Last Week’s DevaCurl Lorraine Massey Experience
As soon as I entered GBS Pinecrest last Saturday, the man at the counter already knew — “They’re all back there,” he said with an inviting smile. Like honeybees flocking to their queen, Miami’s curly girls were headed to meet Lorraine Massey, author of Curly Girl, innovator of the “Curly Cut,” and co-owner of DevaCurl and New York’s Devachan Salon.
Massey and her Devacurl crew were visiting South Florida GBS salons, educating salon professionals (including my beloved Larramy), and meeting the masses to spread the curly hair gospel. The salon was packed, and Massey was holding court in a corner, surrounded by rapt curly haired women of a variety of textures. Their baskets were laden with products and books. One customer proudly brandished the last DevaSun diffusing hair dryer in the store.
Suddenly I came face to face with Lorraine herself. Her curls are on point — a gorgeous angel’s mane of blond spirals. “I love your hair!” she squealed when she met me, and it’s like — cue Handel’s Messiah. “I love YOUR hair!” I squealed right back. We hit it off right away. We chatted briefly about the terrible trend of curly-to-straight makeovers on television, and she briefly consulted me about curls and hair color — blond highlights can make curls immediately apparent, but can also make your hair super dry. Before too long, she was whisked away by another crowd of women, eager to ask her detailed questions about how to cut, cleanse, and style their hair. The salon space was overcrowded, but the energy was so empowering and positive.
The room was mostly filled with Caucasian curly girls, there was one other brown skinned bella in the room and she kept making eye contact with me in the mirror as she got her hair styled into perfectly stretched ringlets. When her hair was done, she approached me and we chatted about Afrobella. She was familiar with my site, and is a regular at Nappturality, so we had quite a bit to chat about. Lorraine flitted around the room, joining conversations, admiring hairstyles in progress — an adorable little girl no more than six was among the throng, and the stylist trimming her hair was amazingly attentive to the shape and direction of every curl. “She’s going to do you next,” a Devacurl specialist informed me.
I kept coming up with questions for Lorraine based on my own experiences — before my haircut I’d been having trouble detangling my hair. My beloved Denman brush wasn’t cutting it lately — I noticed that it was making my curl pattern frizzy and disrupted, leaving me with a big poofy clown wig instead of coily spirals like I wanted. From the minute I said “Denman brush,” Lorraine’s eyelids fluttered shut like she’d caught the vapors. “Why would you do that? Then your hair has to find its curl pattern again. That’s not detangling your hair gently or slowly or with respect.”
I told her that Denman brushes are pretty popular among curly haired women of color of late — I’ve been reading lots of talk about Denman brushes everywhere from Nappturality to Honey Brown Sugar to Biracial Hair, and I’ve heard from quite a few bellas who swear it’s changed their entire hair care routine. Despite the brushes’ popularity, Lorraine just says NO to brushing, period, and discouraged me from using the Denman in no uncertain terms. I asked her what she would do, if she needed to detangle in a hurry. “I would rather wait a few days until I have the time to properly cleanse and style my hair,” she declared. I explained that I only used the Denman in the shower, when my hair was completely saturated with conditioner. “But your hair is very weak when it’s wet. Brushing the hair when wet makes it more likely to break,” she explained as she was ushered away to chat with another group of patrons.
Then it was my turn in the chair, with Terri as my DevaCurl specialist. I’ll say this — the lady takes her time and gets it right. “What can I say? I’m a perfectionist,” she explained as she compared the length of the curls on either side of my temples. Terri’s cut was careful and precise, specifically trimmed to fall perfectly into shape. I asked for volume and length, and Terri tapered the haircut to shape my face while keeping the back of my hair as long as I wanted it to be.
Terri’s cut was less interactive than Larramy’s; no bending over upside down with her. At the end of my haircut — which was done dry without any products whatsoever because of time constraints — I wasn’t entirely convinced of the cuteness of my new do. All of my grown-out highlights had been chopped off, leaving me with a close-cropped head of dark coils that, sans product, looked hella dry. Terri even admitted that she cut off more than she meant to.
One day and an overnight Ojon treatment later, and voila. That’s the photo you see above, and I detangled with a wide tooth comb instead of the Denman, as Lorraine advised me to do. For styling products I’ve been using Miss Jessie’s Curly Meringue, a wicked mix my homegirl mixed up for me — based on the bella-beloved MoeShealoe that everyone on Nappturality and Fokti is buzzing about (LOVE IT!), and DevaCurl Set Me Up to scrunch my spirals into shape.
I’ve been swimming in compliments ever since the haircut, and with the colored tips of my hair gone, it feels healthier and looks more moist than ever before. Very happy with it so far, and what I like about the curl cut is, as it grows out it still maintains a shape.
I plan on interviewing Lorraine soon, and I’d love to ask her some questions from you bellas!
What do you think of the cut? And what would you like me to ask her?
Category: Hair, Product Reviews
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- The Sunday Afternoon Beauty Ritual | afrobella | November 25, 2008
Hey Afrobella! Your hair looks beautiful! I was wondering what advice you or Lorraine might have for a bella who’s just starting to grow out her hair. I got the BC in July, and the curl pattern is finally settling, and I see a few individual curls setting themselves aprt for the rest of the fro, but I was wondering if either of you have any advice on how to help the rest of my hair individualize like those few? Thanks a lot!
bella, your hair looks fabulous!
