NEW YORK, NY — Lorraine Massey, co-partner of the chic Devachan salon, says there’s a curl-volution happening among curlies everywhere.
“Over the last 10 years everyone has been blow-fried,” says Massey, stylist and author of ‘Curly Girl: The Handbook.’ “Women want their freedom,” she says.
It’s that freedom the curl guru is encouraging both women and men to embrace when she launches a national advertising campaign this fall. The theme of the print campaign is Curl-volution, showcasing the beauty of naturally curly locks.
“Why all of a sudden are all these curly girls running around?” Massey asks. “They are the same ones who’ve been in straight jackets and tied to their hairdresser all these years.”
No more, she says. The curly girls who have fought their curls for years are learning to just let it flow.
“From children to men and women of all ethnicities, 65 percent or more of our population has some wave or curl to their hair,” says Shari Harbinger, hair color director of Deva Concepts. “One of the major philosophies of our company is to respect the hair’s natural tendency to wave or curl.”
And now the company is using a national platform to share Massey’s philosophy. On June 26, Massey brought in about a dozen of her clients to become models for a day in a glamorous photo shoot at her Devachan salon in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood. The daylong shoot for the ad campaign consisted of a head-to-toe makeover for everyone — hip hairstyles, glitzy makeup and even wardrobe.
In the spring, DevaCurl launched a national model search on NaturallyCurly.com. But because of the logistics, Massey opted to use some of her Devachan clients for the campaign, some of whom are NaturallyCurly.com readers.
Aside from clients, some of her curly stylists (and even her young son”> joined in the photos that will be splashed across the pages of trade and consumer magazines in September. At the same time Massey will introduce two new products to her DevaCurl line. The first is called B’Leave-in, a leave-in conditioner for added moisture. (Both products will be for sale in CurlMart when they are available”>
“With curls, it’s really all about hydration,” Massey says. “This is a 24- to 48-hour moisture lock that’s filled with organically derived vegetable glycerin that will give the hair added shine.”
The second product to be available this fall is a color-keeper called To Have and To Hold. “It keeps color in the hair longer,” Massey says. “There’s no pigment in it.”
“I like her products because they are all natural,” says Michele Greenberg, a three-year client of Massey’s who now lives in Madison, Wis., but still won’t let anyone else touch her raven curls. It took a year for her to make it back to Manhattan for a haircut. But she didn’t mind waiting. “My hair has never been healthier.” (This trip, Greenberg’s timing was impeccable; she happened to be in town the day of the photo shoot and was selected as one of the models”>
“Our products have been so well received and the demand of the dehydrated and curly clients is so great that we needed to take it to the next level and bring this information to them at a faster pace [through this ad campaign],” Harbinger says.
And it’s not just the products that clients rave about; Massey’s styling technique is also a key element of her success. Devachan assistant Analis Hobal (also a curly girl”> showed me first-hand how it’s done: After cleansing my frizz-prone hair with No-Poo (a zero-lathering cleanser”>, she added One Condition and then rinsed it, leaving some in to hydrate the hair. Instead of towel drying, she leaned my head forward and scrunched my locks with paper towels, to blot the excess water. Analis then evenly sprayed on Set it Free (a new moisture-lock product launched in March to battle frizz”>, scrunched in AnGell (a conditioning gel”>, and strategically placed clips at the crown of my head to add lift.
Never picking up a comb or a brush (she says she doesn’t even own one!”>, she set me under the dryer and minutes later, voila! My wavy curls never had so much definition. No crunchy locks either, just lots of curl in a soft style.
“[Massey] has put an incredible philosophy to work,” says Reina Platt, a 13-year client of Massey’s and a film and television production coordinator in New York City, who became one of the models for a day.
“My hair is so healthy. I’ve learned how to take care of it for life. I feel lucky to have found her. I really don’t have bad hair days – but I used to.”
Jo Newman, an aspiring actress, used to battle bad hair days too — and she says it was affecting her career. But she’s now Massey’s client and even joined in as a model for the Curl-volution campaign. “My acting life got better when I figured out how to deal with my curls,” Newman says with a smile.
