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Women defy beauty standards with natural curls
Embrace the curl: Hairstylists finger-roll a curly haired customer at Kriwil Salon and Reflexology on Jl
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mbrace the curl: Hairstylists finger-roll a curly haired customer at Kriwil Salon and Reflexology on Jl. Panglima Polim in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, on Friday.(JP/Robert Yota)
In a world where long, straight locks are seen as a sign of beauty, Wulang Derrida’s hair straightener used to be her best friend.
Exposed to so many shampoo advertisements in print and on TV, the 23-year-old thought her naturally curly hair was a mess and difficult to work with. Back in high school, she longed for straight, shiny locks like the women in those shampoo commercials.
She said that taking care of her naturally curly hair had not always been an easy task.
“With all the pollution and humidity in Jakarta, my hair turns oily and frizzy if I don’t constantly treat it with specialized shampoo and hair tonic,” she said recently, adding that she always carried hairbands to keep her corkscrew hair from puffing out.
Wulang finally came to terms with her locks when she studied in Scotland five years ago. Occupied with university work and a hectic schedule, Wulang said she had no time to carefully manage her hair and let it come out naturally.
This is when she started receiving compliments that her curls were her best feature.
“I was surprised that apparently having my curls out was okay and I started embracing my natural hair from then on,” Wulang, who just recently moved back to Jakarta, said.
Curly hair is often seen as messy, bothersome and rebellious according to common beauty standards. Despite being donned by many living legends and music icons, reality can bite for those with natural curls.
This was once the case for university student Kyesa Mellisa, who hails from East Nusa Tenggara. Her frizzy hair once caused her to have low self-esteem, especially when she moved to Jakarta to study a year ago.
“At first, I wasn’t confident about attending events with my curly hair. I’d see many girls with straight hair who looked beautiful,” the 18-year-old said.
She made plans to straighten her curls in the hopes it would boost her confidence and allow her to cut back on the complex maintenance. However, she dropped the plan and opted to keep her small ringlets after learning how to take care of them online.
Kyesa also said she has been fortunate to have a circle of friends that encouraged her to embrace her unique, curly identity.
The two women’s problems were solved when they found Kriwil Salon, Jakarta’s first salon to specialize in curly hair. Located next to the Blok A MRT Station in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, the salon owner Gracia Indriani, had faced the same curly dilemma.
The 24-year-old architecture graduate has since decided to pursue her passion to become a hair specialist. After completing her certification, she opened the salon that focuses on curly hair styling and treatment in November last year after experiencing frustration trying to find good treatment for her hair at beauty salons where straight hair styles dominated.
“Having curly hair can make a person attractive. I want my salon to help spruce up people with curly hair so they can embrace their unique features,” Gracia told The Jakarta Post recently.
During the Post’s visit, the customers varied from middle school and university students to older women.
Dinda, 16, was indulging in a pedicure while her hair was being finger-rolled by two hairstylists.
“Previously, I didn’t know how to properly curl my hair to look wavy, tidy or silky smooth. However, I watched one of Gracia’s tutorial videos on YouTube and started learning how to take care of my curly hair,” she said.
Gracia is also a content creator on YouTube, where she gives tutorials on how to take care of curly hair. She said the channel, which has more than 23,000 subscribers, was one of the biggest factors that motivated her to open a salon, as she received many encouraging comments from her subscribers.
“Outside of my salon and YouTube channel, I would like to gather all curly haired men and women to get to know them better and break the stigma that having curly hair is unattractive and unprofessional. Big hair, big dreams!,” she said. (bry)
