I'd never really worried too much about my hair, it was always a huge mass of combination curly-wavy-straight light brown-dark brown bitch of a thing fullll of frizz. I accepted it like it was, keeping it short and tied up all the time. It was okay because quite a lot of people around me did the same. That was in school, where we were supposed to keep it like that. Then the females grew up, got great haircuts and started leaving their hair open. Ugh.
So I started off with expensive shampoos, hair masks, conditioners and leave ins. Amazingly, the hair got better.
The ones with hair like mine (not yet as big, though) walked around with their not-so-secret inferiority, saying they didn't use hair products because they feared hair fall. Pah, moron! I'd at the least respect you if you'd said they were too expensive for you to care.
I digress.
Yes, the hair got shinier, less frizzy, and less tangly. It settled down but it still was too frizzy to be left open. So I took advice from lots of websites and beauty columns and used hot oil massages, left the conditioner on for really long and washed with cold water even though it left me with a cramped-up neck and wrinkly fingers. Apparently, length weighed down the frizz so I also let it grow long. So long, in fact, that my whole back got cramped up, because I shouldn't use a hair dryer. Didn't really make a difference. 'A little longer, maybe.', I thought. But the longer it grew, the bigger it got. My hair became so healthy, it started flourishing under all that care and grew thicker, which made it look bigger because the remaining frizz got more surface area to spread over.
And so, I cut it short. Ah, freedom.
Then I read somewhere that putting half-dried hair in a braid reduces frizz. Right ho! So I let it grow long again and started braiding my hair (just one! not the afro kind) which did reduce the frizz but it still wasn't good enough to be left open.

It was THEN that straightening occurred to me! Ah ha! So I got my hair straightened. Once - didn't stay straight for even 24 hours. Twice - did it myself and lost interest after the first couple of sections. Third time's a charm. It would stay for a whole week. I could finally run my fingers through my hair without needing a half hour to get it out at the other end. I could finally leave it open! And then, I looked in a mirror. Aaah! That's like every girl on the street!! 'Hey, you look great with straight hair!' Of course you dufus, I look like you!

No no! I got my curls back. In all their mutant glory.

And I kept the braid. Nobody looks like me in a french braid.

Or maybe they do. I don't give a tiny fish tail about it anymore.