by Aurianna

Created on: December 15, 2008

I grew up constantly begging my mother to let me get my hair chemically straightened. Her response was always the same; "Women pay thousands of dollars to get the curls you have! You're not touching them!"

Other curly-haired women can probably identify with my frustration. We see so many straight-haired beauties plastered across the pages of magazines, strutting their stuff on the big screen, even just standing in line at the grocery store, and we think, "Why can't MY hair do that? I just wish it would lay down once in a while!"

Of course, hair-texture-envy goes both ways; it's taken me over 20 years to realize it.

My hair is naturally curly. Not wavy, not kinky, not frizzy. Just an overload of crazy spirals, that tend to twist and turn both clockwise and counter-clockwise all in the same strand.

I fight it. For my 10th birthday, I asked for a flat-iron. For my 13th birthday, I asked for a blow-dryer and a round, metal brush.

I've let my hair grow, thinking maybe that would weigh the curls down some and make it less...crazy.

I have chopped all of my hair off, hoping to destroy the curls, only to find that they stick out even worse when they're only an inch long.

When I went to cosmetology school, I let the other girls use me as a guinea pig for a new chemical straightener (which only managed to fry my hair and make it even more unruly).

It wasn't until that last episode, that last battle, that I learned, finally, to appreciate how versatile and attractive curly hair can be. For instance, even the most simple, basic hair style is automatically dressed up by my curls. Pony tails, braids, up-dos, buns; all I have to do is pull it back and let the curls do the rest.

I can also go up to 3 days without needing to shampoo my hair (however, I don't often choose to do so; usually camping trips force the issue). All I really need to do in the mornings when I don't wash my hair is spritz it a bit with water and go.

My female friends and family are so jealous of this. It used to make me angry, because if it was possible, I would have traded any one of them for their straight hair in an instant; now, I just smile a little. I actually LIKE my hair these days.

I suppose, if I'm being really honest, it helps to know that men are attracted to curly hair. My husband, for example; when ever he is asked what it was that drew him to me in the first place, he answers, with a shrug, "Her curls."

Another great thing about natural curls: When it's raining or snowing, I can go freely out into it and not worry that my hair will go flat. I never spend hours blow-drying and curling my hair, only to have the weather destroy it in under a minute. Even intense humidity only enhances the curls.

And here's where versatility comes in: a woman with straight hair has to spend a lot of time, effort, and energy to achieve spiral curls. Sometimes it costs them a lot of money. And they usually can't do it without damaging their hair. For me, all I have to do to my curls is add a handful of mousse, and I'm ready to go. And, if I want something different, straightening my hair is pretty easy, too; it takes a little under an hour to blow-dry it straight, and then run a flat iron over it. No product necessary!

Occasionally, I do still let a sigh escape when I see my best friend's waist-length, blonde, stick-straight hair. But on the flip side, I know that she's just as envious of me as I am of her. We always want what we can't have, of course. But I have come to appreciate my natural texture, and even, finally, to really like it.

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