I was inspired to write
Curly Like Me and to put up TightlyCurly.com because I did not want anyone one else to go through with their hair what I did with mine.
I spent most of my life feeling that the hair growing out of my head was so unacceptable it had to be altered by any means necessary. I suffered with what felt like unmanageable hair that made me ashamed because it didn't look or act like the hair of those around me. I used brutal chemicals that I burned myself with repeatedly. The chemical damage left me with constant matting, short, crunchy hair that broke apart and covered my shoulders with little hair bits.
It took me thirty years to figure out what my hair had needed all along. No longer was I bound to what it
should want—based upon a straight-hair-advice template—but to what it
did want. My hair turned from oppressed and fractured hair that couldn’t grow past my shoulders to exuberant coils reaching well past my waist. Now that I understand how to care for my hair, it has become a unique feature I'm proud of. When I tried to force my hair into being something it wasn't, I was denying its true nature, and we both suffered. Since I finally learned to love my curls for what they are and discovered what they needed, they have thrived.
By using the information in my book, readers will have the keys to grow and cherish their stunning natural curls. Readers will learn how to enhance the curls they were born with and keep them healthy, and with the least possible amount of effort.
Curly Like Me contains information I wish I had known from childhood about caring for my hair. My book is for anyone looking for simple answers to take care of their coils. No prior experience is assumed, so a person who has never combed a curl in their life will know how to groom a head full of tight coils smoothly.
Curly Like Me is meant for people like me, who don’t have the time or energy to style their hair in elaborate, labor-intensive styles.
I strongly believe that if there are more examples of beautiful, natural curls out there, the more often curls like ours will be recognized as a lovely and viable styling option. One of the goals of this book is to see that people won't feel they "have" to straighten their curls anymore when they see numerous examples of how stunning their natural curls can look when happy and understood.
Photo by Margot of CoffeeAndVanilla.com