college essay about curly hair

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Last updated July 7, 2023

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Blog > Essay Advice , Personal Statement > College Essay About Hair: Dos and Don’ts

College Essay About Hair: Dos and Don’ts

Admissions officer reviewed by Ben Bousquet, M.Ed Former Vanderbilt University

Written by Kylie Kistner, MA Former Willamette University Admissions

Key Takeaway

As an admissions officer, I read quite a few essays about hair. After all, hair can be an important part of your identity for a lot of reasons.

At best, college essays about hair can reveal vulnerable insights into an applicant’s life.

But at worst, college essays about hair can be boring, cliche, and inauthentic.

Let’s go over how to write yours the right way.

Effective Ways to Approach a College Essay About Hair

To put it simply, good college essays about hair are in reality about a lot more than your hair.

Hair becomes a mechanism for telling a meaningful story about your life, and there are two main ways applicants tend to do this.

How your hair relates to or symbolizes another significant aspect of your identity

Hair can be symbolic, religious, political, and more. It can be a significant part of people’s daily experiences in a way that goes way beyond looks.

Maybe you want to write about your experience wearing a hijab. Or perhaps you have an illness or condition that affects your hair. Or maybe you want to write about not being able to cut your hair because of your upbringing, or even the process of coming to terms with your hair texture as it relates to your identity.

There are so many directions a good college essay about hair can take. Relating your hair to a deeper aspect of your identity can be a great way to draw out meaning and reveal important insights to admissions officers.

How hair has been part of your close relationships

If you had long hair as a child, you probably know the pain of having a loved one brush through a knot in your hair or tie a ponytail too tight.

Hair can be a way you relate to those around you.

Whether you fondly remember your grandma braiding your hair or you always connected with your dad because you were the only two in the family with curly hair, using your hair as a way to talk about a close relationship can be an impactful college essay topic.

But as with any college essay that relates to another person, just be sure to keep the ultimate message of the essay on you, not the other person.

Bad Ways to Approach a College Essay About Hair

Like any popular college essay topic, there are wrong ways to write about your hair.

So what makes an essay about hair a bad personal statement ?

It doesn’t reveal any genuine insights that give admissions officers more reason to admit you .

Let’s say you’re applying for a competitive engineering program. You have great supplementals, solid activities, and an outstanding transcript. But you decided to write your personal statement about what it’s like to have curly hair.

Admissions officers breeze through your application—it looks promising. When they get to your personal statement, though, things fall flat. Your personal statement was a good read, but it doesn’t sway the admissions officer in your favor because it doesn’t give them any insight into why you’d be a good addition to their engineering program. They end up voting to reject you.

Avoid the following two approaches to prevent this story from happening to you.

Simple description of what your hair is like

Curly, straight, frizzy, sleek, short, long, voluminous, thin—there are so many ways to describe hair. The topic can actually make for fantastic material for creative writing.

But too many applicants start and stop with a description of their hair. They explain what it’s been like to have hair of a particular type, color, or texture. They might even detail the journey of coming to terms with their hair. But they leave it at that.

Unfortunately, that’s not enough for a college essay.

If you want to write about your experiences with your hair, be sure to connect them to a deeper part of your identity.

Surface-level account of a challenge you had with your hair

Maybe you were bullied because of your hair. Or maybe you finally got the courage to change your signature style, and it didn’t go well. Maybe you got gum in your hair and had to cut it all off and felt lost without it.

Those sound like impactful moments, but they alone aren’t strong topics for a college essay.

When challenges stay on the surface level, they leave admissions officers asking, “So what?” So what if you go gum in your hair? So what if you changed your signature style and had to wait a couple weeks for people to get used to it?

Connecting your hair to a deeper part of your lived experience answers the “So what?” question up front. Don’t leave your admissions officer guessing.

Your hair should be a tool you use to talk about a deeper part of yourself or your experiences. Staying at the level of looks isn’t enough.

That’s why it’s critical that you use the right approach.

It’s all about creating a seamless application narrative , one that shows admissions officers exactly why you’d be a great addition to their campuses.

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The what, why and how of curly hair: a review

Elsabe cloete.

1 Hair and Skin Research Lab, Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, Groote Schuur Hospital and University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

Nonhlanhla P. Khumalo

Malebogo n. ngoepe.

2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

Associated Data

This article has no additional data.

An attempt to understand and explain a peculiarity that was observed for curly fibres during experimentation revealed disparate literature reporting on several key issues. The phenotypical nature of curly fibres is only accurately understood within the larger scope of hair fibres, which are highly complex biological structures. A brief literature search produced thousands of research items. Besides the large amount of information on the topic, there was also great variability in research focus. From our review, it appeared that the complexity of hair biology, combined with the variety of research subtopics, often results in uncertainty when relating different aspects of investigation. During the literature investigation, we systematically categorized elements of curly hair research into three basic topics: essentially asking why fibres curl, what the curly fibre looks like and how the curly fibre behaves. These categories were subsequently formalized into a curvature fibre model that is composed of successive but distinctive tiers comprising the elements in curly hair research. The purpose of this paper is twofold: namely to present (i) a literature review that explores the different aspects of curly human scalp hair and (ii) the curvature fibre model as a systemized approach to investigating curly hair.

1. Introduction

A quick review of current and most recurrent topics addressed in hair research includes hair growth, loss, corrective practices/surgery, mechanical, physical and chemical properties, follicle morphology and activities, genetic controls, forensic investigations and clinical pathology [ 1 – 8 ]. The phenotypical nature of the curly fibre is explored by some, but, compared with the bulk of the investigations, the curly fibre is mostly an addendum in the field of hair research. The work presented in this paper arose from an interesting phenomenon observed during tensile studies of hair fibres of different degrees of curliness, in which curly fibres lost a significant degree of curl during the preparation process. Exploring the observed phenomenon in light of available theories and experimental findings on curly hair, a literature review revealed a diversity of intentions and investigation perspectives when studying hair in general (all scalp hair forms). It also became evident that, in many of the reports, there was a gap in the comprehensive understanding of how certain aspects under investigation relate to one another or to other important aspects relating to the hair fibre. This lack of interconnectedness is not unusual for an interdisciplinary field, but nonetheless produces inappropriate associations or combinations of non-parallel concepts. This is especially true for curly hair fibres, where phenotype is usually described in race-dependent hair subjective terms.

