Hair magically turns curly at age 40?

gothchiq
gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
in Chit-Chat
So yeah this happened to me and I want to see if it happened to anyone else at some point in their lives. I'm 48 now. I formerly had mostly straight hair with some large cowlicky waves that had to be flat-ironed out so I didn't look like a slob. But around age 40 my hair texture started to get wavier and at this point it is legit curly. Makes styling convenient, add gel and scrunch.

It's just odd... anyone else?

Replies

  • denversillygoose
    denversillygoose Posts: 708 Member
    My daughter suddenly got super curly hair when she started going through puberty. No one in our family has curly hair.
  • rebel_26
    rebel_26 Posts: 1,826 Member
    I was born with curls...you see where I am now so anything can happen I guess.
  • selina884
    selina884 Posts: 826 Member
    edited September 2016
    My niece had very curly hair up till age 5 and then it went straight.

    Mind boggles.
  • Domino_75
    Domino_75 Posts: 373 Member
    I've actually had the same thing happen. It works for me since I would always get a perm as a teenager to get the curl, but in my late 30's to now, my hair keeps getting curlier. I love it!
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
    They say things about epigenetics and genes activating and stuff.... I'm no scientist but I wonder if this is part of why it happens. People are asking me if I got a perm. Nope, my hair is too fragile for perming... I guess this is a blessing of sorts lol.
  • MsRuffBuffNStuff
    MsRuffBuffNStuff Posts: 363 Member
    I'm 42, my hair has always been a little "wavy" but it's definitely got a little more kink to it now ;-) It'll change again when it turns grey, I'm sure...
  • Just_J_Now
    Just_J_Now Posts: 9,551 Member
    Just the opposite for me. I used to have thick full curls and now my hair is pin straight and very high maintenance. It's thinned out drastically too.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    I used to have reeeeeeeaaaaaaallllllly wavy hair. In my late 30's (I think?) it got a lot straighter and more manageable.
  • MaGrl523
    MaGrl523 Posts: 101 Member
    I was just talking to my hairdresser about this. I used to have super kinky curly hair and over the years its become more of a wavy (but not the nice kind). I figured it was from the many years of destroying it trying to have "normal" hair but she said over the years in addition to what do you do to your hair the DNA changes and you can certainly have a different texture as the years progress.
  • selina884
    selina884 Posts: 826 Member
    gothchiq wrote: »
    They say things about epigenetics and genes activating and stuff.... I'm no scientist but I wonder if this is part of why it happens. People are asking me if I got a perm. Nope, my hair is too fragile for perming... I guess this is a blessing of sorts lol.

    I want my hair to go curly!
    I LOVE curly hair
  • jessicapk
    jessicapk Posts: 574 Member
    Puberty. I used to have golden blonde wavy hair then puberty hit so it turned brown and curly. Then I turned 34 and suddenly found myself with blue hair but that wasn't quite so magical and more about the powers of bleach and hair dye :D

    Honestly, I think it's more due to changing hormones. That would explain it happening to some of us at puberty and others around 40.
  • rosebette
    rosebette Posts: 1,659 Member
    I had fine, very dark brown straight hair as a young woman. I kept it cut short through my 30s and early 40s, but it started to go gray, so I colored it. When I let it grow out in my early 40s, it was wavy and a bit unmanageable -- the gray hairs were much thicker and coarser, even with the coloring and conditioning. I needed a lot of product to keep a shoulder length bob in control.
  • ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken
    ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken Posts: 1,530 Member
    My hair has made a gradual straight to curly transformation over the course of the past 5 or 6 years. It is now part curly and part straight. I have no answers for this.
  • jyotinaik
    jyotinaik Posts: 31 Member
    Yes. It got wavy and then curly. It's the damage caused by hair dryer, processing and chemicals. Straight hair follicles are round. As they get damaged, they become oval shaped which is curly hair follicle shape
  • ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken
    ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken Posts: 1,530 Member
    jyotinaik wrote: »
    Yes. It got wavy and then curly. It's the damage caused by hair dryer, processing and chemicals. Straight hair follicles are round. As they get damaged, they become oval shaped which is curly hair follicle shape

    Interesting. I rarely use any appliance or chemical on my hair. I wonder what is behind mine?
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
    I don't blow dry either. My follicles shouldn't be damaged through any mechanical means. However in my family we do have hereditary hair loss issues. For this I use minoxidil foam and the (brand redacted so I don't get accused of advertising again) laser comb. I also make sure to take my iron and vitamins.

    Just out of curiosity, what's the scientific evidence behind the damage --> oval follicles theory?
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I had wavy hair growing up but in the last few years it's started curling up when I let it dry naturally (which is all the time). I kinda like it! If I brush it again later it turns back to wavy though.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    edited September 2016
    This content has been removed.
  • TheRoadDog
    TheRoadDog Posts: 11,788 Member
    I wish. Mine "magically" started disappearing around 1975.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    yeah but mine started when I was like 38 or 39. I always as a kid has straight hair with a little bit of a wave. it was also strawberry blonde/dirty blonde(got darker as I got older). but yeah mine has become curly not tight curls but curls none the less.I think it has maybe something to do with changes in hormones? my daughter had ringlets when she was little and then it just became less curly as she got older. now at 21 its starting to get curly again.I dont hardly ever use any hair products(besides shampoo or conditioner) and I air dry because its colored. but I was never big on using the blow dryer or straightener.The only thing I ever did over time was dye mine. also any hairdresser I have been to says my hair is healthy and my hair follicles are as well because my hair grows really quickly(I was told if they were damaged hair would grow in slowly,have signs of breakage and so on(not sure how accurate that is though). I had an undercut over the summer and the hair that grew in there was also dark and curly
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    I have a friend who had cancer. she had naturally blonde hair. the new hair grew in dark and curly and she was one who never dyed her hair or did anything to it chemically. so yeah I think when your body goes through changes your hair does too.
  • French_Peasant
    French_Peasant Posts: 1,639 Member
    My hair was always pretty straight through elementary school (although would have a cute curl while in pig tails) but in middle school it was becoming rougher and harder to manage and looked frumpy and bumpy while long. (Being a freckled redhead didn't help). Well, I got a spiral perm, wore it that way for a few years, then noticed while it was growing out that my hair was still curling because I was scrunching in gel and letting it air dry. Yay! Magical curly hair! Now I am like Frieda from Charlie Brown, touting my "naturally curly hair," ha ha!
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
    I am starting to go gray. I would say I have at most 1% gray hair if that, but it is coming in fast. I dye it every month. At age 48 this is pretty normal lol. My hair now looks like the kind of wavy/spiraly perm I TRIED to get in the nineties but they screwed up and gave me poodle frizz. I actually told them loose waves, showing them a photo, and they completely ignored my request each time.... wtf people! Well at least now I finally have what I wanted without having to pay for it and get damaged. I use leave in conditioner and then a small amount of gel to shape the waves by scrunching without having major frizz. In my photo here my hair is styled in very loose waves, not its natural shape so that's not representative.... I may have to take another pic when I'm not feeling lazy. XD
  • _dixiana_
    _dixiana_ Posts: 3,262 Member
    My daughter had tiny ringlets at the ends of her hair when she was about 2. It went silky straight after her first haircut then when she started going through puberty it started getting frizzy with weird kinky waves in random places. If she doesn't flat iron it or curl it it resembles a lions mane. Ha.
    Our bodies do weird stuff :D
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
    I always wondered what causes an uneven wave pattern. When the waves don't mesh together it creates frizz. I have that to some extent. I have to conquer it by shaping the waves using my hands, with damp hair and a little gel worked in.

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