Search Results: Michelle Breyer

Each curly girl has her own unique story.

Those stories were one of the reasons we started NaturallyCurly, and they are sprinkled throughout my new book, The Curl Revolution: Inspiring Stories and Practical Advice from the NaturallyCurly Community.

My sixth stop of the The Curl Revolution book tour at Southern Curl Salon Atlanta was all about sharing stories.

There was a woman who decided to break her relaxer habit when she became pregnant with her son, and hasn’t gone back. There was a woman whose hair has been a major point of contention between her mother and her – her mother likes it relaxed and she wants to wear it natural; I suggested she buy her mother the book as a Christmas present. For one woman, an unexpected rain storm and no access to a dryer was the catalyst that prompted her to wear her hair curly — she hasn’t straightened it since the downpour. One young woman, in her last year of college, said that Sunday’s event has inspired her to pursue psychology practice dedicated to self-image issues related to hair. Every woman’s story was unique, and each has shaped who they are today.

One of the things I have most enjoyed about the Book Tour is how each tour stop has had its own unique character, whether it be impromptu curl cuts or a curly contemporary dancer. It speaks to the creativity of the curly world. We don’t follow any rules. We make our own!

It speaks to the creativity of the curly world. We don’t follow any rules. We make our own!

A highlight of Sunday’s event was finally meeting the legendary Robin Sjoblom.

She opened her top-rated Southern Curl Salon a year ago. The salon – which is one of the most beautiful salons I’ve seen – has quickly gained a reputation as one of the top curl salons in the country.

Sjoblom, who was also a resource for the book, regularly uses her salon to help others, most recently raising money for Hurricane Harvey Relief. When she opened, she hosted #RockYourBlessings, a special fundraiser for NaturallyCurly editor Devri Velazquez, who suffers from a rare autoimmune disease named Takayasu’s Vasculitis.

I got to see my old friend Greg Starkman, CEO and founder of Innersense Organic Beauty, whose products have picked up Best of the Best and Editors’ Choice Awards. I also got to meet Ceata Lash, creator of the PuffCuff, a styling accessory created especially for curly hair. Mine made it through a hot yoga class with flying colors!

And my dear friend Myleik Teele, founder of curlBOX, swung by to have her book signed. Teele, a Curl Revolutionary in her own right, appears in the book as well.

Everyone who attended Sunday’s event received special The Curl Revolution goodie bags filled with products from our sponsors: DevaCurl, Ouidad, John Paul Mitchell Systems, CurlFormers, As I Am, Aunt Jackie’s and Coconut Restore.

Tomorrow, the book tour takes me north to Boston from 6 to 8 p.m. at Cala Renee Salon in Beverly, another NaturallyCurly favorite. Get more details here.

Hope to see you there!

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I remember turning a page in Glamour magazine more than 25 years ago and coming upon an ad for Ouidad Deep Treatment – a product specifically for curly hair. I was in shock. A product just for curly hair? I was sharing this story with a woman who had flown from Detroit to the Fort Lauderdale book signing for The Curl Revolution: Inspiring Stories and Practical Advice from the NaturallyCurly Community. She had the exact same memory and an identical reaction.

That may seem kind of crazy today when hundreds of products for curls, coils and waves line the shelves of every store. But in the ’80s, it was a product desert. Most of us curly girls resorted to either straightening our hair or using products like Dippity ‘Do to provide some control over our texture. So it was especially fitting that the fifth stop of our Book Tour be at the Ouidad Salon FL in Fort Lauderdale, a salon owned by the wonderful curl experts Chadwick Pendley and Igor Araujo, two award-winning curl experts who have gained a national reputation. And Ouidad herself, the Queen of Curls, was there for the celebration. Chadwick hosted a Q&A with Ouidad and me asking questions about everything from “what one curl item would we choose if we could only choose one” (I said a diffuser and Ouidad said her fingers”> to what prompted both of us to launch curl enterprises at a time when curly hair was completely ignored. Many of the people in the audience shared their own hair experiences – some funny and some heartbreaking.

The salon was filled with women and men from around the world. One Swedish couple was in town for a cruise and heard about the event when Googling for a curl expert for the husband’s big, beautiful mane of curls. “It was such good luck to find out about this party!” he said, with a bag full of books he purchased for friends and family. There was a woman who had just done her Big Chop after years of straightening but was still trying to get used to it. For her, the party was “motivating and inspiring.”

Images courtesy of The PhotoBooth bros

I met so many amazing people at the event, including a curly male dancer who appeared in last season’s “So You Think You Can Dance” reality TV show. He entertained us with his gravity-defying moves. Another woman discovered NaturallyCurly in 2000 and said: “NaturallyCurly saved my life!” One of my favorites was a 9-year-old curly girl who was there with her mother, and she said she was using her allowance to buy the book.

One of my favorites was a 9-year-old curly girl who was there with her mother, and she said she was using her allowance to buy the book.

The overall sentiment last night was that we have much to celebrate. The curly world has come so far. But everyone agreed that we still have ways to go, especially when it comes to the availability of curl experts like Chadwick, Igor, Sondriel and their team. Most towns still lack stylists trained in how to work with texture.

I’m heading home for a night in Austin, and then it’s off to Atlanta for a fun Sunday 1 p.m. brunch signing at Southern Curl. From there, I’ll be flying to Boston for a party Monday at Cala Renee Salon in Beverly, MA. Hope to see you soon at one of the upcoming book signings!

A co-worker asked me if I was exhausted from the travels, and I said it’s been so energizing and inspiring. It’s been a reminder of why NaturallyCurly was created 19 years ago, and how we are still a necessary resource.

It looks like another major haircare company has realized that women of color have special needs.

Pantene is the latest company to launch a line of products for relaxed and natural hair for women of color. According to Pantene, 95 percent of women of color say their hair is different from most caucasian and Asian hair, and 85 percent report it is important for their haircare brand to be designed for their hair.

‘Women of color have distinct set of hair care needs, and Pantene has spent years of reserach and development creating a colletion specially designed to deliver the optimal moisturization and strength benefits they need and want,’ said Scott Rogers, marketing director for Pantene.

The company’s Relaxed & Natural line contains the brand’s traditional Pro-Vitamin technology along with essential oils and moisturizing conditioners to help keep African-American and Caribbean-American hair strong and healthy. The line includes Intensive Moistuzing Shampoo, Intensive Moisturizing Conditioner, Conditioning Wrap & Set Lotion and Intensive Oil Sheen Spray. The products retail for around $4.50.

A child with silky fine hair may have a head full of kinky curls when puberty hits. Another baby may start out with fine ringlets only to have them turn stick straight when she gets older.

