Know Your Curlies: Curl Stats! Texture is evolving into less of a trend and more of a lifestyle. It’s come to this: Women with naturally straight hair are the least likely of anyone to say they “wouldn’t change a thing” about their hair, according to a 2013 study of consumers conducted by Texture Media, Inc. But that doesn’t diminish how challenging textured hair can be. More than half of women with textured hair indicated on the survey that some days they’re happy with their hair, but other days their hair drives them crazy.

A separate study of hairdressers, conducted by MODERN SALON Media, offers hope that the number of textured clients’ happy hair days may soon increase: 80 percent of responding hairdressers expressed interest in receiving advanced education “specific to cutting, curling or styling curly hair.”

Already, 65 percent of stylists indicated that they consider themselves curl experts or specialists, and practically all survey respondents—98 percent—said they recommend special products to curly clients and regularly provide clients with advice on how to style their curly hair. Respondents identified their curlies as about one-third of all clientele.

Both surveys indicate that texture is a growing market. The consumer study concludes that “acceptance of natural texture is at an all-time high.” In fact, the tighter their curl, the more likely respondents were to wear their hair natural and to believe in the texture movement. Stylists are well-aware of this trend, with 90 percent of the stylist survey respondents predicting that “the ability to cut, curl and style curly hair” will be either somewhat or very important to growing their business and revenue in the future.

Nearly 40 percent of responding stylists reported that clients with naturally curly hair spend more than straight-haired clients; 44 percent said curly clients purchase more products than straight-haired clients.

Nearly 2 out of 5 textured hair clients are quite happy with their curly hair. However, many love their curly hair some days, while it drives them crazy on others--indicating they still haven't found their perfect hair care products.

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