Helping Clients Embrace Their Curls

by Michelle Breyer on Monday, May 4, 2009

Stylists can play a big role in helping clients embrace their texture.

Every curly can relay a salon horror story. Be it the unsatisfactory cut, the use of the wrong products, or an altercation with a “diva” stylist, it’s no wonder so many curlies straighten their tresses so they don’t have to deal with the “madness” surrounding curly hair care.

But a stylist can play a key role in helping her clients embrace their texture rather than curse it. We asked five stylists to weigh in on how they get their clients to rock their curls, kinks, and waves.

The first thing any stylist should do is to reassure their clients about their hair, and help them see its beauty.

“Sometimes, curly clients want their hand held,” says Ron King of Bo Salon. “They want to know that it’s okay to have curly hair.”

Often, someone with curly hair doesn’t even know they have a natural curl pattern until their stylist tells them.

But making the transition from going from straight to curly might seem daunting to someone who has spent her life hiding her texture from the world. Mahogany, a stylist at Head to Toe Salon in Minnesota, finds the best solution is to teach her client how to walk the line between straight and curly before adjusting 100 percent to a curly lifestyle.

After a consultation to make sure you and your client have similar expectations, the next step is to give a curl-enhancing cut. What that cut is depends on the stylist.

“It’s not about the amount cut off, but the technique,” King says. “I cut curly hair from the inside out because not one curl is alike. When it’s cut straight, it’s too even and you are often left with a round or geometric shape.”

Taylor Weatherford of Curltopia Salon in Georgia uses the C-cut developed by curl expert Kristen James. She says it enhances the natural curl pattern and shapes the face. Barbara Morin, a Devachan certified stylist from Electra’s Beauty Lounge, suggested the dry Deva cut developed by Lorraine Massey.

For those stylists unfamiliar with curly hair types, there are plenty of places to get education.

“Curly clients want to know you can give them soft touchable curls,” Morin says.

Products — and training in how to use them — also are key to helping clients learn to love their curls. This includes shampooing, conditioning and styling products.

“You have to break the barrier of thinking that you need to cleanse your hair everyday,” says King of Bo Salon. “The curly cuticle is porous, and by allowing the natural oils of the scalp to come back to the hair, you are helping to tame and smooth it.”

Most important, says Mona Harb of Lofty Salon & Wellness Center in Vienna, Va., is to send a positive message that they are lucky to have the head of hair they were given.

“I tell them to embrace it, love it, because it’s yours,” Harb says.