Review: The Curl Revolution: Inspiring Stories and Practical Advice from the NaturallyCurly Community

The Curl Revolution: Inspiring Stories and Practical Advice from the NaturallyCurly Community by Michelle Breyer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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.

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!


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