Curly tales 4 – Curls and oxidised jewelry

There come time when you want to go wild, set yourself free, and dance with the tune. This Ganesh festival was my days of setting myself free. From looking nice to dancing wild and going crazy with the rhyme, I did it all.

Today, I am back to my normal self. Back with curls and oxidised jewelry.

Curly Tales 3 - Hair cut and hair accessories

All those who struggle with curls remember your hair journey is a marathon, not a sprint. Here is my story.

As a child, I always had short hair, so a school hairband or two small ponies or Rasana hairstyle looked cute and perfect.

Then the never ending journey of long hair, maintaining those curly long hair, getting perfect hair cut and selecting perfect hair accessories started. When you have curls you can’t wear those fancy accessories with beads or diamonds. They just get stuck in your hair and you have to brutally pull it off breaking your hair and literally making you cry. Even a diamond ring is a big no no for curls. With such ring a simple task of tying hair into a bun can be a nightmare. That diamond prong do get stuck and tangled in curls, breaking them up or the hair.

There is no perfect hair accessories for our curls. I have tried many such hair accessories from simple clutches, hair clips, hair pins, barrettes, scrunches. Nothing work best for curls. They just break after one or two use or their teeth falls down one by one. And it has nothing to do with the quality. I have purchased the cheapest to costliest clutches from train to imported set from Japan. I even got one Korean set of hair accessories. It broke on day one and then I realised that Koreans and Japanese have soft, straight and silky hair, they do not understand curls. Point is it will last for a month if you are lucky. Be it plastic, metal or acrylic, maximum life of all these accessories in curly hair is one month. They just get suffocated in curls, it’s volume and finally die in suffocation. The only long lasting hair accessories is the hairbands. That black sling hair band. सस्ता, मजबूत और टिकाऊ. So all curly girls, don’t waste your time and money buying expensive hair accessories. Just get those sling hair band in all colors and your job is done.

Another struggle is to get a perfect hair cut. No hair salon, hairdresser or beautician understand curly hair. They will wet your hair making them look like straight hair, Comb with the closely spaced comb and then cut it in straight line. Then they will blow dry your hair to style them up. All such process is wrong. Curly hair tend to bounce up once dried. If you cut then evenly when they are wet they will end up becoming uneven once dried. One need to cut curly hair when they are left natural. That is the only way one can end up having them in straight line. Funny but true. For many years I did cut my hair again after getting a nice haircut from a hairdresser as they always looked uneven at the end. Cut them when they are dry and bouncing.

Another part is hair styling. All those hair styling with blow hair dry is of no use. Inward turn and outward turn at the bottom are not real for curls. We got springs, so no matter how much you make them wet and pull them down straight and try to make an inward turn, they with bounce up like Maggie noodles one they are dry. 

I have gradually learned to just flip my hair like I just don’t care. To loose my bangs and let the wind do the rest. I have finally learned to  enjoy and embrace my curly.

Curly tales 2 - Curls and color.

I always wanted to color my hair. Not that I was desperate, but few colors I really love like burgundy, peacock, and purple. I don’t know if I got guts to color my hair in peacock or purple. But I finally settled with brown + burgundy.

When in college, I preferred to spend more money on treks than beauty. I thought, when I saw my 1st grey hair, that time I would have my hair colored. Many of my senior colleagues in their late 20s or early 30s had that salt and pepper look. So my plan was ready. But with curls, to get that salt and pepper look is a long wait. The reason, you need to oil your hair daily. I remember looking like a female version of Satya Sai Baba if I skipped oiling my hair. Thus, my 30s went with jet black color. 

Finally, last year, when I was already 40+ and still with jet black hair, I finally collected my guts. We were planning my son’s thread ceremony. Already in my 40s, I thought it was the best time for some mischief. If not now, then when ?

I got a few strikes of brown and burgundy and two strikes of red in front. But the problem was, since original color is bark black, red was never visible. The lady suggested that I go for more strong colors. Maybe next time, when I will try purple or peacock. (In my 50s may be). 

My curls look best after wash. But there were no products available in the market to maintain those curls. Our mentality was set - लंबे, काले, घने and straight  बाल. Then finally someone thought of curly girls and one product was launched. And today, market is flooded with curly girl products like Dove, Manetain, Ashba, Curlvana, Curlup, Fix my curls and many more. What to choose and how to use is now a topic of discussion with a new style statement CGM - Curly Girl Method. 

Till the time I again gather my guts to do some mischief, let me enjoy being CG with my burgundy and brown (now faded). What shlould i try? DM me for selecting the color peacock or purple or same old accepted one of burgundy + brown. 

Happy to be CG.

Curly tales 1 - Tale of my curls

Finally! My hair are back to my natural curls. In the 1st week of March this year, I got my hair straightened and immediately regretted it for two reasons. First, When you have two boys at home believe me it just went unnoticed. And second I faced a bad hair fall. Never in my life I am going to do it again. It took me 5-6 weeks to get me hair back to normal.

First time I straightened my hair was in 2008. I still remember after getting my hair done I was traveling to Pune with my friends. With lot of excitement I flaunted my hair asking, “कसे दिसत आहेत”. She replied in cold face and equally cold voice, “नक्की काय दाखवते आहेस”. I told her about my hair straightening treatment and she replied, “काहीही समजत नाही आहे. कुत्र्याची शेपूट आहेत तुझे केस. खाली कितीही वजन बांधा किंवा इस्त्री करा, वजन काढालं की ते spring सारखे वरच चढणार”. And my money went down the drain. (How rude!).

Then I did this stupidity again this year. I mean I always wanted that silky, straight hair. I remember once I was in parlour and girl sitting next to me had that silky, straight hair. I was staring at her hair when she turned to me and asked, “Are these your natural hair or you have curled it”. I told her this Maggie noodles are my natural hair and she said, “I will pay anything to get those curls”. This is exactly what I am thinking about your hair, I told her. If I ever went to parlour to make my hair more curly, I will be looking like an African.

One such incident I remember. I was traveling by train to Thane. Being just one stop, I was at the door. Suddenly I realised a sharp wheapon on my neck. After getting down, I realised that my gold chain has been stolen. I was devastated but still managed to go to class. My friend sitting behind me asked, 'what is this gold hanging in your hair'. That thief was able to cut my chain but was unable to pull it through my hair. My cruel friend said, “How was he able to reach till your neck at first place”. How rude again.

All my Japanese friends and colleagues have always appreciated my big eyes and curly hair. पिकत तिथे विकत नाही हेच खरं.

I always wonder how easily the silky hair can be combed. I mean, it’s a matter of few minutes for them. I whereas has to make four sections to get my tangled hair combed. And still they look bouncy, curly. As my mother-in-law once said, “तुझं बरं आहे ना, केस विंचरले काय अणि नाही विंचरले काय सारखेच दिसतात”. I take it as a compliment now as I have started loving my curls. Love to be a CG (Curly girl). I think I look much better with these curls.