Straight Hair Turning Curly? Here's Why

Realized your hair is turning curly? You are not alone.

Why Straight Hair Can Turn Curly? Hormonal changes can change your hair from straight to curly, from fine to coarse. Besides puberty and stress, being pregnant, menopause, and chemotherapy, low hair porosity, change in shampoo, changes in muscles at the base of the hair follicle, will affect your hormone balance and these changes affect your hair texture and style.

Puberty Causing Curly Hair 

The most common reason is just growing up and puberty. Puberty makes all kinds of changes to your body, including your voice and your hair. This can happen as young as 7 to as old as 20 years old. This is very common and we saw many comments from youth sharing their change into curly hair.

Megan, a parent of a 7-year-old said "My daughter is 7 years old and up to age 5 she had thick but stick straight hair then we got it cut up to her jawline and it turned to course wavy frizzy hair. It has grown down her back keeping the same frizzy texture . I don't know what happened. The hairdresser said the thickness couldn’t support that haircut but I have never seen something change overnight like that."

Tru Tran, a 13-year old, said "I’m only 13 but my hair turned curly when I was in 5th grade I hate my curls and the amount of homework I get on a daily basis just doesn’t give me enough time to do my hair. I hope soon I will be able to deal with my big frizzy hair."

Hunny, 19-year old said, "As a child, my hair used to be curly. They were big soft locks. During my early teen years, I would straighten my hair often and at about 15 I bleached my hair platinum blonde (My hair is dark brown). I'm now 19 and I have frizzy and wavy hair but today whilst running my fingers through my roots id found on one's patch of my scalp there to be really curly/kinky roots. It's not uncommon in my family to have kinky hair, my sister has it. Would you say there’s the possibility of my hair becoming curly or is my hair just really damaged? The rest of my roots are normal (straight and eventually grows out wavy) it’s just this one small patch that’s curly."

Aging Curly Hair

Menopause or other hormonal change can also lead to hair changes. Another common age group affected by curly hair is between 49 to 60 years old.

Gena, 49 years old, also said "I had straight hair until my mid 40’s when it became wavy/curly. I am 49 now. I went to Ulta last week and was speaking to a hairdresser and he said, “oh I have naturally curly hair like yours too.” That was the moment I actually accepted my hair is no longer straight and not going through a phase."

Victoria Benjamin, 57-years old, shared "I always had super baby fine stick straight hair and permed it at least once a year to get thickness and body. But when I hit 50 my hair started growing very fast and suddenly went wavy and now at 57 is so thick I have to braid it every night at bedtime to get the heat and weight of my neck and back. What the heck can make a postmenopausal woman get thicker hair?"

Stress-Induced Curly Hair

Another big reason for change into curly hair is stress. Melissa shared her experience into "My hair changed when I was going through a divorce. It fell out and I had a very dry scalp. It was like a scab over my whole head. Then my scalp turned really red and I lost big patches of hair. I went to several doctors. They all said it was stress that caused it. Then when my hair started coming back in..it was curly. I always had poker-straight hair. I really like it cause it’s much easier to fix."

Structural Change Causing Curly Hair

Besides the usual suspect, experts explain further that the change in hair base could explain the change to curly hair.

According to Jonathan Torch, founder of Toronto’s Curly Hair Institute and the creator of Curly Hair Solutions, changes in the muscles at the base of each hair follicle may be the reason hair textures sometimes change, Muscular changes frequently occur during puberty, menopause, and chemotherapy when medications and hormones alter the muscle tone of the hair follicle.

Amanda Troisi, a Julien Farel Salon stylist and curly hair expert said “Curly hair is constantly changing. As every inch of hair grows, the hair pattern changes.” 

Overall, curly hair is usually natural and hard to undo. It is easier to embrace it and learning to live with it.

Efforts have been made to get the information as accurate and updated as possible. If you found any incorrect information with credible source, please send it via the contact us form
Sky Hoon
Hair Lover, Idea Starter. He started HairQueenie, which is ranked #27 in the FeedSpot Top 40 Hair Care Blogs and mentions in ManeAddicts and Tempest. Hair is not everything but something. He started Hairqueenie to share great hair products. Over time, he found there are more value to share answers to hair problems that cannot be found easily.
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