Susonnah for Naturallycurly writes;
Perfect curls are not obtained by chance; it takes preparation and special care to achieve and maintain those perfect curls. But what is the secret to perfect curls? The answer is healthy hair habits. Here is a list of ten habits of people with perfect curls. Make hair care a habit, and you, too, can have perfect curls.
1. Eat Healthy
A girl with perfect curls is definitely conscious of what she eats. What you put into your body not only affects your body’s appearance, but your hair’s as well. It’s a simple habit, but one difficult to take on. Curly girls seldom grab fast food, and instead cook with salmon, carrots, walnuts, eggs, beans and green leafy vegetables. All these foods are rich in vitamins and Omega 3 fatty acids, which improve hair strength, shine, and overall health.
2. Have a Favorite Hair Product and Stick to It
The perfect curly girl knows what product works best on her hair, at least season by season. Furthermore, she makes it a priority to always have her product in stock. Curls are like people; they are full of personality and it takes time to know them. Take time to find your favorite products and then commit to them. If you stick to one product, you are more likely to perfect its application and get perfect curls. (Tip: Girls with perfect curls usually stick to natural hair products.)
What good habits have kept your curls in check?
@Happy – Yes, liberty or rather freedom of speech, just as I'm allowed to use mine to debate the comments of others. And, for the record, I questioned whether someone was using religious speech in the guise of trolling, NOT anyone's religious convictions. Apologies to all if that was misunderstood.
"Come clean. Lighten up. Take a chill pill. You hair nazis are draining me."
If someone is sharing an opinion that is important to them, and the person they are speaking to responds with any of the above words, it will probably not be appreciated.
I'm very surprised to find these types of comment on CurlyNikki. I read articles on this site almost daily and I haven't seen this type of commenting before. Usually people will address the question that is asked. In this case, it was "What good habits have kept your curls in check?" Hardly any of the posts above address that question. Instead there's a lot of negativity and bickering. I found the majority of these comments useless. Let's keep it positive and on point please.
LOL!!! Why so serious? I am very articulate and well educated. I was unaware that slang was also frowned upon in this "open forum" lol. Name calling? Are you serious? I noticed a recent trend of curlies policing the heck out of every single thing Miss Nikki posts from the articles to specific words inside of articles etc… it's just getting out of hand. I used the term "hair nazi" not to "name call" but to convey a point using a term that I know a lot of naturals, especially on this site, are familiar with. If anyone took offense then they should ask themselves "am I really that offended by someone I don't know on a subject as insignificant as hair?" And @Anon 1:18 I was joking and light hearted throughout my short post… didn't really see where I was tearing anyone down. I understood the commenter’s above me and my only suggestion was to not be so serious about the subject at hand. To imply that I am lacking tact and the ability to articulate any of my thoughts in a non abrasive, intelligible fashion was a little rude but hey we are all entitled to our own opinions. I say some people are too serious and you say they're not so we'll have to agree to disagree. Easy Peasy! 🙂
This is an open forum. Part of having a mature, open discussion is the ability to express an opinion without attacking others for expressing their opinions. We don't all have to agree, and there's no right or wrong way to feel about the article. @ Teerah, there's definitely no need to resort to name calling.
* I meant a good sealant (touch screen phone error lol )
@ kitka82 – I like the way you have dissected the question I guess before we post we have to try be objective and to think outside the box.I guess as a woman emotion just gets in the way.
Answer to the question- my hair loves moisture in forms of creams and a good servant.Keeping it simple also helps me and having a regime.
Nik: I didn't mean "duh" to you. LOL! Just the haters :-p
@CurlyNikki: Nawwwww Nikki. Naw. Please don't start "censoring" now– you can't appease everybody. When you do that you are relinquishing your right to post freely and objectively.
And duh. There's no such thing as the "perfect curl." But I don't think that's the point of the question– I think the question could be reworded "What products and/or techniques work best for your hair?"
My answer would be lots of moisture and low-manipulation. This question did not need to be dissected like this… good grief. :-p
@ Annie L -People are allowed to make religious comments or not.It's called liberty and guess where that originated from ……??? No one is swearing or making rude comments so i don't understand where the harm has been done.
Just because one does not agree with the post doesn't make them a hair nazi articles are posted to provoke our thoughts and develop what has beeb written.
