curly girl

Within the past three years, I've gone from being somebody who had very short hair to somebody with semi-long hair. I'm still working on growing it out, but I was beginning to not know how to deal with it. Something that I've been fighting since I was about 13 is the "wave" in my hair. Its not "curly" per se...there are very few cute ringlets that I admire in other people's hair (like my friend kk's), but it really isn't straight. Unless I pull out a straightener I end up having ends that look a bit fried. In fact, recently my hair was starting to look very damaged. I had been showering and blowing dry every day, and I didn't know what to do to fix it. No matter how much conditioner I used or how much shine serum, it still looked, well burnt. This had been happening for quite some time before the horrible hair dyeing incident (which I still don't like, but I'm coming to accept as alright).

So, last week, I didn't blow dry my hair one day and then I went in to work the next morning. One of my co-workers (with beautiful ringlet type curls) was suprised by the wave in my hair and asked me if it was natural or whether I had curled it. I told her a little about my natural hair issues, and she told me about the "curly girl" philosophy for curly hair and suggested I visit her salon for a "curl consultation." I felt silly, but I made the appointment. I've always wanted to wear my hair curly, but never felt like it looked good that way. Now, I have found a way that actually works. Its a bit of a weird system, but I think I can get used to it. Here's the deal:

I'm only supposed to wash my hair with shampoo once a week, and then its ONLY my scalp. When I shampoo, I'm supposed to coat the ends of my hair with conditioner. Then, I condition my hair all over and rinse out. Finally, I add more conditioner and just squeeze out the extra water. The conditioner doesn't go on my scalp. Then I dry my hair by twisting out some of the water and then scrunching with a t-shirt or something. Then I apply massive amounts of gel and then I'm not allowed to touch it again until its completely dry. While using a diffuser is ok, its not recommended - just straight up air drying is preferred. Anyway, I've been doing it for a couple of days now, and I've got to admit my curls have never looked better. I actually look like I have curly hair. Also, reading the "curly girl" book has really helped with my hair esteem. I had always been one of those women who didn't let her hair be curly cause I thought it made me look messy/sloppy/unprofessional, but I always admired curly hair on other people (go figure). I think part of it was that I had never met anyone at a salon who knew how to deal with my hair type, and now I do. Its really cool. I'll try to post a pic of the new curly do when I get a chance (I'm not good at the self-shots).

Weight: 156.2 (official ww weigh-in - whoo down .6! even with the superbowl)
No running today (weekly day off - but I might get some cross-training in because I had a rest day on Thursday)