The Mechanics of Curly Hair

My own hair frequently changes its shape and appearance in many ways. That affects my daily life. Back in 1995 when my parents worked in the corporate world, Black women like me had to straighten or braid our hair to fit in. But the care products available for our type of hair were limited. The common hair taxonomy—developed by cosmetics brand L’Oréal—had four categories: straight, wavy, curly, and kinky. But most of the products catered to either straight or wavy. Many Black women settled for “wavy” hair products, but they didn’t work for styling our natural hair in what was considered an acceptable way.

I realized that in addition to being a societal problem, this problem was a polymer-materials one, in that different hair types have different mechanical properties. What we needed was a better way of classifying curly and kinky hair and providing more information on the kinds of personal care products that will best resonate with these curl patterns.