@CurlyNikki I don't think that you need to be "Mindful" of anything!I mean as to what you think is appropiate to post! You are providing us, u are, not us provide you! with a great forum to speak our minds and everyone "Won't" agree all the time and will have "Different" opinions. SUCH AS LIFE! WE WILL BE OK! AND JUST LET US WORK IT ON OUT FOR OURSELVES! YOUR GOOD NIK!!! Nothing worth having is easy boo!
What is up with these trolling, completely OT religious statements on various boards lately? Some of these posts sound like thread hijacks, and from the same poster….
@ anon 1:18 thanks! Glad to provide a diffrent perspective. Also It's great that you preceived the article in the context of YOUR OWN GOOD HAIR DAYS! I wished that more poeple felt this way about it. Perfect Curls, hair, what eva you want to call it, is what is perfect to you!
@ Anon 12:44, I like your post, and this is something that I hadn't considered. Imo, I didn't see the article that way. When I read the article, I didn't have any particular picture in mind. All I thought about was my own "good hair days" lol. So for me, I know what that looks like. My only issue is when we place the article in context and like a couple of posters have said, insert something else in there. It could be misconstrued. But I definitely see your point of how some could have taken it. Also, I'm not sure about other folks, but I take curls and kinks to be the same thing, in my book lol. If it's natural it's natural.
@ Teerah,
I didn't find the earlier comments inappropriate or out of line. A couple of them mentioned the helpful tips in the article. What amazes me is that you automatically associate "seriousness" and "rules" to relaxers…seems a bit hypocritical, don't you think, given this is a natural hair article with "rules". Just because one gets a relaxer doesn't mean that they necessarily subscribe to "rules" and "seriousness", yet this article does just that. For some, it's a helpful and cute article, and for others, it's borderline.
I find that many times a natural doesn't automatically agree or even slightly disagrees with a perspective or article, folks like you are very quick to jump down their backs. I could see if the posters had made rude comments or were just generally distasteful, but they weren't, unlike your "hair nazi", "come correct" statements, etc. If the same article had been posted about "perfect" relaxer, or something similar, folks would probably be up in arms talking about how that's the beauty of natural hair, that you don't have to be "perfect". Yet you hold a double standard in instances such as this. Folks don't need to lighten up…we're all entitled to our own opinions, and for those that can communicate them articulately and without tearing down a fellow sister or brother in the process, and remain tactful, more power to them. If you don't like differences of opinion, that's an issue you would have to resolve within yourself.
ok ladies, let's revist this article again. Now I can see how a person who might be "Green" about Natural hair could take this article and literally think that by following the tips that they could acheive the "Perfect Curl". As it relates to "Good Hair".
However, some of us "Ripe" Naturals should know better than this by now! I believe the fuss is that some of you women are interpreting the article as referring to a certain type of hair texture in regards to have this "Perfect Curl". To add, there is the picture of a light skin women with 3type hair posted, to some it may perpetuates this believe even more! Only if your feeding into the hype and actully believe this to be true? Be honest here!
I think it has alot to do with how YOU PRECEIVE YOU OWN HAIR! Do you think you have perfect curls? If not why not? Yeah the article uses the word Perfect multiple times but it depends on how your taking it. Am I taking it too literally? Ask yourself that question?
She say's a girl with perfect curls is concious of what she eats? Is this not true? What you put in is what you get out! Also, this depends of what your definition of perfect curls are. Mine is when my hair is washed, cond., well cealed and in a bad ass Frohawk! Perfect Curls to me!:)
The Perfect curly girl knows what product's work best for her hair, at least season by season. I know when I put the right combination of products in my hair, it = Poppin Curl's, definition, shine, and Perfectness to me! What about you?
I really believe it boils down to how you honestly feel about your own hair. Just my honest opinion. Beautiful curls come in all textures. I know I've seen them and so have you! Come on now!
Some of the commentors really need to come correct and take a chill pill. I agree with Nikki is was just a cute little article. To take the word "perfect" in a literal way and get so puffy about it?… geeze ladies. I don't think the article was meant to offend or even tell how to achieve actual perfection. It was just an article to give some good tips and they used a buzz word like perfect to spark interest. You hair nazi's are draining me. This natural thing is supposed to be fun. If I wanted all those rules and seriousness I'd go back to relaxers lol. Lighten up.
