Curls Gone Wild owner Melanie Brown wanted to help her 10-year-old biracial daughter
Melanie Brown, owner of Curls Gone Wild, wanted to help her 10-year-old biracial daughter. “I was determined not to straighten it or pull it into tight braids,” says Brown. “My ego was too big. I wanted to figure
out her hair if it’s the last thing to do.” When she originally opened the salon, it wasn’t a curl-only salon. But after taking a DevaConcepts Curlaboration course two years ago, she decided to focus on curls, adding the tagline “A curly salon” to the end of the salon’s name. She calls it a great business decision, with clients flying in from around the country and plans to expand. “Straight-haired people don’t understand the name,” she says. “But curly people totally understand.”
Cally Raduenzel of Curls & Co. in Chicago, IL, is one of a number of stylists who was inspired by her own curly hair battles. During her 10 years as a stylist, Raduenzel says she developed her own dry-cutting technique on her curly clients. When a client brought her Massey’s “Curly Girl,” she decided to take a class which “pretty much changed my whole life in hair.” Once a color specialist, she switched her specialty to curly hair and opened Curls & Co. in June 2010. Eighty-five percent of her clientele is curly, and she believes she has an ability to positively effect the way they feel about their hair. “When I grew up, I found only two people who did a decent job on my curls and both of them straightened my hair,” she says. “I didn’t really embrace my curls until college. I want to help people love their curls early on.”
This growth in the number of curl-centric salons is likely continue, say stylists around the country. What was once viewed as a trend is now seen is a major shift.
While past generations may have leaned toward relaxers, today’s women are seeking more natural styles, says Monica Green, who opened her Kinky, Curly, Straight Salon two years ago in South Euclid, OH. Green says her salon offers services such as lock maintenance, two-strand twists, braiding, kinky twists and other natural styles. “It’s the new reality,” Green says. “The market is not going away.”
