When I was 16, every other girl I knew was getting her hair straightened. Rather ‘rebonded’, that’s the fancy term they coined for it. Being an army kid, changing cities and houses was easier to accept than the changes it brought to my hair and skin. Some days I would wake up with hair I could attend a party with, and some days I wouldn’t even classify as bad hair days. Yes, that’s how bad it was! To put an end to all my bad hair days, I decided to go in for permanent hair straightening. Something I’d been contemplating for a while. It’s better to damage your hair once and for all than subject it to heat and damage using your hair straightener everyday, right? Well, that’s what I told myself before taking the big step.
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A few good hair months and compliments later, I started to rethink my decision. Waking up to perfectly straight hair every morning may be the best feeling ever, but not at the cost of losing your hair! Not only was my hair falling at the speed of light, the new hair that had started to grow looked extremely weird. A few inches of wavy-frizzy hair on top and poker straight ends is not a hairstyle you want to flaunt! Hair pins and clips suddenly became essentials I wouldn’t leave the house without. I avoided going out too often because I became very conscious of how my hair looked. Other than that, I even lost interest in dressing up. Because no matter how much effort I would put in, this anything-but-gorgeous hairstyle would do its trick at making me look like I haven’t even taken a shower. Suddenly all the hair problems I thought I’d said goodbye to, came rushing back!
The only thing I could do was wait till my hair grew to a length where it was possible to chop off all the rebonded hair. And so I did. My hair growth was pretty fast before I got it treated. I’m not sure if this is one of the disadvantages of getting your hair straightened, but my hair was growing much slower than before! I had to wait over a year so I could get a shoulder length haircut that would get rid of all the treated hair.
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All this trouble just for a few months of perfect hair days. Was it worth it? I think not. I still have hair loss issues and my hair is not as thick as it used to be. I still miss my natural wavy hair before the treatment. But apart from all that, I realized that you don’t need to have perfectly straight hair. Imagine if every girl in the world had smooth straight hair. What a boring place it would be where everyone looked the same! Your curls, waves and ‘imperfections’ as they call it, make you who you are. So succumbing to peer pressure just to fit in, may not be the best idea. You can’t try to fit in when you’re meant to stand out, right? And that’s why I will never straighten my hair again. I hope you don’t have to learn it the hard way!