Curl Talk | Texturism in the Natural Hair Community | Gabrielle Ishell

[@SmoothCuticles]

Hi. I watched a few of your videos and I don’t think texturism is the issue, but more so, learning what our hair can and can do and accepting that. I started my journey about 13 years ago and had to rely on learning my hair, not stylists. Right now, I have 4A WHIP length hair and it only takes me an hour to wash, [not deep] condition and detangle and then style with a light to medium leave in and grease or butter (which stays in a protective state until the next wash day). Last, I trim as needed, not by schedule. I’ve had to learn my hair, not rely on stylist to teach me and have them cut off my hair in the process. WnG’s lead to tangles, knots, long wash days, heavy detangling, a rabbit hole of products and methods for the perfect curl and dry hair, all leading to inadequate feelings of our hair because we can’t achieve the perfect WnG. Worst, less retention. Healthy hair is about habit; a style, not so much.

[@GabrielleIshell]

Hi, thanks for your comment and sharing your opinion. I appreciate hearing other people’s perspective. The reason that I mentioned texturism is because the person said that my hair isn’t “wash n go hair.” What does that even mean? Everyone can do a wng if they wanted, right? I know my hair is thick type 4 hair and accept that my wng is going to look different than my natural sis. I still believe that someone saying that I can’t do a certain style because of the type of hair I have is showing texturism. I’ve had problems with my hair and I had been doing it (in its natural state) for 3+ years and I needed help.🤷🏾‍♀️ I don’t see anything wrong with reaching out to someone who is a professional..it’s like me, I’m an accountant…a CPA. I would expect someone to reach out to me (or another CPA) if they had questions/needed help in my area of expertise. Likewise, I reached out to the stylist and explained my concerns to get her expertise. I think sometimes we are so caught up on trying to do everything ourselves that we actually make it harder on ourselves than what it needs to be.

[@SmoothCuticles]

This is where comments kinda collide. Wash and go hair pertains to type 1-2 hair. Even type 3’s have to have added steps, despite it’s look. When a stylist tells you the type of hair you don’t have but still trying to achieve a style, how much sense does that make? It’s not that you don’t have WnG hair, I don’t have that hair, but it’s deeper that texturism. Look at box braids with added hair. Our hair is made for it. Anything under 3B, not so much, or they suffer really bad setback. WnG is a style not made for our hair, but we still try to achieve it and additional steps are needed. Some stylist also don’t like or can’t style natural hair. The lady you’re at is cutting A LOT while convince you a style she is teaching you can’t be done on your hair. She’s not good for you and I don’t like that. Have you tried just going back to basics with your hair, even for three months and just washing, conditioning and protective styling? It’s winter in NY, no one will notice. There is morning wrong with incorporating or asking for help, but sometimes, back to basics is best. I hope in coming off correctly. You have a beautiful head of hair and when it was fuller, it was really goals.

[@GabrielleIshell]

@@SmoothCuticles when I say wash n go I’m not literally saying they wash their hair and go. Everyone has to add steps..even if you have type 1,2,3 hair you can’t literally just go without styling it… We will just have to agree to disagree. There are plenty of women with tight curls who do wash n gos and they look bomb. There’s a tight curl specialist/educator, I think her name is Carmen Veal Conway, she has a podcast and educates people on how to take care of tight curls. Saying that someone has a different type of hair texture should not limit their choice of hair styles. The lady is cutting my hair because I asked her to. As I mentioned in my video, my hair was damaged. Yeah it looked nice when it was long but at the end of the day it wasn’t working for me. And guess what, hair grows back! I’m not concerned with my hair being cut… I don’t think you’re trying to be rude, but some things don’t translate well over text. I think she was good for me because now I’m not struggling with my hair…it literally used to take HOURSSS for me to do it and now I’ve gotten it down so that I can wash and condition in an hour or less. I’ve probably only done a wash and go like 10 times- that’s not my go to style. I love twist outs, braid outs and protective styles- that’s what I’ve been wearing all week and am preparing to do another one next week. 95% of the videos on my channel are twist outs or protective styles…

[@esthertjones]

I firmly believe any texture/curl pattern can do a wash and go, but we all just have to accept what that looks like on each head of hair. I think some people are chasing a specific wng look instead loving what their own hair does and that's why they're convinced wngs aren't for everybody. At this point in my awareness of hair, I think everybody should be allowed to do what they want with their hair. Dying it, frying it, laying it to the side, chopping it all off or growing it to the floor, braiding, locking or what have you, it's their hair to do with as they please. I do think it's important for stylists to hold each other accountable, esp. when there are hairdressers out here jacking up people's hair left and right, but I also agree that it's not right to then go on and comment negatively on the clients as well. Love your twist out, btw! It looks great! And your hair is definitely growing well. ❤

[@Daydreamerr13]

My hair is pretty similar to yours! It is a bit closer to 4A but I just combed my hair out yesterday too. I was feeling kinda down because I get depressed and then don’t comb it for months😢 I can’t do wash & go’s anymore because it’s grown out now and just gets matted :/ learning to have more patience and grace with my hair. I find as I grow older the more my relationship with it changes.

