The contemporary natural-hair movement, which began in the early 2000s, has always been closely tied to hair-care products. Or, in the beginning, a lack thereof. Before there was Miss Jessie’s Curly Pudding and Kinky-Curly Curling Custard, Black women were forced to DIY their hair care. Eventually, though, natural-hair-care products by early-entry Black-founded brands like SheaMoisture (launched in 1991) and Carol’s Daughter (1993) became widely available.
As products proliferated throughout the 2010s, so did the community’s reliance on hair typing, a system that categorizes curl patterns — commonly from wavy to kinky. Identifying one’s hair type became the skeleton key that unlocked all secrets of hair care and hairstyling.
At the Strategist, we love a deeply vetted, highly specific recommendation. So since 2018, we’ve been building our expertise in helping you find the best products and styling techniques for your natural hair, digging into questions like “What are the best products for a twist-out?” and “What are the best edge-controls?” This week, we’re highlighting all of our best natural-hair coverage. And because the community and its products are ever evolving, we’re also taking time this week to answer the question “Where is natural hair right now?”
One thing that’s bubbling up: Hair typing’s significance is now beginning to unravel, as savvy consumers discover characteristics that are more useful when it comes to care and styling, like hydration levels, density, texture, and porosity.
If we’re in the nascency of Does Hair Typing Even Matter?, we’re already in late stage But Are You Really Even Natural? Dunni Odumosu and Taleah Griffin are founders of the podcast Beauty Needs Me. “Around 2011, for you to be considered ‘natural’, you couldn’t wear wigs, you couldn’t wear weaves, you couldn’t get a blowout,” said Odumosu. The community now has a greater sense of acceptance and freedom. “Now, I can be a natural who gets my hair blown out every two weeks or can be a natural girl who wears 20-inch wigs but refuses to relax my hair.”
With more Black people natural than ever, there’s a push for visual representation of kinks and tight curls in order to help, at last, break away from the long-standing idealization of looser curls. “It’s important that we see 4C tight curls because society is still telling us that it is not acceptable. It’s getting more tighter curls out there and saying, ‘I can show up with my wash-and-go the same way a white girl can show up with her wash-and-go,’” said Griffin.
Below, find all of our Natural-Hair Week stories along with some of our previous coverage on natural-hair care. And keep checking in this week for more.
Strategist Chats: The Making of Natural-Hair Week
The Products I Use to Protect My Braids Before, During, and After Styling
The Best Hair Bonnets, According to Experts
11 New Yorkers on Going Natural
The Best Edge Brushes, According to Professional Hair Stylists
This $2 Drugstore Hair Treatment Repaired My Hopeless Split Ends
Everything You Need to Know About Hair Steaming
The Best At-Home Hood Dryers, According to Professionals
The Best Hair Accessories for Natural Hair, According to Obsessives
How to (Safely) Take Down a Protective Style and Detangle Natural Hair
How to Take Care of Your Natural Hair, If You’re Newly Natural
The Best Detangling Brushes for Natural Hair, According to Hair Stylists
The Best Edge Control, According to Baby-Hair Professionals
The Curl Cream That Cut My Natural Hair Routine in Half
The Business of Braiding Hair
The Best Edge Brushes, According to Professional Hair Stylists
I’ve Finally Mastered My Twist Out — Here’s Everything I Use
I Wear My Grace Eleyae Bonnet Both to Bed and on Zoom Calls
The Best Pieces of Black Hair Art, According to Black Artists and Curators
Yes, You Can Achieve an Actually-Silky Silk Press at Home
This Is the Mason Pearson of Natural-Hair Brushes (and It’s Just $18)
How to Build a Black-Owned Hair-Care Routine
How I Maintain a 4C Afro on Low-Porosity Hair for 10 Days at a Time
I Was an All-in-One Skeptic, But This Co-Wash Cleanses, Conditions, and Literally Melts My Tangles
This Castor Oil Smoothes My Flyaways (and Made My Hair Grow 3 Inches)
Everything You Need to Take Care of 4C Hair
The Best Hair Masks, According to Hair Experts
The Best Styling Products for Curly Hair, According to Hairstylists and Salon Owners
The Best Hair Oils for Curly, Kinky, and Coily Hair
The Best Leave-In Conditioners, According to Hairstylists
The 5 Deep Conditioners I Use on My Tightly Curled (Tangle-Prone) Natural Hair
I Own 7 of These Tangle-Teasing Brushes
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