Blog #1 New Hair, New Me!
Twist and Shout:
The Joys and
Coils of Afro Hair
This year I decided it was time to ditch the braids, rid of the straightners and start embracing my natural hair. Join me on my journey of self discovery and designing something new for the coily haired community.
After 2 decades of wrestling with my type 3c/4a hair over what products are good, what tools are bad (straighteners eek) and many failed attempts at styling and embracing my natural coils, I decided enough is enough and I have to do something about this.
Before I started my journey I stopped and asked myself... Why have I struggled all my life to confidently wear the hair I was born with?! Well looking at studies on women with Afro-Caribbean hair, I found that I'm not alone.
As of 2023 the global hair care market is worth £70 billion, (Statista 2024) but only 1.7% is targeted towards Afro-Caribbean hair products (£1.2 billion). (The Texture Gap Report 2023).
Black women make up 10% of the total UK haircare spend despite being only 2% of the UK adult population.(Treasure Tress 2022). We also spend 9 times more on ethnic hair products than non-Black consumers.
So that leaves the question... Why don't women within the 3a-4c hair type bracket have the means to style thier natural hair with confidence?
Aside from the social stigma of black women wearing their hair naturally as well as the constant questions when they do decide to change their hairstyle, e.g. "Is that your REAL hair?" or "Ooh can I touch it"... There just aren't enough specialised tools out there which cater to our hair. Neither is there an adequate amount of education on how to manage it.
As an attempt to expand the knowledge and aid the developement within the black hair care industry, over the next year I will be designing a new product to bring into the technological hair care market specialising in type 3a-4c hair. I want my product to allow black women to confidently rock their natural curls and coils without having to sell an arm and a leg to get their hair styled by a specialist.
So to start this journey off, I've taken out my extentions and brushed out my (a)fro and have begun to understand how to take better care of my coils! So stay tuned and join me whilst I twist and shout about the ups and downs on my natural hair care journey.