The main purpose of this paper is to present a literature review that explores the different aspects of curly human scalp hair. This review aims to address three main questions which have shaped the field: what does curly hair look like (structurally), why does some hair curl and how does curly hair behave? To answer any of these questions, it is necessary to distinguish between the different macroscopic parts of a fibre, irrespective of its shape. Each hair fibre comprises two distinct portions: namely, the growing and the keratinized portions. Below the scalp, the growing portion is generated in the follicle; above the scalp, the keratinized portion exists as a dead biological structure. The terms more commonly used for the keratinized part are ‘hair shaft’, ‘hair fibre’ or simply ‘fibre’. Since hair curliness is generated in the growing portion, the ‘why’ question of the literature review is addressed at the follicular level. Curly fibre behaviour (the ‘how’ question) pertains mostly to the keratinized portion. The ‘what’ question requires an answer for both growing and keratinized portions.

Answering these questions through the literature review has led to the development of a curvature fibre model that formalizes successive but distinctive tiers of elements in curly hair research. This model is presented in the final part of this paper. The model offers researchers a tool to obtain an overview of the available relevant research focus areas; it also assists with comparative studies on curly hair and highlights areas in which more research is required. It helped us to identify where a theory about the observed phenomenon would belong within the myriad of curvature aspects, and, from that point, enabled the development of new theoretical constructs to explain the observed phenomenon. While the explanation for the observed phenomenon is important, it is not the focus of this paper, but is described elsewhere as part of a larger research project described in [ 9 ].

2. Review of curly hair research

Before presenting the literature review, the currently used race-based taxonomy is briefly visited to shed light on the interpretation of results from various studies. Other taxonomies are presented in the main review of the ‘what’ question.

Current broad references that are used in hair research are African, Asian or European hair. Broadly speaking, ‘African hair’ refers to hair of individuals with ancestry from Africa; ‘European hair’ refers to hair of individuals with ancestry from Europe; and ‘Asian hair’ refers to hair of individuals with Asian ancestry. Since the above classification excludes many unique hair type groups, other classifications have appeared in recent years, such as distinction between East and West Asian hair, in which ‘East Asian hair’ tends to refer to hair obtained from individuals from China and eastwards, whereas ‘West Asian’ refers to individuals predominantly from Middle Eastern countries. Hair from populations not fitting the above classification descriptors is usually designated by their country of origin, e.g. ‘Mexican hair’ or ‘Tunisian hair’ or ‘Australian hair’, but publications on these populations are relatively infrequent.

The terms ‘European hair’ and ‘Caucasian hair’ are often used interchangeably and are taken to denote ‘wavy’ to ‘straight’ hair; ‘East Asian’ hair is taken to mean ‘pin-straight’ hair; and ‘African’ or ‘ethnic’ hair is taken to signify ‘curly’ or ‘very curly’ hair. A variation of ‘African hair’ is ‘Afro hair’ and afro-textured hair, to signify ‘very curly’ hair. These assumptions are essentially flawed since many individuals from both of the first two groups have curly hair. While the degree of curliness among Europeans and Asians is generally lower than that in Africans, some Europeans and Asians have kinky or very curly hair. From genotyping results, European hair shape varies mostly between wavy (46.6%) and straight (40.7%), with some curly hair (12.7%) ( n  = 2138) [ 10 ]. The same study showed that Asian (East and West) hair shape is also mostly straight (46.7%) or wavy (41.3%), with some curly hair (12%) ( n  = 92). However, African hair shape is mostly curly (94.9%), with some wavy hair (5.1%) ( n  = 39). No distinction was made between degrees of curliness or waviness, or whether ‘stick straight’ and ‘near straight’ were regarded as similar. An important fact indicated by the study is the high incidence (greater than 50%) of non-straight fibres in individuals of European and Asian ancestry. Another important fact about curly hair was the large variability in the degree of curl among individuals of African ancestry [ 11 , 12 ]. From these studies, it became clear that a single curl cluster for ‘curly hair’ is specious. Hair-specific taxonomies are described later in this paper. Of relevance to the immediate discussion is an awareness of terminology that is used in curly hair research.

As demonstrated in the review presented below, the majority of published studies used fibres from African ancestry as a prototype of curly hair. Some studies (described later) considered fibre curliness as a race-independent descriptor, but these were minimal. Research results for ‘curly fibres’, based only on samples of African ancestry, present genotypic fibre features as though they are phenotypic, being representative of all curly fibre features. The reverse of this statement is also true, where attributes that are true for the phenotype are credited to the genotype. For example, African hair fibres are popularly thought to have lower fibre strength and stress break loads [ 13 – 15 ], lower lustre [ 13 ], a higher friction coefficient [ 16 ] and higher lipid content [ 17 , 18 ] than European or Asian hair. There is a possibility that these attributes may be true for all fibres that deviate distinctively from a straight line, irrespective of ancestry. A few (interracial) studies on curly fibres have indeed found that some characteristics previously attributed to race are independent of ancestry [ 19 – 22 ]. Preliminary work from our own studies and experience also concurs with findings that suggest that the intrinsic ‘curved’ hair is a separate phenotype that has distinct physical, biological, mechanical and chemical features. From our review, there is little research data available on curly fibres from individuals of different ancestries. Furthermore, the available studies that used curly hair from one or two individuals of non-African ancestry are too limited in scope to generalize the results. While some of these small sample studies are proof-of-concept investigations, the scientific reliability of data based on such small sample pools needs to be confirmed to account for variabilities.

