I've talked about my journey stepping into the natural hair community several times before, but it was always from this perspective of "the grass is greener on the other side." Last year, I thought that if I chopped my hair off and grew it back like all these natural hair gurus, life would be perfect. But it's not. The more I explore, the more I find things I truly despise.
A very popular trend, especially in recent years, is curl definition. As far as I can tell, it really picked up speed in 2015-2016 but has been around since the 2000s. It's cute, it really is, and defining curls seems like a curly girl statement. Bring out those curls that you've been told since birth it's wrong to have. But...I'm struggling to see it that way. For people with hair types 2 and 3, curl definition really just means to tame the frizz. But for types 1 and 4, people often wind up reshaping their entire head of hair. Which, if you want to do it, go ahead. My issue arrives when people feel their hair isn't nice when they choose not to. My hair already naturally curls, why do I need curling cream? So I can feign a looser curl pattern? That, in my opinion, is just as damaging than forcing relaxers and perms, even more in certain contexts. Imagine feeling as though your natural coils aren't pretty because they're too tight. Or, when you're like me and have just gotten out of the "straight is beautiful" mindset, and now you see your curls are too tight. And, I'm not the only one who sees it.
"Curls are the new relaxer for natural women."
Yes! This! 4a-4c girls really spend their time hunting for products that will give their curls a type 3 appearance and can spend hundreds of dollars and hours of their time reshaping their strands. They know fully well a couple drops of water will revert everything and I've now stumbled across a couple videos on how to train your hair to grow out differently. How could you possibly call yourself natural while doing this? To reiterate, there is no shame to girls who enjoy the look. The shame is in the people who push it as the natural girl look or the natural staple. Almost every new product line now comes with a jar of curling jelly/cream/crème/custard/smoothie/gel/whatever. It's overwhelming to be quite honest. And in my opinion, the very same thing happens with edges. Curlier hair means having baby hairs that don't stay down naturally.
Personally, I've never been bothered with my edges, but I thought the trend was cute. I tried it once, was horrified by the amount of gel it took and washed it out immediately. Plus, I had no clue what I was doing and my swirl looked more like a crooked wave. Though, I'm more willing to give the edges thing a try myself, mostly because I've stumbled upon people who've done it with just some mousse or balm. Sure, it'll dissolve in a few hours, but I'm not really willing to hold my hair down like that for several days at a time. Still, it's weird to me how I feel this slight pressure to figure it out. Some of the best looking girls I've seen do this regularly and edge control is also becoming a hair line up essential.
And to top it off, too few people discuss the hair health risks. You truly cannot tell me that slathering pounds of gel on literal baby hairs and combing them down is good for you at all. And most of them aren't, people are acknowledging that. Edges are sensitive and edge control can be drying. Thus the people who search for alternatives, healthier, non-alcoholic options, and more moisturizing take-outs.
But for whatever reason, I'm finding nothing on whether or not curling gels/creams are ideal for hair. I searched and that one blog, a few others, and some side-by-side videos are the only things I found that didn't praise curl definition. It goes without saying that the ones with terrible ingredients are a no-go, but is it in general as safe as it presents itself? I imagine the gels aren't the best as you're literally forcibly holding your hair in an unnatural position. But what about the creams? And the smoothies? And the crèmes? And the jellies? And the whatever.
I'm sure some people genuinely know what this could do and do it anyway, and to that, I say it's not my business. It's like damaging "protective" styles, relaxers, perms, hair dye/wax, heat stylers--if you know the risk but do it anyway simply because you want to, then I do not care. What I care about are type 4 naturals like me feeling pressured to have defined curls and slick edges without being warned of the dangers. Type 1 naturals also get the curl thing, which is when you see people start to slather their hair in hairspray to hold a fake curl. Apparently, back in the 2000s when every high school girl plucked her eyebrows to death? I wouldn't know personally, but I see so many of those girls as adult women desperately trying to revive their eyebrows because they didn't know the risks back then. This also falls into trend hopping. One decade no eyebrows are in, the next you need thick, full ones. What if somewhere in the 2020s society decides that thick, full natural edges are in? It's a derivative of a European beauty standard, the train is bound to lose speed in the community soon.
Side Note: While I know this is primarily a black issue, I've chosen not to put this under my BLM tag. Because while hair is so important to so many African Americans, it isn't as important as the very right to live. I won't pretend that speaking up on hair is saving lives. But, I hope it helps make other black girls more comfortable with their own.
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