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Every year, South by Southwest descends upon our city bringing techies, CEOs, entrepreneurs, and creatives. For almost two weeks, Austin hosts and facilitates panels, networking, concerts, and film showings. That, and free tacos. Lots of free tacos.

This year, we were super excited to attend the Naturally Social panel and learn the best practices for hair and beauty blogging! The panel was moderated by loc’d lady Franchesca “Chescaleigh” Ramsey of Youtube, and the panelists were a supergroup of ladies who are on top of their social media game: Patrice Yursik of Afrobella, Kristin Braswell, Editor-In-Chief of Carol’s Daughter’s Transitioning Movement, Myleik Teele, founder/CEO of curlBOX and Jamala Johns, founder/photographer behind le coil. 

If any of you are thinking about hair or beauty blogging, here are the major lessons I learned at SXSW!

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Beauty Blogging Tips

YouTuber, comedian, and loc inspiration Franchesca “Chescaleigh” Ramsey teamed up with us here at NaturallyCurly.com for her South by Southwest #chescaTX meetup! She wanted to meet all her Texan fans who were in town for the conference, so on March 9  we brought swag bags full of NEW Tigi BedHead products and tickets for free beverages to The Upper Decks in Austin, TX. Franchesca brought her beautiful personality, sense of humor and of course that hair we all admire so much! We took photos, gushed over her amazing YouTube videos, and got to connect with other men and women in our community over a shared love of all things Chescaleigh! Thank you to TIGI for the swag bags, and thanks for making a stop in Austin, Franchesca!

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SXSW Blogger Meet Up

Is the wash & go your staple style?  Some people use the winter months to wear protective styles, shielding their curls and coils from harsh weather. We know that’s not a desirable route for everybody, and the wash and go will continue year-round.

But how can you avoid leaving the warmth of your home to fare frozen temperatures with wet hair? We’ve done the work for you and found a couple popular ways people still enjoy wash and gos without catching a cold in the process.

Wash & Go in the evenings + pineapple + air dry

If you already have a preference for night showers, these next three methods will be easy to get used to. First, try doing your wash and gos in the evening, giving your hair time to air dry in the comfort of your warm home. Experiment with the pineapple method and gather all your hair (or sections of it”> into a high puff(s”> or ponytail(s”>. Just wrap the hair tie once or twice around. This will keep the roots stretched as they dry, but the length of your hair will stay defined through the night.

In the morning, just take out the hair ties, shake/fluff, and go!

MORE: How to Pineapple Your Hair

Wash & Go in the evenings + air dry + light mist in the morning

If the pineapple method just isn’t for you – either your hair is too short, or the pineapples stretch your hair too much – skip them altogether. Cowash and style your wash and go in the evening and let it air dry as you cook dinner and catch up on that episode of “Scandal.”

In the morning, your coils will probably be smooshed and compact. Spray your hair with a bit of water and shake or fluff to achieve the desired shape. Finish getting ready for the day, and your hair should be dry before you walk out of the door!

Option #2

If you hair air dries quickly, you can add three or four light spritzes of water to your wash and go and cover with a shower cap before bed. Be sure to mist a small amount of water. Overnight, the light moisture will be trapped, keeping your coils moist, but not wet. Remove the shower cap, fluff, and go! Naptural85 on YouTube made a video showing how she maintains her wash and go using this method.

How To Maintain Wash and Go for 5 Days or More

Wash & Go in the evenings  + big loose twists

We saw this method on Naptural85’s YouTube channel. It needs no product, and admittedly, looks like a twist out. If you do the twists large and loose enough on wet hair, when you unravel them in the morning, they might still be slightly damp enough to be a fuller, more defined version of your traditional wash and go.

The Perfect Winter Wash and Go Method

Use a diffuser

Buy a diffuser attachment for your blow dryer and get to diffusin’! The purpose of this attachment is to spread the air over a larger area. It won’t focus so much heat on a section of hair, providing a much more immediate wash and go without using too much heat.

Tilt your head to the side, gather a section of hair on top of the diffuser attachment and let the air gently dry your hair and scalp. Keep alternating sections to ensure an even process. Watch IAmNaturallyCurious’ video for a visual.

If you don’t mind wet hair in the colder months, or it’s sunny year round, we’re jealous! Pass this on to a friend who needs it.