As our body ages, we see changes in our hair texture. The hair of a newborn is very soft and very fine. The diameter of the hair thickens as we enter childhood or early adolescence. As we move into adulthood and then older, the hair again changes, becoming finer again in our 40s and 50s. All of these changes are genetically programmed.

“Hair changes every five to seven years,” said Christo of the Christo Fifth Avenue Salon and creator of the Curlisto line of hair products.

But even though we might know what affects hair texture, it is still unclear exactly how and why this happens. People with curly hair have a flatter follicle. Straight hairs tend to have a rounder follicle. But how a flat follicle turns round, and vice versa, is a mystery.

“What adds to the curl or takes away from the curl is a fascinating issue scientifically,” says Tom Dawson, a principle scientist at P&G Beauty. “You’d think with something as fundamental as human hair, and the amount of time and money we put into our hair, that we’d know more than we do. But it’s a tough nut to crack.

“What is known is that hormones have a major effect on hair texture. Hormones influence the hair in several different ways since they are regulators of the body’s metabolism,” Christo says. “Hormones tell our body how to perform, therefore increasing or decreasing specific hormones can directly affect the way our body functions.”

Hormones and your hair

He cites three major hormones that affect the hair:

Thyroxine and triiodothyronine

Thyroxine and triiodothyronine are produced by the thyroid gland and influence the way the body uses the food we eat. An under-active thyroid can cause brittle hair and hair loss.

Androgen

Androgen is produced in the adrenal glands and is responsible for hair growth. In women, an increase in the production of androgen causes thinning of the hair and excessive facial hair.

Insulin

Insulin is produced in the pancreas and is responsible for the adaptation of glucose in the blood. Under-production of insulin can cause hyperglycemia and over-production can cause hypoglycemia, which can both cause hair loss and change the way the hair looks and feels.

Hair after chemo

Cancer patients often find that after chemotherapy, their once-straight hair grows in curly. Chemo affects rapidly growing cells more than slowly growing ones, and hair follicles in the scalp grow rapidly. They are jolted by the chemo, and when they go back to work, they may have a new job description, says Dr. Jennifer Griggs. Over time, the hair follicle tends to return to its normal shape.

With little scientific evidence available about how hormones and genetics cause these texture changes, Jonathan Torch, creator of Curly Hair Solutions and founder of Toronto’s Curly Hair Institute, has come up with his own theory.

He believes changes in the muscles at the base of every follicle are the key to the changes in hair texture that take place over time. These muscular changes, he says, often come during puberty, chemotherapy or menopause, when hormones and medications may affect the muscle tone.

Sometimes these changes can be extreme, says Torch, who has witnessed many a client go from curly to straight and straight to curly.”I can’t prove anything medically,” he says. “But I have a philosophy that genetically, the muscles are changing. And this changes the shape of the follicle.”

Much like the changes we experience with our skin as children through puberty and into adulthood, hormonal changes in hair texture are a normal and natural process throughout the course of a woman’s life.

Have you seen a drastic change in your hair? Did it grow curlier or less curly with age? 

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This article was originally published in December 2007 and has been updated for grammar and clarity.

“I think this book is right on time. We live in the times of change, when more and more discussions are held about body image, perfection of beauty (in my opinion that doesn’t exist”> and how imperfect can be the new perfect. Only now we start to really acknowledge the amazing variety of shapes, forms, colors of humans – and celebrate it.” – Review of “The Curl Revolution” on GoodReads.

Nineteen years ago, my business partner Gretchen Heber and I embarked on an amazing adventure called NaturallyCurly.com, with $300, a 14-year-old web designer and our frustration about the lack of respect, information and products for curly girls like us. We wanted to create a place for people like us – a place where people could get inspiration, support and education about their curls, coils and waves. We started at a time when there were only a handful of curl products and few curl-savvy stylists. Straight hair was the standard of beauty, and there were few curly role models in pop culture.

As NaturallyCurly grew – along with the volume of information, product reviews, salon reviews and advice on the site – the idea for a NaturallyCurly book started coming up. But the timing never seemed right, especially with the demands of a growing business.

There came a point where I realized I had to make the time to write a book. Writing the book and interviewing other curl pioneers and community members has been a true labor of love. It has reminded me of why we launched the site in 1998, and how far we’ve come. The book is a celebration all the progress and people who have transformed the curly world.

The book is a celebration all the progress and people who have transformed the curly world.

“The Curl Revolution: Inspiring Stories and Practical Advice from the NaturallyCurly Community” launches Oct. 3rd. But it’s officially an Amazon bestseller, and is the No. 1 new release on Grooming & Style. 

This book – like NaturallyCurly – is really the community’s book. It draws from the amazing stylists and curlies who have contributed their experiences, passion and advice to the site over the past two decades. You all are the curl revolutionaries. The site, and the book, wouldn’t exist without you.

We’ll be celebrating the official launch date with a book signing and party at BookPeople in Austin, followed by a tour that will take us to cities around the country – from Boston to San Francisco.

I am thrilled at the initial reaction to the book, which is getting positive reviews from both curly girls and stylists alike. It has a 4.9 out of 5-star review on GoodReads, which allows people to review advance copies of new books. Scott Musgrave, founder Curly Hair Artistry, which trains and mentors curl stylists around the world, did a video review.  

“This gorgeous book is a treasure trove of information for women, children and men with curly hair… This is a compendium of good, solid, and in fact, invaluable advice for people with curly hair… If you have straight or slightly wavy hair, this review doesn’t speak to you and I’m sorry. But if you’re a curly haired person, this book is so worth getting!” – Review of “The Curl Revolution” on GoodReads.

“Every Curly Girl, mother of, father of, grandparent of, or guardian of one needs this book! I wish I had this book when I was young.” -Review of “The Curl Revolution” on GoodReads.

Get yours now!

You can order the book from SHOPNaturallyCurly for 20 percent off until Oct. 15th with the coupon code: CR20

Join us

We’re going to be hitting the road to listen to your stories, chat about your curl journeys and revelations, and Michelle is going to sign your book! Stay ahead of the curl by keeping up with the book signing events.

Here is where Michelle will be next:

• Austin – October 3
• Washington D.C. – October 10
• New York City – October 19
• San Francisco – October 29
• Ft. Lauderdale – November 2
• Atlanta – Nov 5
• Boston – Nov 6
• Los Angeles – Nov 11
• Toronto – Nov 15
• Baltimore – Dec 2

We can’t wait to meet you and hear your story!

