11 Struggles Only Girls Who Straighten Their Hair Every Day Understand

1. You have to psych yourself up to wash your hair. The time after you get out of the shower is no time to relax. If you wait too long before starting your ~straightening ritual~, your hair will start to dry, then it will get frizzy, and it's all downhill from there. The Bachelorette is just going to have to wait. Priorities, people!

2. Getting all your supplies ready to blow-dry your hair feels like you're getting ready for war. Heat protectant? Check. Blow-dryer? Check. Round brush? Flat brush? Clips on clips on clips, plus a hair tie and anti-frizz oil? Check, check, check, check.

3. Going over your hair with a flat brush is your arm workout for the day. Root to tip, root to tip, repeat. Brushing wet hair up and down over and over again is exhausting, but on the plus side, it gives you a legitimate reason to skip the weight room at the gym later.

4. You always fall into the trap of thinking to yourself, I'm just going take a quick, two-minute break. *Checks Facebook.* *Watches TV.* *Eats dinner.* *Suddenly remembers you're not even halfway finished with the whole process.* *Sobs.*

5. You have a very strategic bang blow-dry maneuver. The front of your face is the first thing people see, so you know you have to get your bangs just right, or they'll be a puffy, cowlicky mess when you try to straighten them later. Whether you tilt your head forward and dry your hair facing downward, or you stand up straight and dry upward, you know what strategy works for you, and you stick to it religiously.

6. When you finally finish blow-drying your hair, you almost cry because that's only half the battle. You didn't actually think you could achieve pin-straight locks without the straightening iron, did you?

7. Without fail, every time you actually fire up the straightener, you have a moment of panic. That burning smell isn't coming from your hair, right? Maybe it's the electricity or something. (Kidding.) (Kind of.)

8. Whenever you get to the ends of your hair and see how split they are, you feel guilty. You need to get a haircut. And you will...eventually.

9. You're forever trying to make sure you get all the hair in the back. Which leads to some pretty creative maneuvering with both the mirror and your flat iron to make sure you don't miss a spot.

10. That shiny new feeling you get when you're finally finished. You then spend the next five minutes flipping your hair around and admiring its newfound softness. Whoever invented the straightening iron deserves an award!

11. You always tell yourself you're not washing your hair for another two days. You don't think you put yourself through the entire process again. But deep down, you know you're only kidding yourself. *Lather.* *Rinse.* *Blow-dry.* *Straighten.* *Repeat.*

By Veronica Lopez

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