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

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 the mud so this could be payola for Bronner Brothers if it actually goes through.  I’m sure Raven will keep making Bil 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 works? Yup! But now we ‘re caught up in the new marketing with the 3 no’s , (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!

Author Spotlight

salkis

Hi! This is Salkis Re,The Queen from Queens,NY, a true renaissance women. Peek over my shoulder and you'll see me offering hair style tips, writing self-help books, instructing natural hair classes, filming You Tube video tutorials, Oh!, and did I mention I'm a crazy mom, wife and professional blogger too! My blogs are: Combmyhair.com, ICareForBlackHair, SisterLocksWithStyle

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Posted by on November 6, 2011. Filed under General Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.


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  • Tilford

    Living across in the UK, it has been quite interesting reading and observing this grading system for natural hair.And now I read with horror that there maybe some cosmetic companies who want to hijack the situation. For me being natural is not just about my hair being natural but its about using natural hair products not just in my hair but on my skin and eating better. It has also heightened my awareness about who I am, where I come from and accepting me and my beautiful black hair, things that you simply cannot bottle! And it does make me sad to see some people get so hyper over this grading system. I acknowledge that it may help certain people etc etc But the thing about natural hair is about finding out what kind of hair you have and finding out what best suits your hair whether it be Dax or shea butter.

  • Csh4597

    It personally doesn’t bother me. When I was transitioning 3 years ago, I found that it actually helped me to sort of identify with other naturals with similar hair types, Especially on hair boards when I would search for techiques, products etc that would work best for my hair type or curl pattern. For example Hair Milk vs Hair Butters. I’ve found that Milks in most cases are too light and not moisturizing enough for my Thick tight/cottony coarse hair texture,(I need thick creams and butters) but those with finer looser textures the milk seems to be enough.  I blindly went in and purchased a Milk and it did nothing for my hair.. Wasn’t sure why it wasn’t doing what it said(I was really green back then)   But after researching what other type 4 ladies were using, it really helped me get over a lot of dry hair frustrations. 

     Now that I’ve been natural for two years and I know what I’m doing, I don’t have a need to search for information via hair types.  And, I always saw it as a loose guide, because we all know that it’s pretty hard to put two people in the same category using organized hair typing systems…Now you are right,,I haven’t seen any mainstream companies promote any products with a FRO on it!  It’s obviously not considered  a desireable hairstyle by mainstream society?  I thank God for these Mom and Pop companies.   

  • Stylox

    I appreciate that we dont all have the same type of hair, some course, some fine etc, but I think it is much more important to find products that work for us forget the a,b & c.  who comes up with all this rubbish?  My hair is fine at the front and nape area, and course in the middle, but to me it doesnt matter, because it is still natural hair and needs the right care.  For years I have been using products that were for caucasian hair, but now I have discovered all my hair needs is no comb (I use my fingers to detangle now), and oiling my hair and scalp daily.  That is what is working for me.  My advice to natural ladies, find what works for you and stick to it.

    Stylox.  xx

  • http://www.lessfoodmorelife.com/ BHI

    Personally I always found the grading system confusing more than anything because I don’t exactly fit snugly into any of the categories but I can understand why a new natural would use the system to identify with others and possibly to help with picking out products.

  • Guest

    What I find interesting is that black women outside the US don’t use a grading system. Then you find out that certain companies are looking to hijack this grading system to produce hair products accordingly.Women of other races do not have grading systems for their hair. I agree it might be helpful for newbies but part of the thing of having natural hair is the journey. I know it may sound a bit hippyish and boring, but the thing about having natural hair is about not wanting to use chemicals or heat and to try and have a more natural way of life. You cannot wash and fro with natural black hair and if you don’t want to put in the time or effort then you are not ready to have natural black hair. Having natural hair is not about obsessing about length. You have length as a side product of going natural. Then you get some black women talking about hair length in terms of collar length, bra length etc etc again only in the US.Now of course,people are going to think that I am attacking you, I’m not, I’m just asking why? My thing with this forums is about learning, maybe we need a grading system in Europe who knows?

    • Shaniqua43

      Trust me you don’t need a grading system in Europe, it would just add to the confusion!