Welcome to my hair's life story!!
I too have curly hair, but I was in denial for a long time! My hair is very fine and I spent the latter part of my childhood/teen years just brushing it out which resulted in a stringy frizzy mess. One lady that cut my hair one time said "Did you know you have curly hair?"
So now after my 24 years of living I have embraced my curls and learned to manage them! Actually I like curly hair, I am no good at hair styling so I would never have the patience/skill to blowout or straighten my curls every day. I keep my hair generally shoulder length or between my chin and shoulders. I wash it every other day. I use either a curl shampoo or a good moisturizing shampoo. Right now I am using Matrix Biolage moisturizing stuff. I also like Alterrna curl shampoo/conditioner, the Catwalk curl shampoo/conditioner(smells like oranges!), and the Loreal Professional Texture Line curl shampoo/conditioner. And the Aussie 3minute miracle conditioner is a great product for a bargain.
For styling I use a mixture of biosilk serum and the Tresemee curl gel(its more cream like in its texture, less watery/sticky). And then I also usually spray on a little of the Redkin Curl Boost spray gel. Then I blow dry it using my fingers to kind of diffuse it until its about 75% dry and let it air dry the rest of the way. Some hair spray to set it. I usually wear it down or with the front pieces pinned pack with bobby pins. Its generally not long enough to wear in a ponytail. It has long layers, no bangs.
This is my natural curl
here and
here
Sam! Your curls are beautiful! I wish mine were thicker like yours. Is that picture from after you got your hair cut? I like your dark hair also! I wish mine was a bit darker, its natural color is pretty mousy, so I usually jazz it up with higlights or glosses. Cute!