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MORE: How to Use a Hair Diffuser

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Shrinkage: A Love Story

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I hope you checked out the seven curly kids books suggested to read with your child for naturally curly hair acceptance. But the list doesn’t stop there! Scouring the Internet produced seven more books the kiddies will love! Some are specifically about curly hair, while others just feature a main character with lusciously springy locks! Try to find these at your local public library, and if you come up empty-handed, try Amazon or eBay.

MORE: Curly Kids

7 More Books for Curly Kids

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1. The store cashier thinks your sister is your daughter, but you’re only five years apart. 

Your hair is aging you! Maybe your hair color is washing out your youthful features. Visit a colorist in your area to assess how light or dark you should go. Sometimes you just have to accept that a deep red looks a lot better against your skin than jet black. If you’re in absolute love with your hair color, maybe a new hairstyle is in order. It can be as simple as parting your hair down the middle instead of to the right. Are your curls too long? A shorter, layered cut can make your curls seem more light and bouncy.

MORE: 6 Hair Tips to Make You Look Younger

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2. Your coworker assumes you’re going to be an 80s hair band rocker for the company Halloween party.

A modern haircut is in order! Gone are the days of insane frizz, teased crowns and bangs, and side ponytails. A layered haircut will add dimension and natural shape to your curls. Maybe you need to thin your curls out a little to tone down the volume. Visit a stylist you trust who knows how curly hair grows and frames the face. To bring your frizz down to 21st century levels, make sure your curls are properly deep conditioned – dry hair means frizzy hair!

MORE: Are Curly 80s Hair Styles Now Retro?

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3. People always ask if you’re headed to the gym.

Ditch the messy buns, thick headbands, and big, cotton scrunchies. Those are for the gym, not the workplace. Embrace your curls and wear them loud and proud! Don’t believe the myth that curly hair is unprofessional. Rock a wash & go using your favorite gel or try twists and braids to alter your curl pattern into loose waves or tight curls over night without heat. You can also pull them back into a sleek, fashionable bun, but use more discreet hair accessories this time.

MORE: 5 Tips for Exercising With Natural Hair

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4. People always ask if you’re feeling well, but haven’t even sneezed and you have no tissues in hand.

Hair color can change how warm or cool our skin looks. If your hair is too dark, it can wash out your features and make you look very tired and pale. If your hair is colored too light, it can make you look like an ice queen, a la Tilda Swinton. Visit your stylist and ask for some warmth and dimension through highlights and lowlights.

Make sure your hair color matches your skin undertones. Those with cool undertones can go as deep as bluish black. Warmer undertones need deep browns and golds. It’s also on trend to change your hair color with each major change in season. By Thanksgiving, switch out your sun-kissed highlights for a deeper, richer color.

MORE: 8 Foods for Healthy Skin

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5. During conversations, people stare just above your face. My eyes are down here, fellas! 

Time to touch up those roots! Seems like the contrast between your natural color and your dye job is distracting. If you know how to DIY it, go for it! If not, make a hair appointment ASAP. Darker roots on a lighter dye job can make your hair look greasy, while your blonde roots with a brunette ponytail just looks wonky!

MORE: How to Hide Oily Roots

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6. Your mother keeps posting sticky notes with the address to her favorite salon on your fridge when she comes over.

Ugh, mom is trying to send a message, isn’t she? Maybe it’s time for a new color to bring in the changing season, or maybe your curls look a bit droopy and a slightly layered cut is in order. Maybe your hair just has a bad case of the dry frizzies. Treat yourself to a moisturizing deep conditioner to bring the moisture and definition back to your hair. If it’s humid outside, more moisture won’t tame those fuzzies. Try a humidity serum or gel to smooth down those flyaways.

MORE: 5 Bad Curly Hair Habits to Break

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21st Century Style

Roll call: who got their first relaxer around 6 years of age? If you’re raising your hand, you’re not alone! I got my first relaxer around that time also. My mother never said natural hair wasn’t beautiful or presentable, but it was always explained that straight hair was just more manageable: easier to wash, easier to style and most importantly, easier to comb. I was never teased too horribly about my hair being “too big” or “too nappy,” but a good dose of self-love is always in order!

If you have little ones who are starting to beg for the flat iron, or if you just want to help build a sense of self-love in a curly-positive home, check out these children’s books!

MORE: Does Natural Hair Love Start at Home?

7 Books for Curly Kids

There are plenty of ways to treat your coils with tender loving care during all steps of your hair care routine. All the little improvements we make at each step contribute to the overall health of our hair and to maintaining and growing that big afro. Healthy hair will grow sky high! Here are three ways to gently dry your coils after you’ve cleansed, conditioned and detangled.

