Writing Tips

Odd Specifics: Curls

Gonna start a small series called Odd Specifics that will pop in every once in a while in this book. Their purpose? To give info many usually don't think about and leave out in their stories.

This segment is on curly hair.

Now, as I've said before, I'm white. White people have variations of curls just like people of color, but different.

Due to my experiences, I've found out a lot from women of color and some men of color about how they treat their curls.

As many who already know about curls, there's a chart system. From 1 all the way to 4C. 1 is completely straight and 4C is the kinkiest and curliest hair possible (sometimes I've heard people describe it as nappy).

All charts are different, but here is the one my curl group on Facebook uses for a type of reference. I will refer to it throughout this segment.

This is another example the group uses as well:

Now, I did have a roommate my sophomore year of college who is a woman of color and she said my hair looked like 3C to her (as in the drawn image). If I were to pick a curl from the chart with photographs, I'd categorize myself as 3A.

All charts are different, but all the same, people with this hair type have to do more than a simple shampoo and condition.

For proper hair care to keep it healthy, there are ingredients to avoid. I won't list them as I don't think they're that important for story writing, but if you're interested and wanna know, just comment and say so!

The ingredients dictate which brands and brand products are okay to use on hair. Some popular ones in the group I'm in are the following (most are USA citizens):

Shea Moisture
Cantu
Aussie (select items)
Not Your Mother's
DeVa, but this one is a bit controversial in the curly hair community due to scandals

There's definitely more and even a site called curlbot that lists some brands that are safe if you did want to mention brands in your story.

Other things most don't know about curly hair is that you should sleep with it in a sleeping cap, preferably in a hairstyle that won't tangle your hair nor damage your curls. Other hair treatments are plopping, which is when you put wet hair up in an updo with a long sleeve t-shirt.

These are things you can write about your characters, whether it's their appearance or you're describing their routine.

There are refreshers used in the morning to liven curls, and also leave in conditioners.

Hair masks (masqs on some products) and cowashes are also commonly used.

Curly haired people also take longer in the shower for their hair.

And, most importantly if your character cares about their hair...

NO BRUSHING.

It's only combed in the shower!
Sometimes a hairbrush may be used here, but that's if they have super curly hair.

Examples:
I have a friend who has 4C hair, she has to use a hairbrush, conditioner, and constant running water in the shower to detangle her hair. It's still painful for her too despite all the precautions she takes. Her showers also last about two hours because of this.

Another friend of mine, he has to use a pick comb to clean his natural Afro (also 4C) as it can't even be detangle in the shower. His is only two inches long too (curls wound all the way up, so not straight out).

For me, I use my fingers to do the first run through of detangling in the shower, followed by shampoo and conditioner (or cowash, I switch them every wash) before I go in with the big tooth comb to do that. Then, after being rinsed, I use a fine tooth comb to get other tangles out. It takes me an hour to do just that process. Protein masks on my hair add fifteen minutes when I do that.

I'm not sure if anyone will find this useful for characters with curly hair or natural POC styles, but I hope it's useful information!

And if any POC have their own comments about this and have a lot better explanation as to how this should be depicted in a story, please comment. I value that type of feedback to know what's useful for helping others in their writing.