Photo by @CristinaCleveland

 

Patria Diaz’s curls have dominated her entire life. Bald until she was 3 years old, she sprouted a mane of tight ringlets that her straight-haired mother had no idea what to do with. She spent years being dragged to the Dominican salon to have it straightened.

“I hated everything about it,” Diaz recalls. “I didn’t want to be a salon girl.”

In addition to fighting her curls, she developed trichotillomania, also known as hair pulling disorder. The disorder that involves recurrent, irresistible urges to pull out hair from your scalp, eyebrows or other areas of your body, despite trying to stop.

“It was my dirty secret,” Diaz says. “Every single strand of my hair has been pulled out at one time. I had actual bald spots.”

To hide the bald spots, she wore a weave, actually gluing it to her scalp in some areas. For 10 years, she spent years gluing hair to different parts of her scalp.

When she turned 30 last year, she was finally ready to see what her natural texture looked like, doing a Big Chop in September 2016. She hadn’t seen her natural curl since she was a little girl. She’s still getting used to her short curls – the unpredictability, the shrinkage, her lack of confidence without straight hair.

“I want to be in love with it,” she says. “I want to enjoy it. Right now I’m just dealing with it.”

Like many curly women, Diaz’s hair has been a defining part of her life, helping shape who she is. Every curly woman has a story, a unique journey that involves their hair.

For New York producer Jonathan Pillot, those stories are pure gold. He has woven them into The Curly Monologues – a project he has brought to cities from coast to coast, with sold-out shows. He begins a 3-night run in New York Sept. 16 at the JCC Harlem followed by shows at the 14th Street on Sept. 27th and 28th. Diaz will be one of the women sharing her story.

“What happens when a melting pot of women assemble onstage, performing passionate, self-written monologues that get to the essence of who they are, who they’ve become?” Pillot says. “You get the extraordinary magic of The Curly Monologues.

The Curly Monologues has a similar format to the much-celebrated Vagina Monologues, a play written by Eve Ensler in 1996 that delves into sexual experiences, body image, reproduction and other topics through the eyes of women of various ages, races and sexualities.

Pillot stresses that The Curly Monologues is about much more than hair. The personal stories are authentic performances “by regular people that touch on everything that makes us human, celebrating our unique, individual experiences and the larger connective tissue that binds and connects us together.”

The shows also illustrate how the topic of curls and coils spans age, ethnicity, gender and geography.

“Life isn’t a straight line; It’s curly,” Pillot says.

In our safe NaturallyCurly world, where we celebrate coils and kinks on a daily basis, we can lose sight of how society, as a whole, views natural hair. Facebook posts of naturalistas are greeted with thousands of likes and dozens of positive comments. Women are empowered and supported as they transition from relaxers to their natural texture.

So it was a bit of a shock to see the findings of the Perception Institute’s “Good Hair” Study, the first study to examine implicit and explicit attitudes related to black women’s hair. In conjunction with a creative team at SheaMoisture. The study included 4,163 participants: a national sample of 3,475 men and women, and a sample of 688 “naturalista” women from an online natural hair community.

The study assessed women’s explicit attitudes toward black women’s hair, hair anxiety, and experiences related to their own hair and implicit attitudes toward black women’s hair: Is natural hair viewed as professional in the workplace? Is it viewed as attractive by the opposity sex? Is there bias against natural hair? And can the science offer any solutions that can help reduce bias and promote positive perceptions of natural hair both for women themselves and among others who see them?

Among the findings:

• On average, white women show explicit bias toward black women’s textured hair. They rate it as less beautiful, less sexy/attractive, and less professional than smooth hair.
• White women in the natural hair community are three times more likely to be neutral than white women in the national sample, though the majority still show preference for smooth hair.
• The majority of participants, regardless of race, show implicit bias against black women’s textured hair.
• Black women in the natural hair community have significantly more positive attitudes toward textured hair than other women, including black women in the national sample.
• Black women who are part of an online natural hair community are more likely to show a preference for black women’s textured hair.
• Millennial naturalistas have more positive attitudes toward textured hair than all other women.
• Black women perceive a level of social stigma against textured hair, and this perception is substantiated by white women’s devaluation of natural hairstyles.
• One in three black women report that their hair is the reason they haven’t exercised, compared to one in ten white women.
• One in five black women feel social pressure to straighten their hair for work — twice as many as white women.
• Black women are more likely to report spending more time on their hair than white women.
• Black women are more likely to report having professional styling appointments more often than white women.
• Black women are more likely to report spending more money on products for their hair than white women.

The “Good Hair” study was conducted by the Perception Institute, a consortium of researchers, advocates, and strategists who translate cutting edge mind science research on race, gender, ethnic, and other identities into solutions that reduce bias and discrimination, and promote belonging. The study found that tightly coiled hair texture is distinctly tied to blackness and has been a marker of black racial identity and beauty norms for centuries. While women of other races and ethnicities with curly or textured hair may experience significant pressure to conform to these beauty standards – I know I have felt that pressure throughout my life – black women experience a unique kind of pressure. Black women are often pitted against each other – those who are natural and those who chemically relax their hair. There are certain value judgments placed on how black women choose to wear their hair, according to the study.

There are certain value judgments placed on how black women choose to wear their hair, according to the study.

“Powered by editorial, advertising, fashion, Hollywood, and social media, the beauty industry drives our visual intake daily,” said the study’s authors. “Our perceptions stem largely from implicit visual processes, and as a result, our brains’ repeated exposure to smooth and silky hair linked to beauty, popularity, and wealth creates associations that smooth and silky hair is the beauty default. Naturally textured hair of black women, by comparison, is notably absent within dominant cultural representation which automatically ‘otherizes’ those natural images we do see – at best they are exotic, counter-cultural, or trendy; more often than not, they are marginal.”

Since launching NaturallyCurly 19 years ago, it can be easy to focus on all of the progress that’s been made. Whether it’s attending a natural hair event or looking at the growing number of models who wear their hair natural, you can get the sense that everybody celebrates and embraces kinks and coils. But the 2016 study by the Perception Institute provided a sobering look at how much there is left to do to help women of color accept their hair, no matter how they choose to wear it.

I was flipping through Allure magazine’s Hair Inspiration story in the September issue, waiting to be inspired.

Instead, I was horrified.

On one page, the “Before” photo showed a black woman with crossed arms and an unhappy look on her face. While her hair needed a little style and a trim, it was far preferable to the “After” photo.

What was touted as “Big, Healthy Curls” in the “After” was actually a head of hair that had obviously been brushed. We’re not talking about a beautiful afro. We’re talking about hair brushed straight out of her head in a way that made it clear that the stylist had little to no idea how to work with coily hair. If it wasn’t a copyright infringement, I’d share the photo so you could see, but it’s a look you’re probably familiar with if you have ever brushed your hair dry.

