American Girl Goes Curly

Michelle Breyer, curl expert and founder of naturallycurly.com, discusses what really makes her daughter happy.

Sometimes you get the best curly tips in the strangest places. In this case, it was at the new American Girl store in Dallas - a two-story fantasyland for young girls.
In addition to looking for a new doll, my curly 7-year-old wanted to rejuvenate the look of her disheveled curly "Just Like Me" doll. And with an in-store beauty parlor for dolls, there was no better place to do it.
For those who know nothing about American Girl dolls, the vast majority of them have straight hair. So dealing with a curly doll - just like a curly human - requires special skills. The women - some who sported natural texture themselves - weren't intimidated at all. They spritzed her hair and twisted small sections of hair into ringlets. This was no easy task because this doll has a lot of hair.
Forty-five minutes later, Elizabeth looked like a brand-new doll. Her shiny ringlets bounced, and my daughter had a huge smile on her face.

Would you still love me if...

Suzanne Schroeder curly expert for naturallycurly.com muses about second day hair and first night romances.

Bedhead and men. Bedhead and curls. How much do you really want that man to know about you and your curls in the morning? Most curlies would answer as little as possible. Bedhead has a completely different definition when curls are involved. It is a constant damage control mission. I have tried embracing the idea that my hair couldn't look that bad in the morning. That he will smile with cute sleepy amusement at the state of my curls. Shouldn't he be able to embrace all of me even my frizzy smashed unruly curls in the morning? I like my curls and love this fantasy. I have even thought that my curls could have that sexy wild look. At some point reality comes crashing in. His look of sleepy shock is what I am really waking up to. Some men are better at hiding their expression of horror than others. The problem is that the man is usually as unpredictable as my curls. I can't do anything about the reaction to my curly bedhead, but I can try to get the curls back from the night before. Sneaking out of bed before he wakes up. Getting my little bottles of hair products out of my purse. Hopeful that I can get second day hair. I've brought a hat in case my curls are impossible beyond repair. Quietly back in bed I am thinking why all this crazy effort for the curls and the man? Maybe there is a special pillow that I don't know about that will keep the curls safe? How will I fit that in my purse?

To read more visit naturallycurly.com

False Idol: Jordin Sparks drops her curly locks

Jordin, how could you? Part of your charm on "American Idol" was your beautiful head of curls. And you rocked those curls with confidence as you advanced each week. Your voice was amazing, but so was your unique look. You stood out from the pack of Hillarys, Britneys and Mylies, with their stick-straight tresses. You were so confident with their natural beauty.
So what's with the new look? What happened to those shiny coils? I know they're lurking somewhere under that straight mane - a style that makes you look like every other teen queen. Did they make you do this?
On the American Idol web site, they have a slide show of the" Jordin Sparks' Transformation," as if it's a good thing. With each slide, we see your hair get progressively straighter. By the last frame, the curls have disappeared.
We beg you to toss that flat iron. Just say no to the Brazilian Keratin Treatment. Embrace that gorgeous texture that helped you stand apart from the rest.

There was a Little Girl

There was a little girl
Who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead
When she was good
She was very good indeed
And when she was bad she was horrid
-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Michelle Breyer, Curl expert and co-founder of NaturallyCurly.com, talks about her own biases when dealing with her daughter's curly locks.

My 7-year-old daughter, Emma, woke up the other morning and asks me if she looks any different. I don't know quite how to react to that, so I say no. She then asks if her hair looks messy. Since she was blessed with curls -- although not quite as curly as my own tight ringlets -- her hair does indeed look a little crazy. Then I notice that the front of her hair is a good six inches shorter than the rest of it. Yes, she says, she cut her own hair. A huge chunk.
I grew up with a straight-haired mother who had no idea what to do with her curly daughter's hair. She thought it looked cute an inch long, so I had a pixie until I was in 8th grade and old enough to say no. Even then, it took years to grow it long. So the thought that my daughter had voluntarily cut her beautiful, long, Giselle curls short was hard to fathom. Then she told me she wanted a short haircut. At first, I was horrified. Then, it hit me that it's her hair to do with just as she pleases. Just as I was angry that my mother subjected me to involuntary pixies, my daughter longed to have a short bob like her friends. She wanted to make a decision for herself.
So off we went to the hair salon, and she told the stylist how much we wanted cut off. It was painful to watch the long, golden ringlets fall to the ground. I would have died for long hair like that when I was her age, with my short helmet of curls. But Emma was thrilled with her new look. She bragged to her friends, "My hair is shorter than yours!"

