Texture event focuses on tips for curly hair

The Event: Texture! An event focusing on textured, curly hair for beauty industry professionals at America’s Beauty Show (March 27-29 in Chicago) sponsored by MODERN SALON, naturallycurly.com and curlstylist.com.

Miko and Titi Branch, creators of Miss Jessie’s line of products

Who: Eight panelists educated the audience on hairstyle trends, hair tips and salon products for textured, curly hair. Panelists included Anthony Dickey, author of Hair Rules!: The Ultimate Hair-Care Guide for Women with Kinky, Curly or Wavy Hair; Miko and Titi Branch, creators of Miss Jessie’s line of products; Ouidad, owner of the eponymous salons and products; Jonathan Torch, founder of Toronto’s Curly Hair Institute; Shari Harbinger, director of education for Deva Concepts and color director for Devachan Salon; Edwin Johnston of KMS California and Veronique Morrison, director of education for Mizani. MODERN’S Editor Laurel Nelson and Michelle Breyer, founder of naturallycurly.com, moderated the discussion and Q & A.

Soundbites and Details: The panelists agreed women with textured hair should embrace each and every curl. During the discussion, panelist members expressed their inspiration for entering the textured hair industry.

“Our entrance into the curly hair business started when my sister, Titi, had her child,” said Miko Branch. “During this time she realized she couldn’t keep her hair as straight as she liked so she started to experiment with her curly hair.”

From this point on both sisters developed strategies and techniques for women who wanted to embrace their texture. They decided after working with textured hair to form a product line—focusing on a niche in the curl market—black curly hair. Ouidad started working with curly hair out of frustration with her own hair.

“People thought I was crazy for opening a salon dedicated solely to curly hair,” she said. “My business grew so fast it was like a tsunami.”

Ouidad stressed that people should work with what they have. “Every head of texture has four or five curl patterns,” she said. “Let your hair air dry. Do things naturally and you will see the benefit.”

More Texture: Want to learn more about texture? Visit modernsalon.com/texture, curlstylist.com and naturallycurly.com. Plus, look for the next special texture!
supplement in the August issue of MODERN.