For 14-years, I had short hair, and quite possibly wore every iteration of the trend. Not kidding. Short hair did exactly what I wanted it to do. There was absolutely no guesswork to it. But after 14-years, I was tired of it. I figured it was time to make a change and go through the process every woman out there cannot stand: The Grow Out.
There were a couple of things that made having short hair appealing: 1.) I have a ton of hair, and 2.) that ton of hair has
bookoos of volume + body.
In 2009, Operation Grow Out commenced. I decided to reinvent myself every time I had a haircut so that I could at least tolerate the process.
In the beginning, it meant blunt bangs and a modified bob (all while I embraced a flatiron).
Then as it grew, I realized that I had these random looking waves to it - but the ends were super thin looking and the wave was really just this frizzy looking texture.
If I diffused it, ratted it, and used copious amounts of hairspray,
it would give the illusion of big hair (I was raised in the South after
all). But by the time it was long enough to actually do something with it, I hated it. It looked frizzy all of the time which I didn't understand because it had never done that before.
I would have it blown out, still frizzy. I would diffuse it, still frizzy. I actually thought I needed to cut it off again so that it looked groomed & shiny. What was wrong with me? Did I have horrid hair? Had I cut it short for so long that it was permanently punishing me? How could hair that worked so well short look so hideous long?
My best friend said to me one day,
"You have curly hair. You realize that, right?"
Nope. Didn't even think about it. Curly hair was supposed to be gorgeous ringlet curls like she had, that appeared since birth, and clearly that wasn't happening on my head! If "curly" meant this "frizzy, wavy, borderline stringy looking hot mess" then I was not going to embrace this "look."
Well, at least not quite yet.
My girlfriends who had long hair always had shiny, flowing tresses achieved by taking a curling iron to it (typically the night before), sleeping on it, and
voilà - gorgeous hair.
Thinking it might be the Missing Link to my hair mystery, I tried it. The result? Frizzy hair with curling iron curls over the top - perhaps the ugliest thing I had ever seen.
About ready to chop of my hair myself, I went back to my best friend's comment and finally looked up this infamous product she had used for years: Deva Curl. I started doing research. Little did I know that when you Google "deva curl," you get linked to all sorts of YouTube tutorials. And I will say that this one YouTube tutorial was the game changer:
There were
different types of curly hair?!
Curly hair should
not get wet without being conditioned?!
Frothy shampoo was drying out my hair?? So the fact I was washing it
every single day and
never conditioning it was contributing to the Hot Mess?
Keeping my hair wrapped up in a towel for the entire time I got ready each morning was actually the same difference as taking a brillo pad to a cashmere sweater? What?!
In other words ... I was doing
everything wrong.
I started by simply getting the products, a microfiber towel and an open mind. Within 2-weeks of using the product, adjusting my routine, and being patient, THIS happened:
And I haven't turned back since! That was 3-years ago, my loves.
To this day, I actually
love my hair, and
embrace my curls. No more washing every day (but conditioning, yes), curling irons, flatirons, perms (yep, had them until I cut my hair off in 1995), or rat combs ... just an
expert haircut (yes, dry cutting curls is
everything), amazing product, and a diffuser. That's it!
Naturally mine! And my question for you is, what is naturally
yours?
xx JN
The current DevaCurl cocktail for my curls:
. I cannot wait to share more about it with you. 