“Don’t try to tame (curls”> – just shape them a little,” the stylist says in the article, he “brushed out the model’s curls before snipping off the ends in dry, one-inch sections.” This probably sounds painfully similar to haircuts we’ve all had from stylists in the past. “Even a small trim can give natural hair a completely new look.” That “new look” is not one likely to make any natural-haired woman happy.

Anyone who has been around me for any amount of time has heard me talk about this big, glaring issue in our curly community.

Seeing this brought to mind the much-maligned TODAY show makeover earlier this summer of a black woman’s hair by a  beauty expert, Deepica Mutyala (pictured above”>, who seemed to have little to no experience working with a head of highly textured hair. In an effort to show an easy summer style, the model’s head of beautiful curls were destroyed as the expert tried to create a side ponytail, separating her curls to give her a “bang” effect. The final look was laughable – actually it was painful to watch. The makeover – which some bloggers called the worst makeover ever – went viral.

“I’ve seen beds perform better hairstyles!” said one poster.

“I was laughing all the way through the makeovers. I really thought it was a joke, like ‘April Fools Day’ in August. But, unfortunately, it was for real. Cringe-worthy segment,” said another poster.

In this case Deepica was slammed on social media and fortunately she handled the backlash with humility, an epic apology, and an eagerness to learn. She’s not the first and certainly won’t be the last to make a mistake styling curls, we can only hope that everyone learns from the experience the way Deepica did.

Yes, we have plenty of amazing products for curls, coils and waves… But in 2016, most stylists still don’t know how to work with texture.

Anyone who has been around me for any amount of time has heard me talk about this big, glaring issue in our curly community.

If you have yet to find a curly hair stylist, read reviews on stylists in your area on our Salon Finder.

Don’t lose hope! There are experts that specialize in curls, and it’s possible to get a great haircut! Here are a few of our favorites. 

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Amid all the bleached blonde Barbie hair at the 2017 Miss America Pageant stood Cierra Jackson with her short natural ‘do.

Although she didn’t take the crown, she was a winner as far as I’m concerned. She proves that women no longer have to subscribe to one standard of beauty to be a beauty queen.

In an article in Cincinnati’s Ledger-Inquirer, Jackson talked about serving as a role model to help others to be their true and authentic selves.

“I’ve had so many people tell me that I shouldn’t wear my hair naturally curly on stage, but there is a purpose behind that vision,” she said during a Ledger-Enquirer interview. “It’s to show people that you can still be successful, you can still be amazingly talented and still reach all of your goals. I think that’s a universal message that anyone can grab on to and hold on to in their lives.”

It’s to show people that you can still be successful, you can still be amazingly talented and still reach all of your goals.

Jackson has an impressive resume. She grew up in a military family and so, according to her website, her focus as Miss America would be “to ensure each military hero, family member, and child receives the needed emotional support through the challenges and triumphs of military life.” With her bachelor’s degree in political science with a concentration in American institutions and processes from Spelman College, she moved to Washington DC to pursue a career in politics. She was the only communications intern to be selected to work for the Chief of Staff’s office at the White House in the Obama Administration.

“I’ve been so blessed that the Miss District of Columbia Board has been so open to allowing me to express myself in that way and embraced me choosing to present myself in an authentic way,” Jackson told the Ledger-Inquirer.

In many ways, Jackson may have a bigger impact than the winner of the crown – at least to the many young girls who watched Sunday’s pageant.

Even as the audience grows more diverse, the runways have still remained an endless sea of white women.

I’ve been going to NY Fashion Week for more than a decade now.

Even as the audience has become more diverse–black and Latinx influencers from around the world have become more prominent at the shows–the runways have still most remained an endless sea of white women. White women with blonde hair. White women with brown hair. White women with hair in a ponytail. White women with a bun. This continues to be a frustrating sight for me.

This very frustration–with both a lack of race, ethnic and texture diversity among the models— is what inspired the Texture on the Runway kickoff. An event hosted by NaturallyCurly twice a year during Fashion Week, we aim to celebrate the beauty of features often neglected in the fashion industry.

Starting in 2008, Jezebel started compiling a seasonal New York Fashion Week racial diversity that revealed the number of White, Black, Asian, Latina models represented in the shows. It was disappointing, to say the least: according to their reports, black model representation was in the single digits.

Thankfully, it looks like the tide may finally be turning. There are new guidelines from the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

Thursday the The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA”> released its biannual health initiative letter from Diane von Furstenberg and Steve Kolb. In it, states the racial diversity guidelines. According to the CFDA letter, diversity on the runway should be the norm, not the exception.

“It affects how we see things globally and how we are seen as an industry,” wrote Bethann Hardison of the Diversity Coalition. “Our objective is to make a shift on how the model of color is viewed so it becomes natural to see them participating each season in a greater number than seasons past.”

These new guidelines are a long time in the making.

The CFDA’s discussions on diversity began in 2007 during an open discussion between the Diversity Council and designers. The original guidelines state the following:

• Encouraging the industry to be inclusive of racial diversity when preparing model casting for their company’s needs.
• Asking model agencies to include and send models of color when casting. (Do not assume agents will automatically do so; it’s good for them to hear the interest and important to see what models of color are available.”>
• Requesting models of color every season and not be limited to Spring/Summer collections and hesitate when it becomes to Fall/Winter collections.
• When speaking to model agencies, suggesting they scout for more models of color encouraging a better selection.
• Being open-minded to models of color and making an effort to add diversity to their lineup.

The Diversity Coalition has been monitoring the industry for nearly a decade by not holding its tongue in calling out a designer’s racism, intentional or not. In a September 2014 letter to Furstenberg and Kolb, they wrote:

“Eyes are on an industry that season after season watches fashion design houses consistently use one or no models of color. No matter the intention, the result is racism. Not accepting another based on the color of their skin is clearly beyond aesthetic when it is consistent with the designer’s brand.

Whether it’s the decision of the designer, stylist or casting director, that decision to use basically all white models reveals a trait that is unbecoming in modern society. It can no longer be accepted nor confused by the use of an Asian model.”

When it comes down to it, it shouldn’t take a book of rules to bring about more diversity on the runway. But if it encourages designers and model agencies to take a better look at who–and how–they are casting for shows, this should bring about a positive shift in the industry. My hope is that a decade from now, such guidelines will be obsolete because runway diversity will be the norm and runways will truly reflect and inspire women of all ethnicities.

Want more?

