Hello lovelies! I’m so excited to officially start blogging about curly hair. For the longest time, I didn’t know that I had naturally curly hair. My hair seemed to have 2 default options: either limp and lifeless or huge and frizzy. I loved the look of curls, but I was too lazy to curl my hair on a regular basis and thought that was my only option to control my crazy hair.
One day, my sister discovered the Curly Girl method and started doing it with her curly hair. She was always telling me to do this or that, but I wasn’t convinced. One fateful day, I borrowed a few library books about curly hair. I started reading Curly Girl: The Handbook, and I was hooked. As I read through the list of signs that you have naturally curly hair, I was shocked. Obviously I was a curly girl and didn’t know it! Those books started me on a remarkable journey of discovery.
If you’re not sure if your hair is naturally curly or not, this post is for you.
Here are 6 signs that you have naturally curly hair.
1. In humid weather, your hair develops a LOT of volume.
If rainy days leave your mane looking larger than a lion’s, you are probably a curly girl! Why? Because your curly hair isn’t getting the hydration that it needs, the cuticle will swell, trying to absorb moisture from the atmosphere. This causes your hair to develop volume, and it will be difficult to tame the mane.
That’s why Naturally Curly has a Frizz Forecast for curly girls. Just for fun, compare the forecasts for Arizona and Hawaii!
2. You have cowlicks (stubborn curly pieces) around your face that just won’t stay straight.
Even as a toddler, when my hair was mostly straight, I always had a few stubborn pieces that would curl around my face. They would always need to be brushed or pinned back in order to look neat. When I had bangs, I would always have to straighten them. However, now that I follow the Curly Girl method, those “cowlicks” have turned themselves into adorable little curls!
3. You like to wear your hair in tight ponytails.
Because you find your hair unmanageable and stubborn, you tie it back as tightly as you can and hope for the best. Although you can usually get your crown area to lie flat, the bottom of your ponytail is wavy and voluminous. On humid days, it might even sprout a few ringlets!
4. If you don’t comb it, your wet hair forms waves and ringlets.
If you go swimming at the beach with your hair down and get out looking like a mermaid, you’re probably a curly girl! Curly hair will usually return to its natural bent when it gets wet.
Here’s one simple test you can do next time you wash your hair. After shampooing, apply conditioner by combing it through your hair with your fingers. Next, let the shower spray rinse off about 50% of the conditioner. Flip your head upside down, and let your hair drip off some of the water. Is your hair staying completely straight, or is it forming waves? If it’s becoming wavy, you probably have naturally curly hair.
5. Frizz and static are a constant battle.
You’ve tried every product at the drugstore, and your hair is STILL frizzy. In frustration, you often resort to heat tools and blowdryers to whip your hair into submission. When you’re invited to a wedding or special event, your first thought is, “What on earth will I do with my hair?”
When I was really young and a huge fan of Little House on the Prairie, I would brush my hair 100 strokes a night. For Laura, it worked! For me, it ended up becoming a huge, static-y mess!
6. Your hair takes forever to straighten.
Speaking of which, your straightener has to be turned up to maximum heat in order to actually straighten your hair. To straighten one piece, you have to go over it several times. When you are finally done, it only lasts for a few blissful hours. You wonder, “What else could I be doing with 45 minutes of my life?”
These are just a few of the signs that you may have curly hair. Honestly, the best test is to try the Curly Girl method for a few weeks and see how your hair reacts! You might be amazed to discover that you have gorgeous curls after all!
Let’s Chat:
Now be honest…were any of these 6 things true for you? Curly girls, when did you first realize that you had curly hair? Let me know in the comments!
If you’re new to the Curly Girl Method, I recommend my ebook, Embrace Your Curls: A Manual for Curly Girls. It has 120+ pages of information, techniques, and methods to help your curly girl have the hair of your dreams! Use code welcomecurly30 to get 30% off, too!
p.s. Some of the items in this post are affiliate links. I only post about products that I love + think you’ll probably love, too! As an Amazon Associate or affiliate for other programs, I earn from qualifying purchases. When you purchase through my link, I receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Thank you SO much for your support!
