For my 9-year-old self, having the swishy, flowing locks of L'Oréal models, the princesses in the Disney films I watched on repeat and my strawberry blonde classmates, was one of the most unattainable fantasies of my childhood; though marginally more accessible than marrying Harry Potter. Thankfully 17 years later, I've come to realise that straight hair isn't the key to being beautiful. Though I may not wear my hair naturally now, and bloody hell I ought to, after almost two decades of straightening, hot combs, chemical relaxers, blow dries, keratin treatments (you name it, I've tried it), this has nothing to do with denying my West African and West Indian roots. I am incredibly proud to be a black British woman and equally proud of my rich heritage, but my decision to wear my hair straight is more simply, and perhaps more vainly, that I think my moonface is better suited being framed by a bob and my frazzled excuse for a 'fro does nothing for drawing attention away from my fivehead.I can vividly remember the first time I got my hair professionally blow dried before a school trip to France when I was 10 years old and my sheer delight examining my reflection and the long, glossy hair that reached down my back. After years of weekly tantrums as my mother spent Sunday evenings combing and plaiting my hair, I suddenly felt mature, sophisticated and fully in charge of my appearance. Likewise, on the first day of my second year at senior school, when I returned after the summer holidays with a shiny bob, I recall my happiness from the compliments and popularity my new look received.From then on, I have tried and tested almost every procedure and treatment available to tame my unruly locks. Before I'm accused of succumbing to "Western ideals," I'm the first to say afros are beautiful and I'm truly thrilled by the number of black models at the SS16 shows such as Lineisy Montero Imaan Hammam and Nicole Atieno who wore their hair naturally rather than being repeatedly yanked by GHDs backstage. But unfortunately my hair sits somewhere in between afro and straight, with lacklustre curls and a halo of frizz that neither grows up, nor down, instead out.