Grading System For Natural Hair Types, Are They Annoying You Too?

Ok, Ok, I guess I have no choice but to ride with the pack on this. It seems that natural hair now has to have a grading  system in order to interpret hair types.

I wish we could go back to times when your hair was either kinky* or straight. But with companies cow-cashing in on curl pattern specific products, I don’t think the grading system is going anywhere anytime soon.

I guess my gripe is that it kinda leaves out certain natural hair types like your 4a-4c girls. I have noticed a surge in hair product campaigns that target natural hair wearers, and I have yet to find a single ad with a girl in an afro.

Raven Symone is going natural too!

I’ve seen recent pictures of Raven Simone sporting her 3a hair, and I heard from an industry colleague that she made a deal to be the campaign spokesperson for an upcoming launch of Bronner Brother’s new natural hair care line!

If this is true, I know she must have gotten a shiny penny for endorsing their products. Raven has a good reputation for business and has managed to keep her ‘brand’ in tact and her name out of the mud so this could be payola for Bronner Brothers if it actually goes through.  I’m sure Raven will keep making Bill Cosby smile!

What happened to one size fits all?

Ok, back to my beef about this hair type stuff. Can anyone remember when your momma bought  shampoo, and nobody’s hair fell out? I remember Fantasia shampoo, Ultra Sheen Hair Food, Vo5 for hot oil treatments, World of Curls Oil Sheen Spray and Brass for dandruff.

Does the ole stuff still work? Yup! But now we’re caught up in the new marketing with the 3 and 4 numbers , (no parabens, no mineral oil*, no sulfates). But it doesn’t end there, cause then you’d have to ditch the chloride and formaldehyde in your favorite ice cream too, but that’s another story.

What happened to the Afro ads?

I don’t see any 70’s  inspired, Angela Davis type fro’s from any major manufacturers, and I’m not talking about mom and pop operations, I’m talking about heavy hitters like Revlon or Johnson and Johnson manufacturers.

I talked with my good friend, (Tonya Reed,CEO of Uncle Funky’s Daughter natural hair products), about the grading system for natural hair and she agreed that girls with coarse hair sometimes feel unsatisfied if their hair didn’t get ‘curly’ from using a hair product.

As a cosmetologist, I’ve had the opportunity to work with ALL hair types and I see what products can and cannot do for the hair. My concern is the divisiveness of putting us into a,b,c categories, call me overly sensitive, but I won’t be satisfied until I see women with short afro’s have their own shampoo, conditioner, sheen spray all packaged in a sophisticated, high fashioned way. Hmm maybe I need to talk to Alec Wek about this!

Well My Work Is Done!

I hope you ladies can forgive my little rant , but I had to give a some deeper thought to this system for natural hair types. I’d like to know if anyone else feels this way too. Leave your questions and opinions on this please!