1. Shake or squeeze

Think of your hair like a sponge. There’s more water hiding in there than it seems, so a quick shake or gentle squeeze along the length of your hair can remove the excess moisture from your coils. Since your hair won’t be sopping wet, you’ll spend less time with a blowdryer in hand (if that’s your lifestyle”> or less time walking around with wet hair.

2. Swap that towel for a T-shirt

The cotton/polyester towels we use to dry our bodies aren’t the best way to gently dry our coils. First, they’re so fluffy and absorbent that they quickly suck much-needed moisture from our hair. Second, the fiber is rough and can snag on our coils, especially if you rub the towel back and forth over your head. Trade in the towel for an old t-shirt or a microfiber towel and squeeze firmly and gently, but don’t rub, to remove excess moisture from your hair. A t-shirt is absorbent enough to dry your hair, but thin and gentle enough to avoid snags. Microfiber towels are absorbent, but their surface is not abrasive to hair.

3. Need heat? Use a diffuser

If airdrying your hair isn’t an option and you have to use heat, try attaching a diffuser head to your blow dryer. Instead of harsh, direct heat, the diffuser will spread the hot air to a bigger surface area. The force of a normal blowdryer also moves your coils around and can disturb the curl pattern if you’re going for a defined wash and go look. You should also use medium or low heat setting to avoid heat damage.

Anything you’d like to add? How do you gently dry your coils? 

Whether it’s your first year on campus or your last, all college curlies want to make a good impression on the first day of classes! Here are some tips to get your curls, coils and kinks looking great!

• You’ll be walking across a large campus during the day, and here in Texas at least, it’s still insanely hot, so style your hair away from your neck and face. Use an elastic headband, bobby pins, or wear your hair in a high bun to stay cool.

Use a gel or serum to keep your hair locked into its curl pattern and prevent frizziness. Kinky Curly Curling Custard is a great soft gel, but when using products with more hold, remember to use your favorite leave-in or oil first to prevent crunchy curls. If you’re living in a dorm room this semester and you share a bathroom, try detangling your hair in your room. This will cut down on your time in the shower, and your roommate will thank you! Sport your favorite easy style during the week, then rock your curliest curls for the weekend! If you have an afro or very coily hair, try wearing two-strand twists throughout the week then rock an amazing twist-out to those back-to-school parties! Compliment other college curlies you see! Nothing starts a great first conversation better! Trade tips, favorite products, and refer them to your favorite naturally curly blogs and websites.

NaturallyCurly.com wishes you a great semester!

If you’re looking to rock longer (or in my case, BIGGER!”> hair, your time is better spent focusing on length retention. There’s not much you can do to force your scalp to grow hair faster, but you CAN focus on hair care habits that prevent breakage and make sure every inch you grow is maintained throughout the months and years. Although the entire length of my hair is rarely exposed to the elements (yay shrinkage!”>, there are five important things I do to handle my coils with care.

1. Don’t go guerilla during washing

There comes a morning in every natural’s life when you wake up and realize your TWA has transformed into a massive force field of gloriously textured hair. It seemed like just the other day you could wash and condition in six minutes, right? Well, “just the other day” was actually two years ago, and now you must find efficient ways to care for your coils without losing your sanity. Don’t attack your hair! Grab some butterfly clips and divide your hair into manageable sections. No more swirling your hands around an entire sudsy head.

2. Hold your hair while you comb or brush

Remember when your head would jerk in the direction your mom ferociously brushed it? Don’t relive those tortuous moments! Since our natural hair coils and springs back into place when we let it go, it’s even more important to hold the section of hair we’re detangling. If we let go, we “lose our place” so to speak, and all the combing and recombing can take a toll on our hair and tender heads. Don’t forget to twist that section once you’re done or place it back in a clip (refer to first tip”>.

3. Sleep with a satin scarf or pillow case

It’s easy for our coils to snag on rough fabrics. Satin or silk is a smooth and soft textile that your coils won’t get caught in. Depending on your preference, you can wear a satin cap, a satin scarf, or sleep on a satin pillowcase. Since I’m the type to forego a bedtime routine and just collapse into bed, a satin pillowcase was the way to go.

