How Re-Branding Wash Day Can Improve The Natural Hair Experience
For many naturalistas, wash day is A LOT. It requires an impressive amount of preparation, focus, and sometimes even a full-on YouTube degree in Natural Hair Arts. While the experience is different for everyone, it’s common for women with natural curls and coils to dedicate hours at a time detangling, conditioning, moisturizing, and whatever else is needed to show their tresses love.
I know this from personal experience. As the proud owner of 4b and 4c coils, the process of taking care of my hair is…well, a process. And to be honest, I didn’t always like it. In fact, for most of my life, I didn’t. It’s easy for the work required to maintain my hair’s health to feel cumbersome, and even unfair. On a number of occasions, I found myself cursing the extra work required for my super tight curls. But I’ve learned over the years that it’s all about how you frame the experience.
And not just on a personal level. We’ve got work to do when it comes to how natural hair is discussed in the United States in general. Luckily, there has been some progress in the larger narrative, with more representation of and discussion on the diversity of natural hair. There’s still a lot of work left to do — as evidenced by the necessity of Dove’s CROWN Act campaign — but steps have been made in the right direction.