For the purposes of this paper, we accepted the deficiencies described above as a given limitation. In seeking to answer the three questions through the literature review (i.e. ‘what’ does curly hair look like (structurally), ‘why’ does some hair curl and ‘how’ does curly hair behave), it was necessary to separate the various research activities on curly hair into sensible categories. While many of the elements in a single category or even across two categories may interweave, a pattern presents itself nonetheless. Since a description of the hair is required to explain the structural and biochemical environments wherein the ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions are answerable, curly fibre characterization (‘what’) is presented first.

(a) What is the structure of a curly fibre?

Below the scalp, the structure of the follicle and growing fibre is inextricably linked to follicular activities. Above the scalp, the visible fibre has physical (macroscopic) properties that are supported by underlying mechanical characteristics: physical (micro- and nano-) structures assuming distinct geometries and biochemical composition. Figure 1 shows the anatomy of the curly hair, with attention to the follicle, from which a curved fibre grows, as well as a cross-section of the fibre (left) that protrudes through the scalp. These portions are described in greater detail in the paragraphs that follow.

Structure of a curly hair fibre, showing detail of the growing and keratinized parts. KIF, keratin intermediate filament.

(i) Follicle characterization

While the activities and fundamental roles of the different follicular components are not yet fully understood [ 23 ], the follicle morphology is reasonably well described. This synoptic overview (summarized from comprehensive descriptions in [ 24 – 28 ]) presents a basis for elucidations pertaining specifically to curly fibres. Histologically, the follicle is a composite structure, comprising two main compartments, with the connective tissue sheath (CTS) of the outer mesenchymal compartment encasing the inner epithelial compartment. The CTS generates and maintains the other component of the mesenchymal compartment, namely the dermal papilla (DP). Sitting embraced by the bulb matrix at the follicle base ( figure 1 ), the DP is key in fibre production. The epithelial compartment is composed of the bulb matrix, inner root sheath (IRS), outer root sheath (ORS) and the growing fibre. At the widest part of the DP, the Auber line distinguishes between proliferation activities in the lower bulb and differentiation activities in the upper bulb. Differentiation produces the IRS, ORS and the fibre. The IRS and ORS are rigid, multi-layered structures that appear to have a topographically guiding role for the growing fibre. Forming the outer epithelial envelope at the junction with the CTS, the ORS extends up to the follicle orifice. The IRS, on the other hand, forms an interlinked anchoring base with the growing fibre and extends to the bulge area. Beyond this point, the IRS is shed to separate the fibre from the follicular wall. The bulge, being one of the stem cell reservoirs that sustain lower follicle growth, sits at the isthmus of the follicle. The bulge area is also the attachment site of the erector pili muscle.

Early studies (dating back to 1873) on follicle morphology described a direct correlation between follicle shape and race, with distinct curvature (versus collinearity) observed in follicles from African versus European ancestries [ 29 ]. Modern studies have shown that the basis of this relationship is phenotypical and not racial [ 21 ]. It has also been demonstrated ( in vitro and in vivo ) that curly fibres, emerging angularly from the scalp, are generated by curved follicles (that have a retrocurvature at the bulb). Non-curly hair, on the other hand, emerges from collinear follicles that are embedded at approximately right angles with the scalp [ 21 , 30 , 31 ]. Besides having a curved follicle contour, the bulb, IRS, ORS and CTS of curly fibres also exhibit an asymmetry in shape or cellular distribution, as opposed to symmetry and homogeneous cellular dispersal in non-curly fibres [ 21 , 31 , 32 ]. In the curly fibre bulb, Ki-67-positive matrix cells are visible above the Auber line on the convex side of the matrix. These cells have a homogeneous spread below the Auber line for straight hair. More pronounced cellular expressions can also be seen in the CTS, IRS and ORS on the follicle concave side of the curly hair. In straight hair, the CTS, IRS and ORS structures have a symmetrical lengthwise appearance. Evidence of asymmetrical expression of certain keratins and enzymes is also seen in curly fibres, whereas expression in straight fibres appears to be symmetrical. For example, there is evidence of more pronounced concave side expression of K14 and transglutaminase-1 in the ORS and IRS, respectively [ 31 ]. Similar dissymmetry of fibronectin glycoprotein has been shown in the CTS [ 21 ]; K82 (hHb2 keratin) in the early forming cuticle [ 31 ]; and K38 (hHa8 keratin) in the follicle bulb [ 21 ]. K38 is also more pronounced in the curly fibre follicle, against the sparse, homogeneous distribution of K38 in the straight fibre follicle [ 21 ]. Expression of growth factor insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 5 (IGFBP-5) has also been seen to be significantly higher in curly than in straight fibres [ 32 ].

(ii) Microscopic fibre characterization

As with the follicle, a broad synopsis (summarized from [ 33 – 35 ]) of the fibre is necessary to provide context for discussion. Forming in the follicle, the keratinized fibre protrudes above the scalp. Biochemically, the fibre is characterized by its proteins, lipids and cellular environment. Proteins form the major biochemical component, with the polypeptide backbone (comprising planar amino acid residues) being the basic structural unit of all fibre proteins. The protein backbone may be folded into an α-helix or various β-strand secondary configurations. Keratin proteins (KPs) comprise various α-helical-folded backbones that are iteratively aggregated lengthwise (driven by hydrogen and disulfide bonding) to form fibrous structural units. Keratin-associated proteins (KAPs) mostly assume a combination of secondary configurations, including α-helix strands, β-strands, β-sheets and β-turns [ 36 , 37 ]. The main components of the fibre are composed of KPs and/or KAPs, forming the cuticle, cortex and the medulla. A detailed description of each of these components, as pertains to curvature, is presented below.

Medulla. Not found in all hair fibres, the medulla (in the fibre centre) is predominantly present in coarser hair fibres. In an old study on various ethnic groups in India, with hair varying from straight to frizzly, discontinuous medullary cells were found in all hair types, a continuous medulla was found in straight and medium curly (narrow wavy) hair, but absent in frizzly hair (among the test group), and the absence of a medulla was also reported in all hair types [ 38 ]. No newer studies that relate fibre curliness to the medulla appear to be available. Further discussion of the medulla is therefore excluded from this review.