This post was written by NaturallyCurly co-founder, Michelle Breyer. For more from her check out her blog The Curly Connection. 

Read about the model who upstaged Kendall and Gigi with her natural hair.

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I was just interviewed on the Multiracial Family Man podcast and I’m excited to share it with you. Host Alex Barnett is a comic and writer, as well as the White, Jewish husband of a Black woman and the father of a 4 year-old, Biracial son. On each episode Alex and his guests discuss issues that confront multiracial people and multiracial families (including the dynamics between members of the same family who are of different races”>. Alex says “If there’s one thing I learned from my wife, it’s that natural hair care is a process,” so on the latest episode, I talked with Alex about a number of topics, from starting a business, to curly hair to the issues confronting multiracial people and multiracial families. It was a fun interview, and I really hope you’ll listen to and share the podcast.

You can listen the podcast here:

Or find it on any of these places:

Last week, the natural hair community was rocked by the news that Sundial Brands, best known for SheaMoisture – the superstar brand that has taken the industry by storm, had brought Bain Capital in as a minority, non-controlling investor in the company.

Social media went crazy!

Did Mitt Romney – former Chairman and President of Bain Capital – buy the company?

Will the product formulations change?

Will the prices go up?

Was SheaMoisture going to abandon its African-American customers?

“WHY?????!!!!! ” – posted one SheaMoisture fan on Lipstickalley.com in response to the news.

We thought it best to take these questions directly to Sundial Brands CEO and founder, Richelieu Dennis. He candidly discussed the partnership with us – what it means for the company and for its customers. And perhaps more importantly, what it doesn’t mean.

Richelieu shared with NaturallyCurly that the Bain investment was driven by the company’s desire to stay competitive, providing it with the resources necessary to provide additional infrastructure to further expand. He said the partnership would enhance Sundial’s social entrepreneurship model, support its multi-brand strategy and enable it to invest in like-minded brands and entrepreneurs.

“Quite simply, we want to be better so that we can serve our communities better, period,” said Richelieu.

Watch the interview

Here are several key take-aways from our conversation with Rich:

1. Bain Capital did not acquire Sundial Brands.

Bain Capital did not acquire Sundial Brands. Bain is a minority investor. Richelieu will continue to provide the vision and leadership for the company, and Sundial will remain majority, family owned and operated, including its board, management and day-to-day operations. “The family remains truly the majority and truly in control of the business. For us, that is important because our consumers are the most important things to us – always have been.”

Richelieu said the reason they chose to partner with Bain was because of their social mission platform. Bain’s other investments include TOMS shoes, which provides shoes, water, medical treatment and bullying prevention services to people in need.

“We wanted to make sure we had a partner that knew our social mission was part of our business model and that has a proven track record of supporting mission driven businesses over and beyond just it as a marketing tool, but really as a business model,” he says.

As for Mitt Romney’s involvement in Bain, he left the investment firm 16 years ago.

2. Formulas and prices won’t change.

SheaMoisture and Nubian Heritage’s product formulations and prices won’t change. In fact, Richelieu stressed that it was key to him that any investment, regardless of the partner, not impact “the integrity of the company’s products, formulations or vision.”

SheaMoisture and Nubian Heritage’s product formulations and prices won’t change.

3. Sundial is not abandoning its core African-American customer base.

The company has been criticized by some customers for expanding its marketing to address a diverse range of customers. Richelieu stresses, “we recognize that African-American women have long been at the forefront of the natural hair and body movement that has created the dynamic cultural shift that we see today. It is exciting for us to see how Naturalistas have now empowered women from all backgrounds to embrace their natural beauty.”

With Bain’s support, Richelieu said Sundial is committed to elevating and growing the “New General Market,” which he defines as a consolidation of cultures, ethnicities and demographics aligned with commonalities, needs and lifestyles. “I’ve always said that the only place in America where segregation is still legal is in the beauty aisle,” he says. “I’ve worked to change that with our introduction of the New General Market concept to beauty and retail.”

4. Sundial plans to be the acquirer – not the acquired.

Part of the company’s strategy is to invest in other minority-owned or under-resourced businesses. “We are thrilled to now be positioned to continue our identification, support and development – whether via acquisition or other investments – of other entrepreneurial brands that share our vision and values,” he says.

Richelieu started Sundial Brands in 1992 with his college roommate, Nyema Tubman, and his mother, Mary Dennis, shortly after graduating from college and being unable to return to his home country of Liberia because of civil war. From its humble beginnings of selling products on the streets of New York City to distribution and co-creation of its flagship brands – including SheaMoisture and Nubian Heritage – Sundial Brands has become a major household name. Most recently, Sundial Brands was named to the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the United States. The company celebrates its 25th year in business next year.

The investment in Sundial Brands by Bain Capital is the latest in a series of newsworthy deals in the hair care category.

As fellow pioneers in this industry we look forward to seeing what the next chapter brings for Richelieu and the Sundial team.

I’m always looking for great new books that help inspire and empower curly kids. I believe our self image is formed early, and any positive messages we receive as children help us accept and embrace what makes us unique. I recently came across author Tiana Bunnell-Mumford, who recently published her debut novel “I Will Not Change My Hair At All.” The book details the story of four friends working through self-image issues. The accompanying journal has quotes, scriptures, and activities to help pre-teens and teens work through similar issues. She is currently in the process of releasing her upcoming ebook entitled “Boys Just Want to Have Fun” geared towards early and beginner readers.

Bunnell-Mumford is the creator of Beauty Beyond the Eyes Mentoring Program, interactive workshops designed to equip young children and teens to believe they can succeed, believe in themselves, be bright in their thinking and be bold in their creativity. She is a freelance writer, teacher and mentor who has worked with children of all ages for the last ten years. She believes empowering children to be their best selves will lead them to success in their future. In addition to her novel, she wrote “Kool Minds Journal for Girls.”

I had the chance to talk to Bunnell-Mumford:

What inspired you to write the book?

I was inspired to write the book myself by tapping into the little girl in me. Growing up all the way until I was an adult I have always been obsessed with my hair to the point I remember not wanting to go to my deceased aunt funeral at the age of 17 years old. Why? Because of my hair.

Reflecting back to starting the journey of writing the book I came up with the conclusion I let my hair shape my character. I wanted my 4 year old daughter and other girls around the world to not allow their hair starting at a young age to shape their character. I wanted the girls to know they can love their hair the way God created it in whatever state it is in whether its curly, french braids, or an afro and not wait until they are well into their 30’s to embrace and love their hair .

How long have you been writing?

