Silver Lining: While researching salons, Mulder found one that specializes in curly hair and also offered a link to NaturallyCurly.com on the salon’s website. There were positive reviews from fellow curlies, so she went for a cut in July. “Before anything, we talked about my hair and the problems I was having, the past experiences with stylists—what styles may or may not work out for me,” Mulder says. “I now love my hair for the first time in a long time. My curly friends are jealous!”
Salon Snafu: You try a chemical process that ends in a calamity.
Last year was an emotionally draining one for New Jersey curly girl Laura Harris. She was navigating an awful breakup with a boyfriend, and her job wasn’t any great shakes, either. She craved something to smile about, to look forward to. So when her stylist suggested what he called a “curl-reducer” chemical process that promised to zap frizz, she thought it would be the perk she needed to boost her spirits.
“Not as dramatic as a Japanese straighter, I was told it would keep the curl but just reduce the frizz,” says Harris of Maplewood, NJ, noting that the product has since been discontinued. “It did the opposite. My hair looked totally fried.” The only option to improve it? Cut it off. Harris had to shear six inches, leaving her still-frizzy locks barely gracing her chin. “The only thing I could do was blow it straight,” Harris said. “So my long, beautiful curls turned into a short, frizzy, uber-ugly head of hair.” Adding hair extensions hid some of the damage that would ultimately take more than a year to recover. “Obviously, I can’t place all the blame on my stylist,” Harris acknowledges. “I made an incredibly stupid decision.”
Lesson Learned: Many mistakes are simply epiphanies in disguise. For Harris, this dragged-out, harrowing experience led her to love her curls. “I’m also much less concerned about the stylist’s feelings and much more open about what I want,” she says.
Silver Lining: After a growing-out process that spanned a year and a half, she now embraces every textured tendril. “I just got the extensions removed and cut off the fried hair,” Harris says. “It’s shorter than my hair has ever been in my life, but I love the way the curls look now—so shiny and healthy!
