Lowkey, the Curl Chart

Lowkey, we have GOT to stop trying to make our hair fit into the box that is the curl chart. Today, we’re going on a full deep dive, working from the surface to the core, into why it should be tossed aside forever.

Even the curl pattern chart’s surface level flaws are ginormous. To start, it just gives broad types of hair, categorizing into “straight, wavy, curly, and coily,” which we’ll get into later. This simplifies hair into just the way that it falls, discounting factors that matter just as much and even more. Porosity, density, local weather, etc. have huge effects on what your hair needs. Personally, I have to alter my hair routine whenever I get a haircut! Another problem is that it doesn’t offer any explanations for individuals with several different curl types. I was once told that I have a mixture between 4a and 4b, but it looks kind of like there’s some 3c when it’s wet and so on…what good does that do me? I don’t want to do something different to each individual curl; I don’t have the time! The curl pattern chart doesn’t have the answers that I was looking for about how to do my hair.

Unfortunately, the curl pattern chart’s problems are a lot more serious than just being undetailed. Let’s talk about how the curl pattern chart creates division. Let’s talk about Andre Walker. I remember trying to use the chart to figure out what hair products I should use, but it’s almost impossible. There are far too many types of hair products! Almost everyone with curly/kinky hair that I know has struggled with the problem. Why? Because the curl pattern chart wasn’t created to help find what product to use out of the entire market. Andre Walker created the now widespread curl pattern chart in order to market his hair product line and help explain hair textures. He put straight hair at the top and curly hair at the bottom, not even including type 4c in his initial chart. He’s said that the hair that he ranked as type 4 is hard to deal with and the best option is to relax it. There’s not a lot of dots to connect: his chart is rooted in the very same racism that forced Black women to treat their hair to be less curly and/or straight just a couple of decades ago. Andre Walker’s chart has added to the relentless hate against our natural curls. 

The hair typing chart wasn’t created with us in mind in the first place, so why do we keep using it? Personally, I never knew the history of the chart until I went digging for myself. Black women have to lift each other up and help each other out by telling our family, friends, and any one who wants to listen that we have to move away from the things that were built to harm us. We live in a day and age where we don’t have to read magazines, watch tv, or use a hot comb If we can’t figure out how to style our natural hair. There are tons and tons of natural hair creators and Black entrepreneurs who have created content and products just for us. Do your research, allow trial and error, and have some patience. Do whatever feels best for you! May your curls be big, small, defined, frizzy, and whatever you want them to be. Z out!