Frizz Factor

As I was showering, I grabbed my daily bottle of shampoo to lather up and started to dwell on hair. I have curly hair and I have always had a difficult time choosing hair products that worked for my hair. If I let my hair go without at least three different products in it (not including shampoo and conditioner designed for curly hair) it has a life of it's own which includes lots of frizz, a tendency to get big and out of control complete with a head full of fly-aways.

I think I've got this curly hair thing under control now, though,  because I have the routine down: shampoo every other day, condition every day, apply product immediately after getting it wet, air dry for 5 minutes, apply mouse, reapply as needed, add smoother, finish with hairspray. My bathroom is full of products that help me with my hair.

Wait.

(Remember my friend who said I should take this body love as far I need to and wouldn't reign me in if I take fierce body love too far?...well....)

Last I checked, my hair is attatched to my head, which is a part of my body and I'm determined to have fierce body love. It's time to reconsider some ideas about my hair. Those products in my bathroom carry lables that say: "...fight frizz... unmanageable hair...tame even the most unruly hair...whip your curls into shape so they'll behave... extra hold...frizz-fighting power...locks down locks...long-lasting hold..." My hair products also will "enhance" my hair by "adding" to it because I need the "strength to fight frizz."

What I'm really fighting at the moment is the urge to write an essay here and do what I used to do in one of my college courses and "unpack" (look up their meanings and synonyms, put them back into the written context, examine the messages that the words carry, and deduct how those concepts impact consumers' view on their hair)  those words. The short version of the essay, and the very idea I'm birthing, is that I don't want to feel obligated to change any part of me. Even my hair.

Usually it's a pony tail day for me when my hair starts to get too big, too frizzy, or too out-of-control. But that's not really very loving or accepting of a part of me - in fact its rather negative. For the past few days I have been applying minimal amounts of products and spending less time trying to change what my hair naturally does. It feels really nice to be able to run my fingers through my hair without getting a hand full of hair product and it's actually pretty darn freeing to not have to constantly be checking the level of frizz factor.

After all, this is MY hair and I will fiercly love it.