The Curl Revolution

Great Book, beautiful pictures. Very insightful. When I first discovered Naturally Curly.com I was a lost soul when it came to taking care of natural hair. While at the time I didn't have a perm, I had been straightening my hair for years. This website and book like this were a lifesaver. I was totally confused and had no idea what to do and these types of resources are amazing. Thanks to the authors for seeing a need and filling a gap in the literature on curly hair.

I loved this book. Every Curly Girl, mother of, father of, grandparent of, or guardian of one needs this book! I wish I had this book when I was young.

It’s so nice to know I’m not alone! Being the only one of my siblings with curly hair, my mom (who also has curly hair) would chop my hair all off as a kid (to avoid combining it). I first learned to straighten my hair in my late teens the never stopped until my early thirties when I left my hair curly only to FIND OUT THAT MY CURLS DISAPPEARED. I did the “Big Chop” and chopped off my waist-long hair and started up again.

The Curl Revolution has really helped me embrace my curls, find the right all-natural products, and “Live the Curly Life”. Being Puerto Rican with insanely curly hair is something I’m proud of, and while I still love the option I have (blow-outs, flat-iron, curlers, or all-natural), I’m trying to embrace my natural look more and more. To know the difference of curl textures, porosity, etc. is fantastic!

I was able to read the Curl Revolution for free from Netgalley, the publisher and the author for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I wish I had this book available when I started my natural curly hair transition a year ago.
With this book I was able to understand more about which products are right for my type of curls and hair.
The picture were an added bonus, everyone who want to go natural should own this book.

useful handbook - would recommend it - embrace your curls

Anyone with naturally curly or wavy hair knows how challenging it can be to tame. The goal of this book is to offer support and advice to women and men with textured locks. The author, Michelle Breyer, is the co-founder of NaturallyCurly.com which has been a resource of the curly-haired community for almost two decades.

First, we learn about the history and formation of the website and CurlTalk forums. This transitions into a section that provides emotional support to curlies. In a world that hasn't always been accepting of the "wild" or "natural" look, many people have been raised to hate their unruly hair (by well-meaning parents, schoolyard bullies, or subtle social cues).

Then, what I found most useful, the rest of the book provides information on identifying your own curl type, detailing regiments for cleaning and styling hair, as well as tips for cutting, coloring and controlling frizz. Interspersed throughout the text we see accounts of how individuals have embraced their curly hair and what their own personal routines entail. The photos taken for the book are colorful and striking and truly capture the beauty and diversity of textured hair.

Though none of this information is new per se (as it is all hosted on their website), this book is still an excellent resource for those who may be overwhelmed by the amount of information available online. I can also see this being a great gift for someone who is trying to embrace the wavy/curly/coily natural lifestyle but doesn't know where to start.

I received a copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Many of you have never met me. You just know that I like fairy tales, Jane Austen, fantasy, sci-fi, real sci and cats. You don't know about my crazy Irish head of hair that frizzes if you do ONE thing wrong to it. Yeah, it's supposed to be wavy. Sometimes it can go from glorious almost perfect pre-Raphaelite waves to hornet's nest just walking out the door into the humidity. Frankly, I don't even have to leave the house. You should see me when I cook, for instance.

(gif appears here in review on Goodreads and my blog)

My father, a now-retired dermatologist, used to chide me saying "there's only two kinds of hair- the kind you have, and the kind you wish you had." Truer words, people... My mother, she of the coarse, thick, ever so slight gorgeous waves, who used to tell me to "just leave it alone," said that I got my great-grandmother's hair and was going to just have to live with it. (She did, however, have the sense when I was little to only comb it, and only wet, with conditioner, and starting from ends up, rather than from the top down, which would just snarl it.) There are so many perils facing curly girls. From hotel shampoos with sulfates to your guy running his fingers through your hair and having them get stuck and then yanking your hair out to free his hand from the Medusa-like tresses. Did I mention how a simple haircut can ruin curly hair?

When Lorraine Massey published Curly Girl: The Handbook in 2001 it captured my attention like no previous book on style or beauty ever had. It was the first truly multi-ethnic book on curly hair care and styling. Sixteen years later and the hair product market has finally gotten into full swing for curly girls. There are plenty of products and, thankfully, I finally have a hairstylist who can deal with my frizz-fest. (She calls her salon The Curl Whisperer and she's not kidding.) But there still aren't a lot of recent book resources out there to tell us how to deal with our curls. Enter The Curl Revolution!

This gorgeous book is a treasure trove of information for women, children and men with curly hair. From identifying what type of curl you have to which products, styling tools, and methods of cutting and handling are best for your hair. The book also details what to avoid for curly hair. They give you recommendations about everything from how to identify a curl-safe hairstylist to handling post-chemo curls to protecting your curls from friction while you sleep so you don't wake up with the hornet's nest effect. This is a compendium of good, solid, and in fact, invaluable advice for people with curly hair. Greenleaf Publishing gave it to me to read for free and I pre-ordered it in the first five minutes I had the ARC on my computer.

If you have straight or slightly wavy hair, this review doesn't speak to you and I'm sorry. But if you're a curly haired person, this book is so worth getting!