I started writing around 15 years ago with life changes such as marriage, school, babies, and a full-time career I put my future writing career on hold until literally a couple years ago. I ended at the time a fulltime job making good money and I had enough time on my hands to pick my writing back up. By doing so I was able to birth out my books which I am so grateful of that decision I made.

What prompted you make a multi-cultural book?

I was prompted to make “ I Will Not Change My Hair At All” a multicultural book for two main reasons. The first reason growing up as a little girl I always had friends who were of different cultural backgrounds. Second I think is important for children to learn about different cultural backgrounds to expand on their knowledge.

How did you come up with the title “I Will Not Change My Hair At All”?

The title actually came from my son who was 5 years old at the time. When I first pitched the book to him his initial response was, ”Mommy you writing a book about God.” My answer was yes however he didn’t get the full take home message of the book.

I didn’t have a title when I approached him so I asked him late at night it was. He burst out “I Will Not Change My Hair At All”. I loved it I thought it went with the story and it was very catchy and I went with it.

The title actually came from my son who was 5 years old at the time. 

Where would readers purchase a copy of the book?

Readers could purchase the books several places. Online at Amazon, Bookpatch, Barnes& Nobles, Createsapace, and my online bookstore creativemindswork/bookstore. If the readers ever visit Indianapolis, IN books can be purchased at Indy Reads Books, Overcoming Church, Shodah Spalon, Changes Total Hair Salon, Etc Skin &Body Salon, The Wild bookstore, coming soon to Half Price Books and Eskenazi Health Hospital giftshop. Also “ I Will Not Change My Hair At All” is available at Peyton Manning Hospital for children who are ill to read while staying there or visiting.

Also there is a journal “Kool Minds for Girls” that is available online and at the locations as well.

What could readers expect from you as a children’s author next?

Bunnell-Mumford: Readers could expect more I am currently finishing up on my Ebook coming soon.

April of 2016 look for Chapter book “ Barber Shop Talk” & Kool Minds for Boys Journal

How could readers follow you or get in touch with you as a Children’s Author?

Readers could follow me on Instagram @CreativeMindsWorkPub, Twitter @CreativeMindz01

When the Devachan Salon first opened more than 21 years ago, it was one of the pioneers in helping women love their curls. At the time, many thought curls and coils were a passing trend, but for Devachan and the Devacurl brand, it was a 365-day-a-year passion – a way of life for huge portion of the population who was born with texture.

The Devacurl line launched in 2002 with Mist-er Right, followed by No-Poo. No-Poo was a revolutionary produce that launched the trend of sulfate-free cleansers. With its silicone-free products, Devacurl ignited the Curly-Girl “CG” movement, which has been embraced around the world by women of all textures. Despite its success, the line wasn’t completely meeting the needs of those with tighter textures.

“We heard from our consumers that they needed more – more moisture benefits, more strength benefits,” says Shari Harbinger, VP of Education for DevaCurl. “That’s where the inspiration for this line came from.” Devacurl listened, and this week unveiled its new line which includes three new products designed to provide the additional moisture that super curly (coily”> hair craves: SuperCream, No-Poo Decadence and One Condition Decadence. SuperCream will hit the stores next week, while the Decadence products will be available in September.

Devacurl SuperCream Coconut Curl Styler is a multitasking styler designed to help tighter textures create a variety of looks. It contains coconut oil, jojoba protein and corn starch. The Decadence line contains ingredients like Chufa milk, grapeseed oil, quinoa and olive oil.

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A photo posted by Mo (@moknowshair”> on Jun 30, 2015 at 5:00pm PDT

As a part of the launch, Devacurl is partnering with Camaroon-born singer Andy Allo as the face of the Decadence line. Her first album UnFresh was released in 2009, and two years later she joined Prince’s New Power Generation as a singer/songwriter and worked on her second album entitled Superconductor. Now, with the release of her third album Hello underway, Allo has begun to establish herself within the pop/ rock genre. “I’m so excited to be representing the brand,” says Allo. “I wrote a list of goals earlier this year and one of my goals was to work with a hair company. I drew an arrow, and at the end of the arrow was DevaCurl. It’s so authentic and such a great partnership.” We’re well acquainted with Devacurl’s tried and true must-haves, but we’re excited to try the new curl cream, no-poo and conditioner. Even if they are meant for coilier textures, our resident Product Junkies off all curl patterns in the office will be interested to give them go.

Here are photos from the launch, I spy a few of our curlfriends!

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Had a #devamoment with these ladies last night at our awesome event

A photo posted by Isabella_Vázquez (@curlpop_n_hair”> on Jul 1, 2015 at 4:34am PDT

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A photo posted by Kamla-Kay McKenzie Ⓜ (@kamlakay”> on Jul 1, 2015 at 6:05pm PDT

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A photo posted by melissachanel (@melissachanel”> on Jun 30, 2015 at 5:55pm PDT

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A photo posted by Kamla-Kay McKenzie Ⓜ (@kamlakay”> on Jun 30, 2015 at 6:39pm PDT

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A photo posted by Isabella_Vázquez (@curlpop_n_hair”> on Jun 30, 2015 at 6:40pm PDT

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A photo posted by Isabella_Vázquez (@curlpop_n_hair”> on Jul 1, 2015 at 12:37pm PDT

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A photo posted by Isabella_Vázquez (@curlpop_n_hair”> on Jul 1, 2015 at 5:24pm PDT

If you’ve already tried the new products, share your first impressions in the comments below!

The new SuperCream will be available soon at CurlMart.

When it comes to Oprah’s hair, nobody knows it better than stylist Andre Walker.

Over the years, he has created some of her iconic styles. He knew she planned to go natural years before she grew out her relaxer. “As long as I’ve known Oprah, she’d always said ‘When I turn 50, I’m cutting my relaxer off and going natural,'” Walker says. “I didn’t believe it.” She loved the way her looked after they would cornrow her hair and take it out. “She said she wanted to look like that and she wanted to encourage people to embrace their natural texture at some point,” Walker says. “She always thought that way, but never did it because it’s a hard thing for people to accept. Twenty years ago, it just wasn’t as easy to wear natural hair.”

Walker met her more than three decades ago when she was hosting “AM Chicago” – before she was a household name who went by one name. Oprah would go up to people whose hair she liked and ask who did their hair. Walker’s name kept coming up. At the same time, Walker had noticed Oprah on TV and thought he could improve her look. He sent her a note saying “I’m just dying to get my hands on your hair” along with a bouquet of flowers. Oprah recognized his name and thought the partnership must be “meant to be,” Walker recalls. The rest is history.