4. Use the right tools

Remember the Tangle Teaser? Yeah, me neither. If it worked for you, great! I just couldn’t visualize my coils squeezing through the Tangle Teaser’s tiny teeth. Every head of hair is different, so this will take some trial and error on your part, but here are my tried and true hair care tools:

• Wide toothed comb for detangling
• Denman styling brush for clumping or smoothing each section for maximum shiny twist outs
• Concentrator attachment on blow dryers are better for my fine hair than the comb attachment when I do blow outs. I pull a section of hair taut, and the attachment concentrates the heat to that section, stretching it out.
• Butterfly clips. I switched to these claw-like clips after I noticed duckbill clips always got caught in my hair.
• “No snag” or no-metal headbands & hair ties. Seriously. Who puts metal on a headband? O.U.C.H.

5. Try protective styles

The more we tousle our hair around, the more opportunities we have for tangles and breakage. Try to fight Hand In Hair Syndrome and opt for twists, braids, buns, etc. I personally prefer to wear my hair loose, but I know a lot of naturals swear by low manipulation hair styles.

How do you handle your coils with care?

Video blogger Jess reviews the Hair Therapy Wrap.

Learn more about purchasing the Hair Therapy Wrap.

Sunday night, BET aired the first annual awards show celebrating and commemorating black women and girls around the world, reminding us that Black Girls Rock!

Black Girls Rock is first and foremost a non-profit organization, started in 2006 by Beverly Bond. It started off as an idea for a line of T-shirts, but Bond said it was a concept that needed to be expanded into something greater. The organization works to increase self-esteem and self-worth among African American girls ages 12-17 through volunteering, creative arts, and mentorship.

The broadcast used celebrities as examples of how Black girls can rock, but also celebrated M.A.D girls: girls who Made A Difference in their communities, like Amiya Alexander who owns her own traveling dance studio at age 11.

Nia Long was the elegant host, and the band playing for acts like Jill Scott, Ledisi, Monica, Keisha Cole, Marsha Ambrosius, was ALL female: the horn section, the drums, the base – EVERYTHING! Those black girls truly rocked!

Take a look at the fabulous ladies honored:

Shot Caller: Teresa Clarke

Chairman and CEO of Africa.com, changing the way the world see the continent of Africa.

Living Legend: Ruby Dee

Civil Rights activist, actress, writer, producer, and Emmy Award winner during a time when African Americans were rare in Hollywood.

Motivator: Rev. Dr. Iyanla Vanzant

reverend and motivational speaker.

Young, Gifted, and Black: Raven-Symoné

entrepreneur, TV producer, singer, and actor all before age 25.

Visionary: Missy Elliot

rapper & music producer topping charts in a male-dominated industry.

Trailblazer: Major General Marcelite J. Harris

highest ranking female in the U.S. Air Force of any ethnicity.

Who’s Got Next: Keke Palmer

actress & singer taking the world by storm at age 17.

Black girls also rock because of their hair! Check out the different hairstyles present at the show. We have special love for the girls rocking their own texture!

To get involved or donate to the non-profit organization, visit the website.

What was your favorite part of the show?

Tyler Perry’s “For Colored Girls” is actually the cinematic adaptation of Ntozake Shange’s 1975 play “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf.” The original is a series of 20 beautiful poems, and unfortunately I felt like I needed the script there with me to fully grasp the movie. Such beautiful language would be easy to read, not necessarily listen to. This made the movie feel like a series of complicated and descriptive monologues strung together by a plot line delivered in normal spoken English. THe movie had a star studded cast: Janet Jackson, Thandie Newton, Loretta Devine, Anika Noni Rose, Kimberly Elise, Kerry Washington, Phylicia Rashad, Tessa Thompson, and Whoopi Goldberg.

Without giving too much away, there were two events in the movie that made it worth seeing. The acting for those scenes was heart wrenching and horrifying – not a dry eye in the theater. Kimberly Elise’s performance was amazing – her character broke my heart and resonated with many people in the theater because she had a loved one who suffered from war-induced Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Akina Noni Rose, who you may know as the voice of Tiana in Disney’s Princess and the Frog, delivered a beautiful performance. Of all the poems, hers was the easiest for me to understand. It was clear and powerful, and wasn’t bogged down by flowery language. It will hit home for women across the world – its message transcended all races, nationalities, and ages.

As a film, it had too many plot lines, and although Tyler Perry attempted to connect all the leading ladies, it was difficult to for me to follow their stories. I probably would have enjoyed it better as a play, or a piece of literature to read. “For Colored Girls” had a lot of potential to be an amazing film, and I wouldn’t have minded if it was longer.

For those who wanted “For Colored Girls” to be an uplifting sort of movie, this wasn’t quite it. In my opinion, it presented the many different issues and struggles that face African American women and women in general. While it may be comforting to see that yes, other women have faced tribulations, the movie didn’t fully resolve each character’s story. It was much like reality – none of the ladies had a story book ending.

