Anjana Yelavarthy

7 years ago, my best friend sat across the table in a meeting and told me that my hair was beautiful. This was when my crown was straightened and the rest of my hair was curly. Is that even a thing now? 

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In passing I said - I wish I had straight hair like you. I could just walk out of the shower and feel like a queen!

She said - And here I am, trying to do everything to make my hair curly. 

I said - But my curls aren't pretty! 

She said - Why don't you just embrace what you are born with.

 

I walked away from her and couldn't help but wonder - "Could my curls be pretty too?"

And that conversation literally changed everything for me. 

 

My naturally curly hair is something I’ve been struggling to love my entire life. Whenever I tried to look nice for a special event, I would rush to the nearby salon for a quick blow-dry. It's so funny how we usually want what we don't have! Or so, because we are all conditioned to think that straight hair is beautiful. 

 

The very next day I went for the big chop and I began to appreciate my curls without knowing anything about CGM.  Everyone was curious about my hair. Is this real? Can I touch it? Did you perm it? Oooo! And the attention that I would get was addictive. Obviously, I felt more confident that ever. 

 

I just began to create my own reality.All the information that was available was a little overwhelming.

It took me a while, but I eventually found an approach that helped the Curly Girl Method fit into my life in the simplest way possible and here I am, feeling awesome that ever. 

 

Finding the right process and products is such a journey in itself, but it's so worth it. I’ve also learned how to style my curly hair, which truthfully isn’t always the easiest but I feel so much less resistance to it than I did with straightening it. Playing around with new products and techniques has actually been kind of fun!  

 

A big shoutout to everyone in my life who have tried to convince me that my hair isn't pretty/cute/classy/formal enough and a bigger shoutout to me for realising it's EVERYTHING! 

I'm loving the progress my curls are making and this is the best thing I've done for my hair and myself. 

 

What's the next step then? 

How can I help my closeted curly hair friends get on this journey with me. I think the calling was natural and very clear to me. And that's how Curl Code happened!