Some of Walker’s hair creations for Oprah will be on display in May when O Magazine celebrates its 15th Anniversary with a retrospective of Oprah’s cover styles – from pixies to up do’s to the infamous afro, with insight from Walker on how to achieve these looks at home. NaturallyCurly had the chance to talk with Walker about his his philosophy about texture, his haircare line and what its like to be Oprah’s stylist.

NaturallyCurly owes a debt of gratitude to Walker for creating the foundation for our Texture Typing system in your 1998 book “Andre Talks Hair.” What prompted you to create your Texture Typing System?

For so many years, there was a perception that if you were black or white, your hair is a certain way. What I tried to do with my hair typing system was to say that regardless of what race you are, we share qualities in the hair we have. It’s for everybody.

I have to ask. What’s it like working so closely with Oprah?

It’s been an amazing partnership. She’s been fantastic person to work with over the years. She’s totally changed my life and my view on life.

Do you do Oprah’s hair for all of her magazine covers?

Yes. It’s a collaboration with the creative director, Adam Glassman. He’ll come up with the idea and then we’ll meet and talk about how to create the look. I’m never in a situation where he says, this is how it’s going to be.

Do you have a favorite cover?

The afro cover was the favorite of everyone. They came to me and said “What can we do to create a huge afro – something really big.” I had a month to think about it. I had a friend who was a wig maker and she said she had the perfect wig for me. It was so much hair. I wanted it to dry naturally and wanted to style it afterward,a nd I wanted it to have a lot of texture. I had it hanging in my bathroom, upside down, over a bathtub for three days. I really tried to tease it and make it as big as it could possibly be.

Did you get any flack because you used a wig?

I never tried to get people to think she was wearing her own hair. In this industry, wigs and hair pieces can be a positive thing.

Some would say that you’re not truly natural if you use wigs or straighten your hair. What are your thoughts?

There are definitely people who are purists when it comes to natural hair. I think that takes the fun out of hair styling. Let’s face it. We live in the 21st century. There is so much available to us. Having options is really the most important thing. If you want to wear a wig, wear it! If you want extensions, wear those too! If you want to be completely natural, be natural! But don’t judge someone else for their choices.

Tell me about the cover for the anniversary issue:

For this cover (which was shot in black and white”>, her hair is swept dramatically over her shoulder.

What are some of the challenges you have on the set when it comes to hair?

If we’re shooting in the studio, there aren’t many challenges because it’s climate controlled. But when you’re doing a shoot on location, weather poses challenges. I try to avoid doing styles that the weather can affect. I remember trying to shoot a straight style in a rain forest and thinking, this is not going to work. It’s best to go with a more natural look.

Why did you decide to create your own haircare line, The Gold System?

I always had to cocktail products to get the look I wanted. I was always mixing a little of this and a little of that – some cream, some gel, some oil. When I created my line, I wanted it to be easy to use and also healthy for the hair. Beautiful Kinks was developed to create a moist, controlled, defined textured look with one product. (Beautiful Kinks is a favorite of Oprah and Beyonce”> My motto for The Gold System is “Make Peace with Your Hair.” Everyone has beautiful hair. Do what it does naturally. Let’s embrace it!

After so many years and so many styles, do you and Oprah feel a need to constantly recreate and refresh her style or is she more interested in finding a signature look?

Her life is so interesting. She may be doing a movie one month and shooting a magazine cover the next. Those things – as well as current trends – influence what her look is. These days, she’s all over the place. She’s natural most of the time, but she may straighten her hair occasionally for a cover. Ease is the most important thing to her now. She likes to do stuff that’s simple. She likes to be able to handle her hair on her own without a stylist all the time.

How has the world changed when it comes to texture?

It used to be that people looked at natural hair as unattractive or militant. It had all of these negative connotations. People wanted straight hair – the straighter the better. If you had kinky hair, that was bad hair. Today, kinky hair is considered beautiful. It’s something to be embraced.

When we launched NaturallyCurly 17 years ago, it was a bleak landscape for women with curls and coils. You had to search to find products designed specifically for our needs.

So when we started hearing the buzz building about a Brooklyn Salon that had created a line of products especially for natural texture, we had to know more. The salon was Curve, and the products were called Miss Jessie’s. Women on CurlTalk wanted to get their hands on this amazing Curly Pudding and Curly Meringue they were hearing about. I called the salon and talked to Titi Branch, one of the creators of the line. Soon we were selling it on CurlMart, and it became one of the hottest sellers.

Over the years, I got to know both Titi and Miko Branch and watched as the Miss Jessie’s brand became a household name for curly girls worldwide. As a fellow entrepreneur, I am thrilled at the success of the Branch sisters. Their passion and perseverance are a key reason why texture is now one of the hottest categories in haircare.

“Miss Jessie’s: Creating a Successful Business from Scratch – Naturally” is part memoir, part business guide, written by Miss Jessie’s’ CEO Miko Branch with Titi Branch. It is a story even more poignant because of the death last year of Titi Branch, to whom the book is dedicated.

When Miko and Titi were children, their grandmother, Miss Jessie, showed them the value of being “do it yourself” women, all while whipping up homemade hair concoctions at her kitchen table. As co-founders of Miss Jessie’s, Miko reveals how she and Titi applied those lessons to create a successful business from scratch.

“We’ve helped transform an industry as well as a culture, changing the way women around the globe embrace their natural hair texture,” Miko writes. “This it the story of how we did it and a blueprint for how you too can become an entrepreneur and make waves in any industry you choose.”

Miko says “there’s a message here for every individual who doesn’t feel that he or she has an opportunity to be successful, whether that person is young, a single mother, working class and coming up without advantages, or an aspiring hairdresser who wants to dream big. We did it; so can you.”

The Branch sisters exemplify what I love most about being a part of this curl revolution – a truly grass-roots revolution started by entrepreneurs who were tired of waiting for others to create the products they needed. Through hard work, sacrifice and not taking no for an answer, they helped shape a world where women now have amazing options. It’s a world I couldn’t have imagined 17 years ago.

And it’s a lesson that transcends curly hair.

Giveaway

We’re giving away signed copies of “Miss Jessie’s: Creating a Successful Business from Scratch – Naturally” to 5 lucky winners.

How to enter

Tell us why you want to win this book, do you have a dream of starting your own business? Let us know in the comments!

This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only, as per our Terms and Conditions.

*Please make sure you have liked us on Facebook, so that when we can notify you if you’ve won.

This giveaway ends Monday, April 20.

No, I’m not hating on the short bob she rocked at the “I Heart Radio Music Awards” Sunday night. The cut was sassy and stylish. But it seems like years since we’ve caught a glimpse of the 3a/3b ringlets that made her a curly icon when she hit the scene as a country-singing teenager. Those curls inspired an entire generation of teens to give their flatirons a rest – at least for a day or two.