If this is the sort of movie that you need in your life, i highly recommend it. If you’re just looking for something to watch on a Saturday night, I say pass.

What did you think of the movie?

Tips for Growing Out

It’s dark. I’m snuggled safely in a bed that looks like mine but there’s no other furniture in the room. “Hmmm, that’s strange,” I think as I drift off to sleep. My eyes flutter and I fight the urge to sleep—something is wrong, but I just can’t figure out what.

Why is my door cracked open? Did I leave it like that? I never usually leave my door open…

Something is oddly wrong with this picture, but I fall into a deep slumber anyway. I wake up what seems days later. I’m stumbling out of bed and lift my arm to scratch my head and stretch. Wait. Something’s wrong. My hair. It’s flat. And I don’t mean bed head. It’s . . . straight. SOMEONE PUT A RELAXER IN MY HAIR WHILE I WAS ASLEEP!

My mind races. Tears blur my vision. This is too horrifying to be true. Two years happily nappy and it’s all down the drain, right along with that relaxer concoction. “My life is over,” I yell to the sky. I can’t go on anymore. What’s the point? Sure, I complained about how long it takes to detangle and how expensive natural ingredients are, but that didn’t mean I didn’t love my natural coils! Now I have to start all over. WHY HAVE THE GODS DONE THIS TO ME! I catch a glimpse of bone-straight, deep-brown hair brushing my shoulders. This is what I look like now.

My straight hair circa 2008. It went through cycles of growth and breakage, hence the “bangs”. I had to rock them somehow

In slow motion, I see myself collapse.

Before I hit the floor, I sit straight up in my bed, sweating. I look around to make sure I’m not still dreaming. Wait. I was dreaming? There’s only one way to be sure . . . I race to the bathroom, flick on the lights and see it in all its coily tangled glory: my afro smooshed perfectly on the side I sleep on. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Yes, the straight hair nightmare exists.

Happy to be nappy!

Finally embracing your hair may have been a long time coming, and face it—you’ve fallen in LOVE with whatever your hair decides to do naturally. So when you get a whiff of a burning flat iron, the odor of a relaxer (no-lye or lye—does it really matter?”> you stop dead in your tracks. Something bad’s a-brewing.

Please don’t get me wrong—straight hair isn’t ugly. Rock what you got! It’s just not what MY hair does. And if I want to wear straight styles for special occasions, I will. After all, what do we all do with straight hair for weddings and events—curl it! There’s just something about striving for permanently straight hair that gives me the willies…

In the spirit of Halloween, let’s take a moment to talk about our straight hair nightmares! We asked our NaturallyCurly.com Facebook friends to tell us about their straight hair nightmares. Here’s what they had to say:

• Olivia Robles OMG. I thought I was the only one. I dreamt that my sister relaxed my hair while I was asleep. Oh the horror.
• Tina Michelle Yes! With a clothes iron too & it was permanent! Then I woke up.
• Nia Jones At least once a year….

  The last one was even worse. i dreamt that I went to a stylist to have my hair pressed and ended up with a Jerri curl somehow and I was so distraught I had to cut all my hair off.

• Lonette Robertson When I first BC’d five years ago, I had a nightmare that I relaxed my hair. I was enjoying throwing my hair behind my shoulders in my dream, but I woke up horrified. This Saturday I just cut my hair again. No bad dreams!
• Taneisha Ingram I had nightmares every Palm Sunday as a little girl because that met my mother would straighten my hair w/ a hot comb and burn my ear the following Saturday for Easter Sunday.
• Hakim Nuraldin I dreamt last week that I was back in the salon I went to as a kid. This time before the hairdresser could touch me, I was up, out of the chair and down the street….lol With that little plastic cape on too! Lmao!
• Laura Paige Scott I had a dream I relaxed my hair and the scary part about it wasn’t my straight hair but the feeling I stepped out of line with mother nature and that I was cursed. Even now sometimes I flat iron my hair and each time I do it I wind up hating it. Like I can feel my hair screaming for me to wet it. Lol
• Edna Ramos Yes! I dreamt that this young actress (can’t think of her name”> was putting a chemical relaxer in my hair. Next thing I knew, most of my hair had fallen out! It was such a relief waking up and feeling my big, frizzy poof on my head!

Have you had relaxer nightmares? Tell us about them in the comments area below!

Pumpkins for Hair

Try creating your own hair products using organic ingredients!

