When Teneya Gholston stumbled into the beauty industry, she was unaware her path would lead her to create an innovative haircare line aimed at combating texturism. Gholston’s most recent full circle moment since becoming a tastemaker came at FAMU’s 2024 homecoming, the place where her journey to her line Texture Crush began.
Although she grew up in a home where her mother was faithful to her biweekly salon visit, being unable to afford this habit on her own throughout college pushed her to try styling her coils at home. Ultimately, Gholston became one of FAMU’s trusted neighborhood stylists that many women relied on during their transition into womanhood.
During her journey to an M.B.A in Brand Management, one of Gholston’s professors pushed her to enter a business competition that became the seed for her future. “I feel like that was the first time I really kind of said ‘no, I’m going to chart my own path,’” Gholston tells NaturallyCurly.
Following her time on FAMU’s campus Gholston went on to work for brands like Revlon and Creme of Nature, which she worked at for nearly 12 years. Following her tenure as a beauty marketeer, Gholston started her own agency, Gholston Strategy Group, while working on Texture Crush.
Her continued desire to champion natural hair and dedication to the multicultural beauty space pushed her to launch Texture Crush’s first collection. “It’s a love story, it’s my love story to the textured hair community and it’s really just about celebrating the beauty of textured hair,” Gholston says.
Texture Crush’s Loving Essentials line mainly keeps straight naturals, or naturals who want to add heat to their styles, in mind. Her decision was influenced by the idea of finding a solution for people with natural hair who still weren’t being represented in beauty supply stores or the brands they carry because they choose to use heat, despite it being taboo in the Black hair care community.
“We really want to encourage women to wear their hair in the style that makes them feel the most beautiful or that works best for their lifestyle,” Gholston says. According to Gholston, the undeniable rising trend of women with natural hair turning over new leaves to become ‘straight naturals,’ can be credited to three main factors: lifestyle changes, hair education and the desire to exercise the freedom to select any style without judgment.
When the natural hair movement first began, there was a lack of education about how to care for Black hair textures and as a result many naturals focused on finding the right products to fit into their personal L.O.C (liquid, oil, cream) moisturizing method or their journey to waist length after a big chop.
Gone are the days where women are afraid of heat damage because they’ve grown an increased awareness about what natural hair is capable of and healthy ways to “With education, women are just a little bit more aware of what their hair can do. I think they’re aware of how to straighten their hair in a healthy way without heat damage,” Gholston says. “I think the fear before was always that.”
In addition to the fear of heat damage, many women feared judgment due to texturism and style shaming. But Texture Crush was made to solve that problem. “It’s just about freedom of choice of how [women] want to wear their hair,” Gholston says. Her line is about reimagining what it means to care for curly hair and removing all the limiting beliefs around what curls or coils can do.
Throughout the natural hair movement, innovators in the space have created unspoken rules of engagement around what’s beneficial to caring for curly hair such as the L.O.C (liquid, oil, cream) method or the curly girl method. “Texture Crush is really about a judgment free zone and space for women with textured hair,” Gholston says. “We’re here to embrace you wearing your hair just as you see it.”
Texture Crush wants to change the stigma around how naturals care for their hair and help women reclaim their time back while they do it. “I just think our lifestyle has changed and so women are not as apt to spend six or eight hours on their wash day, they’re looking for solutions that allow them to get in and out,” Gholston says.
Naturally, the beauty industry is not exempt from society’s search for convenience and with this new freedom of choice regarding appearance becoming a straight natural is trending. Hair maintenance is a labor of love regardless of how you wear your hair—however being a straight natural is less tedious than a curly one.
Detangling is arguably the most time consuming part of wash days, some naturals detangle before, during or after styling. However, Texture Crush shampoo and conditioner combined with steam or heat can help cut down on detangling time.
Having expensive products is pointless without a proper regimen. According to Gholston, educating naturals around purposefully using heat during their wash days so products—like her favorite, Texture Crush’s Dew The Most Moisturizing Conditioner—can fully penetrate curls and coils is key.
During the formulating process for the line, Gholston chose to go work with plant-based botanicals to help provide specific benefits. Although the current line places a heavy emphasis on guava, which has many key advantages for hair, the line also incorporates rice proteins and aloe amongst other ingredients. “We really were intentional with our ingredient selection to make sure that it was solving for a particular problem textured hair has,” Gholston says.
Going forward, Gholston wants to use her hair care brand to help educate naturals on how to craft their own regimen through in-person and virtual events. Naturalistas can also expect accessories this upcoming holiday season and new products during the first quarter of 2025.