Well now I can be assured that I definitely do *not* have curly hair..haha! I think my hair is hopelessly straight, but I guess that has perks too! P.S. I thought the girl in the first pic was you, but I just realized that it isn’t! lol Looks like you, though 😉
Your hair is always so lovely, Elizabeth! I think it’s really important to embrace your natural texture + work with what God gave you. 🙂
Aww, thanks! I realized I don’t have many good pictures of my hair so I got some help from a couple free stock photo websites. 😉 Something to work on for future posts…
Aw thank you! No, I think all of the photos you chose worked really well with the post! 🙂
Hi,
My hair is EXACTLY like this! Except that I’ve never tried to straighten it, so I have no idea how hard that would be. As a teenager, I’d always braid my hair when it was wet/damp in an effort to tame it. I had really long hair, and it would take 24 hours to dry that way. That was the only way to control the frizz. I never use a hair dryer. I always have the frizz halo around my face, and when I leave my hair down to air dry, it forms big, loose ringlets. I am biracial, so my hair is a mixture of textures. My mom has straight, fine, hair, and my dad has thick, curly hair. I always thought I had a slightly thicker version of my mother’s hair, but now I’m beginning to think that my hair is wavy or curly. What do you suggest?
Hello JJ!
Thanks for commenting. It definitely sounds like you have curly hair! I would recommend trying the Curly Girl Method. Just go through my posts under the label Curly Girl 101 for more information. If you have specific questions, you can reach me at whatdinnywore (at) gmail.com and I’d be happy to help!
❤️ Claudine
Hmmm… My hair definitely does a few of these things… but only a few. I think my hair is mainly straight with just a few random pieces that “kink”. 🙂
I did read the Curly Girl book way back when though!
Your hair looks lovely!
Rebekah
http://www.moreradiance.com
Thank you so much, Rebekah! It can be hard to tell when your hair is “on the edge” between curly and straight. 🙂 I thought this post might be helpful for girls like that. And I always love your hair too…it’s so pretty!
Hey darling Dinny! I can’t believe I have only just finally gotten around to reading this post…and yikes! do I ever need it! My hair does at least 4 of the above…but I’m really nervous about diving in whole-heartedly…I stopped using shampoo and bought a “co-wash” which my hair seems to like…is that what you use? I am really looking forward to more posts on your curly girl journey! <3
Love in Christ,
Ani
http://www.thefeminineedit.com
Hello Ani!
I’m so excited to hear that you are exploring the wonderful world of curly hair. Yes, I do use a co-wash called As I Am Coconut Cowash. I’ve also had good results with a sulfate-free cleanser and conditioner from the Girls with Curls brand. One of the most helpful things is learning whether your hair has low, normal, or high porosity. I will have an upcoming post, or you can also research it. It really affects what products work for your hair. So glad this was helpful, and I hope to post more curly hair content soon!
Love in Christ,
Claudine
Hi! I think I might have wavy/curly hair (2b/3a) but I’m not sure, could you maybe help me out? I definitely relate to all these points but i’m just not sure, because my mom has always taught me otherwise (i’m only 15 hahah).
I always get out of the shower with a head full of waves and curls, but most of the time i try and get my hair as straight as possible the minute i get out of the shower. Sometimes i let them be though, and then i do get told by people (besides my mom) that i have curls BUT they do kind of disappear after a day.
How can i keep these waves and how can i care for it properly? And do i even have hair that is wavier than straight at all?
Hi Mignon!
Your hair sounds beautiful! I can definitely relate to the struggle with not knowing what to do with your hair. I would recommend first, that you do not brush your hair or try to straighten it. Instead, use a leave-in conditioner (or just reapply conditioner to the ends and don’t rinse it out). Then, after squeezing the excess water out with a t-shirt, turn your head upside down and scrunch a gel into your hair. This will help your curls last longer than a day.
I would also recommend reading this post: https://whatdinnywore.com/my-curly-hair-routine-beginner-friendly/ – it gives a beginner friendly curly hair routine. I use the Curly Girl Method and it works SO well for my hair. You should give it a try!
