Friday, February 23, 2007

moe, larry and me

i give up.

you can't really tell from this corny photo, but i've surrendered to my hair. i've let it go curly. and i know, i know, curly wasn't the stooge with curly hair, larry was. and curly didn't have curls, he was bald just like britney. but for the sake of argument, i'm playing curly in this photo 'cause that's what i am. CURLY.

i've had a love/ hate relationship with my naturally curly hair (oh, man, now i sound like that redheaded girl from the 'peanuts.' what was her name? frida?) for most of my life. you know, when you're a kid you just kinda accept the way you look because that's all you've ever known. then, when you start to get self-conscious-- like in junior high-- you begin to fight nature to "fit in" with the trends. luckily, when i started getting self-conscious, BIG HAIR was, like, TOTALLY in. the curls reigned. topped with feathered bangs coated in hairspray, styled in a triangle shape.

between then and now, i've had my hair in every size, shape, length and color known to beauticians. but let's face it... the past decade especially has been rife with straight, straight and more straight hairstyles. you had a choice between stick-straight, pin-straight, and straight as a line. i chemically straightened, dried with a fire-hot blowdryer, scalded with a flat iron, and mourned when it rained. don't get me wrong, i could never quite get rid of the curlies at my temples, and the ends always kinda flipped up, but at least i was "with it."

well, not anymore. growing it out again has been painful this time around, and one day i accidentally let it go, and the curls actually looked better than the straight. i surrendered.

most people say it looks good! kinda flapperesque. kinda modern. i think they're just being nice. they tell me that curls are back IN, baby! i don't know whether or not to believe them. i don't really care. it's easier not to fight. it's easier to give up.


11 comments:

Beenzzz said...

I love it Melissa! Embrace the curls. Now if only I could talk myself into doing that. I have naturally curly hair too which I blow dry straight. I'm tired of all the time spent on products and blow drying time. The last time I embraced my curls was in the mid to late 80's when big permed hair was in style. I think I might have to give in again. Love the witch message. HAHA!

Unknown said...

Just go with it. Honest, I think curly hair is the best. Of course I have straight hair, but I have always been jealous of people with curly because you can straighten it if you want to or let it go curly. I would have to pay a million dollars to get curly hair. By the way, it looks good in the photo.

ML said...

I think it looks great!!!!! Very becoming!

I guess we're always fighting what we have. I used to have straight hair when I was younger and could NEVER duplicate that 80's look cause my hair wouldn't stand up...GRRRR! But the older I get the curlier my hair gets. The only thing is, it's not nice curl, it's frizzy burnt curl.

Anonymous said...

You know I love it! We curly girls gotta stick together =)

Susan in Italy said...

It DOES look good! You're lucky. I'm still straight ironing or pony tailing it. One of these days I'm going to stop washing and brushing it and I swear I'll have dread locks within 2 weeks!

Da Mommy said...

All I could think of was my friend Keri in high school, she had the curliest hair I have ever seen and it was useless to try to do anything with it. I always wanted my hair to have a little curl at least, but I did feel sorry for her as she had no choice in hairstyle as her hair was impossible to tame!!!

Heidi said...

I empathize, I also have naturally curly hair and spend most days off (don't care what it looks like at work) straightening it and praying for dry weather. I find when I leave it curly people ask me if it is permed. The same people more than once. I think they don't beleive its natural. My hair was also great in the 80's it was so big and I didn't have to worry about humidity only whether I had enough Aquanet to last the day.

Autumn's Mom said...

I have wavy hair, sometimes it looks like a perm, sometimes a huge poofball. I don't try to fight it. You know, people pay good money to have like yours and mine :D

Secret Pal said...

Trying this once more. I don't know where my posts go, probably into cyberspace....

I have stick straight hair and it is heavy. So it hangs very straight. I would love to have curls! You are so blessed to have natural curl. You can straighten it a bit if you like...however I can not curl mine to save my life.

Lotus Reads said...

I was chatting with a friend, also a hair stylist, and she confirmed what you said...curls are in, so have fun with yours, Melissa, they look terrific!!!

Anonymous said...

I've always liked curly and/or wavy as opposed to straight, fwiw...