short of words and just turned away from her, withdrew money and headed home with a head full of despicable hair.

Every girl dreams of hair that has the quality and texture to even put Rapunzel to shame. Yes; I too was and still am no different. There are girls who are born with beautiful, silky, lustrous hair and then there is me. Yes I really do not know how to describe my hair. I was born with curly hair which would look plain and ordinary when wet and would stand up defying gravity when dry. Yes perhaps funny for onlookers but certainly a bane for me.

I shared my childhood with a younger sister and a best friend; both of whom were blessed with amazing hair; hair that one would die for and there I was with hair like the strands of a witch’s broomstick. I had the worst possible type of hair in the entire neighborhood; or as I felt, the entire world.

I would see my friends flaunting their tresses, trying out trendy and different hair styles and there I was holding my plaits sobbing on the sorry state of my locks. Remember the kid from the ‘pehla-nasha’ remix; the boy with curly red hair? Yes I being a girl looked like him and far worse. Interestingly this was only the tip of the iceberg of my hair woes.

I spent most of my teenage years with curly, unmanageable hair that I detested from the very core of my heart. I eventually swore to myself that the first chance I had to turn my sob story into one of a dazzling beauty with glossy straight hair, I would grab with both hands.

There came a day when I watched a movie ’The Princess Diaries’; I saw a young girl with curly hair and braces be transformed to a princess. She has straight hair; one that I had always dreamt of obviously I fantasized of the princess part too but that was another story altogether. After watching Mia Thermopolis’s transformation in the movie I realized I could be her minus the princess tag ofcourse. Yes I could get the straight hair; all I needed to do was stroll into the nearest beauty salon and I would be sorted.

The very next day I walked into a parlour and got my hair straightened. As I looked into the mirror, I saw a different me. I felt more confident; now I too could run my hand through my hair while talking to others, I too looked pretty, most of all I could keep my hair open without looking like a mannequin with a birds nest on her head.

As I walked out that day like a princess, I felt that was the end to my hair problems but little did I know that it was just the onset. Once the honeymoon period was over and my hair grew, the top half portion of my hair became curly while the bottom was plain straight! Yes each hair strand of mine was like a wavy question mark! What would I do then? That wasn’t all; the straightening had made my hair drier than ever before. They had become brittle and I again sank back to the same old slump.

I tried every possible product in the market; shampoos and conditioners of every possible variety and combination; serums too. I used every possible home remedy- amla, reetha, shikakai, meethi and what not! But still nothing gave me the hair I wanted. So I went ahead and straightened my hair all over again.

Be it Shillong, Bangalore, Guwahati or Sydney; no matter where I straightened my hair; the effect or shall I say the charm lasted only a few months and after that it was the same story yet again. I was moving around in circles; always ending up one step behind the starting point.

All I could manage with my hair was a pony tail with lots of clips to bring the curly part down. Hair is a sensitive issue for any girl, I felt dejected when I looked around and saw girls looking stunning in different hair styles without the perennial parlour visits while I had no option available except straighten my hair constantly if I wanted my hair fairy tale to suffice. But that was no longer an option; I had enough of the temporary resolution. I wanted a permanent solution but what could that be?

Martin Luther said the hair is the richest ornament of women. If I went by that; I was the poorest of poor in my world which gave me a sick feeling in the stomach. I had to do something, or I would end up an old lady still harboring the dreams of being Rapunzel one day.  I couldn’t let that happen, I couldn’t let this desire of mine remain unfulfilled.

Days passed by and my hair became more and more like the queen of wavy question marks! It was safe to say that in a contest of the woman with worst hair; I would win hands down. But I stood my ground with hopes in my eyes after all how cruel could life be. Something was bound to work on my hair; something was bound to make my hair makeover a reality.

Those curious locks so aptly twin’d, whose every hair a soul doth bind. ~Thomas Carew

One day on my usual treasure hunts of spotting different or magical hair products; I walked into a health and beauty retail store. As I paced through the isle of hair products; mentally I checked every product that I had used or wanted to use in future when suddenly my eyes stopped on Dove’s new range. Well I had tried Dove earlier during college but at that time I had just straightened my hair, so I wasn’t sure if it would work well on my hair now. But still I wanted to try it out for a few days; perhaps my hair would become softer, less frizzy and more presentable; though only time would tell. So I took the leap of faith with Dove with eyes full of hope and a head full of horrible hair. Time stopped as I picked it up and that was the end of my hair problems!

Several months on; I must say my bathroom no longer gets clogged by my hair and the frizz has reduced considerably too. Yes my hair still is a mixture of curls on the top which end up straight at the bottom; but now they are soft to touch. I no longer need to hide behind a hoard of clips to look decent. The growth is good and once my hair is long enough I can always get rid of the bottom straight half. Things are looking good now.  I feel my dream of having that perfect hair is gradually being realized. It may take time but hey I waited years and how hard could a few more months be?

So as I continue on my expedition of discovering gorgeous hair with Dove; as I type this post I realize that inspite of having the not so perfect hair or shall I say ‘awful hair’; I have never been held back at anything in life. So girls if you are reading this, do anything you can to get your dream hair, but do remember;

“Sometimes people are beautiful.
Not in looks.
Not in what they say.
Just in what they are.”
This is my entry to the My Beautiful Hair Story Contest. Read more here Dove hair-aware app.

32 thoughts on “The Curly Hair Story”

  6. Great write-up! Reading the first line, I think God has been kind in ridding me of my hair – I have been saved from becoming a terror :):)

  18. I have always had pin straight hairs and I always wanted curly hairs. Its always the other way round 😀

  28. I had tough time managing my curly hair .. but after being through chemotherapy and bald for almost a year has taught to love and respect whatever I have. Good write up there. Simple and practical. Good luck for the contest

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