Cuticle and lipids. The cuticle is mainly composed of KAPs and lipids. The cuticle acts as a protective fibre envelope and comprises several cellular layers that are meshed in cell membrane complex (CMC) material. Cuticle layers may be broadly divided according to main functionality ( figure 2 ). The outer layers (A-layer, exocuticle, endocuticle) fortify the fibre against mechanical and chemical stresses; the lower layers (lower β-layer, δ-layer and upper β-layer) form cuticular CMC material. CMC material, although different in chemical composition, is also found at the cuticle–cortex junction and in the cortex itself. CMC material is composed of cell membrane proteins, sandwiched in endogenous lipid layers. These are different from surface lipids exuded from the sebaceous gland in the follicle sac. Lipids are present in both the cuticle and the cortex. Primary endogenous lipids include fatty acids, cholesterol, ceramides and 18-methyl eicosanoic acid (18-MEA) [ 39 , 40 ]. The most well-known hair lipid is 18-MEA (in the cuticle), which forms a covalently bonded monolayer between the membrane protein on the one side and an electrostatic association with fatty acids on the other side to construct cuticle CMC [ 41 ]. Cuticle–cortex CMC material has a covalent thioester, polar and salt linkage hybrid character.

Composition of the hair cuticle. Each constituent layer makes a contribution to the physical behaviour of the fibre.

Lipids contribute strongly to the fibre's resilience against certain extrinsic stresses, and they also facilitate or hinder substance uptake (both internally and environmentally). Lipids are (to a lesser extent) also associated with fibre stiffness and tensile strength [ 42 ], but generally not with fibre curvature. Some studies have suggested that lipids may play a structural role in fibre shape [ 17 , 18 , 40 ], but no definite expositions have been offered. In lipid characterization studies, two publications reported that African hair contains more internal lipids than European or Asian hair [ 17 , 18 ]. In another publication, Asian hair was indicated to have the highest internal lipid concentration when compared with European and African hair [ 43 ]. The conflicting statements may be explained by considering the challenges when investigating fibre lipids. Comparative studies on hair lipids are challenged by disproportionate requirements to extract free lipids (easy) and covalently bound lipids (complex), as well as the impact on fibre properties of a delipidized fibre [ 44 ]. As a result, ignorance of these challenges during experimentation, or comparing population data with results from other publications that used different extraction methods, may lead to biased characterization and inferences about fibre behaviour.

Cortex. The cortex is generally associated with fibre curliness. A detailed review of the hair cortex is presented in [ 13 ]. Accordingly, the cortex forms the greater part of the fibre and comprises KPs that are embedded in an amorphous space, called the matrix. The matrix is composed of KAPs and other structures not relevant here. KPs are rigid, fibrous, hydrophobic structures, whereas KAPs are globular, water-soluble proteins, with a hydrophobic interior and hydrophilic surface. While the matrix has an amorphous form, it establishes a coherent nano-structural base for the KPs [ 45 – 47 ], which direct cellular organization during fibre formation.

Keratin proteins in the cortex. Dominating keratin intermediate structures that are of interest to this work include the intermediate filament (IF), microfibril (MF) and cortical cell. Summarized from [ 13 , 14 , 48 , 49 ], each of these structures is chemically cross-linked with one another and with KAPs of the surrounding matrix. Cortical cells comprise aggregated MFs, which in turn comprise aggregated IFs. Borrowed from wool fibres, morphological distinction is made between three types of cortical cells, namely orthocortical (OC), mesocortical (MC) and paracortical (PC) cells.

Cortical cells have elongated longitudinal (rod-like) shapes and round-to-amorphous transverse shapes. OCs are larger than PCs. The ultrastructural arrangements inside mature cortical cells vary widely. OCs are composed of many small, well-defined MFs, comprising IFs that are tightly packed in annular shape from the cell centre outwards. PCs contain fewer but larger MFs with poorly defined edges. These are arranged around the periphery of the PC, with cytoplasmic remnants located towards the cell centres. In PCs, structures are loosely packed amidst a large amount of matrix material, and IFs assume hexagonal packing. Packing density is higher in OCs than in PCs. MCs appear to be intermediates between OCs and PCs. MCs are not always regarded as a distinct cell type [ 50 , 51 ]. Some studies consider MCs as part of the PC group while others propose two types of OCs, where the description of less-dominating OCs subscribes (to some extent) to that of MCs. The ultrastructure of MCs appears to be a migration from OCs to PCs, with larger size (circular to amorphous) MFs around the cell periphery. In MCs, IF packing is more similar to packing in PC macrofibrils, i.e. near hexagonal, but the small amount of matrix material corresponds more closely to that of OCs.

Some researchers have moved away from the OC/MC/PC designations that originate from wool research. For example, studying naturally straight and curly fibres from Japanese females [ 52 , 53 ], types A–D were designated to cortical cell types. Types A and B resemble OC-like cells, with type B tending towards the description of MCs. Types C and D resemble PC-like cells, with type D an infrequently occurring cell type that is distinct from, yet most like, PCs. Figure 3 illustrates the different cell types and how the keratin intermediate filament (KIF) packing inside each cell impacts both the cell shape and degree of freedom when packed inside the cortex. A surprising element of this study was that, against the accepted premise that East Asian (in this case Japanese) hair is ‘straight’, the study reported that 47% of the sample pool ( n  = 230) had curly hair, varying in curl radius from 0.6 to 16 cm. Studying the ultrastructural arrangement of fibres, the authors observed the presence of four cell types (A–D) in fibres from all hair types. Furthermore, cortical cell types B and C (MC-like and PC-like cells) were found to be the dominating components in all hair. In curly hair, geometric arrangement was distinctly bilateral, with more type C cells on the concave side and more of types A and B on the convex side. The study confirmed the correlation between curvature and bilaterality, and also highlighted the variability and complexity of cortical cell arrangements.

