WGA: the White Girl Afro

My hair wasn't always curly, and it's been a challenge learning to accept my crazy curls for what they are and to finally stop fighting them (goodbye preteen years of straightening and slicked ponytails... so not cute). From around fifth grade to now I can't remember a day when someone didn't ask about my curls, if they were natural, where they came from or if I was part African American. About half the time people don't believe me when I respond, yes this is my natural hair, and no, I'm just a white girl and I have no f*cking clue where this head of hair came from. I don't blame them for not quite being able to believe it because let's be honest here.... the white girl afro is about as rare as an endangered species. Getting people to believe my hair is real, however, turns out to be the least of my worries concerning my WGA. The problem is my hair isn't quite as coarse or as tight as 'natural' or 'kinky' hair (which is basically the codeword for natural african american hair aka the afro) but the curls are a million times tighter than the majority of any white girls who claim their hair as 'curly'. I mean, come on... most magazines use people like Taylor Swift as their example of curly hair and my hair makes hers look stick straight. This leaves me floundering with WTF do i do with my hair- it's not the same texture as kinky hair and it's certainly not the same texture as any white persons definition of curly hair. It's like it's own entity. The White Girl Afro. And it can be a struggle to work with. Over the years I've tried pretty much every product that had the word 'curl' on the bottle and have gone to just as many hairdressers trying to perfect the cut and styling. I've spent hours online looking at pictures of curly hair trying to find a similar texture. I've used inspiration from both natural, kinky hair sites and regular texture hair sites on care, upkeep and style ideas, and i've decided to bring it all together here. My how-to guide on the white girl afro. From the basics of shampoo and conditioner to all the hairstyles (both successes and failures) I've tried and how to replicate them. I don't know how many other White Girl Afros are out there... but if there is even one of you struggling with your curls, I hope my advice can help!