Who ever said Buzzfeed was just a repository for time-wasting listicles, demographic info-gathering quizzes, and the ramblings of people with too many hours in their day?
Oh right, that was me. While I was on Buzzfeed. With something like 15 other tabs open that were also all Buzzfeed.
I was reading the comments too, shoot…
But what most people, Past-April included, that pooh-pooh the site out of hand don’t understand is that it’s not all just fun and games to be read out in 5ish minute intervals. There are also well-researched long form pieces and some pretty cracking original series to be found!
Also my future husband a guy I’d love to get a good cup of tea with.
Love seeing dudes that aren’t afraid to take themselves a little less seriously.
Most relevant to everyone’s interests here though, is that amongst these more in-depth pieces are loads of positivity laden content centered on natural black hair!
Although Buzzfeed has posts for about every topic you could think of (and several that you didn’t need to”>, in May 2017 I noticed that more and more content was being created for black women’s hair, and I couldn’t have been more excited! I mean, now when I say I’m doing research instead of just admitting I wanted a brain break, I REALLY mean it!
…er…I mean, I’m super thrilled that such a large far-reaching platform is giving attention to such a wonderful demographic. Yeah, that.
Well, let’s not worry about the reasoning behind my excitement, let’s look at some of my favorites here!
Nappy Is Simply A Hair Texture, Not An Insult
Because I’m a word nerd (hello, employed as a writer here”> I believe heavily in the power of context. Any word or phrase can be used to hurt someone when you put that intent behind it. See “princess” or “pretty boy” or even your own name if it’s said insultingly enough.
That said, I appreciate the push to de-contextualize the term “nappy” from its default insulting status and re-contextualize it as something to be proud of calling yourself. Of course, we here at NaturallyCurly will probably keep ‘Coily’ as our phrase for Type 4 textures. A nappy’s still a diaper across the Atlantic, and “kinky”…well that’s a whole other potentially NSFW thing to unpack. Probably gonna pick up a “Happy to be Nappy” shirt soon, though.
17 Photos of Shrinkage That Prove the Power of Black Hair
We’ve been over shrinkage actually being a GOOD thing, inasmuch as it indicates springy, healthy hair. And even though obsessing over growth and apparent length is bad for us, sometimes it can’t be helped! Unlearning is just as much a process as learning is, and we’ll all get there when we get there. Nevertheless, this collection of shrinkage photos is just TOO extraordinary.
Caution, magical coils ahead!
20 Twist Out Fails That’ll Make Every Natural Go “Me”
It’s not always shea butter and champagne when it comes to an afro-textured hair journey.
Sometimes it isn’t even Vaseline and Ocean Spray juice-drink, to be quite honest. And from time to time in coily folk’s lives, there’ll be a twist out that doesn’t quite do as we intended it to. The hair wants what it wants. It’s just that occasionally it wants to put us somewhere between a natural all over ‘fro and the defined style we were meant to have, and it’s…less than ideal.
Days like these, you just gotta toss a flower clip on things and keep it moving, but if you can laugh at yourself like these ladies did, you’re already a step ahead!
19 Photos That Prove Natural Hair Doesn’t Need Twist-Outs To Look Beautiful
Now THIS. This was a revelation.
Mind = Blown
You know that phrase “Be the person you needed when you were younger.”? Wise words from Ayesha A. Siddiqi. And this is the article I needed when I was starting out.
I stopped feeling the chemical burn in high school, and because conventional wisdom at the time was that you HAD to big chop or lose every last strand (I forgive you, mommy”>, I was feeling très insecure with my much shorter, much rounder ‘do. I wanted defined curls all day and with my level of expertise from then until fairly recently, had no recourse but to hate humid days, hate my look, hate myself for not having the resources to have extensions in constantly, and just make myself absolutely miserable on several fronts. This gorgeous index of afros in different shapes and sizes would have been a godsend at that time, and is even now!
It may seem hypocritical to juxtapose this photo-listicle with the twistout fails, but there’s a huge difference between a halfway style misstep and a look that’s meant to be perfectly untouched (so to speak”> just as it comes.
How’s that for some quality curl-reading?
Of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t shout out the authors of these great pieces. If you think you can handle the fabulosity, check out more trend-worthy natural hair clickables by Buzzfeed staffers Patrice Peck and Essence Grant! It’ll be the best break you’ve ever taken, guaranteed.
