Hi! I’m Delilah Orpi and I’m so happy you stopped by!
I am the founder of The Holistic Enchilada blog, a Curly Hair Consultant, and creator of Fabulous Curls Academy. I am a mom, wife, teacher, and small business owner living in Central Florida. In addition to running this blog, I blog over at The Literacy Corner, where I share multisensory literacy resources for struggling readers to help teachers and parents. I used to be a special education teacher, but now I use everything I learned to teach others about curly hair, clean beauty, and literacy.
My story started in 2010 when I impulsively moved abroad to teach and travel. At the time, I had only been dating my husband for 9 months but we decided to take the leap anyway. It ended up being the best decision we ever made, and completely turned our lives around.
I was a teacher living in Miami and had always dreamed of travelling the world. So I started looking for teaching jobs abroad. Within 3 weeks I had accepted a job offer in Abu Dhabi, gotten married, sold all my belongings, and flown across the world to live in a brand new country. From there on it can only be described as a crazy beautiful mess. We traveled a lot, we had a baby girl, and learned so much about the world and ourselves.
But before I left, I had a few troublesome experiences with the American medical system. At 19, I was sick for almost a whole year from an infected cyst that went undiagnosed until my mother started threatening the doctors.
I also had a negative experience with the HPV vaccine during this time. And during 2010, I had recurring bladder infections for 6 months which the doctors wanted to treat with prophylactic antibiotics instead of trying to figure out why I was getting them and how to prevent them.
Quickly after moving to Abu Dhabi, I had to seek medical care to refill the prescription for those antibiotics. They were working but with all those terrible side effects. The doctor I met with nearly died after hearing my story. He could not believe that was the solution I was given. He offered several tests to determine the cause and better options than antibiotics. In the end, all I needed was cleaner food than what I was eating in America. I couldn’t believe it was that simple!
Those years I lived abroad led me to a more holistic approach to living. Experiencing so many different cultures and living a different lifestyle allowed me to examine what was really important, and many of the holistic and simple ideas really stuck with me. During this time I also started wearing my hair naturally curly every day.
I had grown tired of constantly straightening my hair, especially since it was such a pain while travelling. I decided to simply wear my hair curly from then on, although I was still clueless about how to properly care for it.
Now back in Florida, I live my life in a completely different way. I learned about the curly girl method which has revived my curls. I use clean products, which can be hard to find in the curly hair world. And I try to be kinder to my body and treat it better than in the past.
I started this blog to help others learn how to embrace and care for their natural curls and find more clean products and brands. I have been following the curly girl method for nearly 4 years and love to share what I have learned, especially for others with fine, low density curly hair. I recently became a Curly Hair Consultant so that I could offer better support and content for the curly hair community.
Get started by downloading my FREE guide: Quick Start Guide To Mastering Your Curls
If you’re looking to collaborate, read my Work With Me page.
As Seen In:
Curl: The Magazine for Curly-Haired Women
CURL magazine
Issue #3: Why You Should Do Scalp Massages On A Regular Basis
Issue #5: How To Pre-Poo For More Manageable Hair
Issue# 14: Circling Back on Curls in the Workplace
GLAMOUR
How to Bring Damaged Hair Back to Life, According to 5 Women Who've Done It
Formulate
"My Hair Is Naturally Curly But Won't Curl Anymore" - 5 tips for getting your natural curls back
She Finds
The Natural Ingredient You Should Start Using To Decrease Hair Fallout And Aid Hair Growth: Rice Water
Authority Mag
Delilah Orpi of The Holistic Enchilada: Five Things Anyone Can Do To Have Fabulous Hair
Authority Magazine
Influencer Delilah Orpi Shares Her Top Selfcare, Wellness, and Beauty Tips
The Right Hairstyles
The Latest Guide on How to Exfoliate Scalp and Why You Must
Thrive Global
Influencer Delilah Orpi Shares Her Top Selfcare, Wellness, and Beauty Tips
MopTop Hair
Our Favorite Curly-Haired Influencers
The Curly Hair Q&A Show
LIVE #163 with Delilah Orpi Founder of The Holistic Enchilada Blog
PurPicks
Delilah’s Best Gel for Bouncy Curls