Wonderful advice and product recommendations for a curly girl like me! I'm familiar with a lot of this, but it's beautifully put together.

The struggle is real, my friends! When I was a baby, I had adorable little ringlets that naturally grew into corkscrew curls. I don't know what the turning point was, but in my memory it seems like one day my mom was bragging to friends and relatives about my "Shirley Temple curls" and something happened where my next memory is sitting with the palm of my mother's hand pushing my head down while her other hand ripped through my long curls with her hairbrush, creating a frizzy (but clean!) mess. Neither of us were prepared for what my hair would become. Parents, if you have a child with inexplicably curly hair, please consult this book, or the naturally curly website, or some resource to help you embrace the curl.

This is a great guide to curls and it's kind of a self-help book for the naturally curled. Not only in care & style suggestions for hair, but to bond over a shared experience. It's a unique challenge, natural curl, and I wish I had a little help navigating through it when I was younger. I am still "growing into" my hair and I do enjoy the tips in this book. Some of the tips will be repetitive to people who spend a lot of time finding solutions for their hair. It's a nice point of reference and celebration of curls.

I have extremely curly, extremely thick, and extremely frizzy hair. My hair still lays in perfect ringlets, and at my age that's not a cute look.

This book is filled with tips and support for those of us with unmanageable curly hair. Along with some amazing pictures. I have learned some things from this book. I have found new hair products that I am trying and some are on a list to try. There are also some recipes for home made hair products. Also a wonderful website.

As much as I hated my hair before this book I am learning to love it, well I am in like with it right now. Learning these new tips and tricks and ways of styling has really been a gift.

I received this book from the Author or Publisher via Netgalley.com to read and review.

A wonderful book for anyone with curly, kinky or wavy hair. There is a huge need for books like this that shed light on how to care for and manage your curly hair. I especially liked the section of the book that helped to categorized different types of curly hair based on porosity, density, and width (how thick/strong are your hair strands). I found this to be very helpful because here are so many different types of curly hair and each has to be taken care of differently.

This book is an absolute must have for any curly/wavy haired woman. As someone with (possibly possessed!) natural curls in the breezy, drizzley, indoor heaing shit storm that is Ireland, I have always struggled to keep my hair in health and in check. It can grow 5 times in volume in one bus journey, and perfect curls at home become an insurmountable frizz mountain by the time I reach the office. It didn't help that I was the only curly in my family, at a time when excessive shampooing and mountains of mousse were the go to recommendations for any hair care issue.

Much like the invaluable site, Naturally Curly, which spawned it, this book is full of practical advice, help, tips, guidance on product, care and hair types. It it clear, concise, and even has homemade treatments and success stories/examples of happy curlies of all types and their individual regime. If you have curls/waves (or if you are the parent/guardian of someone who does) this book is invaluable.

Thanks so much to the publisher for an advanced copy!

I grew up on the beach back when the only acceptable hair was stick straight. Mine was curly. Not the fall-into-soft-ringlets-like-an-angel curly that my sister got — mine was the Bozo-frizz-around-the-face curly. I spent years hating it, straightening it, sleeping on huge rollers–you get the idea.

A few years ago, I found someone who knew how to cut curly hair, and when I think of all the hours (adding up to months, maybe years) I spent (wasted) dealing with my hair, it makes me want to…well, actually it makes me want to recommend this book to anyone with curly hair, whether they hate it as I did or love it as I am learning to do!

The Curl Revolution: Inspiring Stories and Practical Advice from the NaturallyCurly Community by Michelle Breyer is amazing. There is a website from these people (NaturallyCurly.com is their website) who have spent years figuring it all out. They don’t focus on any one method, product line, ethnicity — they tell you how to identify what your hair is and needs.

I always knew I had thick, coarse curly hair. Or at least I thought that was it. Apparently there is a whole formula that takes into account width as well as amount of hair plus texture. Then there is the proper cut. Then there are an increasing number of products available for curlies.

The picture-filled book also functions as a how-to guide with the goal of helping people identify hair type, determine a hair care regimen, find a good haircut, and get inspiration from other curlies.

Thanks to Greenleaf Book Group and NetGalley for a copy of this treasure in exchange for my honest review. Five gigantic stars.

As someone who has struggled with getting their curly hair looking good this book is so fantastic! The stories of other curly haired people, the tips & tricks and the exposure to new hair product ideas were invaluable. The pictures of curly haired people with their hair type & hair routine was excellent. The best part of this book for me was getting introduced to the Naturally Curly website. I will read this book more than once for sure.

As a curly haired young woman who has spent countless hours battling with her hair, I was thrilled to lay my hands on an advanced copy of The Curl Revolution. I was not familiar with the website - Naturally Curly before reading this book, but now I am one of its biggest fans. This book is filled with beautiful photographs of wonderful curly haired/wavy haired people and their stories. It also presents a guide to hair maintenance for both adults and children including some home-made recipes! I have always struggled with my hair maintenance and reading this book has given me hope for my future hair endeavours. Thanks Netgalley for letting me have an advance proof of this book!