The Evolution of Curl Products

The Early 2010’s

Ten years ago, those with textured hair only had a limited section of products to pick from. At that time curly hair products were made by brands that mainly catered toward those that have straight untextured hair. These drugstore brands would have a few curly styling products thrown into their line, but they were not great for our hair (Assuie, Pantene, and Tresemme). To get products that were better for curly hair one would need to be able to shop at COSMOPROF. Even then high-end brands (Paul Mitchell) would only have a small selection.

The Natural Hair Movement

Just like the 1960s with the natural hair movement, we saw a 2.0 of it sometime in the mid-2010s. With the ever-rising social media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, Blogs, and TikTok I started to see more and more influencers with curly-textured hair talk about and review products. These influences started to become a voice for people and call out how many of the drugstore brands were out during that time and did not fully understand what it took to make products for textured hair. I started to see more reviews for brands that only had a curly line (Ouidad, Carol's Daughter, Twist, etc), this is just to name a few. Some brands have been around for a while but either had a small line of products or just didn't work for every curl pattern. This new movement of letting your curls loose has resulted in many new curly product lines emerging. Social media has also helped many people to learn about their curls.

Still a Learning Process

Even though we have come a long way since the late/early 2010s there is still a lot of learning to do and going on when it comes to curly-textured hair.

My Story

Growing up I had no idea how to manage and take care of my curls. As my mother had pin-straight hair and because she did not know what to do with my curls she would just put it up in a ponytail for me. Occasionally at certain times, she would straighten it. Basically from kindergarten up until 7th/8th grade my hair would just be up. From then on I would watch many YouTube videos on how to style curly hair and what products to use. During this time I certainly tried a lot of products and many techniques to get the perfect curls. Now at 24 even though I have a routine down, I am still learning and trying new products to see what gives me the best results.

Curly Hair Videos

Here are just a few of the YouTubers I watched when I first started to learn about my curls. I still watch them today and others to get new ideas!