When I was in late high school and college it was THE thing to have straight hair, and of course mine wasn't! I did several things to straighten it, beginning with the largest size rollers that I would sleep in-ouch! Then I moved on to a home straightening kit-which gave my naturally dark brown-black hair a rusty cast, and didn't do too much for its condition either. But I didn't know any better at the time. Later it was a solid 30-minute blow-drying session every time I washed my below shoulder-length hair! And forget it if it was humid out, which on the East coast it is alot of the time! It wasn't until I was about 27 or so, while living in NYC, that I found a hair salon that specialized in wavy-curly hair. I found that salon by way of a magazine article about naturally curly haired women, that featured hair about the same texture as mine. Well, that did it! At the time my hair was below shoulder-length, with the long blow-drying time mentioned above, as my hair is pretty thick, and I was up for a positive change. I booked an appointment right away, tossed my rollers and blow-dryer, and have never looked back. That was nearly 30 years ago! Over the years, I've gotten all kinds of compliments about my hair, and best of all, I can just work some gel through it, scrunch and go. The style is short-but-not-too-short, so it looks feminine and appealing. Actually, now, I wish it would curl more, as the arid climate I live in now, tends to straighten loose curls. So I do find myself using more gel to curl it up. But when it does rain, or I go out to the Coast to the beach, my hair loves it and curls up even more!