Straight hair is the default for hair care in the United States. As a result, hair types 3 and 4 – textured hair that is curly or coily – are often left out of standard hair care. People with curlier hair, often who are Black, thus have a harder time accessing products and care for their hair.
Geographic Accessibility
Many hair salons do not have stylists who know how to cut and style curly hair. While straight hair grows down, textured hair often grows up and out. Because of their inability to work with curly hair, stylists usually straighten it before cutting it. While this is easier on the stylist, it is not ideal for the customer who receives a cut that isn’t tailored to their natural curl pattern.
In cosmetology school, training focuses almost exclusively on straight hair. Only 19 states currently require any formal training with natural hair. It is often on the stylist to look and pay for extra training if they want to learn how to work with textured hair. The training gap for curlier hair in cosmetology school has resulted in only one curl specialist for every 32,000 curly-haired people in the United States.
Products geared towards textured hair are also harder to find. Tighter curls keep natural oils from traveling from the scalp to the strands, meaning they are often more brittle and dry than straight hair. All curly hair is different, but it generally requires less frequent washes and more moisturizing than straight hair.
While over half of Americans buy cosmetics from Walmart, Target, or Walgreens, 25% of Black women have trouble finding products for their hair. Over 50% have not found products that work right for them. The places that most Americans get their products from do not always carry the products that those with textured hair need for their hair. Even when they offer some, they sometimes lock up those catered towards Black people, making them less accessible without the help of a store employee.
As Black people increasingly switch to products specifically catered to them, they must travel farther to find places that sell such products. While online shopping can reduce the need to travel for products, people with textured hair still have to travel farther to get their hair cut and styled at salons specializing in their hair type. Black women are more affected because they tend to get their hair professionally styled more often than white women.
Textured Hair is More Expensive
Traveling farther for the proper hair care requires more gas, which is more costly. But gas is not the only thing that makes curly hair more expensive.
Haircuts for curly hair are often more expensive than for straight hair. Since it is a more specialized skill, salons charge higher for curly cuts. Customers are willing to pay extra because their other options do not know how to work with their hair.
Products are also more expensive, which would explain why Black women spend more money on hair products than white women. Among the ethnic hair and beauty industry in 2017, Black people made up about 86% of market spending.
Not only do people with textured hair use more products to oil and moisturize their hair and scalp, but they also try out lots of products to find which work best for their hair. Going through trial and error to find the best quality products adds up over time.
Accommodating for Curly Hair
Some cosmetic companies have opened training programs to teach stylists how to work with textured hair. DevaCurl, which unfortunately had to close its Devachan salon permanently due to the pandemic, offers online courses, the first of which is free for stylists. Ouidad offers both online and in-person courses, and TRESemmé’s program provides training for up to 1000 stylists nationwide.
Just last year, Louisiana made history as the first state to require cosmetology students to pass a test on textured hair to receive a license. Schools must provide mannequins with types 3 and 4 hair for students to practice with.
The benefits of becoming a curly hair specialist may hopefully compel more hair stylists across the country to do so and improve diversity and inclusion effort in the industry. Increased access to curl experts can also guide people with textured hair towards the best products for their hair, reducing the amount of time or money they would typically use when searching by themselves.
