Straight Vs. Curled

As mentioned on a previous post, I've been dealing with the hair dilemma all my life. From actually managing my hair to making it look decent, my battle has been an uphill one. But, in the past few years, I've juggled between curly and straight. Since letting my curls go natural, I have absolutely loved their easy to manage look. But, it seems that when I straighten my hair every month or so, EVERYONE loves it. I don't get it. Straight is just...well straight. There's no body, no motion, no sway. And when it gets oily...beware. I look like a wet Goth cat. Plus, straightening my hair takes up to an hour and lasts two weeks tops.

So why bother right? Four reasons. My hair is longer when straightened, and I love having it fall so far down my back. The colors in my hair pop, are more noticeable and the dead ends don't have an orange colored tinge because I need another dye job. I don't have to wash it, which may sound gross, but my hair is so oily, that if I wash my hair more than once a week product builds up on my scalp. Using a shower cap and keeping it dry at all times actually repels any build up. If I tried to keep my hair dry with it curly, I wouldn't even be able to style it in the morning. And last but not least, it's always nice to be able to have a different hairstyle without having to go to the salon every month. I can interchange between two basic hair styles without dropping a dime, and that is pretty nice.

But judge for yourself: Curls or Straightened? I'm sure everyone has a preference, especially when it comes to their own hair!  

Want Healthy Hair??

My hair troubles began in third grade. What started as a usual hair cut ended in one of the most horrific hair moments of my life (drama intended). You see, before this hair cut, my hair was relatively straight, with a little bit of body, but not much. After my hair recouped from the third grade cut from hell, it was the curliest and most untamable hair to deal with. The hair dresser cut it short, like, a mushroom poof on top of my chubby round head. Imagine that. I wish I could burn all the pictures taken at that stage of my life. 

But after it grew out, for three years I was obsessed with the bun, again, a very bad look. And after that I took years exploring products that would tame, straighten, soften, un-kink these curls I had no idea what to do with. It wasn't until a year ago when I decided to throw out all the crappy hair products and go natural. 

You think doing that would be the end of the dilemma right? Wrong. Well, turns out my hair becomes incredibly dry without product. My hair gets even dryer while taking my acne medication. So, for the past few months I've been researching different ways to hydrate and hold my hair without it being a gel or mousse. 

What I've discovered works for my hair are two products. The first is tea tree oil, which I had been using on my face for years. But after reading about the oil's benefits for hair, I decided to give it a go. The oil holds my curls without having the hardness of gels and mousses and without the product buildup on my scalp. My hair is quite thick, but I don't need to use too much of this on my hair in order for it to work. This you can find anywhere. I get the tea tree oil at Walmart. It's in the beauty products area and comes in a relatively small bottle, but looks similar to cooking oils. 

The second product from, It's a 10, is another Pinterest discovery. It's a 10 has tons of products, but I've only tried the miracle leave in. This leave in comes with or without keratin. I bought it with keratin because I'm trying to grow out my hair, and I have to say I am extremely satisfied. The product is sold special in salons but if you google it, there are tons of stores like Target, Amazon and Walgreens that sell It's a 10 products. Fortunately, I found the product on Amazon for twenty-eight dollars and free shipping. Now, the directions say to spray the product all over your hair and then comb through. However, after showering in the morning, I typically don't comb my hair, because without product, it poofs like a cotton ball. Even with this product, if I comb through afterwards, then my hair balloons into frizz. So what I do is spray this product, then use the tea tree oil to hold the curls as I run my fingers through my hair. 

It works pretty well and I've noticed hair growth. The only negativity about this product is possible over use. The keratin can make my roots stiff, as if I have product build up. So I usually wash out as much as I can everyday in the morning and I don't use either products on the weekends. It seems to help with how much my scalps builds up. It's a 10 is a great line and I recommend their products for all hair types.

These are the 10 things the products of It's a 10 are supposed to help with. 

This is the exact product I use. (P.S. it's made in the U.S.)