Luscious lockdown locks

By Dayana Soroko, Second year English

The Croft Magazine // Dayana ditches the straighteners and embraces her curls.

After giving myself a plethora of hairstyles over my teenage years, from fashioning a short bob to wonky fringes, I had decided that it was time to grow it out to test my inner strength. I had never seen my hair longer than my chest. So I wanted to see if I could resist the impulse of reaching for those blunt IKEA scissors in the middle of the night, when everything around me is stagnant, and the only thing that would make me feel better is an immediate change in appearance.

I had always struggled to tame my hair, far too often resorting to damaging it with endless straightening and re-straightening when moisture infiltrated my hair after being caught in the rain.

With my plump, round face and bushy hair, my friends liked to tease me in Sixth Form- likening my hair to Hagrid’s. The resemblance was truly uncanny.

Before: (March 2020)

After years of straightening and washing my hair too often, it was actually a conversation with my boyfriend that encouraged me to take the first step in my hair transformation journey. He had asked me why I put so much effort and time into damaging it, when it was clear I had naturally curly/wavy hair.

With his expertise and knowledge on curly hair, we both upgraded our hair routines together, calling each other to boast about not washing our hair for 10 days straight! I had decided to shampoo my hair less, as well as ditch heat completely to resurrect my curls. I would decorate my greasy head with headbands and hair wraps and doing conditioner washes in between shampoo washes. Soon enough, I had evolved into my true form - with hair only getting greasy on the fifth day!

After: (Now)

The media, of course, idealises Western beauty standards. Coils, curls and waves are perceived as ‘unkept’ in workplaces and schools. I had internalised this false idea that having straight hair made me look more clean, professional and essentially more beautiful. If you’ve always struggled with frizz, maybe it’s time to ditch the heat and swap it in for some moisture!

P.S. Clifton Down Boots has now started selling a small range of Cantu hair care products!

Here are some that I use on my hair - I find that the Cantu range with Argan Oil is lighter on my hair than the Shea Butter, but both smell incredible and provide that much needed moisture.