Curly hair products didn't appear overnight — they're the result of 100+ years of innovation, cultural shifts, and the ongoing fight for textured-hair representation in beauty. From Madam C.J. Walker's 1905 hot-comb era to the 2020s TikTok curl renaissance, this is the timeline of how we got to today's clean-beauty, science-led, AI-personalised curl-care era.
Ancient practices — Egypt, Africa, oils and clay
The earliest documented curl-care goes back 3,000+ years. Ancient Egyptians used castor oil, almond oil, and beeswax preparations to maintain coiled and braided styles. West African beauty practices used shea butter (which Sofi Tucker would later commercialise in the 1900s), African black soap, and clay-based detoxifiers. These ingredients still appear in modern formulations.
1900s pioneers — Madam C.J. Walker (1905) & Garrett Morgan (1913)
Madam C.J. Walker launched her hair care line in 1905, eventually becoming the first self-made female millionaire in the United States. Her formulations focused on scalp health and length retention for Black women. While today we'd push back on the assimilation pressure of her "Hair Grower" framing, her commercial impact laid the foundation for an entire industry.
Garrett Morgan patented the first commercial chemical hair straightener in 1913 (originally a sewing machine lubricant he discovered straightened animal hair). Morgan's work inadvertently kicked off a century of chemical relaxers — products that 21st-century natural-hair advocates have largely moved away from.
The Black Is Beautiful era (1960s)
The 1960s civil rights movement reframed natural hair as political. The afro became symbol — explicitly rejecting straightening pressure. This era's commercial impact was modest (most major brands ignored textured hair), but the cultural shift planted seeds for the natural-hair movement that exploded 40 years later.
The Jheri Curl + Ouidad founding (1970s-80s)
The Jheri Curl (1977) was a chemical permanent that gave Black hair a glossy, looser curl pattern. Massively popular through the 1980s but high-maintenance and chemically harsh.
Ouidad opened the first US salon dedicated specifically to curly hair in 1984 in New York. Her "carve and slice" haircut technique and product line laid groundwork for the curl-specific salon model. Ouidad still operates today.
The Curly Girl Method revolution (Lorraine Massey, 2001)
Lorraine Massey published Curly Girl: The Handbook in 2001. The CGM principles — no sulphates, no silicones, no heat, no brushing dry — created the framework that every modern curl brand now operates within. CGM also popularised techniques like co-washing, plopping, and finger-coiling.
DevaCurl (2002) and the natural hair movement (2000s-2010s)
DevaCurl launched in 2002 (Lorraine Massey's brand) — the first major commercial CGM-aligned curl line. Through the 2000s and 2010s, the natural-hair movement gained mass cultural momentum: documentaries (Good Hair by Chris Rock, 2009), online communities (NaturallyCurly.com, CurlMart), and an explosion of new brands (SheaMoisture US relaunch, Camille Rose 2010, Ouidad expansion).
The TikTok curl renaissance (2020s)
By 2023, curl-related hashtags on TikTok had accumulated 375M+ views. The platform democratised curl-care education — videos showed real techniques on real textures, often from creators with the same hair as their audience. UK shoppers report TikTok as their #1 source for new product discovery in 2024-2025.
Specific viral moments included Bounce Curl's Pineapple Brush method, Kitsch's heatless curling sets, and rosemary oil's cult moment off the back of academic studies showing comparable hair growth to minoxidil.
The UK natural hair story
The UK's natural-hair history runs parallel to the US but with distinct moments:
- Windrush generation (1948+): Caribbean migrants arriving in post-war UK navigated UK climate, hard water, and limited textured-hair retail. Many created home recipes (combining Vaseline, almond oil, and locally-available shea).
- Salon emergence (1990s-2010s): UK textured-hair salons concentrated in London, Birmingham, and Manchester. Outside these cities, salon access remains limited.
- CROWN-style legislation efforts: The UK Equality Act 2010 has been used in workplace hair-discrimination cases (notably Halo Code 2020 — voluntary corporate pledge against natural-hair discrimination). Formal CROWN Act-style legislation remains under campaign.
- UK brand emergence: Brands like Curlsmith (London-founded) and Afrocenchix entered the UK market with explicit textured-hair focus. Big retailers (Boots, Superdrug) significantly expanded textured-hair shelf space 2020-2024.
Brands that defined each era
| Brand | Founded | Era |
|---|---|---|
| SheaMoisture | 1912 (Sierra Leone) | Original heritage |
| Oyin Handmade | 2001 (Baltimore) | CGM era |
| Camille Rose | 2010 (NYC) | Natural hair movement |
| Kitsch | 2010 (LA) | Sustainability + accessories |
| Innersense | 2005 (California) | Clean beauty |
| Curlsmith | 2018 (London) | Bond chemistry / science-led |
| Bounce Curl | 2014 (LA) | Tools + technique |
| The Doux | 2017 (Atlanta) | Stylist-led salon-tested |
| Ecoslay | 2017 (Atlanta) | Small-batch vegan |
| Uncle Funky's Daughter | 2009 (Houston) | Stylist-founded |
| TréLuxe | 2014 (US) | Lightweight specialist |
| Curl Keeper | 1995 (Toronto) | Water-based protein-free |
| Design Essentials | 1990 (Atlanta) | Salon-grade textured |
Today: clean beauty + porosity science
Modern curl care is defined by:
- Clean ingredient lists. Sulphate-free, paraben-free, silicone-free formulations as the norm.
- Porosity-first routines. Recognising that curl pattern is half the picture.
- Bond chemistry. Olaplex (2014) and Curlsmith Bond Curl Rehab demonstrated that hair damage repair is a real commercial category.
- Personalisation. AI hair-type quizzes, postcode-based product recommendations.
What's next
- AI hair quizzes. Photo-based diagnostics. Try our AI Hair Analyser.
- Refillable packaging. Sustainable shifts in plastic-heavy curl care.
- Regulated "clean" claims. EU/UK pressure for verifiable ingredient claims.
- Microbiome scalp care. Pre-washes designed around scalp bacterial balance.
Build your modern routine
Take our AI Hair Analyser for a personalised routine matched to your curl pattern, porosity, and UK climate zone. Or browse our full curl-care collection.
Author: Emma Rusby, Founder of Zenvy Beauty.
