Remember the day when you finally stopped trying to brush your curls straight, or decided to unplug your flat iron for good? Many of us can recall an "aha" moment when we stopped fighting our hair's natural texture and began to embrace it. We may even have found ourselves in the process! To celebrate the launch of our new Curl Immersion collection for kinky curls, we asked three women who rock this curl type to share their stories of how they learned to love their curls.
Nicholle Kobi - Illustrator, Niki's Groove
Nicholle Kobi's art celebrates black beauty and natural hair. Through her drawings of fashionable women wearing afros, braids, and curls-all shared via her popular Instagram account-she's helping to redefine what beauty looks like in her native France, and for her many fans around the world. The Paris-based illustrator has run her successful online shop, Niki's Groove, since 2012.
"I used to relax my hair when I was younger, but I always feel more real with my natural hair," Kobi says. She began to fully embrace her kinky curly texture around age 20. "I [realized] I loved wearing my big hair like a crown."
Today, she says, her curls are part of her identity. "I love who I am, so I love my hair the way it is."
Enter Ouidad and Naturally Curly's #CurlClique contest for a chance to win an exclusive Niki's Groove print, plus a full set of the new Curl Immersion collection for kinky curls. Visit this page for more details.
Renae Bluitt - Founder, Crush Media and Creator, In Her Shoes
As a New York City beauty PR strategist, Renae Bluitt created her blog, In Her Shoes, in 2009 to empower and enlighten women entrepreneurs committed to realizing their dreams.
Though she wore her hair relaxed when she was younger, her curly texture has become her signature. "It's like an exclusive accessory that makes every single outfit and never goes out of style!" she says.
She made the decision to go natural after moving to Brooklyn. There, "I fell in love with the community of women who proudly wore their God-given textures. At the same time, I was noticing a difference in my hair's health as a result of relaxing for so many years," she explains. "I transitioned for about a year before I cut off the relaxed ends. When I finally did it, I regretted not doing it sooner."
"I love that my hair is as unique to me as my fingerprint. I have several textures, so when I wear my hair in a wash-and-go, it never looks exactly like anyone else's in the room."
Christina Brown - Founder, LoveBrownSugar.com
Style blogger, social media specialist, and digital media maven Christina Brown is the founder of LoveBrownSugar.com, which focuses on fashion and beauty for multicultural women with an emphasis on self-empowerment.
"I had a relaxer growing up, like most young African-American women my age," she says. "It was kind of a given that you would get a relaxer at a certain age."
When she saw what her curls were capable of, she fell in love. "I'd been so conditioned to straightening [my curls] that once I allowed them to grow out, it was like developing a whole new relationship with my hair."
These days, her favorite thing about her hair is its versatility. "I love that I'm able to wear my hair curly one day, straight the next," she says. "I now know that the emphasis should be on having healthy hair, not curly or straight. One isn't necessarily 'better' than the other, it's just different. And I appreciate my hair in all the different forms it can take."