I need to share this. I have NC as I've written more personal stuff on here with my other one.
I have very curly hair - NO ONE ever knew what to do with it, least of all me. I grew up in SE in the 90s and it was all about poker straight hair. Hairdressers were at a loss. I have had some godawful haircuts in my time.
Spent years straightening (i.e. damaging) my hair. The products I used made it dry and fluffy. Nothing made it manageable. I largely gave up and ended up just trying it back the whole time.
I now have a Black hairdresser and she gets it. She cuts it beautifully. That in itself has been a revelation...But the really life changing thing is that she persuaded me to try a keratin treatment (not one of the nasty formaldehyde ones). Oh. my. God. It's has instantly transformed my hair. It's shiny and smoother but still has its curl. It looks healthy for the first time in years.
I am in no way affiliated with any products or anything, I just know the struggle of having curly hair where straight hair is the norm and I wanted to share this. If you can afford it, I definitely recommend you give it a go. Apparently it will last for 6 weeks or so.
Oh and some good news that my hairdresser told me - from October, all trainee hairdressers will also need to be trained in cutting afro hair. 