I’ve been a Curly Ambassador for Curls Understood –a platform that delivers “inspiration and information to the natural hair community”–for about two years. It focuses on educating new naturals as they embark on their hair journey. During this time, I’ve had the opportunity to get to know the Founder, Sylvia Kerali, and have seen the brand grow to offer a subscription box service, and most recently a natural hair e-book called Know Thy Curls, which is the “Ultimate Product Ingredient Dictionary For Your Curls.”
Know Thy Curls E-Book
Earlier I mentioned this e-book was in short the ultimate product ingredient dictionary for naturals. It is that and so much more. It walks you through the fundamentals of understanding natural hair; from identifying your specific curl pattern and its traits, to density and porosity, how to read product labels, and product ingredients—by product type. Woi.
There’s something to be gained by reading this book, for even the most experienced natural with 5 chapters, 21 sections, and over 100 pages. The information is easy to read and simple to understand. Most of all, there are pictures to demonstrate important concepts. Who doesn’t love pictures?
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Product Ingredient Dictionary
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My favorite part about the ingredient dictionary aside from the actual ingredient breakdowns is the organization. This section is broken into types of products (i.e. shampoo, deep treatment, oil blends, etc) which helps you understand the nuances of how each product category is formulated. Since the book starts by breaking down all the fundamentals of natural hair and walks you through how to identify your specific hair type, going through the product ingredient dictionary should help you see what ingredients are best for your hair, those that aren’t.
If you’ve been a product junkie, you should be able to clear your drawers of the stuff that isn’t good for your hair, and walk confidently into a beauty supply store and assess products for your hair without being overwhelmed.
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Product Log Sheets
I really appreciated that it included product log sheets which help you to create a “curl profile” to document who exactly your hair is (her specific characteristics), the products you’re using, and the products your hair loves and hates. By now hopefully you know having natural hair is very much a process of trial and error to determine what works best. The most prudent way to experiment is to keep good notes on what you did, how you did it, and the results. These log sheets are perfect for this. With time you’ll be able to look back and see exactly what you used, what was in it, and therefore, clearly understand how it affected your curls.
Modeling on TV!
Around the time of the book launch in March, I was asked if I could model along side two other models to show a variety of natural textures to promo the book live on Fox5DC, and of course I said yes! I didn’t tell anyone I was going to be on TV that morning, so it was pretty funny to get texts, calls, and messages from people who happened to see it. But for those of you who missed my ‘moment’ on live TV, I’ve included the video below. Thank you again to Curls Understood for allowing me the opportunity to help with the promo of such an amazing book on natural hair. I saw behind the scenes of a live news set, and it was so different than I imagined.
Have you read the Know Thy Curls e-book already? What was your biggest takeaway? Comment down below!
Great advice! I wish I had curls! 🙁
This is a really informative post that I will definitely pass along to some friends! Thanks!
Thanks!
OOh lala! I have not read this book yet, but Ouidad products definitely saved me from what might have otherwise been even more awkward teenage years. This book looks great- gonna definitely share it with my mom.
I haven’t tried Ouidad yet but I’ve been hearing great things about it! Thanks for reading!
Thanks so much for sharing this review. This ebook sounds like an amazing product and as someone who’s been natural for a few years now, I definitely am always on the lookout for products like this.
Thanks for reading! Even for us experienced naturals it helps as regulations are always changing etc
She really knew stuff on the segment. Love that she was prepared to answer even the simplest questions. Also congrats on being on the show!
Yes she did so well!! Thank you!
Great stuff! Definitely going to share with some friends 🙂
I love it! As a curly haired girl myself, I wish more people could embrace their hair as it is naturally.
this looks like lots of great information. Part of my job is to try to help others take care of their hair I believe this would help a lot
that’s awesome, I think it would help a lot too!