My Curl Journey + 4 Step Hair Routine
Hair routine or high maintenance-pain-in-my-butt-I-don't-want-do-anything-and-just-leave-it-in-a-bun?
This post has been on my editorial ideas list for a long, longggggg time. I had to put it off because to be honest the thought of being in front of the camera doing a video made me anxious. But, alas we are here and I will continue to put myself in uncomfortable situations for the sake of growth (and good content =P)
My hair journey has been a wild one. For a good chunk of my 24 years of living, my hair was something I passionately tried to change. When I was younger, let’s say Kindergarten to probably my last year of high school, where there was a flat iron there was a Mona begging her parents to let her get her hair done. I remember for my high school graduation I wanted to get my hair done curly ( yes, you heard it correctly), and I went to the salon and the hairstylist complained the entire time about how thick, long and knotted my hair was and then proceeded to ask her coworker to help her brush my hair out and curl it. I was I think 18 years old at the time and I remember feeling embarrassed. The funniest part of the story was seeing her straighten out my natural curls and curl them in a way that, at the time, I thought was cooler/prettier. And, the cherry on top, it lasted maybe an hour and then turned into a huge poof.
By the time college came around, I was still straightening my hair here and there but embracing the curls a whole lot more. I just let it do what it wanted and accepted it. Looking back, I did not take enough care of it at the time. I would get it colored and didn't feed it the right products it needed to grow. I also did NOT get enough trims so it just sat on my head, SUPER long and heavy.
I guess after graduating college I just started to really not give a care about anyone or anything (hence moving through fear and starting this blog) and I chopped a major chunk of my hair off after having it fairly long for 10+ years. It was weird yet incredibly liberating. My hair changed completely when I cut it, the curl definition changed, the volume changed and it finally came the time where I was able to say to myself “Oh, I actually like my hair. It’s not that bad.” I don't want to say I hated it before, but I didn’t give it the positive and loving affirmations it deserved.
But, I got cocky. Started coloring it again and using a curling iron to fix some of the more muted curls. All in all: BAD IDEA. I regret it 120%. By the end of Summer ’17 my curls were D E A D and begging to be resurrected.
Now we are here: I stopped using high heat tools on my hair back in January of this year. I told myself,”You’ve gotta love what you’ve got and give it your all.” That meant stopping hair coloring, stopping the endless moments of using a curling iron and focusing my energy on frequent conditioning treatments and trims. And I’ve been doing just that since.
So, to all of you awesome and supportive people who have asked about my current hair routine, I will say: it’s here, it’s quick and it’s reflective of where I am at with my curl journey now. My curls are nowhere near healed, a lot more work and love need to happen, but we’re getting there. I hope you dig it.
4 Step Hair Routine
Check out the video on my Instagram TV channel here.
With love,
Mona