Jago Times "English Edition" Best Online Newspaper
Following the Pandemic era, salon closures and the passing of the Crown Act, we continue to see more people wearing and celebrating natural hairstyles.
While many in the hair industry are excited about the increased representation, they are also pushing for more change, saying there is now a need for more stylists, but not enough textured hair education included in state licensing programs.
NBC 5 spoke to stakeholders who explained why pushing to ban discrimination and fighting for more inclusion for styles popular among Black people benefits people of all races and backgrounds.
“Being a child growing up, my mom is white, my dad’s Black and I always had curly hair, obviously, but my mom had bone straight hair, so she just had no idea,” said Sess Cannon.
“And then in college, I just let it be. One thing that changed everything was I was in therapy, right? I lost my dad as a kid, ended up being in foster care and all that kind of stuff afterward, and being in therapy, she said, be who you needed,” Cannon continued.
That piece of advice inspired Cannon to open Flourish Curls, a place where clients learn how to do and love their natural hair.
She says it’s a process that starts with a full consultation and questions to learn the client’s hair story.
“Tell me about your insecurities with your hair,” she said.
Before finding Flourish, Dr. Jennifer Tiller says she struggled to find the right products and often felt she needed to straighten her curls. Especially as one of few black women doctors.
“And so I would straighten my hair, like, before I went on an interview for a new place, whether it was graduate school or residency,” said Dr. Tiller.
But thanks to a surge in representation and the passing of the Crown Act, banning discrimination based on natural hair and protective hairstyles, stylists are seeing a surge in people hungry to understand textured hair care.
Tiller says, she now has a simple routine that she can maintain and is happy to make the nearly 30-minute drive to Flourish. She keeps a regular appointment with her stylist, knowing many are booked months out and in high demand.
“And saving hours at this point of not having to worry about fighting how my hair naturally grows out of my head,” Tiller said.
Like Tiller, Chantell Fain is enjoying the newfound freedom she feels wearing her hair in an afro puff or braids.
The changes, real free, light. I can be myself with the natural look.
Chantell Fain
Her braider, Vanna Collins, says the momentum of the movement is also spurring innovation, including her line of oils, Tuff Baby’s.
“So, I always had clients that were having issues with edges or hair loss, like in the crown of their head and just around the area itching with their protective styles,’ Collin said.
She got to work, creating and testing hair oils to alleviate their issues.
“And I just kind of did my research to come up with a hair care line of stimulating hair oils,” said Collins.
Stylists say it’s not only women or people of color driving demand for services or products.
“That is the most unique thing to understand what texture really means. Texture has nothing to do with race,’ said Autumn Yarbrough.
Yarbrough is a third-generation hair care innovator. In February, she invited stylists and community members to a screening of the Netflix docuseries, ” The Black Beauty Effect.”
The third episode in the series features her grandfather, Comer Cottrell Jr., creator of the Jheri Curl.
Yarbrough’s parents created the Just for Me relaxer system. And Yarbrough founded NU Standard Beauty, a system for textured hair for all.
She celebrates progress but says we have a ways to go
“We have unfinished business,” she said.
And that people from all backgrounds would benefit from more diversity in product research and development
Understanding textured hair, making sure that it is a part of education in the professional community.
Autumn Yarbrough
There is also a broader push for more stylists who can do textured hair.
“We’re in a place where it’s like over exceeding of people that are natural but not having the stylists to go to that are specialized in it,” said Cannon.
New York is the first state to require cosmetology students to learn to care for all hair types. In North Texas, Cannon says it’s up to individual stylists to upskill. She says many invest thousands of dollars in learning new techniques.
Her classes fill up instantly with stylists from all backgrounds. She also hosts classes for people to learn how to do their own hair or how to care for and maintain their child’s hair.
“There are Indian stylists, I mean Hispanic stylists. There’s curly hair going on everywhere,” said Cannon.
At the end of the day, hair is fabric, and it doesn’t matter the color that it’s attached to. It’s just at the end of it, everybody just needs help, and they want someone they can go to that care,” she said.
Beauty company L’oreal is pushing for more textured hair care education nationwide in the Texture of Change campaign. Retailers estimate that more than 60 percent of the world’s population has textured hair, but advocates pushing for inclusion say it’s not taught in most cosmetology schools.
The parent company of Milady cosmetology textbooks, which are used in Texas, says its latest edition has a bigger focus on diversity and inclusion.