For those of you who didn't know, my tight little curls are all natural. I've been a curly girl my whole life. Once I understood some of the keys of taking care of curly hair--keeping them well conditioned, no touching after they are dry, and so on--I've learned to love them.
But, after nearly 30 years of basically the same hairstyle I decided it was time for a change. I've been thinking about it for a long time, but last week I took the plunge and permed my hair straight. It took four hours for them to relax and then straighten and then smooth and then set my very curly hair.
And straight it is! Wow. It feels so different.
Here is what my hair looked like before:
And here it is now:
One of the main differences between permanently straightening it and ironing it straight like I did a few times last year (my Christmas pictures) is that my hair still wanted to be curly--so it kinda formed some waves and had body and bounce. Right now it just hangs there--so board straight!!
I washed straight hair for the first time in my life this weekend. It feels SO DIFFERENT to wash straight hair. And, I had to go out and buy a hair dryer--and blew my hair dry for the first time in my life too. Crazy I tell you. Crazy.
I don't know how long it will be till I miss my curls and want them back. But, for now I am enjoying the change.
The other thing I worry (not real worry, just ponder occasionally) about is what to do when I have very curly roots and really straight hair. If you have any ideas or have dealt with that problem before, I'd be happy to hear your suggestions!
Hi Amanda ~ Wow what a difference! But I'm not the one to ask about curls vs straight. I have straight hair that I perm to get curls; then it's TOO curly, and I wish I hadn't done it! When it gradually wears out and it's straight, I want it curly again. Flip-flop!
ReplyDeleteWhen I look at both your pictures you posted, I see your sparkly eyes and beautiful smile first...and then your hair. I personally love the curls in the top picture, but I'm sure you'll enjoy a change. :) I hadn't thought about curly roots! That will be interesting to see! :)
first off, you look great both ways. I have straight hair and do the opposite of you. What I have found is that after a few washings they curl begins to relax a little. You may find the same thing will happen in the opposite. So you may get back a little body.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your new hair.
Maybe it will relax some . . . but I had a hair stylist tell me long ago that hair actually wants to be straight. And, so she told me that people who perm their hair curly will notice the curls fall away or relax over time, but that doesn't happen when hair is permed straight.
ReplyDeleteI guess we'll wait and see if she was right.
WOW!! It looks good on you! Now your hair matches that of your Asian friends.
ReplyDeleteAmanda - You are so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteEither way your hair is lovely.
I am a lot like the first commenter - I get my hair permed and then immediately hate it.
I have no idea what to say about the curly roots. I would think you'll just have more body at first - and then like a perm you'll have to get it redone when it becomes an issue.
I noticed your straight hair yesterday on your left sidebar and I thought... WOW. Looks great! I'm a naturally frizzy wavy person myself and I fight the frizz pretty successfully with mousse, smoothing serum, a large round brush, and a high powered blow dryer. Unfortunately, this regimen doesn't hold up to extreme humidity... so there's no way that this regimen would work during summers in southern Taiwan! If you'd like to try what I use I'd be more than happy to mail you a bottle of each. About two years ago I tried to relax my hair with an at home kit and had a really horrendous experience severely damaging my hair... breaking off lots of hair at the root near the natural part. I've thought about having professional straightening, but I've been too scared to do what you did! Keep me posted with how this works out for you... and after it's been tested by the summer humidity in southern Taiwan! I'm interested to see if you feel like you blend into the croud any more with straight hair than you did with naturally curly hair?
ReplyDeleteWow! You look so pretty! The curls were pretty, too, but man... Your hair is so shiny now!! As different as it is, the straight really suits you.
ReplyDeleteI haven't a clue what you should do when the straight starts to grow out, though. Hopefully it won't be a big dilemma.
It looks great!!
Wow! You look totally hot!
ReplyDeleteCan't help you with your question, but just wanted to say you look beautiful! I love it! :)
ReplyDeleteCOOL! I think you look great both ways! I'm sure your students will be shocked! I've done both curly and straight here, my hair is naturally wavy. I got my hair permed straight and it lasted over a year and was sooo easy to take care of! just blow dry, add a little product and go! You must be on winter vacation now? I had a great (nervous) time at the speech contest. Most of the participants were students either studying Chinese or studying at university in Taiwan. But the contest had a rule that you can't have been in Taiwan more than 6 years. I learned more political vocabulary than I ever wanted to haha.. but it helped me to get back into studying Chinese which I'd been losing motivation for (as far as opening a book and learning new vocabulary) since the beginning of this past semester and being so busy all the time. Anyways, I'm taking up all your space, maybe this should have been an email! hahaha... what are you doing over CNY?
ReplyDeleteWow! That looks great! Of course, your curls were quite lovely too! I love straight hair (probably because I'm curly) but like you, I've learned to appreciate my curls. Learning how to fix curly hair truly was a big deal though!
ReplyDeleteI'd love to perm my hair straight. Did you do it yourself, or did you have it done. I'm also curious...if you don't dry your hair, will it dry straight? I cannot imagine hair drying straight...it's so foreign. One more question...how does it look after you wake up. Is it frizzy at all?
Sorry for the 20 questions. But I'm thinking of doing the same thing!