The Bachelor, His Girl, Her Hair

Michelle Breyer, curl expert and co-founder of NaturallyCurly.com muses on The Bachelor...

I was watching "The Bachelor" the other night, and it became crystal clear that I could never be on the show. It doesn't matter that I'm a 40-something married woman who isn't a blonde size 4 bombshell with a boob job. It's the fact that my curly hair would be such a mess!!!!
I was watching Jenni and Brad cavort with the dolphins in Cabo, and her hair looked perfect as she emerged from the water. It looked perfect as they gazed at each other over dinner. And I'm sure it looked perfect when they woke up the next morning in their fantasy suite.
Unfortunately for us curlies, our hair isn't so wash and wear. It can morph over the course of a date, especially if you throw in a iittle humidity or a pool - or a little romance. It's something our mates know about us, and hopefully appreciate.
As I watch Bettina's blonde hair whip romantically around her on a sailboat - knowing that mine would like like a huge bush - I console myself with the thought that none of the Bachelors ever ends up with the girl from the Final Rose ceremony anyway.

You can see more of Michelle's work at NaturallyCurly.com

Do I look fat in these jeans?

Suzanne Schroeder, Curl Expert for NaturallyCurly.com, talks about honesty, when you don't want it, and when you absolutely do.

I have been wearing a hat and pigtails for 10 days now. The result of a hair color disaster. The young guy at work asked today " What is with the hats?" " You look like an aging hipster." A bad thing to say to a 42 year old woman, who really just wants to be just a hipster. The rest of the day was a debate about how honest should honest be? How do we want our questions answered like "honey do I look fat?" and "do my curls look too frizzy today?" Most of us want the perfect combination of honesty and a bit of fibbing. Something like "you look great but those jeans aren't my favorite" or "your hair looks super today except that one little curl that is misbehaving." Is there really anyone out there who can answer the questions this way all the time? The only instance when this honesty combo doesn't work is when you get it from a hair stylists. It is always in the more extreme form if you are a curly. Our hair always looks worse rather than better when we leave the salon. Even though the stylists says it looks great. We go home or to our car where our emergency hair products are and re-style the curls ourselves. I have only recently found one person who really knows how to cut, color and style curls. The problem is he is only here every 3 months. So when I on a whim decided to put blonde streaks in my red hair and they turned bright yellow I had to call someone. The whim was a huge mistake. I had done it many times as a teenager and in my twenties but this time something went really wrong. I arrived at my appointment knowing that I had a problem and was hoping anything would better than yellow. I was so wrong. The correction turned into brown curls with white strips. The honesty was there at the beginning of the appointment. We both knew the yellow was a mistake. By the end of 3 hours though that honesty had turned into the typical curly experience. Looking in the mirror horrified as the stylist tries to convince us that our hair looks great. Honesty is complicated. How much do we really want? Sitting in the chair at a salon, complete honesty would be just right.

Dating in a Curly World

Michelle Breyer Curly Expert and co-Founder of naturallycurly.com rings in on Teri Evan's story.

Teri's story on whether men prefer curly or straight reminded me of an experience that happened to me in college. I was so sure that men preferred straight hair, that I decided to get mine chemically straightened. I could tell mid-way through that something was wrong. The stylist had a scared look on his face, and then said he wasn't going to charge me for it - obviously not a good sign. As I was working out at the gym, I noticed big hunks of hair dropping to the floor. After washing my hair in the shower, it was clear that I had received a chemical haircut. I looked like I had mange. My hair was broken off in huge sections. My boyfriend told me my forehead looked like it had grown. The bottom line. Men don't necessarily prefer hair curly or straight. They just prefer that you have hair.

To read the original story click here or visit naturallycurly.com