Illustration of the different cortical cell types. The packing of the IFs inside the cell contributes to the shape of the cortical cell (adapted from [ 52 , 53 ]).

OCs are often described as the dominant cell type in the OC : PC ratio, but significant ratio variability has been reported [ 54 ]. More recently, the differences in OC : PC ratio between African, European and Asian hair fibres were demonstrated to be small [ 51 ], suggesting weak correlation with both ancestry and curliness. The notion also concurs with the view described in [ 55 ]. Even though there is considerable intra- and inter-variability [ 56 ], a common ultrastructural feature of very curly fibres is the bilateral symmetry of OCs and PCs. However, a clear increasing relationship has been shown for the proportion of OC cells versus fibre diameter in wool [ 56 ]. The mathematical relationship was shown to be either linear or log-linear, i.e. A = β 0 + β 1 d and A = β 0 ′ + β 1 ′ ln ⁡ d , where A is the percentage cross-sectional area of OC cells and d is the cortex diameter. This relationship was found to hold generally true across breed and despite physiological influences such as nutritional stress. Other structural geometries in less curled fibres are uni- or bilobate (dominating OC cortex infiltrated with longitudinal lobe of PCs or MCs) or unicellular [ 56 ]. In the bilateral symmetry, OCs and PCs assume convex and concave sides of the curl, respectively ( figure 4 ). MCs appear to be important in intermediate and lower curled fibres [ 57 ]. While the OC content shows small variations, there appears to be a significant lean towards an MC/PC combination instead of only PCs [ 21 , 56 ]. The reported concentration of MCs was shown to correlate inversely with curvature, with a complete lack of MCs in very curly fibres [ 21 ].

Cross-sectional and longitudinal cortical cell distribution in straight and curly hair fibres (adapted from [ 52 , 53 ]).

The bilateral arrangement of OCs and PCs is sometimes described as a mechanism, or as a cause of fibre curvature [ 52 , 55 ]. Recent work has indicated that cortical cell lengths are longer on the convex than on the concave sides of the fibre curl [ 55 ]. As such, the authors contested the notion that bilaterality causes curvature, but rather argue that cortical cell length is more likely to have a causal relationship with curvature than cell type or ratio. This premise is more accommodating of observed variations in geometric arrangements than the first. However, both dimensional and pattern data describe ‘appearance’. There is a need to distinguish between causation and appearance. ‘Causation’ answers the ‘why’ question, whereas ‘appearance’ describes observed structures and patterns, i.e. the ‘what’ question. The ‘bilateral pattern’ is a description of the physical appearance of the cortex as viewed microscopically. Observations of bilaterality do suggest certain underlying machinery (apparatus) and processes (mechanisms) that produce cortical cells, which are arranged in a particular cortical cell pattern and which have a particular ultrastructural display. The underlying machinery and processes are the causative factors and not the observed patterns (appearances) that result from the underlying production line, i.e. the ultrastructural arrangement, bilateral pattern and cortical cell lengths are the result of the molecular assembly processes of IFs, MFs and cortical cells [ 58 , 59 ]. It is also necessary to take into account that, besides huge variability of cortical cell patterns (as observed in different sheep breeds), bilateral arrangements have also been observed in the cortices of linear (straight) wool samples. Furthermore, research has demonstrated an inverse correlation between average fibre diameter and propensity to a bilateral pattern [ 56 ]. This implies that the relationship between bilaterality and fibre curliness cannot be taken as injective or as causation of curvature. In a certain sense, the observed structures, patterns, cell lengths and ratios lie at the junction of the ‘why’ and ‘what’ questions. Yet, the purpose of this work is to present a platform from where equivalent theories can be understood and compared in order to highlight knowledge gaps and focus investigations. Therefore, from a multi-disciplinary viewpoint, engineering and manufacturing principles would suggest that ultrastructural dimensions and arrangements belong to the ‘what’ question asked about curly hair.

Keratin-assisting/associating structures in the cortex. Similar to cortical cell KPs, distinction (motifs and sequence homology) is also made between different KAPs [ 60 ], which are, therefore, described in terms of their function and biochemical character. KAP types and quantities vary significantly in different fibre structures, be it cuticle layers or cortical cell types [ 33 , 34 , 58 ]. KAPs are broadly classified as high sulfur (HS), ultra-high sulfur (UHS) or high glycine–tyrosine (HGT) proteins. The amount of cysteine (more or less than 30 mol.%) dictates the difference between HS and UHS KAPs, whereas HGT proteins have a glycine or tyrosine content of approximately 35–60 mol.% [ 59 ]. HS KAPs dominate in the matrix. Cuticles are cysteine and glycine rich [ 61 ], with the outer layers comprising highly cross-linked UHS-type proteins and the endocuticle mostly composed of low-sulfur residues and acidic and basic proteins. Cuticular KAPs are high in cysteine, serine, glycine and proline content [ 13 , 33 – 35 ]. Biochemically, cortex KPs are low-sulfur structures, with a high concentration of basic and acidic residues when compared with cuticular proteins [ 62 ]. KPs are also low in proline [ 63 ], which is detrimental to the α-helix structure. In wool fibres, concentrations of cysteine, cysteic acid, threonine and proline were shown to be higher in PCs than in OCs, whereas tyrosine, glycine, phenylalanine and leucine were dominating in OCs [ 64 , 65 ]. In certain but not all studies [ 65 ], aspartic acid concentrations have also been found to be dominant in OCs.

