What can I do to prevent my hair from getting ruined on my way to work?

You can pin your hair in to a bun and wear a beanie so that they’ll stay in shape and be protected from the element, you can choose to take it off at work, however, I won’t recommend this during hot and humid days for comfort’s sake. I also find that washing your hair in the morning and not completely dry them off, which mean they’re still rather moist will help to keep them look natural as they gradually dry off outside, you can add leave-on hair cream/anti-frizz at the same time too if you have them. Alternatively, you can go to salon and get a straight hair perm so that you don’t have to manually do it anymore everyday, although once the root hair start growing long your original problem will come back again and it’s not cheap to perm hair.

I give my hair a little spritz of hair spray after styling & before leaving home. I don’t use much & brush it out on arrival at the other end. That seems to help maintain!!!

This one is a little better than the old plastic accordion one but a little over the top. However, it would work.

Is it possible to find a natural curly style that would be easier to keep through the day?

Oh, @Mariah, you could so rock the Audrey Hepburn look. :-)

Won’t a few strokes with a brush do the trick?

Well, try to find a style that doesn’t need much styling. Layers works well. I just go with kind of a messy look anyway….

Maybe some sort of scrunch and go?

I read it a little closer…you have to straighten it? Can’t you embrace your curly? The more work you have to do to it at home, the more you’re going to lose it to nature during the day.

Here is a picture of me. All of that curl is natural. I encouraged it to curl by moussing it. And this one. In the end I decided I really LIKE my hair!