The Young, Curly and Fabulous - Another Curly Perspective

Please join us in welcoming our newest contributor to YAIS, Ariel. She is a college student hailing from NYC and currently studying Fine Arts in San Francisco. She was featured as a Style Icon at Black Girl Long Hair and between studying and creating her art she will be contributing to the blog a couple of times a month; show her some love!

Ariel

Art student, poet, visual artist, amateur chef, social commentator, sister, friend, daughter, procrastinator, and full time daydreamer. *Phew*. Oh, and did I forget to mention I'm a 3b, no poo, bleach-blonde (for the moment) curly? I bet you're wondering how I balance pigment stripped hair, two online classes, two studio classes, and a life.

I've been a natural my whole life, and I didn't have my first real roller set at a salon until I was fourteen. I know that's not every little girls story, and some curls are late in life which is totally fine. Hair at the end of the day is hair. I never had a choice; after a lifetime of perms my mother never wanted either of her girls to have one. But as any normal teenage girl, I wanted to rebel. My mother loved my curls so I straightened them in all the wrong ways. I've flat ironed my hair wet, slathered it in Dax, hot combed it, blown it out, colored it black and bleached it to blonde with a 40 volume. In case you didn't know, all those things are bad. I'm not a professional, but I do have a crap load of experience in damage control. I can save me some damaged hair like nobodies business.

Now that I think about it, I use to tell myself I didn't want a perm because it had the potential to damage my hair. Honestly coloring is not that much different. I choose to be curly because I love my hair. I like that I can have a neon yellow bone straight style, a hot pink fro, or have ebony black finger waves. You don't ever really know who you'll be tomorrow. With that being said I feel like just as unknown as the future me is, my hair should reflect that unpredictability.As silly as it may be hair means something to me; as impossible as it is to find a decent black hair salon out here in San Francisco (that doesn't require you to give up your first born child for a wash and set) I would never perm my head. I look at my hair in the mirror an I see potential. I see that it needs attention, care, I see that its wild and romantic, its strong, I see my blackness (or should I say I can see my Africa showing). I see me in my hair every morning. So, if I can depart some words that might
make others feel similar so shall it be.

Questions for Ariel? Send an email to: yais.nyc (at) gmail (dot) com with "Ariel" in the subject line, or just leave a comment below!