Before: Sharene Jones, 49

“My hair has always been curly, and I always hated it. I grew up in East Tennessee, where girls did not have curly hair. Plus, I had to survive the Marcia Brady ’70s without styling products; they hadn’t been invented!” says mother of two Sharene, who works from home as a recipe tester. “I did tame it a bit with big hot rollers or pin curls. And then, in college, I got a cut that calmed it a bit more. I stuck to hot rollers throughout my work career, but in 1995, when I started having kids, I let it go curly. And now it’s part of my identity. It’s here to stay.”

Her goal: Something “different.” Sharene feels like curls are limiting, style-wise.