I have dark curly hair, rather like that of Alan Davies or Simon Rattle. It grows slowly, and falls out before it gets long - I did not have it cut for 7 years whilst trying to grow it, and it never reached my shoulders unless wet. Because these days I try and keep it vaguely styled, I get it done 2 or 3 times a year when I am in the north. I cannot straighten it, because it makes me look like the Princess Royal, and because it is genuinely curly it just looks dead.