[@GabrielleIshell]

I love this! Yes, definitely need patience and grace with thick natural hair. I can relate with you on that comment. At one point (I think it was a year or so ago), I remember getting so frustrated with my hair that I stopped putting out natural hair videos. I've always loved my hair, but didn't love the process that it took to get the look I wanted. Now that I have a new routine, I enjoy the process. I appreciate your comment and am glad that you are leaning to have patience with your hair! I feel like taking the time to do your hair is a form of self care! ❤

[@PinkCoils]

It's not that you can't do a wng with your hair type, but rather that it causes so much frustration and can even make you dislike your hair when you don't achieve the desired results. I have to echo some of the sentiments of other commenters, that stylist really wasn't the best. Of course, it's easier to do your hair now because there is less of it. As viewers, the assumption is that you want to grow your hair out. To avoid mixed reactions, it might be better to mention that you want a major haircut and don't want to grow your hair out for ease of styling. Sometimes, we can be so defensive that we shut everyone out and don't want to hear a narrative different than our own. However, if everyone starts to say the same thing to you, there must be some truth to it.

[@GabrielleIshell]

Thanks for your comment, but who is “everyone” that is saying the same thing to me? If you’re referring to people under his video, of course most of his followers would agree with him. I’m not trying to get defensive, but I love how people watch 5 mins of a video and think they know the whole story. If I missed explaining something that’s my bad, but at the end of the day my KZbin videos are 20 mins max- they will NOT tell the whole story… I said *from the very beginning* that I was going to get a big chop but over time and I’ve always said that the health of my hair was more important than the length. I also stated from the beginning that my hair was damaged…it had plenty of split ends. If y’all like keeping damaged hair, just say that. I’m not! Because it’s going to just split up! If I get my hair cut (because I want to), I’m not understanding how that is affecting others🤷🏾‍♀️ I’m not THAT pressed for length that I will keep the kind of damage that I had. *HAIR WILL GROW BACK.* I know that my hair is tightly coiled and wash and gos MAY make the hair tangled, but telling me that my hair is not wng hair is RUDE. I don’t think it’s fair to just generalize that and say “…that it causes so much frustration and can even make you dislike your hair when you don't achieve the desired results.” I would’ve wanted you to warn me about potential tangles and knots, not tell me that *you think* I will dislike my hair. 😩 How is someone going to tell me how I feel? I think the comment should’ve been “people should understand that their hair is different and if you have tighter coils, you shouldn’t expect to achieve the same results as a woman with lower curls…” Everyone’s hair is different and all I said from the get go is that I wanted to embrace *MY HAIR* how it grows out of the scalp in its natural form.

[@GabrielleIshell]

I’m listening to y’all when y’all have different opinions, but if someone is disrespectful or rude, you think I’m going to care about anything they have to say?! Nope. It matters how things are said. If someone genuinely wants to “help me” they shouldn’t be attacking me- not talking about you, more so the guy who made the video. A lot of assumptions were made in the guy’s video and we had a back and forth of comments where I told him the facts and he even apologized to me🤷🏾‍♀️

[@PinkCoils]

@@GabrielleIshell I hear you. I could be projecting because that's how I feel when I do wngs. I feel like they're just not made for our type of hair. Why suffer if we don't need to? But as you said, everyone is different and entitled to do whatever they want with their hair.

[@lunaeclipse2905]

lol the guy made a response about your video.

[@GabrielleIshell]

Lol thanks for the heads up. I unsubscribed, so i was not aware. Did he use clips? I didn’t mention his name at all in my video

[@GabrielleIshell]

*clips from my video

[@lunaeclipse2905]

@GabrielleIshell yeah! Saw that you didn't use names, and he was aware you were talking about him. He said he even made a response video that time and decided not to post it. But knowing Narada, he tends to hold grudges and just post about it anyway. However, it wasn't the video.. he just decided to make a live on a situation not related to you but another woman. The live then shifted to you and he played your video on the live and ofc being defensive on his mannerisms. Tho he is mostly trying to say he's expressing towards your stylist at the time...his mouth still throw stuff at you. He is confusing on what he is trying to display

[@GabrielleIshell]

@@lunaeclipse2905 thank so much for letting me know. I’m not going to watch because I’m not into the back in forth, especially with someone I don’t know. If he’s offended by me calling him rude(when he was), then he needs to check himself. There have been others that have called him rude, blocked him and did a copyright claim for him using pieces of their video. I just wanted to set the record straight for people who follow me that may have seen his video🤷🏾‍♀️ The video that I recorded was filmed MONTHS ago but I have videos edited/ready to go weeks (and sometimes months) in advance and it had to stay in line.

[@lunaeclipse2905]

@@GabrielleIshell you're most welcome! it's def not worth the back and forth as it seems he tends to do that random few months a year. The youngest one I witness was either 19 or 20yrs old. Funny he talked about how it took you long to respond as if other people have much free time as him. Narada assumes a lot so it will definitely drain your energy with his so called "passion within natural hair community" Putting that aside I'm glad you said how you felt!

[@kathleenadeshoga8415]

ppl are so rude. that stylist or w/e sounds insecure. they ought to be embarrassed

[@GabrielleIshell]

Yep, if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say it.