Jherri and nem other curl friends

[HeChangedMyName]

After going natural I see now that all the old myths about bad hair are just . . .bad. I never knew I had a "curl pattern" I thought nap(in a bad way, not in a naptural way) was the only way to describe my hair until coming to the hair boards in 2007/08 and seeing ladies with natural hair that curled and coiled up.

I still thought, good for them, they MUST have "some indian in they family"

So I learned to stretch my relaxers and such and began to see waves and thoughtm, hmmmm, there may be something to this hair thing.

I started to realize that my hair was at it's longest when I had a curl, yes activator gel and all.

After doing my own personal BC I see that ANY gel will help define my natural curl/coil pattern. Then I began to think.. . . . .after paying for jherri to make my hair do what it does naturally, did we as a whole people get taken advantage of? Did we really even need to get it done? Did the process of the "curl" do anything more than simply loosen our natural curl pattern?

I don't know about y'all, but as a former curly perm wearer, I feel jipped. Imjustsayin

What kind of curl did you have?
I had a jherri curl and a sof n free curl(that was the so called "dry" curl and you couldn't tell me NOTHING with my curly hair slanging all over the place perfectly moisturized but not dripping wet.

 

[brittle_hair]

I had the wave nouveau - I liked the wash and go element - no blowdrying, unlike with relaxed hair..

 

[HeChangedMyName]

ahhh yes, the wash and go. . . .now we all do it without the extra process. hmmmm

 

[firecracker]

I had a S-Curl Texturizer back in 1984. I'm texturized now but no setting on rods like back in the 80's. LOL

I agree some of us were bamboozled because yes indeed I do have curly hair and that texturizer simply loosened my curls. I still swear by SCurl texturizer gel and moisturizer spray. It isn't greasy nor does it drip or leave any residue. I use the moisturizer with Ms Jessies styling products and Stay Soft Snap Back. Snap Back is too drying though. LOL

 

[Nonie]

I had a jheri curl and I didn't think I was duped. I still don't. It took away the shrinkage that used to make my hair tighten up so that yanking a comb through it when dry would cause breakage. It enabled me to groom my hair fast w/o breakage. It did enable me to grow my hair longer than the 3-4 inches I had with my natural hair because it wasn't breaking every time I combed. I also loved how it looked and I never got it juice dripping. My mom didn't even use the activator but just combed it out so it looked like a 3C/4A afro but still way easier to comb than 4B hair. (Of course back then we knew nothing about not combing hair dry...so having broken pieces of natural hair all over the place was the norm.)

Now that I understand and get my hair, I don't need a jheri curl to help me manage my hair, but if having large curls was a look I wanted, I'd not hesitate to get it. Texlaxing or texturizing would not give me the large curls I got with jheri curls. So yeah I'm glad I had one and still think that they got a bad rap unfairly.

 

[itsallaboutattitude]

I had a Leisure Curl and a Wave Nouveau. When I moved from Atlanta to Maryland, my only option was the Jheri Curl. After getting that treatment, I transitioned back to a perm. There was just no way I could rock that look.

My Leisure Curl looked like a perm without having to roller set my hair. Just a Denman brush and my hands and I was good to go.

If I only had listened to my mother, I would have never permed, leisure curl, perm and then transition back to my natural hair. @6 years wasted in a salon.

 

[MyAngelEyez~C~U]

Former Jheri's kid, 1982. My hair looks better on it's own, lol.

 

[Je Ne Sais Quoi]

Never had a curl so can't speak on it. Very interesting thread though that i've thoroughly enjoyed reading.

 

[HeChangedMyName]

I had a S-Curl Texturizer back in 1984. I'm texturized now but no setting on rods like back in the 80's. LOL

I agree some of us were bamboozled because yes indeed I do have curly hair and that texturizer simply loosened my curls. I still swear by SCurl texturizer gel and moisturizer spray. It isn't greasy nor does it drip or leave any residue. I use the moisturizer with Ms Jessies styling products and Stay Soft Snap Back. Snap Back is too drying though. LOL

I remember that snap back. lol That was what /i got when I didnt have enough money for the carefree curl