(iii) Macroscopic characterization of the fibre

On a macrolevel, hair curl taxonomies provide a meaningful tool for making scientific sense of, and deriving objective inferences from, hair study results. A classic taxonomy paper, proposed to move away from race-based fibre classification, is the segmentation tree analysis method (STAM) [ 20 ]. Based on curvature phenotyping, STAM classifies hair into eight curl-type groups (I—straight to VIII—tightly curly). STAM introduced a significant shift by considering hair fibres phenotypically, rather than racially. However, it poses complexity and repeatability challenges. When working with large sample pools (e.g. 6000 in [ 66 ], 26 964 in [ 67 ] and 9674 in [ 10 ]), STAM is tedious and complex when phenotyping medium to very curly fibres. Using STAM, a high inter-rater variability has also been demonstrated for very curly hair [ 68 ]. Accordingly, a modification has been suggested to STAM, whereby classes V and VI as well as VII and VIII are collapsed into single groups each. The modified-STAM taxonomy demonstrated significantly reduced rater variability when compared with the advantages of having more curl classes, at least when considering the current knowledge on how fibre features correlate with different degrees of curvature. The literature review showed that the uptake of STAM/modified-STAM (mostly in material, mechanical, structural and cosmetic sciences) as a methodology is relatively low and that most publications still use race/population as the phenotypical fibre discriminant. A similar taxonomy to the modified-STAM has been observed in genetic and forensic sciences, using a six-point scale system to differentiate between ‘stick straight’, ‘straight’, ‘wavy’, ‘big curls’ and ‘small curls’ [ 10 , 69 ]. An even more simplistic model uses a three- or four-point scale system, in which case differentiation includes ‘straight’, ‘wavy’, ‘curly’ and/or ‘frizzy’ hair [ 10 , 66 ].

Demonstrated in [ 11 , 12 ], curly fibres (of African descent) vary widely in degree of curliness. Furthermore, distinct correlation has been demonstrated between fibre curliness and certain features (e.g. curliness and diameter, curliness and elastic limit) [ 11 , 52 , 53 ]. This indicates the necessity to differentiate between degrees of fibre curliness in order to gain a more accurate understanding of hair fibres. In our opinion, a practical taxonomy needs to be uncomplicated to facilitate easy, yet accurate, use. The above-mentioned six-point scale [ 69 ] and modified-STAM [ 68 ] appear to support these requirements. More appropriate descriptions, for straightforward classification of large datasets, could be ‘stick straight’, ‘near straight’, ‘wavy’, ‘wavy, big curls’, ‘small curls, frizzy, kinky, afro’, ‘tight, interwoven small curls'.

While it may be tempting to group ‘straight’ and ‘near-straight’ fibres into one group, there seem to be differences between ‘stick straight’ and ‘near-straight’ fibres. A study that points out the importance of differentiation is described in [ 70 ]. Volunteers were 151 individuals of European ancestry who donated 20+ hair fibres each; these were then classified as types I–IV according to STAM. The aim of the study was to evaluate factors (instrumentally and via survey) that contribute to the perception of ‘fine hair’. Accordingly, there was a strong correlation between self-perception of ‘fine hair’ and low average fibre diameter, hair density, stiffness and break force load. Statistical analysis showed that hair at a STAM class threshold of 2.5 (below III, but above II) fell in the category of ‘fine hair’, whereas hair above this threshold was categorized as ‘not fine’. Fibres in the latter group were thicker, stronger and stiffer, with a greater scalp density. This means that curlier hair was found to be thicker, stronger and more resilient under mechanical forces than the near-straight hair. How features of the hair at the top of the spectrum (classes III and VI) of the tested group would compare with features at the low end of the spectrum for curly African fibres (class IV) is unknown. However, what is interesting from this study is the seeming decrease in quantitative results from class I (stick straight) to class II (straight), followed by an increase in class III (wavy). Based on the mechanical trends observed for various fibre properties (average diameter, ellipticity and straightness), high torsional rigidity and strength are anticipated for mechanical structures (fibres) that are similar to cylindrical beams (transversely round and thick). On the other hand, comparing a thinner/elliptical/curved beam with the thick, cylindrical beam, the former is expected to have weaker mechanical properties than the latter. Therefore, a decrease in mechanical features is not unexpected as the structure becomes thinner, more elliptical and curved. The increased performance in these fibre features between ‘straight’ and ‘near-straight’ hair is therefore not surprising. The apparent trend of ‘near-straight’ fibres to be thinner than ‘wavy’ fibres is somewhat surprising. Further studies are needed, using a larger sample pool, from interracial ancestry.

Considering the available characterization studies, several data gaps became evident through the described trends. Large intra- and inter-sample variabilities in the observed trends suggest a certain amount of bias slipping in during experimental design, which might be addressed by using finer taxonomies than a race-based or two-point scale (‘straight’, ‘curly’). As noted in [ 44 ], experimental design and result interpretation of comparative characterization studies demand at the very least the use of an objective classification scheme. The other data gap, with regard to the previous, is the seeming unawareness of experimental challenges relating to the curved fibre as an interracial or race-independent phenomenon. The argument about bilaterality being a descriptive, rather than a causative, element in curly fibres also highlighted an important data gap. The correlation between bilaterality and fibre curliness seems to be an important fibre feature relationship that supports curvature, but that needs further exploration to unlock the secrets that explain the variabilities in this relationship.

(b) Why do some fibres curl?

As mentioned above, the ‘why’ question relates mainly to the machinery and processes that produce micro-patterns that are characteristic of the curved fibre, as well as the curved fibre itself. The reason for hair curvature appears to be studied primarily from three viewpoints: anthropology, medicine and biology. Although different in focal points, answers from these perspectives are not necessarily independent, but are often intertwined.

(i) Anthropology

From an anthropological viewpoint, environmental factors relating to scalp cooling or heat retention form an evolutionary assumption to explain the ‘why’ behind hair curliness [ 13 , 71 ]. Accordingly, the dominating ancient hominid scalp hair form was curly because of the ability of the curved shape to raise the fibre root away from the skin, thereby delivering both UV protection and scalp cooling. Migrating from the hot climate of Africa into colder areas, evolutionary adaptation is thought to have caused changes in hair shape and colour. Sufficient evidence to confirm the hypothesis has not yet been found.

(ii) Medicine

Besides having a biological interest in the hair fibre as part of fundamental knowledge of the human body, medicine also has a diagnostic interest in asking why hair curls. Changes in intrinsic hair form may be related to a health condition or drug effect. For example, woolly hair may point to certain autosomal recessive hair disorders [ 72 ], and changes in hair shape have been observed from treatment of certain conditions (e.g. [ 3 , 73 ]). From a diagnostic perspective, the emphasis of the ‘why’ question pertains to visible features that lead to concern, rather than an interest in the curl phenomenon itself.

