Everything She Wants

Michelle Breyer, co-founder of NaturallyCurly.com, has been on the frontlines of the curly hair revolution since 1998. The former business journalist was inspired to start the website after “a lifetime of fighting my curly hair and feeling like I didn't fit the accepted standard of beauty.” Now curly hair sisters of all races and ethnic backgrounds can learn Breyer’s tips of the trade in her first book, The Curl Revolution: Inspiring Stories andPractical Advice from the NaturallyCurly Community .   We caught up with the busy entrepreneur, via email. Photo courtesy of NaturallyCurly Everything She Wants : How did the idea for NaturallyCurly.com come about? Michelle Breyer : [After] a few mimosas at a party. I was working as a reporter at a newspaper with some fellow curly friends and we were complaining about our hair on a humid Austin day. Someone overheard us and thought it was crazy that people could spend so much time talking about their hair. He suggested...

Hair loss can be devastating to a woman's self-esteem. And according to the American Hair Loss Association, women make up forty percent of American hair loss sufferers.   So if you, like me, are experiencing hair thinning, you're  probably   wondering what   the heck you can do  to re-grow your hair?  So I asked Jane Carter (a Maya Rudolph doppelganger), founder of Jane Carter Solution products, for a few tips. Haircare expert, Jane Carter. Everything She Wants : What motivated you to start your own product line? Jane Carter: I became allergic to products that were available in the market that we used in my salon. There were no products available in the market that I could use on all my clients. I'm a colorist and my clients included all hair types and textures. ESW : What is the best way to keep natural hair for women of color healthy? JC: Scalp care is vital to healthy hair and some of the most important factors are shampooing and deep co...

Changing your hairstyle is a great way to transform yourself this spring. According to New York City hair stylist Dana Gibbs of Dana’s Loft Hair , the key word for African-American women’s hair is “reinvention.” Rihanna/Photo credit: Getty Images "Try something you’ve never done before or were afraid to,” says Gibbs. Using celebrities and hair icons as inspiration, here are Dana’s top style picks for the season: Color Me Bad Keri Hilson/album art This spring, pump up your style with a touch of vibrant color.  Go rude girl red like Rihanna or try platinum locks like Beyonce or Keri Hilson . Product Picks:   Kerastase Reflection Bain Miroir Shine Revealing Shampoo for Color-Treated Hair , $35 John Frieda Radiant Red Color Captivating Daily Shampoo , $5.15 Short and Sweet Halle Berry/Photo credit Hairstyles.com Halle Berry ’s signature hairstyle is the most enviable short and sassy cut ever. Her pixie is an inspiration to women of color who want no-fuss...

My hairstyle of choice is double-strand twists, however, it's been several years since I've worn my own natural hair without a pump-up-the-volume boost of added human hair.  Now that I work at home and have more flex time to style my hair, I decided it was time to change up my style.... at least temporarily . Me with hair twisted, before twist-out. So I went to Ouidad , a salon and product line known for its expertise with "curly hair."  The light-filled midtown Manhattan salon is spacious and extremely professional. Although most of the salon's clients at the time of my visit didn't have my ethnic hair type, I was pleased to see that the questionnaire I filled out before I met with my stylist included a box for kinky/curly hair texture. And as Mary on "The Real Housewives of D.C." drunkenly eloquently put it, even though we have different hair needs why should we have separate salons? I sat down with Ana, an African-American stylist who ha...