The Texture Elephant In the Room

Stylists...Let’s have a real serious conversation about “texture”.

The word “texture “ is often used in our industry to describe curly, tight curly, and coily hair, but when it comes down to visual presentation much of the time we’re shown smooth/silky hair like Jillian’s on the left.

As for hair like Danielle’s on the right we barely see it and when we do we are quite disappointed to see the expectations Stylists have of it and the cutting/styling/care execution on tight Curls/coils + natural hair.

We work with a spectrum of Black Girl Curls and we can honestly say that in every class we’ve hosted over the last 5 years we may get 1-2 Jillians out of 14-18 models.

In class we are able to dispel many falsehoods about tight curls + natural hair. We take on head first the perception that it is more difficult, takes longer, and should cost more. We decenter the beauty industry avatar of the medium texture, mid length, medium density straight hair that has been the baseline of timing and pricing for so long. We purposely center the tight curl client and how to build an equitable, sustainable, and profitable business serving them.

Hair like Jillian’s only scratches the surface of the “texture” spectrum. Which means that a majority of beauty professionals/curl artists are under prepared for the day when Danielle arrives.

Everyone can not know everything, but if you the beauty professional desire to serve clients with hair like Danielle’s it’s imperative that you complete through training in the culture and the curls.

Cut It Kinky has made it our business to acknowledge a segment of the beauty community that has been underrepresented and under served through our education in the art, science, and business of Tight Curls.