Fast forward a little to Junior high:
Fast forward 1 more year, and here comes the curl:
This is my Grade 8 Yearbook picture. As you can see my hair did a lot of curling between grade 7 and grade 8.
By my first year of University I was full on "Shirley Temple":
And since then, I have been known as a Curly Haired girl:
My hair was awesome... in Calgary (and Mexico). I could step out of the shower, put some mousse in, and let it dry, and it would be glossy and full and gorgeous! ... And then I moved to Edmonton. I don't know if it's the air, the water, the elevation, or something else entirely - but my hair just has not been the same. For the first year I was here, I wore my hair up almost every day due to the frizz I could not smooth.
Even in the photo Ben and I took the day we got engaged, you can see how fuzzy and "not-so-curly" my hair is:
So I have spent the last 2 years in Edmonton, considering getting my hair straighened. It's not that I don't love my curls - I do, or at least I did - but I no longer have the curls I used to have. Every time I wear my hair curly I get a halo of frizz around it, and half the hair dosen't curl properly. I think I've driven Ben crazy with my quest to find the perfect routine or the perfect product to achieve what a drug store mousse did so easily in Calgary, and because of that, the thought of having wash and go hair again was so very appealing - which would mean getting my hair chemically straightened.
Now for those of you who know me, know I really don't like putting chemicals in my hair. I use all natural Henna to dye my hair, and try to avoid heat styling as much as possible to keep my hair healthy and silky soft - so the thought of putting harsh chemicals in my hair to permanently manipulate the natural hair follicle really freaked me out - which is why I kept putting it off.
And then I discovered the Keratin Protein Treatment. This is not a straightener - it's a smoother. It relaxes some curl, but it doesn't straighten it. It just works to reduce 95% of frizz. Also - it's made up of natural products, and instead of stripping the hair with chemicals, it actually coats the hair with a silk protein to smooth it and create a frizz free look.
The best part? It lasts 4-6 Months!! I was sold! ... but in researching it - I discovered it costs $300-$500 for ONE treatment! ...eeeep! So I started saving my pennies to be able to afford it - I was hoping before winter. See the problem with winter, is when I wear sweaters, my hair sits on my shoulders and ends up getting matted up - and by the end of my work day, I have dread locks all around the base of my neck - the whole bottom layer of my hair is matted together. It's hot. I hate it. So I was hoping that I could get the treatment done before sweater season so I didn't have to deal with another winter of trying to pull my hair apart at the end of the day (or wearing my hair up every single day...again).
And then Groupon saved the day!! Last month I had delivered to my inbox the answer to my dilema - a salon was offering the Chi-Enviro Keratin Treatment for $149, rather than the usual $380. I bought it without any delay and booked my apointment.
While I was waiting for my apointment, I got Ben to take some pictures of my hair naturally curly:
And on Wednesday Oct 26th, I got the treatment. And this morning was the first time I was able to wash my hair (you have the wait a couple days for the bonding to take effect) so this morning I styled my hair normally, and then got Ben to take pictures once it had dried - I'm thrilled!
My hair is still soft, and it still has some curl, but it's more of a beachy wave! As well it's so much smoother, I don't have my typical frizz halo either! I can't wait to see how well it dries with a blow dryer as well - I think it might just cut my styling time in half!! Especially since this was how it used to look when I blow dried it....
For those of you interested, I'll be sure to include a follow up with another blow drying pic!
