Ever notice how the curly girls want straight hair and the girls with straight hair try to curl it? This girl has had a best buddy since she was little that has gorgeous natural ringlets. Cate once told her friend, “You’re Curlies and I’m Straights!”
The biggest problem with being “straights” is that you have to brush it out. Every. Day. 
Every. Day. Or you will end up with what my Mama calls “rats nests.” It’s no fun to brush hair, but this tangle free brush is a huge help. (Amazon affiliate link) 
We went from only Mama having to gently brush through her tears, to her being able to brush her hair out on her own.
Curly girls don’t have to brush hair. Which makes being curlie SO much more appealing to this spunky little girl. So appealing, in fact that by sheer force of will she seems to be slowly turning a few curls of her own!
Seriously…this is so weird to me. Has anyone else ever heard of a child’s hair beginning to curl at age 7?
Me! Me! Me! Or, rather, my daughters!! I have 4 girls. The oldest 3 girls all had curly hair until they hit age 7, then it went straight. Now 2 of them, ages 19 and 25, are getting some wave and curl back, respectively. My youngest had board straight hair until she hit 7 and now has the CURLIEST hair ever; she’s now 14.We’ve always puzzled about what the trigger was for the changeover in hair texture.
Now that’s just FASCINATING! How fun! I hope my girly gets more curls. They’re so cute!
Love that straight-curly girl!
This curly girl had rats nests every morning from the curls getting tangled together every night while she slept. This lead to label “tender-headed” being sympathetically mumbled by my mom during the many tear filled brush-out sessions before the school bus arrived. Wish we’d had that tangle-free brush.
I’ve started suggesting brushing it out a bit and putting it in a simple braid for her to sleep. It’s helped!
Oh yes and kept getting curler until as an adult hers is a beautiful wild and very curly. And mine seems to change every couple decades.
Wow! Maybe my girl will grow into her curls?
My cousin had straight hair as a little girl but it became “ringlet” curly around maybe 5th grade.
The older I get the curlier and REDDER it gets!! I had thin, straight, white blonde hair as a child. Once I was done growing -about age 16/17- it started turning strawberry blonde and gets curlier with age. I love it!
Oh, I’m jealous! 🙂
Mine did around age 40. After having stick straight hair my entire life, I noticed I had started to develop ringlets on humid days.
It may have something to do with magnesium supplementation, iodine intake, and hormone levels.
There is hope for Miss Straights! Mine started at about her age. By the time I was 12 my Sunday School teacher thought my dad must have an “affro” in order for me to have so much curl! Now I have a Curly daughter who hates her frizzy hair and envies her straight cousin!!!
OK, I’m just fascinated by this!
I went to school with a boy who had straight hair until he was ten. He had his hair shaved for the summer and it grew back kinky curly.
I have straight hair, my husbands is very curly. All four of our bio children were born with curly hair, but now one daughter has straight hair, one has wavy. and one has perfect ringlets. Our sons is curly like his Dads. Also, three of our kids were born with very blond hair, now two have very dark brown hair and the other two are turning brown.
It definitely has to do with hormones (and genetics). I’m a hairdresser and have had multiple friends and clients have hair changes at different times of their lives. I’ve heard that little girls start having hormone changes at 7-8 years as opposed to the 12-13 that we usually think. Many women have hair changes when they begin menopause. It’s fun to have something new sometimes!
Hi Gwen,
My son, Mac had straight hair when he was little. His didn’t begin to curl until he 10 or 11. He did have cowlicks with his straight hair. They remained when his hair became curly…much to his chagrin.
I really had never heard of people getting curly hair as they get older. So neat! I bet Cate’s hair does end up curly. 🙂
Me… except I wasn’t 7… My hair went from super straight when I was little, to wavy by age 13, to ringlets in my 20s. Of course, I straightened them for ages. No one in my high school knew I had curls, and only my college roommate knew how curly it really was. Now in my 30s and with two little ones to care for, I no longer straighten my hair. But now I know how to style my curls and can appreciate them more.
My mother’s hair went from as straight as can be (my grandma tried & tried to curl it for her, with no success…it immediately straightened back out) to kinky curly when she reached puberty.
that was me!!!!!
My hair was super straight until about 3 years ago when it began curling. Most of the time I love the ease of just putting some curling lotion in and forgetting about it. When I visit a humid climate though, I feel like a blonde Rosanne-Rosannadanna (you younger folks can Google that). I’m pretty sure my curls are a result of hormonal changes.
my hair began to curl at age 10- but surfaced as big frizzy hair. I didn’t realize I had the potential for lovely. plentiful curls until after my 4th child was born- and a dear youthful friend taught me to scrunch. after reviewing (testing…) multiple products, I’ve discovered, to my delight, that curls surpass frizzy unanimously. I’m in heaven.
*footnote- I also remember the days of pinstraight hair- it was also so lovely, and joyous. both do get the “rats nest” and both need a good comb out with conditioner to rid it- but I love my hair, and eternally grateful for it- it’s such a blessing over that huge, unmanageable frizzy BIG hair i used to have, and sometimes do still, when I forget to put leave-in conditioner and curling cream in 😉
I’d love to hear what products you like for encouraging curls!
Um…YES! Same thing happened to my daughter. Her hair was beautiful–just the right amount of wave and gorgeously shiny hair…then, somewhere around 8-9 her hair kept getting curlier and curlier and it is like TIGHT ringlets…extra curly! Everywhere–and worse on some parts. Unruly curly. So, now most of the time it’s up in a pony. She’s still beautiful, but I have unruly hair too and it’s just a high-maintenance pain!