From Childhood Waves to First Doubts: Childhood, Teen Years, and College

I’m the other half of KallyKurls, and I want to share how my relationship with my hair has evolved over the years. It hasn’t always been a love story. Actually, for a long time, it was a war.

Childhood

When I was little, my hair was wavy. If I wore it long, it would naturally form curls. Until my teenage years, those waves weren’t a problem — except for the occasional tug when my mom brushed my hair for school.

This was the 80s. We went outside without cell phones. My waves roamed freely around the neighborhood. We’d go knocking on doors or just meet up at the nearest park. Social media was park benches and metal swings that you’d never see in a playground today. There were no ball pits, just sandboxes — we’d come home with scratches that got cleaned with hydrogen peroxide and a bright red antiseptic that stung like crazy.

Ever seen Stranger Things? Yeah, like that.

That freedom showed in our hair. Ponytails, braids, headbands, barrettes — all on natural hair. Kids’ hair only had plain water or cologne on it.

Teen Years

When I hit my teens, I remember each of my best friends had a different texture: straight, very curly, and a whole spectrum of waves. It was the late 80s and early 90s. Curls were in style. I got perms to have curly hair. Curls were trendy and worn loose — even if the mousse left our hair feeling like cardboard. My mom told me how she used to straighten her hair as a young woman, literally with a clothing iron. I thought she was crazy.

Crimped bangs, layered cuts, waves, perms… those were really fun years. Bomber jackets, leather, zippers. Shoulder pads ruled fashion. Hairspray and mousse were part of my routine when I went out with friends. We’d meet at someone’s house to do our makeup and hair. I look back with a mix of horror and admiration at the blue eyeshadow trend. I’d say all of my friends got at least one perm back then. In my group, only one girl had naturally straight hair — and she still does today.

If you didn’t live through the 80s and 90s, look it up online. It’s not Photoshop. The 80s and 90s were really like that.

College

When I got to college, I don’t remember why I convinced myself my hair looked better straight. I spent my college years fighting my rebellious hair with a brush and blow-dryer, ending up with way too much volume and a ton of frizz. I’d leave the salon — when I went — with perfectly straight hair, but by the second day, as soon as there was any humidity, it would wave up again. Stubborn.

College was a time of personal freedom, but for my hair, it was a time of frustration. Few of my friends still wore their hair wavy. Straightening became part of our routines. We all styled our hair like Rachel Green.

That’s when I started wondering why my hair couldn’t be like everyone else’s. I didn’t know yet that I was asking the wrong question.

📖 Continue reading my story:

I’ve told you how I went from the free waves of my childhood to the first doubts in college. But when I entered the working world, my hair stopped being a doubt and became a problem I thought I had to fix.

➡️ [Read part two: working, straightening, and living with “tamed” hair]