Curl Moisturizing Spray

A perfect balance of distilled water and aloe vera gel or juice will keep your curls, coils, or kinks refreshed and ready to take on the day! Add a few drops of peppermint oil or tea tree oil for soothing scalp therapy.

Shea Butter Styling Cream

A mixture of your favorite essential oils, carrier oils, and of course organic shea butter! You can use this for every kind of twist, braid, or knot style you can imagine! Whip everything in a bowl with an electric mixer, and allow to solidify over night. Make it as thick or thin as you want, according to your hair type.

Curl Defining-Frizz Fighting Gel

Want to do define your natural texture? Boil and strain flax seeds – they produce their own sticky gel. Add some coconut oil for shine, and you’ve got a curl definer with hold, so none of the crunchiness.

Whipped Coconut Oil Shine

For the days when you don’t need the thick shea styling cream, whip coconut oil with a touch of aloe vera gel or juice for shine and softness. Works well if you have fine or thin hair—won’t weigh your tresses down.

Deep Moisture Conditioning Mask

After giving your hair its routine washing and detangling session, treat it to something nice! DIY conditioners can serve multiple purposes. Henna or eggs for protein and strength, avocado or banana for moisture and softness. Check out this list of yummy organic ingredients that you can add to your mixtures.

Check out this article for more on foods good for your hair.

Start experimenting with small batches so you don’t waste product if you make a mistake. If the ingredients in your homemade products are perishable, be sure to store it in the fridge. Good Luck!

Three years ago, Israel Segal adopted fraternal twins—Nola, their daughter and Ziggy, their son. They aimed to provide them with the best, from wholesome formulas to organic foods. There was only one problem—what should they use on Nola and Ziggy’s hair? The children are African American with natural coils and kinks, unlike their Caucasian parents.

“I go to the store and I was shocked to find that a lot of the products were the same old products that were there when I was a teenager—sulfates, parabens petrochemicals or even natural chemicals that just wouldn’t work at all,” Segal says.

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Segal has spent the last 25 years as a stylist in the fashion and beauty industry, so his background and connections helped him find the best possible chemists and perfumists. Instead of giving them the financial constraints that result in cheaper, low quality products, Segal’s constraints were ingredient-specific. None of the low-quality filler oils, no pore-clogging greases. They may get the job done in the short term by adding immediate shine, but it’s not good for the long-term health of the scalp and hair, he said.

“I liken it to putting Miracle Grow in your grass—it’ll make your flowers look pretty but afterward your soil will be stripped of all its natural nutrients,” he says.

Segal worked with his team for three years, tweaking and testing the product in various salons as well as on his own daughter.

“I didn’t even get their hair braided—I wanted her hair out so I could test the products!” he said.

Free Your Mane has six products to help in all aspects of our hair regimen. From cleansing to detangling and styling, Free Your Mane keeps four key ingredients consistent throughout the line: sweet almond oil, pomegranate seed oil, Argan oil, and baobab oil. These four botanicals work to soften, protect, and nourish the hair with no greasy feeling.

“I finally had products lined up that was I was wildly proud of,” he says.

Free Your Mane, now available for purchase from his website, was not simply inspired by his children—he actually uses all the products on his daughter. He recognized that highly textured hair doesn’t receive the natural oils from the scalp, so the Sulfate Free Shampoo gently cleanses. While the hair is wet, he finger combs or uses a wide-toothed comb to detangle with the conditioner. The Hydrating Hair Masque is a deep conditioning treatment to repair very dry hair.

“To style her hair, I usually sweep it back in a ponytail using the Conditioning Pomade, dress the ends to be curly with the Reviving Spray and use the Daily Detangling Conditioner as a little bit of a leave in to make her coils pop,” he says.

Along with Free Your Mane, Segal started SE%EN, the nonprofit division of Nola Industries, Inc., named after his daughter. Seven percent of the line’s profits will go back to existing non-profits that serve the African American community. Segal is passionate about U.S. adoption, of course, and wants that to be a focus.

“It’s crazy that someone would go 5,000 miles away to adopt a child when there are about 70,000 kids in foster care here in LA county alone,” he says.

SE%EN also plans to support HIV/AIDS education and support the HollyRod Foundation for autism.

“These are things that are near and dear to my heart and we’re open to suggestions as we develop,” he says.

As a parent, Segal felt the need to keep hygiene and beauty safe, he said. He wanted to provide his children with the tools to help their natural texture flourish and hopes Free Your Mane will allow all of us to do the same.