Well you’re super cute either way but I am really feeling the darker color on you.
I can’t give up my Denman though! My hair just was not getting detangled properly with just a wide tooth comb. I always had little “dreads” forming at my nape and nappy knot balls forming at my ends. I never detangle when I’m in a rush though. Especially now that it’s longer, I have to get out of the shower and detangle in sections. I only detangle once, maybe twice a week.
I have been a lurker on Afrobella for over a year now, and may I say I’m addicted, lol. I really wanted to attend this Devacurl Lorraine Massey event,as I live close to the Pinecrest area, however, had prior obligations.
Your hair is FABULOUS!!!! I am definitely in love with the cut, looking forward to interview.
I love your hair! It looks beautiful and the curls are very well defined. I would have been mad over the scissor happy stylist LOL but at least your hair will grow back. I don’t think I could just detangle with a comb. I love my Denman brush and will continue to use it. I’m sure if Lorraine had an afro she’d use one too LOL
Hey bella, was just wondering if you heard of a salon product line called Urban Therapy. They have 2 salons in London but sell their hair care products via shops. I mention them because their site shows that they will be launching in the usa soon. here is a link to the product range http://www.urbantherapylondon.com/products.html. I have recently bought their 30 second curl spray, curl activator and the relaxing cream (its not a chemical). they smell nice. hair is in braids at the mo so not yet tried.
I am really having a problem detangling my hair in the shower with a wide tooth comb. I comb out about once a week in the shower with conditioner. It feels like I lose a small child’s head in the shower.
I was going to get the Denman…now I am not so sure. How do I detangle my hair….whats a good product…..
Tired of hair loss
Hi,
thank you…
this is my first time in my life that ive grown my hair naturally EVER in my life. My mom has put relaxer in my hair since i was 2yrs old, and im 24 now. I’m 10 mos into growing it out, and i feel so LOST. I live in hawaii, where its so hard to find anyone to help me out. My ultimate goal is to have hair like Korto off of this seasons Project Runway. Her locks are DEVINE. my hair is 4b, from what i could gather off website, and its about…an inch long dry, but when i blow dry and press it to and afro, about 4 inch. HELP PLEASE
Pearl
I have been checking these natural site out for about 6 months. I have very fine hair that is very curly/wavy in front, bushy and cottony at the crown and very soft and tightly curled on the sides and in back. To make matters worse my hair is very light (strawberry blonde) which makes it look dry all the time. I had relaxed hair to the middle of my back all my life however it seemed to be getting finer and finer the older I got and I couldn’t do anything with it because it was just straight. So, I decided to texturize it. That was a horrible mistake because some parts were great and others went bone straight. Now that I am natural and my hair has grown out to the point where I have a nice sized ‘fro I wanted to know how to control the frizzy parts. Maybe there is no way to do that but I wanted to check. When I use curl activators or leave in conditioners like Cantu Sheabutter my curls look cute for about half the day then they go right back to being bushy. Even on days when the curls are cute the whole day watch out for the second day because it’s a hot mess. I have bought just about any product you can name. I have finally realized that using a nopoo product does really make a difference. I use devacurl nopoo and conditioner. But the angell makes my hair feel dusty afterwards because I have to use so much. So, if there is anyone out there that can tell help me with advise I am all ears. I live in Maryland and I plan to make a trip to DC to Salon Revive to see Yodit as soon as possible. If you live in the MD/DC area and know of a good curly/natural salon please recommend it. I am not one for locks or braids (although I think they look nice) but I need someone who can make my natural hair look pretty and not dry and bushy. If they tell that’s it then I will learn to live with it but I am hoping I can look as beautiful as you do in the picture. Sorry to ramble but this is an SOS for some help! Thanks to anyone who took the time to read this and provide assitance.
Hi afrobella! i officially just got addicted to your site about 2 hours ago and i’m still on it. LOL. first off, that “after” pic looks absolutely AMAZING! it’s crazy what a good cut can do for your curls! makes me want to go out and get my hair cut too. secondly, i’m glad i’m not the only one who was not a fan of the denman brush. i think it makes my hair into a big, poufy mess so i can see why Lorraine says it disrupts the curl pattern. i like my curls to be defined waves and ringlets (i have so many textures so i have both wavy curls and tight ringlets throughout my hair). and the brush just makes all the curls into a straight pouf! i don’t see how people are getting MORE curl definition with this brush. anyways, i’m glad i stumbled upon this blog. love it!
Love the hair and for anybody that want to know how to take care of natural hair i strongly recommend going natural by mireille liong-a-kong
I gave up brushing exactly ll months ago and haven’t looked back. I totally agree with Lorraine, brushing only makes the hair more frizzy and it messes up the natural curl pattern of the hair. My advice, detangle the hair with your fingers while in the shower. You should see improved texture, more curl definition, and less breakage in know time. It has worked wonders for my hair. Good Luck! Your hair looks great.
Hey Bella, your hair is great. I had the pleasure of going to Devachan in NYC and it was great, but in the end, I am not liking to cutting on dry hair as my hair is way to uneven now with their cut. Also I was never able to replicate anything at home even using their products. I do understand how it is to have curly hair but to go through this experience again it will not happen. I am glad you had a nice time with yours.
Help. I came to Fl to see my parents and forgot to bring my Devachan Conditioner. Anyone know where I can get it (I’m in Boynton Beach). Thanks.