Like many curly-haired women, I was used to hairdressers who consider blow drying as the only way to finish a cut. Going to a hair salon specialised in curly hair literally changed my life. They knew what they were doing, explained the entire process to me and made me realise how great my curls are.

What was also very refreshing over there was to look around me and see curly haired ladies in every corner. This is so uncommon that it made the situation surreal and very pleasant!

I used to straighten my hair from time to time and progressively realised that people were treating me differently with this hairstyle. I would get way more attention from men in clubs and people were nicer to me. I didn’t like the idea that this would have to be what it takes for people to accept me.

Having curly hair also means facing people who don’t fully understand it.
I once tightened my hair, pulled it in a little knot and my manager at work came to me and said ‘THAT looks nice, THAT pony looks nice’. Interestingly my natural curls never attracted that much enthusiasm…

People often feel entitled to comment on curly hair without thinking that it can quickly become a source of argument.

Natural hair is becoming more accepted but I still believe that there is more work to do for curly haired women to stop feeling forced to look a certain way.