(iii) Biology

Genetics. Westgate et al . [ 74 ] offered a valuable review of the biology and genetics of the curly fibre. From a biological perspective, the ‘why’ question about hair curvature is tackled through investigations of fibre morphogenesis that focus on genetic factors, cellular processes and relevant machinery morphologies that produce a curved shape. In summary, the genetic core and differentiated mechanistic rates govern the follicle morphogenesis. Within this structure, proliferation and differentiation mechanisms drive curly fibre formation and also entrench supportive structures to stabilize and maintain curvature once the fibre protrudes through the scalp. This section begins with a discussion of the genes associated with curvature and then explores other biological theories of curl.

Various genes have been associated with fibre shape, including TCHH , EDAR , WNT10A , FRAS1 , OFCC1 , TRAF2 , PRSS53 , PADI3 , LOC105373470 , S100A11 , LCE3E and LOC391485 [ 10 , 67 , 75 – 77 ]. Of these, a variant of the EDAR gene has been indicated (in animal models) to be responsible for straight, coarse, round fibres generated by enlarged follicles [ 78 ]. The EDAR gene, together with the TCHH , gene was confirmed to be present in straight hair from East Asian and European individuals, but not in curly fibres [ 67 , 79 ]. Despite its prominence in straight hair in East Asians, the EDAR gene could not explain the variation in hair shape. In addition, the TCHH gene appears to play a stronger role in straight hair of Europeans than of East Asians. The VDR gene has been identified to be involved in fibre morphogenesis and growth, and therefore may potentially also contribute to fibre shape [ 80 , 81 ]. As more genome-wide association studies explore DNA data, the genetic complexity that contributes to, or governs, fibre shape is bound to provide an improved understanding to the ‘why’ question.

Follicle machinery and processes. Activities responsible for fibre formation can loosely be grouped into three categories: namely activities that (i) govern and maintain follicle morphology, (ii) drive fibre formation, and (iii) facilitate structural arrangement and curvature support. The hair follicle (described earlier) is a dynamic structure, developing from the epidermis and dermis downwards, that is subjected to different cycles [ 24 , 25 ]. Of interest to this work is the fully formed hair follicle (described earlier) in the growth (anagen) cycle, which produces a curly hair fibre. The follicle is a much studied structure in medicine and biology (e.g. [ 25 , 82 – 84 ]), yet it is still not well understood [ 23 ]. Detailed activities that govern follicle morphogenesis fall outside the scope of this review.

Follicular pathways, which are thought to account for curvature, are the functioning of certain follicle substructures, differentiated growth rates and molecular expression patterns. A number of theories have been put forward to account for the curvature of a fibre. Based on investigation of biological pathways for molecular bending and twisting, it has been argued that multiple papillary centres form within the DP [ 85 ]. As these papillary centres function autonomously, they are likely to generate an asymmetric fibre unless they operate in precise unison. It has also been argued that the fibre is flattened in the DP by certain proliferating mechanisms to produce an elliptical fibre shape [ 86 ]. Another theory has suggested that the hardening of the IRS and ORS before fibre formation constrains growth and results in a specific transverse and longitudinal shape [ 26 , 85 ]. Examples of proliferation and differentiation mechanisms that are thought to be causative of fibre curvature are uneven expression of Ki-67 proliferation markers, K14, K38, K82 keratins, transglutaminase-1 enzyme, fibronectin glycoprotein and IGFBP-5 growth factor [ 21 , 31 , 32 ]. Metabolites that have been suggested as key to controlling the fibre shape are proteoglycans [ 87 ], lipids and exosomes [ 23 ]. Since the matrix protein KAP.8.1 is evident in IF packing in OC/PC/MC macrofibrils, it has also been implicated as a causative reason for fibre curvature [ 59 ].

As argued before, the cellular arrangement in the cortex and ultrastructural patterns are products of underlying mechanisms. The most prominent study in this regard is detailed in the work of Fraser and Parry [ 58 ] and Matsunaga et al . [ 59 ], which offer theories that explain how IFs align with each other to form MFs, as well as the factors that are likely to govern helical (annular) or hexagonal shapes associated with IF packing in OCs and PCs, respectively. KAPs interact with the embedded KP structures and also strongly influence IF packing during MF formation [ 52 , 56 ]. Hence, they also contribute directly and indirectly to fibre curvature.

(iv) Chemical bonding

Owing to popular hair treatments (i.e. cosmetic relaxing and permanent setting), breaking and reformation of disulfide bonds are processes that are closely associated with changes of fibre curliness. As a result, these bonds are believed to cause curvature. However, disulfide bonds are formed during fibre keratinization, a process that occurs after maturation of fully formed cortical cells [ 25 ]. As such, the governing elements mentioned earlier have already set the stage for fibre curvature, and the newly formed fibre is equipped (stabilized) in the keratinization zone for extrafollicular existence once it protrudes through the scalp. Disulfide bonds (and other stabilizing cross-links) are therefore probably not directly causative of curvature but, rather, support curvature.

There are still many data gaps when considering the reason for fibre curvature. As aptly described by Bernard [ 23 ], ‘much knowledge about hair follicle biology has been acquired in the last 70 years, but the code for molecular and cellular behaviour of the follicle has not yet been broken’. Besides understanding the reason for curvature, the necessity to distinguish between causation and characterization has also been shown, as it introduces confusion in forming comparative causation theories.

(c) How do curly fibres behave?

The ‘how’ question is tightly coupled with the ‘what’ question, describing how curly fibres behave under, or respond to, certain conditions. The nature of the ‘how’ question is largely comparative, describing limits and operational ranges of characteristic attributes and also stress-induced deviations from normality. Studies can be categorized loosely into macro- and micro-fibre interests, although these are sometimes combined in an attempt to find important interrelationships between macro- and micro-fibre features. Focusing on the whole structure, diameter, cross-section, lustre, stiffness, rigidity and degree of curliness are typical examples of macroscopic attributes. Microscopic behavioural studies focus on aspects such as biochemical composition, structural arrangement, mechanical properties, growth rate and drug/substance absorption.

