Random Hair Thoughts/Thinking out loud

Imma keep these relaxed ends as long as possible, until I decide when/if I want to relax again. I haven't had a trim since sometime last year, maybe June lol.
Me avoiding single strand knots? Absolutely :lachen:
 
The economy is slowing. My colorist around this time of year used to be booked out 3 months. I got my appt in a month this time. She is still doing well, but that is a big difference in the amount of clientele.
 
I'm just really surprised that my ends look as good as they do being that I haven't had them trimmed since sometime last year. I showed a lady a picture of my silk press when it was fresh and she thought I got my ends trimmed. She was shocked when I told her no scissors touched my hair since last year. I'm about to throw these crochet braids in until the weather breaks then I'm going back to my mini braids.
 
My new night routine. It keeps the body/curls in my silk press.View attachment 487489
Not sure if this has been posted already but I just saw a reel on ig of someone doing this. Posting for anyone that wants to see it.

 
Not sure if this has been posted already but I just saw a reel on ig of someone doing this. Posting for anyone that wants to see it.


Thank you so much for this!
I've always just done a high cinnabun or bantu knot but I feel this would give me a better curl!
Off to buy huge flexirods. lol
 
Last year I was speaking with a White hairstylist at Ulta, and she told me that they are not allowed to use the word kinky as in kinky curly. She said that they were told that it is considered derogatory. At first, I was thinking that maybe she had it mixed up with nappy. However, looking at the direction of what most companies are calling the prototypical curl structure of Black people, she might be right.

I'm only thinking of this because I'm signed up with the Cut It Kinky newsletter. They recently talked about how using the term super curly is just as bad as excessively curly, overly curly and ethnic hair. They encountered this "issue" when dealing with a live class made up of roughly 90% Caucasian stylists.

I don't know how I feel about any of these terms. Most companies are now using words like coily and tight curls. To be honest, saying coily gives the impression that coils are not apart of the curly spectrum. This is similar to how waves are treated. Tight curly means the same thing as super curly to me. Then there is kinky curly. Truthfully, not every tight curl has kink to it. So it doesn't really make sense to lump all smaller curls under kinky curly. I wonder how some stylist think of the term Afro Textured hair when any textured hair can look like an afro based on how it is styled or lack there of.

Among the Natural Hair Community, we all know what these words mean. We use them interchangeably. Outside of the Natural Hair Community and even the Curly Hair Community, I see a lot of people who don't have "coily" hair use the same verbiage to describe their hair. If you look at reviews that come with pictures, you see many women who think their 3A hair is tightly, excessively and kinky curly. This reminds me that we as a society have to not come to an agreement on what words to use to describe curl diameter and surface texture. These aren't necessarily real definitive terms being used in general cosmetology books. Then we have to look at what is relative to the environment in which someone lives. In all honesty, a person with 3A curls might live in a community with mainly straight hair or ones that have permanently heat straightened their hair into loose waves or straight fluff. To be fair, that 3A curled person technically has tightly curled hair in comparison to his or her community. No one has really jumped on board with the LOIS hair typing system, and even then it is still subjective.

This is not an issue like the hair color blonde. Levels 5, 6, and 7 colloquially are labeled incorrectly. 5 is light brown, 6 is dark blonde and 7 is medium blonde. Most people think 7 is a light brown and level 5 is dark brown. The cosmetology world has agreed on how to call these natural hair color levels regardless of what the general public believes. Even though I would like a more concrete term and definition to describe hair similar to mine, do I want to leave this in the hands of others? I wonder if people with Dwarfism feel this way? Over the past decade they have changed their acceptable terms on several occasions. I know several people around 4'10" who are structurally proportional and do not consider themselves dwarfs. They do not suffer from typical dwarfism abnormalities nor fall under the categories like proportionate dwarfism which includes conditions like primordial dwarfism and Seckel syndrome.

I know I'm ranting, but what do you all think? What do you want our hair to be called? Do you want organizations like Cut It Kinky, who are earnestly trying to educate the cosmetology world, to be representatives of our hair terms?
 
Last year I was speaking with a White hairstylist at Ulta, and she told me that they are not allowed to use the word kinky as in kinky curly. She said that they were told that it is considered derogatory. At first, I was thinking that maybe she had it mixed up with nappy. However, looking at the direction of what most companies are calling the prototypical curl structure of Black people, she might be right.

