Wash Your Damn Hair Challenge: Tight Curl Orientation

[@denise9083]

Your work is so important. Thank you for preserving all these years. Lots of info explained and delivered beautifully. Love the neutral, non-judgmental tone.

[@Lisa_Flowers]

I still find the hair typing system useful to some degree because it actually allows me to find people with hair that looks like mine. And obviously it isn't gonna account for density, porosity, surface texture, or even styling and how that affects the appearance of hair, but it does help to know that if I type '4c' into an image search engine then i'll see people with tightly curled or coiled hair that is similar to mine when the market and media is flooded with images of loosely curled hair. And that's pretty important to me when everyone around me and most of the natural hair community still treats loosely or looser curled hair as the ideal and the norm, and tightly curled/'4c' hair as inferior or less desirable. I understand '4c' doesn't necessarily tell me how to style my hair or what products or techniques will work, nor am I all that pressed about knowing exactly where I (or other people) fit into the hair typing system to a granular degree. But I think a lot of the attachment to the hair typing system, especially for those of us with 'type 4' hair - and especially the most tightly curled type 4 hair - is that it's a word that has allowed us to find a smidgen of representation and self acceptance in a world that is constantly telling us that our hair 'bad hair' or 'nappy' or 'unkempt' because it isn't loosely curled/type 3. I've literally had family members tell me they were embarassed to leave the house with me because I was in a fresh wash and go and my hair was too tightly coiled for their liking. If my hair had a looser curl I would not have gotten that comment. Those same people have praised my hair when it was styled to mimic looser curls. I'm sure a lot of people with '4c' hair have similar experiences. Like the hair typing system may be 'made up' but it's ability to help me find hair that looks like mine and the self esteem that comes with that representation isn't lol. It is probably semantically meaningless, or not useful to actual hair health or styling, but it's useful to me as a way of accepting my tightly coiled hair and finding others who have similar. The images we are exposed to count for a lot in what mindset we have towards our hair. I actually really appreciate that a lot of the images on your site and clientele you serve have tightly curled hair like mine, because SO many online hair sites or resources say they serve the entire natural hair community but most if not ALL their imagery does not reflect my hair or tighly curled hair. Maybe their info is useful but at that point i'm mistrustful because I've had way too many experiences where the result that is shown is different from my own because my hair just looks fundamentally different and will never curl or lay in that way.

[@BlackGirlCurls]

That’s definitely something to keep in mind. I’m glad you have those resources to depend on. As someone with tight waves, I have had to personally depend on my eyes and my mirror. There are not a lot of girlies highlighted with my hair. So me, my eyes and my mirror have done our absolute best.

[@18mspumpkin]

Thank you so much I just want to follow a healthy regimen for my hair to grow healthy. I love this ❤

[@TJ-kf6by]

yesss! Get rid of the hair by numbers! Let's talk about beautiful textures and patterns!

[@Rea13434O]

8:11 THIS!! 8:32 lifestyle, how you wanna show up, realistic time spent doing hair are so important!

[@BlackGirlCurls]

It’s so important to each and every one of us on an individual level!

[@bridgetsmith1163]

Super helpful, thank you!! Happy to know how the chart came about.

[@tamekahimmage3581]

Love this! I always felt I didn’t fit on that chart and I’m relieved to know I wasn’t the only one. Thank you 🙏🏽 can’t wait for next week!

[@BlackGirlCurls]

You are so welcome!

[@lenaedyse9634]

The state of New York does not have extremhard water. If you have extremely hard water in New York or even hard water for that matter, it is your pipes. Especially if your within the 5 boroughs.

[@BlackGirlCurls]

We stand corrected! The other 2 cities most certainly do.

[@KicKsbvi]

@Black Girl Curls Hi, thank you for this challenge (I’ve done previous ones & a former SSC subscriber) and this platform. I have learnt so much and my hair has been transformed for the better. One concern though: in your description here, and your material on other platforms, including the digital download for the challenge, I think you forgot to include raw castor oil as an oil to avoid during the challenge, as it was included as an oil to exclude in previous challenges. Just want to make sure that persons also give up castor oil for the challenge, if that’s what was intended by Black Girl Curls.

[@BlackGirlCurls]

We didn’t forget, we mention raw oils and butters often. That way everything is covered.

[@KicKsbvi]

@@BlackGirlCurls ok, cool.

[@sbrown9162]

I love this. I didn’t get a copy of the mini guide. How can I get one? The link isn’t working.

[@BlackGirlCurls]

Have you opted into our email list? That must be done before you retrieve your digital download.

[@southerngurlz5027]

@@BlackGirlCurlshow do we opt in email list? To receive download?

[@BlackGirlCurls]

@@southerngurlz5027 the link can be found in the description box.

[@mcnissiecharlotte7602]

I already didn't like the number chat so this is so good and I bought curl maker and aunt jackys don't shrink to start off the challenge. I live in Uganda and the only clarifying shampoos I see I the market are shea moisture and as I am clarifying shampoos. ..... what's your take on that cause am in the process of getting one of them coming july and our weather is very humid will my gels withstand the humidity?

[@eunicebis]

Thank you! You should know that the background music makes it challenging to hear you well. The sound of your voice is low even on maximum volume. Good work, though!

[@BlackGirlCurls]

@@eunicebis noted…are more recent content has no music in the background