I have a feeling Kim Kardashian West and I have little in common. “Lasered off my baby hairs,” for example, falls solely in her circle in our hypothetical Venn diagram. “Wish I would’ve embraced my baby hairs earlier,” however, probably falls in the fun overlapping oval of things we do share, like the “Life of Pablo” shirt I’m wearing right now.
Speaking of Ye and artists with catchy nicknames, Stevie Nicks once sang “don’t hide behind your hair.” Easier said than done for some. My curtain of choice used to be blunt, flat-ironed bangs that I sometimes miss. They allowed me to completely ignore eyebrow maintenance for months at a time, after all. Now that I’m addicted to protective styling and committed to leaving my curls curly, those bangs have grown out (matured into teenage hair, if you will), leaving my baby hairs front and center. And to the side.
A little lost with what to do with my new friends at first, I filed them under inevitable frizz, (Kim’s probably like, #same), but with a little coaxing, they’re basically a built-in accessory conveniently living along my hairline. I already have everything I need to make my vast range of hairstyles (1. up and 2. down) more interesting! Which calls for celebration in the form of writing about it on the internet, where, coincidentally, I find a lot of solid baby-hair styling inspiration.
When I’m feeling expressive, I look to FKA twigs, who spells out entire words with her wisps, removing the need to purchase temporary tattoos or graphic tees. I have yet to spell “PASS” or “NOPE” with mine, but considering how often people talk at me while I very clearly have headphones jammed into my ears, I can sense the time is nigh.
When I’m feeling more laid-back, I look to North West, an actual baby (*I refer to anyone six years old and under as “a baby”), who regularly has her hairs styled in my go-to: fanned out with a flick at the ends, like an old-timey forehead moustache of sorts.
When I’m feeling any and every other type of way, I usually reference Rihanna, because it’s extremely difficult for me to write a personal style story without mentioning Rihanna.
If you’ve been blessed with detectable baby hairs, I implore you to befriend a spare toothbrush (or the spoolie end of a deceased brow pencil), a spray bottle and an edge-control product. I then encourage you to fall into the deepest of YouTube spirals about laying edges, because watching tendrils transform into Starry Night swirls is as soothing as watching Bob Ross paint happy, happy trees. For extra credit, click through the above slideshow while listening to Beyoncé sing, “I like my baby heir, with baby hair and afros.” I’ll be over here adding that line to the center of my second hypothetical celebrity Venn diagram of the day.
Photos via Getty.