I'm only thinking of this because I'm signed up with the Cut It Kinky newsletter. They recently talked about how using the term super curly is just as bad as excessively curly, overly curly and ethnic hair. They encountered this "issue" when dealing with a live class made up of roughly 90% Caucasian stylists.

I don't know how I feel about any of these terms. Most companies are now using words like coily and tight curls. To be honest, saying coily gives the impression that coils are not apart of the curly spectrum. This is similar to how waves are treated. Tight curly means the same thing as super curly to me. Then there is kinky curly. Truthfully, not every tight curl has kink to it. So it doesn't really make sense to lump all smaller curls under kinky curly. I wonder how some stylist think of the term Afro Textured hair when any textured hair can look like an afro based on how it is styled or lack there of.

Among the Natural Hair Community, we all know what these words mean. We use them interchangeably. Outside of the Natural Hair Community and even the Curly Hair Community, I see a lot of people who don't have "coily" hair use the same verbiage to describe their hair. If you look at reviews that come with pictures, you see many women who think their 3A hair is tightly, excessively and kinky curly. This reminds me that we as a society have to not come to an agreement on what words to use to describe curl diameter and surface texture. These aren't necessarily real definitive terms being used in general cosmetology books. Then we have to look at what is relative to the environment in which someone lives. In all honesty, a person with 3A curls might live in a community with mainly straight hair or ones that have permanently heat straightened their hair into loose waves or straight fluff. To be fair, that 3A curled person technically has tightly curled hair in comparison to his or her community. No one has really jumped on board with the LOIS hair typing system, and even then it is still subjective.

This is not an issue like the hair color blonde. Levels 5, 6, and 7 colloquially are labeled incorrectly. 5 is light brown, 6 is dark blonde and 7 is medium blonde. Most people think 7 is a light brown and level 5 is dark brown. The cosmetology world has agreed on how to call these natural hair color levels regardless of what the general public believes. Even though I would like a more concrete term and definition to describe hair similar to mine, do I want to leave this in the hands of others? I wonder if people with Dwarfism feel this way? Over the past decade they have changed their acceptable terms on several occasions. I know several people around 4'10" who are structurally proportional and do not consider themselves dwarfs. They do not suffer from typical dwarfism abnormalities nor fall under the categories like proportionate dwarfism which includes conditions like primordial dwarfism and Seckel syndrome.

I know I'm ranting, but what do you all think? What do you want our hair to be called? Do you want organizations like Cut It Kinky, who are earnestly trying to educate the cosmetology world, to be representatives of our hair terms?

The Cut It Kinky ladies are the Black Girl Curls ladies right? I don't want them to be spokespersons for anyone but themselves.

Adwoa Beauty uses the term kinky pretty regularly. It's a part of their marketing and branding.
 
The Cut It Kinky ladies are the Black Girl Curls ladies right? I don't want them to be spokespersons for anyone but themselves.

Adwoa Beauty uses the term kinky pretty regularly. It's a part of their marketing and branding.
Yep, that is them. They do prescribe to the term kinky curly though. I have a love-hate relationship with them. They promote definition, but I don't like their dogma or public persona.

I would say the culprits are companies that cater to predominantly white hair, but that is not necessarily true. It seems it is really companies that are just now jumping on the natural hair bandwagon. They may or may not have actual products specifically for "coily' hair. They now just say coily hair can use them.

I once asked a question to one of these companies while referring to my hair as kinky curly. They responded back as calling my hair 4c. I only asked what they would suggest for a wash n go. That's a very loaded word with many implications. It has so many different meaning these days. I guess they are trying to be politically correct or on trend.
 
It used to bother me to have to say coily. My hair is curly. It’s just tightly curled up.

Then came the term coily. I also have a lot of S curls which are considered 3C but 3C wasn’t on the original walker curl size but my S curls aren’t sharpener size they are pen curl size. So I stuck to 4/a/b and kept it moving

now I dont care at all what it’s labeled. It’s just my natural hair
 
It used to bother me to have to say coily. My hair is curly. It’s just tightly curled up.

