When we first moved from Menifee, Ca to Tiny-Town Mineola, Tx; the last thing on my mind was my hair.  I was concerned about making those last memories at Disneyland, and where we would live once we made the 1500 mile trip (twice).

Growing up, I HATED, my curly hair.  I tried to brush and smooth those crazy hairs down, only to end up with a triangle of frizz on my head.  My mom didn’t really know how to properly style curls; and my Dad (though he rocked a ‘fro in High school) was balding by the time I started to care about my hair.  My parents weren’t much help; and through the years, when I needed a haircut, I’d go to the salon that was closest to my house.

Consider yourself lucky if you’ve never had a bad HORRIBLE-awful-break-down-and-start-crying-in-the-car-haircut.  Case in point: April, 2012.  At this particular point in my life, I sort-of knew there were different ways to cut hair.  So when I called the salon in town I asked; “Is there a stylist that can cut curly hair?”.  They assured me that all their stylists knew how to cut curls, so I made an appointment.

If you have curly hair; repeat after me: NOT ALL STYLISTS KNOW HOW TO CUT CURLY HAIR!

At my appointment, I sat down in the stylists chair and told her that I only wanted a trim.  Easy enough, I’m not getting any color, just a trim.  THREE painful hours later I walked out of the salon boiling with anger and tears cascading down my face.  The stylist had chopped off about six inches of my hair.  I can still see my beautiful curls falling gracefully to the floor, resting at my feet!

You’d think I’d have learned my lesson.  When it was time for my oldest daughter Charlotte’s first haircut, I took her to a specialized ‘kids cut’ salon.  Once again, I walked away with horrible regret and tears in my eyes.

It was a couple years before I got another haircut in California.  This time I did a heckuva lot more research and found a salon in Murrieta that had great ‘curly haircut’ reviews.  This time I walked away elated, sun shining, the breeze blowing my hair and a with a huge smile.

Maybe the scarring events of the past is what caused me to wait way past the point of my second daughter, Annabelle, needing her first haircut.  It took me two years, after moving to Texas, to start looking for a stylist again.  I searched for stylists in Mineola, and Lindale and Tyler; but didn’t find anyone with great “curly haircut” reviews.  I had to move my search to Dallas, and stumbled upon a salon called Dear Clark.  They had a TON of reviews left by curly haired girls, just like me!  These “curl-friends” were happy with their cuts, and couldn’t rave enough about the stylists at Dear Clark!

I was so excited I called right away and made an appointment for Annabelle’s first haircut and an appointment for myself and Charlotte!

I didn’t mind the 88 mile drive from my house to Dallas for a great cut.  After our own amazing experience, I vowed to help them love their curls.  To teach them how to work with their curls, and how to search for the proper stylist – something I had to learn the hard way.  I vowed to wear my curls always, and make sure I tell them how beautiful they are <3

My deepest thanks to Jennifer Cahill & Kaycee Clark at Dear Clark Hair Studio in Dallas!