Children with curly hair should be taught to love their curls from the beginning of their life, it is super important. It is common among children that they have a complex about their naturally curly hair for many reasons. This can stem from seeing princesses with straight hair, to seeing their parents apply chemicals and heat to their curls to obtain straight hair and witnessing them go through the troubles of trying to maintain their naturally curly locks. I have realized that the biggest problem with children and their curls, is the maintenance that naturally curly hair requires. Little kids play rough and are frequently getting their hair into tangles from many different things. Tangles and knots can be very painful to brush and comb out if one is not sure of the proper way to do it.  Fingering through tangles in the shower with conditioner is so much less painful and way less time consuming, significantly decreasing the time and battle of brushing through the knots alone.

As mentioned earlier, from having the idea that straight hair is beautiful and experiencing the pain of maintaining the tangles and knot curls acquire, little kids sometimes learn to not like or be proud of their natural hair. The good news is that there are ways to get around this perception of straight hair is best, and teaching children to love their curls! If a mother and/or a father loves their own hair and embraces their natural curls, their children will see this and be taught to love themselves for who they are. Making children feel beautiful in their own skin is a goal that I strive for every day. Starting from birth, telling children how beautiful their natural hair is and being able to maintain their curls in a gentle, carefree-way, will decrease the chances of negative opinions about their natural hair.

The little girl in the picture was brought to me to receive her first haircut and she was very concerned about not losing a lot of her length in the cut. I informed her that I was just going to take a little bit off of the ends, and guaranteed her that she would still have long, beautiful curls. For this haircut, I only removed about a half of an inch; when her hair was dry, it reached her shoulders, but when I stretched her hair out, it reached the middle of her back. When I was finished with her haircut and she had her first look in the mirror, the smile on her face made my heart so happy. I felt accomplished knowing that she loved her hair and that she had been educated on how to better care for her curls.   A happy little girl, happy curls, is a win-win situation! Help me celebrate curly hair at a young age, every time you see a little girl or boy, tell them how beautiful it is. You never know what a huge difference it will make in their life, so why not give it a try.