Flip through magazines and TV channels this month, and you'll see coily, kinky and curly natural hair models in ads from Banana Republic to Gain detergent, from HomeGoods to Kmart.
"Natural hair has been a movement for several years. What we're seeing now is a confirmation that this is a lifestyle that is very important to a lot of women," says Cyntelia Abrams, marketing coordinator for Design Essentials, an Atlanta-based hair-care company that commissioned a 2010 study on the popularity of natural hair.
The number of black women who say they do not use products to chemically relax or straighten their hair jumped to 36% in 2011, up from 26% in 2010, according to a report by Mintel, a consumer spending and market research firm. Sales of relaxer kits dropped by 17% between 2006 and 2011, according to Mintel.
TWAs (teeny-weeny afros), mega-size 'fros, braids, coils, heat-straightened 'dos — a number of styles are being worn by black women, from statement-making fashionistas to image-conscious professionals.
Rochelle Ritchie, 29, a reporter for WPTV in West Palm Beach, Fla., made headlines last year when she went natural after years of chemical straightening, braiding, extensions and wigs. "It wasn't me," says Ritchie, who grew tired of "the financial burden" and "feeling like I was covering up."
The public response has been "extremely positive," says Ritchie.
And viewers get to see that "I'm still professional, still articulate. My hair doesn't change any of that," she adds.
In the Washington, D.C., suburbs, Braids Elite owner Marie Lourdes Price, a licensed cosmetologist for 21 years who today focuses solely on natural hair clients, is booked well into 2012. "I see ladies really embracing their natural hair," says Price.
Keisa Cromer, 30, a nurse and mother of two who lives near Jackson, Miss., and blogs about natural hair at newly natural.com, stopped "relaxing" in 2007, inspired in part to "see what my own hair looked like."
Like many black women, Comer grew up believing that her tightly curled natural texture would be more attractive, versatile and manageable worn straight. That required the use of hot combs for temporary straightening, starting when she was about 5, and then, from her preteens into adulthood, the use of strong chemical-based creams that altered the structure of the hair, keeping it straight for weeks.
But according to the American Academy of Dermatology, highly textured, curly hair is, "by its nature, more fragile than naturally straight hair," and "relaxers make curly hair more fragile."
’Dos and don’ts at CurlyNikki.com
The online universe has a multitude of websites, blogs and tutorials dedicated to natural hair care. One of the most visible, with 3.5 million visitors a month, is CurlyNikki.com, founded and edited by Alicia Nicole Walton, a licensed psychotherapist.
“I’m not anti-relaxer, I’m pro-natural,” says Walton, 28. “I want to help women learn to work with, not against, their hair.”
One of the site’s most popular feature is “On the Couch with CurlyNikki,” where celebs and non-celebs alike share stories about being natural in a society where the decision is sometimes met with questions and curiosity.
Among women recently interviewed: Grammy-winning artist Esperanza Spalding, singer Corinne Bailey Rae and actresses Wanda Sykes and Raven-Symoné.
Walton, who also writes a natural hair column for Essence.com and offers a free app on her website, is co-authoring a natural hair care guide for Harper Collins to be published next spring.
Unlike the 1960s and ’70s, when afros took center stage, Walton says, “this is not about just one particular style, but part of a healthier lifestyle, even a glamorous lifestyle.”
Source: https://yourlife.usatoday.com/your-look/story/2011-12-21/Natural-hair-is-making-waves-among-black-women/52147456/1
