It’s taken me years to embrace my curly hair – I once used an iron as a straightener – here are six hair rules I live by

FIDGETING with nerves in the salon chair, I knew the time had come for “the big chop”.

I was 18 and ­visualising my new bouncy, short bob as the hairdresser sliced off my drying dead ends.

catherine harbour

Keshia says: ‘Growing up, it took me a while to embrace my hair. I am mixed race, born to a white British father and a black African mother’[/caption]

But a couple of days later, when I washed and reset it to its ­natural state, I realised how terrible it looked.

My tight curls sprang back into action and took the length with it, my hair sitting at the top of my ears.

It was awful.

But after the initial shock, my new healthy hair thanked me for it — and this was the beginning of a new journey.

A journey that now many others are joining.

Lockdown welcomed a curly hair movement, as breaks from hot tools saw many rediscover their natural texture, resulting in the hashtag #Quarantine Curls going viral.

Celebrities began freeing their waves, with Khloe Kardashian the latest to reveal she too has put a bounce back into her hair.

And actress Gabrielle Union, who starred in 2000 film Bring It On, revealed how she has gone from “hating” her natural hair to embracing it with “strength” and “diversity”.

As a result, business for curly care brands has soared.

London-based Only Curls reported a 300 per cent year-on-year growth and in the first ten days of 2022 it has taken TRIPLE the number of orders, compared to this time last year.

Founder Lizzie Carter started Only Curls to encourage people to refrain from using straighteners every day.

Growing up, it took me a while to embrace my hair. I am mixed race, born to a white British father and a black African mother.

Both of my parents were totally out of their element when it came to looking after my hair.

It would either be super-frizzy with no product when my dad did it, or overly saturated with products and put in plaits when my mum stepped in.

It was rare that I wore the curls I was born with.

Eventually my mum decided to relax my hair when I was seven — my hair was given a chemical treatment that permanently straightened it.

By the age of 13, I took over the reins. I stopped relaxing it but kept straightening it.

I would use the most bizarre things, from attempting to give myself a bouncy blow dry (this never worked) to using an iron to straighten it — yes, an iron.

My sister – X Factor singer Fleur East – tried this too.

We would put a bed sheet or towel on the floor then we would iron each other’s hair in sections.

We would put a bed sheet or towel on the floor then we would iron each other’s hair in sections.

Keshia East

I never disliked my naturally curly hair, but people have made comments about it.

When Eamonn Holmes said he would like to “pet” Dr Zoe Williams’ hair on ITV’s This Morning and referred to it as very “alpaca-ish”, it reminded me of the amount of times complete strangers have wanted to touch mine.

“Once, someone went as far as asking me: “Where did you buy your hair?”

I replied: “My mother’s womb.” What was I supposed to say to that?

Many other people have also assumed my naturally curly hair was a wig.

Eamonn’s fellow presenter Dermot O’Leary also made a blunder on on This Morning when he asked his co-host Alison Hammond how she “got her curls like that”.

Alison responded: ‘It’s fake hair. This is a protective style.

“When I want to protect my hair for a while, I braid my hair underneath and then I attach these to it. It’s not even real hair, it’s synthetic.”

But we should not have to tell people whether our hair is natural or not, should we?

While we have had to learn how to treat our hair, we have also had to educate others, too.

Thankfully, things are changing.

Fifteen years ago there were not any curly hair sections in mainstream retail stores and there was not much information online about how to look after it.

So it was extremely hard to know what to do — and mine got neglected a bit.

Having products tailored to my hair readily available in high streets stores such as Boots and Superdrug totally changed my relationship with my hair.

Looking after my naturally curly hair is no longer a chore, it’s a ritual of self-care and I have never loved it more than I do now.

Keshia East

My go-to product for years has been Boots Essentials Curl Cream (£1.99).

Now, I spend a lot of time nurturing it.

I wash it every two weeks on average.

This doesn’t seem like a lot but it’s a full process. Any more and I find it too drying.

First, I will pre-treat my hair using oils or a pre-shampoo, which is a treatment you do beforehand for extra moisture.

I wash and condition before detangling in sections, as curly hair is more prone to serious knots.

If I have time I will steam with a hair mask then rinse it out and style with products.

I then refresh my hair every two to three days by re-wetting and applying more products to keep the curls fresh and the hair healthy.

Now I absolutely love my curls and wouldn’t wear them any other way.

My story proves that inclusivity in the retail space is so important.

My experiences also led me to create my own hair tools company, No Knot Co, which offers special brushes designed for curls.

Looking after my naturally curly hair is no longer a chore, it’s a ritual of self-care and I have never loved it more than I do now.