00:00Hi Naturally Curly World, I'm Gerilyn and this is Curl Talk TV, your source for the latest in all things curly.
00:12Today I'm at South by Southwest here in Austin, Texas.
00:16I'm going to find a few people here on the streets of Austin to ask them about their curl journeys and what it's like to be a curly here at South by.
00:24So let's go ahead and hit the streets and see what's up.
00:30Can you tell me a little bit about your curl journey?
00:34I actually went natural after having a hair catastrophe and I went to the hairdresser and my hair looked great, but the next day when I washed it, it all fell out.
00:43What was the catastrophe exactly?
00:46To use a pressing comb, plus a flat iron, plus some other heat because she said my hair was too kinky and she really needed to train it.
00:55That's not a real thing you guys. You cannot train curly hair. You have to learn how to take care of it and how to really work with it.
01:03Did you start off relaxed or just curly?
01:07I was born with a nevi on my head, which is an overgrown mole. I was pre-cancer so for the first two years of my life I had to have my scalp stretched and then cut out to get rid of the mole and I still have a pretty substantial scar.
01:19So hiding that my whole life was quite a journey. And I did go through a relaxer stage. It wasn't really until I was an adult that I fully embraced the natural texture of my hair.
01:31It's definitely felt empowering. It feels like me. It's down to the core of who I am and it's a representation of where I come from. It's my dad and my mom combined in my hair, you know?
01:41So can you kind of walk the community through your journey, um, I guess physically and also beauty-wise, curly hair-wise?
01:55I was 312 pounds and I just started working out and I started eating right and I started drinking more water and I started seeing how all of this contributes to healthy hair.
02:05And as I lost weight, I realized, like, she didn't do anything. Like, your hair, it's okay if it's short. Because that was so, I was so conscious when I was the size I was, I felt like I had to have long weeks or long hair, relaxed hair, and it was just like, you know what? This is you. This is who you are.
02:22So what's one of your absolute all-time favorite products that you can't live without? You guys turned me on to, um, Weed On.
02:30Yeah. And they are amazing.
02:32The first one is going to be my Shea Moisture, uh, Curl Smoothie. I just love, like, the different oils. I love the smell of it.
02:39I do, like, a lot of tea tree oil in my hair as well, just to keep my scalp really hydrated, as well as, like, keep the curls, like, really nice. But I don't put too much.
02:46Listen, when you put too much, it looks really crazy.
02:49My hair has actually been curly since I was, like, a little girl. But I actually used to be pencil straight when I was, like, five, and then it started growing out all curly, like, out of nowhere.
03:04How did that make you feel when it was growing out kind of wavy and unusually?
03:08I used to hate my hair so, so much. I used to, like, straighten it every day. I never wear it down.
03:13I feel like sometimes, especially for me, uh, that people perceive curly hair, they can perceive it as being, like, unprofessional or unruly.
03:20They think it's, like, unkept. Um, I used to feel that way. But now, I think that people perceive my curly hair as sexy and awesome and fun.
03:27I experienced people coming up wanting to touch my hair. Because before it fanned out, I had, like, the Angela Davis blue type.
03:36Yeah. So, and it was very curly and it was soft. They wanted to touch it, you know.
03:40What did you do when people tried to touch your hair without your professional hair?
03:43Without asking?
03:44Well, at that time, I guess I was looking for a rebel as well. So, I would, um, I didn't hesitate to knock somebody's hand away.
03:51Yeah.
03:57A shout-out to all the curly-haired people out there. Uh, stay strong. Unite as a people. And...
04:02Fight the humidity.
04:03Right. Fight the humidity.
04:05When you feel good, and you feel good in your own skin, that's what rules. And I think that's what this all stands for.
04:10I think that's what you guys stand for. I think that's what I stand for. And I think that's what everybody needs to stand for.
04:15We are who we are, and we should embrace that. It's not easy. It sounds really easy on paper, right? Like, just embrace who you are.
04:21No, it's not. It's gonna be a war. It's gonna be a battle. But I best believe that we can fight it.
04:26All right, Naturally Curly World. That is a wrap. We are now going to hit the streets of South by Southwest for a different purpose, and that is, too, part A.
04:37We're still gonna be checking out the curly styles, the braided styles, and all the magnificent, that is, curly hair.
04:43We'll see you next time on Curl Talk TV. But, if you like this video, go ahead and give a like, share, and subscribe, because we make these videos every single week.
04:53So, we'll see you soon. Bye-bye.
04:56We'll see you soon. Bye-bye.
05:00We'll see you soon.
05:11Bye-bye.
05:15Bye-bye.
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