Let me know if you have any more questions!
love,
Claudine
I am definitely a curly girl, but my hair only does a few of those things, which just goes to show how many varieties of curlies there are out there! 🙂
My hair is naturally soft and fine, which is not usually the curly case. It is very slippery, and I have various sections of hair that are pretty straight! I have recently been using a smoothing shampoo to fight frizz, and a sea salt spray to help my curls form and hold. It has been awesome!
That’s awesome, Maryn! Your hair sounds beautiful! It’s always good to experiment with different products to find the best ones for your hair. Do you follow the Curly Girl Method? I definitely recommend it, and it really helped me figure out how to do my hair, and embrace my curls! Thanks for sharing!
Claudine
I’m trying to tell if I have curly hair and it is quite difficult but you made it easier! You see I always wear my hair in a braid because it is unmanageably tangly, no matter how many products or brushes it will frizz and get tangly. So since it is always in a braid it gets wavy, but my mom has very natural and very curly hair. Like VERY curly. So I’m trying to figure out if the signs are because my hair is always in a braid or if I have curly Hair? Lol.
Hi Makenna!
I think it definitely sounds like you have curly hair. Because hair type is genetic, you probably inherited curly hair from your mom, although it may be a different curl type. I recommend checking out my Curly Girl Basics series and trying the Curly Girl Method for 3 weeks. Then you will be able to tell if it’s truly curly! I’d love to hear how it goes for you!
love,
Claudine
Hi there! Well, I stumbled on this page after searching for “how to know if you have curly hair” on Bing. As a child, I had always been told by my parents that I have a slight curl. When I was still a youngster, my hair was quite frizzy. Now that I’m in my teen years, it has lost a lot of that frizziness. Also, I’ve got a puffy hairline, which has been with me ever since I can remember anything. When I was little, that’s also the reason for my mom’s always balking at the hairdresser’s question of “Do you want me to give your girl a bang?”, for fear that the bang would puff up afterwards. I think my hair has a slight wave to it when wet, though now that I have had my long hair cut into a permed-at-the-end bob recently, I don’t see it any longer. I’m sure that if I had my long hair wrapped in a towel and let it down later, it would form some waves. Do you think I might somehow show more waves? Anyway, I’m probably going to try the Curly Girl Method. As far as I know, CGM is great for any hair in general, not only curly hair, because sulfates are by no means great for any hair. Thanks! God bless! (PS: This is my screen name.)
Hi Emily,
Thank you for commenting! It definitely sounds like you have naturally curly hair. I recommend that you check out my other posts in the Curly Girl 101 series. If you have any questions, just email me at whatdinnywore (at) gmail.com
♥️ Claudine
Hi Dinny! Well, I’ve finally known what the cause of my hair’s not turning up waves now after I had a perm at the salon. Before the hairdresser wrapped my hair on rods, she mixed a cream and applied it all over my head, waited for several minutes, and rinsed it out. Every so often she would take a little machine the size of a small radio and let it test my hair to see if it is “softened” enough. (According to what I know, in China, where I am, both “softening” and “straightening” are the equivalent of relaxing your hair. “Softening” is the process of applying the cream, and “straightening” is softening and following it up with a flat iron, something which she did not do.) That means that I already said bye-bye to my wet waves at the salon. 😂 But, when my mom’s hair (which has not been relaxed or permed in a scant ten years) comes out of the shower, it’s hair fit for a mermaid! I’ve recently been coaxing her into following CGM, and I’ll also follow that on my relaxed-at-the-top and permed-at-the-end hair while I wait for my waves (if any) to grow back. Really, I recommend everybody to follow CGM, even for someone with stick straight hair, because sulfates and heat are damaging to all hair in general. God bless! (PS: I’m also a Christian.)
Wow! What a discovery. I’m sure your waves will grow back even more beautiful! The CGM is definitely a good choice for curly girls. Thanks for sharing, and keep up the great work! ♥️
[…] Girls with type 2 hair have soft, S-shaped waves. Their texture can range from fine to coarse. Often, wavy girls don’t realize they have naturally curly hair because their curls are less defined. Instead, they flat-iron and blow-dry their hair into straight subjection. (If you’re not sure if you have curly hair, read 6 Signs that You Have Naturally Curly Hair). […]