British Curlies

Curl Drama

Multi-Racial Curls

by Patricia who lives in London

There was a little girl
Who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead.
And when she was good
She was very very good
And when she was bad
She was horrid. 

I can't tell you how many times my father teased me with that nursery rhyme as I was growing up.  He said that it summed up who I was.  Clearly even then, my thick mop of curly hair was something people noticed about me.  Mind you, I kept it so short for so much of my youth that I had no idea quite how unruly it could get.  It was only when I was old enough to cut it into a defiant afro that I realized quite how exuberant it was. There were people who looked on in envy.  Others thought having curly hair made it easy to look after. The truth of curly hair is somewhat different. 

One of the problems is that no two heads are the same.  In my case, from one part of my head to another, no two areas are the same. I like to think it reflects all the many different cultures and ethnicities in my family: my African and Scottish great grandfathers and Indian and Carib great grandmothers and that is just on the Jamaican side of my family.  My English father had an Irish mother and a family name that originated in France. Nearly straight, curly or frizzy, it's all there somewhere on my head.  So looking after a curly top is, to put it mildly, a challenge. 

It has taken me a long time to find a regime with my curly hair care that allows me to actually grow my hair and not think I should buy a strimmer to keep it in check. There are two vital ingredients: products that can moisturize without making the hair greasy or brittle, and a good hair dresser.  Because curly hair is a particular challenge.  It has a mind of its own and can grow out of a good cut in a short week so it needs a firm hand and a definite shape to keep it looking good. I can't tell you how many hairdressers can't seem to get the hang of how to cut curly hair.  You could of course just let it do its own thing if you have a personality big enough to stand up to the end result and that can look great too. 

I like my curly hair.  It says who I am: a child of many nations and cultures, one of the results of a tumultuous history, what Jamaicans would call a Browning, mixed race, the product of a world where people meet, mingle and make connections that are about who they are and not just what they are. 

Did I mention that as curly hair turns grey, the texture changes again?  A whole new challenge. 

Find products for all curly hair types whether your roots are from the Caribbean, Afro American or Celtic - shop online at British Curlies