Straight or curly: Does it really matter?

Are you Kate Jackson or Farah Fawcett? A pampered toy poodle or a polished Afghan hound? Do you walk the line or walk around in circles? Fusilli or spaghetti? A freeway or a circuitous route? To just cut to it, are you straight-haired or curly?

Many comparisons, but more contrasts, have been said about straight hair or curly hair and women are often asked which they would rather have. If we were to go with beauty magazine quizzes — “What your hair says about you” — it seems as if there is a certain personality that goes with each. The more popular stereotype: curly-haired girls know to have a good time while straight-haired girls know how to get good grades. It seems that the more coils, twists and bends you have in your hair, the more sexual appeal you hold, and the straighter your hair, the more impressive your professional resumé is. Which, in all honesty, is really all a bunch of what goes straight down the toilet bowl.

History — and vintage Hollywood — would tell us that one of the most sexually appealing women of all time had thick, glossy, straight hair, and she managed to get two of the most powerful men in ancient Rome to fall in love and wage wars for her. Cleopatra, the most popular Queen of Egypt and ancient history is the epitome of the ultimate seducer and she partly used her shiny, straightened hair — a costume party classic — to inflict damage on the senses of equally powerful men.

In present day, Oprah Winfrey is one of the most powerful women in America. A mover and shaker in the entertainment industry, Oprah’s influence has its reach from the political (how many people you think voted for Obama because of Oprah’s endorsement?) to the cultural (the highly successful Oprah’s Book Club). She’s intelligent, extremely professional and classically stylish. Her style, she complements with soft, wavy hair.

Which brings us to the highly plausible theory that, maybe, hair is just a matter of genes rather than character traits. A woman isn’t necessarily more attractive or more professionally engaging just because she has curly or straight hair. Sunsilk, the venerable hair care brand, explains, “A woman’s attractiveness is not simply a function of her choice of hairstyle but, moreso, the confidence she derives from making the right hairstyle choice. That, more than anything else, is what makes her truly beautiful and attractive.” Simply put, it’s not what your hair can do for you, but what you can do to your hair. Hair is hair and what you do with it is what gives you that attraction.”

Whether you have straight or curly hair, you have an equal shot at being head cheerleader or straight-A student. And whether you have straight or curly hair, Sunsilk’s new Style Collection assures you of that confidence boost to get whatever it is you’re aiming for.

Developed by renowned British hairdresser Andrew Barton — he’s cut and styled Kate Moss and Kylie Minogue’s hair, which is all you need to know, really — the Sunsilk Style Collection is a series of seven DIY hair products that give both straight and curly hair that extra oomph.

Straight hair finds an ally with the Straight & Sway range, a shampoo, conditioner, gel cream and texturizing wax that nourishes hair and gives it natural movement. (It also does wonders for rebonded hair). The shampoo and conditioner duo cleans hair and makes it “less prone to the effects of humidity.” Just to eliminate any remaining frizz, lock in weight but also bounce with the dual formula gel + cream. The wax, to be applied only at the ends, adds in texture, and gives hair that sexy sway that you thought you only saw in teen movie dream sequences (that part where she nearly blinds the boy with a hair slap but still wins him over).

If you’re struggling with unmanageable curly hair but want to wear it like a badge of honor, enlist the help of the Curls & Waves Bounce range. Using the shampoo, conditioner and the defining mousse all together will give your waves a natural bounce and a soft, manageable finish.

Both ranges rely on a key ingredient called beeswax energizers (I bet your imagination is going overtime), which adds volume to hair strands, giving it the ability to maintain a particular style and resist tangling. These beeswax energizers also protect hair from both external environmental factors and the stress over-styling puts on hair.

Says Andrew Barton, “The year ahead will see hair take on new codes of wearability. Low maintenance fashion is out and high maintenance fashion is in. This means changing and transforming one’s hair in different ways.” It doesn’t make much difference really if you want straight, polished hair or full, bouncy locks, or if you’re angling for a boyfriend or a boss position, it’s all DIY from here.

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