@ anonymous 12;11 ur spot on true perfection is In God alone and beauty is defined by Him we are fearfully and wonderfully made! Chasing perfection leads to depression so my goal is to have healthy hair as that is realistic.
@ Curly Nikki – I appreciate the fact that you care about what the readers have to say it's sweet. ")
I hear you ladies loud and clear. I agree with the notion that nothing is perfect… I just thought it was a cute article with good tips. I'll be more mindful of the ones I choose to re-pub!
Oh dear Jebus!! Get off your soap boxes and lower your fist. It's just an article, I'm sure not meant to offend. Gesh.
I ate healthy, exercised, took multivitamins and drank lots of water, yet I still got IC. I'm with you, Carla. Lol.
Seriously though, hair grows regardless of what you put in your body. It's all about what you do to retain the length. That's why I hate articles like this. People should already be doing this stuff, not for hair health, but for good health in general. Hair tends to do best when you're not preoccupied with getting it right.
Oh, and P, I'm mixed yet there's black people straight out of Uganda with "better hair" than me, so that's not always true. Just thought you should know. 😛
Yes, that is almost like saying that if you eat perfectly, exercise often, supplement, etc you will have "perfect" health. Guess what, I do those things and I still have MS.
You can do the things mentioned in the article which is a great idea, but how do you define perfection with anything? Perfect in an imperfect world.
11. Have "good hair".
12. Get a texturizer.
13. Be racially mixed.
//Sorry about the passive aggressive list continuation, but didn't BGLH just have an article about this? About how many of us are kinky and will never be curly, and how the expectation of "curls" is creating some really counterproductive natural hair expectations? On a further note, some of the naturally curly reblogs really rub me the wrong way; this is one of them.
Quick comment about #2. I found out the hard way that Trader Joe's Nourish Spa Conditioner is my staple. I dried my hair out being a product junkie and watching youtube vids (no shade). I'm trying to simplify my regimen and stick to it for 6 months to see how much hair growth I can retain.
True perfection is in God
I found this article annoying, to say the least. Take out the word "curl" and insert "body, figure, skin, face" etc. There is no "perfect curl". It's almost like saying "if you exercise, eat healthful foods and drink more water, you'll have the perfect body". No you won't, but you'll definitely be healthier adn feel better. I think the message in this article could have been better conveyed if they focused on "healthy curls" rather than "perfect curls". Articles such as this place natural hair in the same realm as "straight hair, thinness, etc". Sort of seems like the opposite of natural hair, imo. Your hair is uniquely yours, despite what society tries to enforce on us. This type of article proves that, if given the opportunity, folks will turn even natural hair into a category in which we can be judged and judge others.
I definitely agree with anonymous 6:42…it seems questionable to chase after the "perfect curl." This places natural hair in the same realm with categories of beauty that can go from a fun learning experience to a laborious, time-intensive and rules-laden curl-chase. It's almost the antithesis to natural hair. I always thought that the theme was to do what works best for you and your hair. What differentiates this from say, chasing after the "perfect body" or the "ideal size/weight" etc etc? It's the same thing. Simply because one has natural hair does not negate the principle that this article espouses. I also think there were some useful tidbits of information, but the framing, in my opinion is the same as the "ideal height/weight/size" etc etc. Natural hair is not transcendant in that respect.
"What good habits have kept your curls in check?"
Leaving them the hell alone, Lol! I especially adhere to rule 2. Sampling is fun, but after trying other natural/holistic products, I came back to what worked for me from jump street. LESS, LESS, LESS and low-maintenance organic/holistic products I use on every part of my body.
I counted the word "perfect" about 25 times in this article. In my opinion, it's a very dangerous word. Wanting or expecting anything to be perfect is a disappointment waiting to happen, and that applies to how we view our natural hair. Don't get me wrong. I'm all for loving, caring for and nurturing natural hair, and keeping it healthy. And there's some excellent tips in this article. But I don't think it's beneficial to focus on achieving perfect curls. Many of us will never have perfect curls. I know I won't, and that's OK. My goal is to love and accept my hair for what it truly is, and work with it to enhance its unique qualities and characteristics. I refuse to waste my time and energy chasing after the elusive "perfect" curl.