Stacey Cantor walked into the Aspen Grove location of Tattered Cover bookstore Saturday afternoon with her teenaged son and daughter to shop for books when she was greeted by a display for The Curl Revolution: Inspiring Stories and Practical Advice from the NaturallyCurly Community.
Cantor, a curly, was so excited that she was taking several photos of the books to share with her curly friends. She heard the sounds of laughter and conversation coming from around the corner and went to explore, discovering a whole gathering of curlies attending my book signing. Cantor happily joined in. “I can’t believe I didn’t know about this,” she said, buying copies of the book for both herself and her curly daughter and posing for photos with the group.
Like other stops on The Curl Revolution book tour, Denver was a celebration of the personal journeys that are unique to curly women – each completely unique yet familiar.
At Saturday’s signing, Denver’s curl stylists came out in force. There were more than a dozen stylists from Denver’s top curl salons, including Shapes Salon & Studio, MOP Factory, The Station Hair Studio, Curl Culture and Rocky Mountain Curls. Lori Lambert-Sandshaw, a curl expert at Rocky Mountain Curls and The Station Hair Studio, drove 75 minutes from the mountain community of Dillon to attend the book signing.
“Besides being in a room with a bunch of amazing curlies there was a LOT of Denver Curl specialists that I got to meet and chat with. The curl love is strong here in Colorado!” said stylist Andee Hoos, co-owner of MOP Factory Salon, a curl salon in Denver.
Before the book signing, I was able to catch up with Shapes owner Richelle Bishop. She was Denver’s first Deva-trained stylist, and I was lucky enough to have my curls colored and highlighted by Bishop I also got to watch curly expert Cindy Koder cut off the long curls of a young man for Locks of Love.
One of the highlights of Saturday’s event was meeting Analise Harris from Curls on the Block, an enrichment program for girls of all ethnicities and texture types to explore and embrace their natural selves while working to increase engagement, investment and commitment to careers in science, technology, engineering, art and math. Harris also runs the Miss Curly Self-eSTEAM Pageant. The pageant recognizes and celebrates the beauty of culture, curls, kinks, and even frizz.
Harris came with her friend Yazz Almore of Crowned Curls, Atmore founded Crowned Curls in 2016 to help young women of color share, create and explore, their natural hair, health and wellness journeys. Through events like the annual #CrunkCurlsFestival, online publications and partnering with brands, the organization aims to create a community among women of color that engages in love, self-care and healing.
The Book Tour has been a wonderful way to experience the curl cultures of different cities. Whether it be Toronto or Chicago or Denver, there is a curl kinship that is truly amazing.
