Believe it or not, my hair is naturally curly.

Whenever I tell people that, I’m usually met with a surprised or shocked response, mostly because I straighten it every single day (unless I’m on holiday, in which case I will happily let it dry naturally in the sun) so you’d never actually know by looking at it.

I’ve straightened my hair for years. When I was at secondary school I’d carry around portable Babyliss straighteners (that were powered by a literal gas canister) to use if it became victim to even the slightest gust of wind. I think they only reached about 8°C so while they did little to nothing, it was the act of straightening that, psychologically, made me feel better about how I looked that day.

Making sure my hair was straight became something of an obsession. If even one strand dared to flick out at the wrong angle I’d tie it up, not caring that I’d spent the best part of an hour styling it. Eventually, I gave up and didn’t bother wearing it in anything but a ponytail for a good five or six years.

Here’s what happened when our beauty editor stopped straightening her naturally curly hair