Her hairstyles have evolved along with her musical journey. Early on, as a young teenager, she rarely changed her curly style. It made big news in 2009 when she straightened her long curls for her 20th birthday.

Over the last few years, she began testing out shorter hairstyles, and made the big cut in February 2014. She actually uploaded a video to Instagram taken during her latest haircut in London. In the clip, she is surrounded by a huge group of cheering people.

“This is how many people are watching me get a haircut right now,” she says. “We don’t do anything without an audience, do we?”

As you know, NaturallyCurly has always been about styling options. If people want to straighten their curls, we provide them with the information and tips they need to do it with as little damage as possible. But what bothers me is the impact – and reaction – to her straighter look.

When Swift cut her hair last year, ET published an article titled Taylor Swift’s ‘Hair-Story’: From Curly to Chic. Teen Vogue called her transition from long, flowing curls to her “chic lob” on trend. Some have said the new look is more grown up, as if you can’t be a curly adult.

Some have said the new look is more grown up, as if you can’t be a curly adult.

It’s as if the word curly and chic are oxymorons, which they aren’t. Looking through her transformation galleries, my reaction was that Swift can look beautiful, stylish and yes, chic, with her hair curly, straight, wavy, up, down, etc.

We’ve seen similar transformations on a regular basis on such reality shows as American Idol, with contestants getting straighter makeovers the further they advance in the competition. It’s troubling that there still seems to be a perception that in order to be successful, you have to change something so central to your identity.

I’m not the only one who misses Swift’s curls. There have been numerous discussion board threads dominated by this topic.

“The sundress and curly hair Taylor is the one I want,” lamented one poster.

“Taylor was interesting to me because she was the only one curly in a world where straight is the ideal of hair beauty. But she made me feel like curly can be beautiful too, and it’s also unique and cool.

When she straightened it I got disappointed because for me, it was just like she became like everyone else. And lost that thing that made her look so special.”

What I worry about now is that Swift is trapped with this new look and curls aren’t even an option. The precision cut with bangs doesn’t really lend itself to a wash and wear look. As someone who rocked bangs and layers in the ‘80s, I was a slave to my blowdryer and curlers.

On one site, a fellow curly provides a step-by-step tutorial on achieving Swift’s new lob. It had 8 steps, involving a blowdryer, flatiron and curling iron as well as a number of products.

I fear that Swift has gone the way of other famed curly like Juliana Margulies, Debra Messing, Julia Roberts and Keri Russell who now wear their hair straight as a bone all the time. It’s almost as if the more “acceptable” curly has become, the less you see it among celebrities.

I don’t begrudge Swift her right to change up her look. I just miss her curls.

What do you think about Taylor Swift’s “hair transformation?”

Colin Walsh is just a little excited about what’s in store for DevaCurl.

“We’re going to blow some minds this year,” says Walsh, who took over as CEO of the 13-year-old hair product company in November 2013.

For a company that has helped pioneer the curl category – creating new words in our curlipedia like No-Poo and CG – that’s quite a promise.

The company’s plans – Deva 2.0 – include product additions designed specifically for different textures, the opening of a second training academy in New York and a certification program for stylists (with a physical test before certification is granted”>. The company already launched its new website in early February.

Last week, I visited DevaCurl’s new SoHo corporate headquarters, which brings together its 25 corporate employees under one roof for the first time. Walsh left Matrix USA – the second-largest professional haircare brand in the United States – to take the position with DevaCurl. Walsh, who always brims with energy, is giddy as he plays tour guide of the new digs.

The space was designed to encourage communication, trust and creativity. The all-glass conference room sits in the middle so that all meetings are out in the open.

“We’ve taken a team that was spread around the country and moved it to our Curl Campus,” Walsh says, referring to the corporate headquarters, the original SoHo salon and the new 4,300-square-foot Academy.

DevaCurl has made a major mark in the curly world, getting its start in a salon 19 years ago founded by Denis DaSilva and Lorraine Massey. It was one of the first salons to focus on curly hair.

Out of the salon grew the DevaCurl product line, starting with Mist-er Right and followed by No-Poo. No-Poo ignited a shampoo revolution by changing the way we think about cleansing our hair and the importance (or rather unimportance”> of the lather in that process. DevaCurl basically created the cleansing conditioner category.

Walsh knows he took the helm of a company that is an institution in the curly world. And he also knows the curly category is much more crowded than it was when the company got its start. Women with curls and coils now have hundreds of brands to choose from for their curl products.

“We are reestablishing and reaffirming our leadership position,” Walsh says. “We want to listen, support and celebrate.”

The new web site, Devacurl.com, is a major part of that strategy.

“We have the expertise and authority to be at the center of the curl conversation,” Walsh says. “The new web site symbolizes that.”

Walsh says the new site now serves as a hub where people can find a stylist and watch videos about how to use products to get different wavy, curly and coily looks.

The company’s changes go well beyond a new website. DevaCurl customers can expect some exciting new launches in the second half of 2015. “We have a unique understanding of what the right products are for people from the thousands we care for in our salons every year,” Walsh says.

While the 3-Step regime (No-Poo, One Condition and Light Defining Gel“> have been at DevaCurl’s core, Walsh says DevaCurl will be better addressing how product use is influenced by lifestyle and texture. The products and techniques line will now cater to three specific hair types: wavy, curly and coily.

One of the most important initiatives for Devacurl will take place behind the chair.

While there are currently thousands of stylists who have taken either the 1-day class to become Deva-Inspired or the 3-day Advanced class, these credentials have been granted based on attendance in the program versus demonstration of technical skill. To change that, Deva is introducing a new certification program. Stylists will be required to do a physical test to show they have mastered the skills to earn certification.

“We have a responsibility to the client to help stylists develop a true expertise,” Walsh says.

This training will take place at Deva’s Culver City Academy as well as a new 4,300-square-foot SoHo Academy that will open March 1st. The New York academy will feature 22 stations, 12 Deva “bed sinks” and a media wall to bring to life the training.

Even as the company grows, Walsh says DevaCurl will stay true to its mission statement: “Ask a curly girl about her hair and she’ll tell you about her life. She’ll tell you about her childhood, her family, her friends, and the way she sees herself in the mirror. We’ve spent two decades at the center of this conversation. It’s curly, it’s complicated, it’s fun, and we get it.”

“We won’t be losing the authenticity of what this company is about,” Walsh says.

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This article is sponsored by DevaCurl.