Then came the term coily. I also have a lot of S curls which are considered 3C but 3C wasn’t on the original walker curl size but my S curls aren’t sharpener size they are pen curl size. So I stuck to 4/a/b and kept it moving

now I dont care at all what it’s labeled. It’s just my natural hair
I don't really have a preferred name in mind. I use them all and don't really care except for nappy. I haven't experienced anyone referring to hair as nappy in a positive light. Even though I'm not that gung ho on having a specific name, it will matter down the road. Somewhere down in history the words we choose or don't choose today might reflect on us inaccurately. I think the most accurate word for my hair is squiggles, but it lacks a certain ring to it.

When I had "locs", I had people try to dissuade me from calling them dreadlocks. It actually had nothing to do with me not being Rastafarian. They kept telling me that the establishment referred to them as dreadful and "locs" aren't dreadful. I truly can't say if this word is frowned upon within the Rastafari religion and culture. From what I read, beyond their beliefs about hair, they also used this hairstyle as a way to rebel against authority.

I eventually stopped calling my locked hairstyle dreadlocks because I didn't want to culturally appropriate a religion I'm not associated with. I think people romanticzing their culturally appropriation with this hairstyle are trying to rewrite history. I think it is similar to people saying Jesus said to turn the other cheek meaning to not hurt someone as they hurt you. Hear me out. If we look towards history, turning the other cheek would be a form of rebellion or subversion instead of humbleness during the time of Jesus. Roman soldiers had a specific way of slapping equals vs slapping inferior people such as slaves. People of inferiority would have been slapped in a similar manner to how Will slapped Chris. I personally feel that taking out the rebellion removes the message. So the words we choose and the meanings behind them matter even many years down the road.

Another instance would be saying Cleopatra was ugly. This woman wooed two Roman dictators and circulated her money among their people. The strong aquiline nose posted on her money was a representation of great power and authority at that time. I doubt it was meant to be a realistic depiction. This would be much like the female pharaoh Hatshepsut with her beard. Yet, people still try to conclude that she was unattractive to this day instead of being logical with cultural relativism. Nevertheless, it is still understood that she was powerful during her reign. I understand we can't stop people from thinking what they want, but we can play an active role.

I fear 200 to 300 years from now, people with think Beyonce is a literal goddess we worshiped with a cult following called the Bee Hive, and Black people during out time wore wigs of insulated wire. How else would they make sense of why we had coils on our heads? :lol:
 
It used to bother me to have to say coily. My hair is curly. It’s just tightly curled up.

Then came the term coily. I also have a lot of S curls which are considered 3C but 3C wasn’t on the original walker curl size but my S curls aren’t sharpener size they are pen curl size. So I stuck to 4/a/b and kept it moving

now I dont care at all what it’s labeled. It’s just my natural hair
I wonder if you have used a brush to define your curls? I notice that when I rake and smooth I get s curls but when I use a brush my hair is coily like telephone wire. It could be styling . I prefer the look of my coils even if it means more shrinkage.
 
I wonder if you have used a brush to define your curls? I notice that when I rake and smooth I get s curls but when I use a brush my hair is coily like telephone wire. It could be styling . I prefer the look of my coils even if it means more shrinkage.

When I use a brush it makes it too shrunk to my head @Napp
 
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I've only had 2 relaxers since I decided to go back to creamy crack in November. Just found out I'm pregnant with my first baby so its going to be a loooong stretch. I was supposed to relax this weekend but that wont be happening now. I need to get some great products to keep my line of demarcation strong and will probably put in some boho locs for this summer.
 
I've only had 2 relaxers since I decided to go back to creamy crack in November. Just found out I'm pregnant with my first baby so its going to be a loooong stretch. I was supposed to relax this weekend but that wont be happening now. I need to get some great products to keep my line of demarcation strong and will probably put in some boho locs for this summer.

Congrats on your first baby!!
 
I've only had 2 relaxers since I decided to go back to creamy crack in November. Just found out I'm pregnant with my first baby so its going to be a loooong stretch. I was supposed to relax this weekend but that wont be happening now. I need to get some great products to keep my line of demarcation strong and will probably put in some boho locs for this summer.
Congratulations!!! :clap::clapping::congrats:
That’s so exciting! Wishing you a safe and healthy pregnancy.
 
I've only had 2 relaxers since I decided to go back to creamy crack in November. Just found out I'm pregnant with my first baby so its going to be a loooong stretch. I was supposed to relax this weekend but that wont be happening now. I need to get some great products to keep my line of demarcation strong and will probably put in some boho locs for this summer.
Congrats!
 
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