(i) Physical behaviour

The literature reveals a widespread interest in the fibre's dimensional (diameter, cross-sectional area, ellipticity) and tensile (elastic limits, break stress load) properties under various conditions (humid, wet, dry, temperature). Besides the interest in dimensional data, they are also required for tensile calculations. A major purpose of tensile studies (usually in mechanical engineering and material and cosmetic sciences) is to find the operational range in which a fibre would maintain its inherent elasticity, without damage or catastrophic failure. Most of these studies appear to have used a race-based taxonomy, comparing the three broad hair types with one another and developing a general trend (despite great intra-variability) about fibre thickness, ellipticity and strength. Accordingly, African (‘curly’) fibres have a low to moderate diameter, longitudinal polydispersity and elliptical cross-section when compared with European (‘near straight’) and Asian (‘straight’) fibres, which are reported to be stronger, thicker, more uniform lengthwise and rounder transversally. African hair is also known to be coarse, except very curly fibres, which are thin. When compared with European fibres, Asian fibres are understood to be slightly thicker and rounder transversally, but have a similar or just slightly higher tensile strength [ 13 , 88 – 90 ].

As mentioned under the ‘what’ question, broad trends between fibre diameter, cross-section, curliness and strength have been found in African fibres of different curliness, i.e. an inverse correlation between fibre curliness and strength as well as curliness and diameter [ 11 ]. Dimension and tensile strength data for Tunisian females of varying fibre curliness (wavy and curly) also showed the same inverse correlations [ 91 ]. However, Tunisian curly fibres were found to be thicker and stronger than curly fibres from African ancestry. A similar study on Mexican females of varying curliness indicated a similar pattern between fibre curliness, dimension and (wet break) strength [ 92 ]. From the curl classification of Mexican fibres, it was inferred that Mexican hair corresponded strongly to Asian/European curliness patterns (classes I–IV). It therefore appears that fibre shape, and not ancestry, determines the important correlation between fibre curliness and diameter and between fibre curliness and tensile strength. This observation is confirmed by considering the composition of cystine-rich proteins in the different groups, as these are the dominating contributors to fibre strength. By studying the distribution of cystine-rich proteins under transmission electron microscopy, it has been demonstrated that distribution rates in African fibres are comparable to distribution rates in European and Asian hair [ 22 ]. Accordingly, hair weakness in natural, untreated African hair fibres results from excessive structural damage that is consistent with mechanical stress accrued from grooming complex physical structures, and not from structural abnormalities or weaknesses. From an engineering perspective, irrespective of origin, a curved structure presents various physical and mechanical challenges to being groomed. These induce fibre weakening and damage. Tensile evaluation of a weakened structure is likely to yield poor results. However, we have found that current tensile evaluation strategies may be inadequate to determine the tensile strength adequately. We recently reported on incidental observations of distinct toe-region behaviour for curly fibres on the stress–strain plot, which is absent for straight fibres ( figure 5 ) [ 93 ]. Accordingly, curly hair fibres exhibit a distinct lag in the toe-region before heeling into elastic deformation, whereas straight hair fibres show immediate elastic responses upon load elongation. Further investigation showed a distinct interrelationship between fibre mechanics and geometry and suggested that the viscoelastic character of hair varies significantly with varying curliness. Showing that fibre curliness is predictable from tensile data, it was pointed out that de facto methods of tensile testing appear to erode curly fibre strength during preparation. Furthermore, de facto tensile strength evaluation methods, based on load elongation at constant rate, largely equate fibre strength with elastic strength, ignoring the viscous contribution of the fibre. The viscous contribution is mostly from the matrix, but, depending on the cuticle size, the cuticle may also contribute to the fibre's viscosity. Reported in [ 62 ], the cuticular material may account for 40% of the total fibre weight in fine hair. As mentioned earlier, while African fibres (as an example of curly fibres) are generally known to be coarse, diameter decreases with curliness, which suggests the potential of a larger viscosity contribution from very curly hair than that from medium curly hair. The main outcome of our study indicated that the tensile strength ( σ T ) of hair fibres is composed of two (rather than one main) components, namely a contribution from the toe- as well as the elastic region, namely σ T = σ t + σ ε , with σ t and σ ϵ signifying the toe- and elastic regions, respectively. Tensile strength of hair fibres is determined as Young's modulus ( ϵ ), which is the gradient of the elastic region on the stress–strain plot, i.e. ε = σ / ϵ , where σ and ϵ are the stress and strain values, respectively. However, when a viscoelastic material is stretched, tensile strength is represented by a complex ( ε ∗ ) rather than a simple quantity, i.e. ε ∗ = ε s + ε d i , where ε s is the material's elastic stiffness and ε d is the fibre's energy dissipative ability observed as a result of viscous damping [ 94 ]; this agrees with our findings, namely that σ T = ε t ϵ + ε ε ϵ , rather than σ T = ε ε ϵ . While both toe- and elastic regions have an elastic and a viscosity contribution, the elastic contribution dominates in the elastic region, whereas the viscosity contribution dominates in the toe-region. For non-curly fibres, the greatest part of fibre strength is derived from σ ϵ while σ t   ≈ 0. For curly fibres, σ t adds significantly to the overall strength, even though σ ϵ remains the major contributor.

Stress–strain plot for straight and curly hair fibres. For curly hair fibres, there exists a toe-region prior to the linear elastic region.

(ii) Absorption behaviour

Another commonly studied behaviour is the fibre's response to external or internal chemical exposure. Structural responses to external exposure mostly pertain to cosmetic treatments and, to a lesser extent, photo-oxidative exposure or environmental exposure. External absorption response interests lie in understanding the kinetics and mechanisms of the exposure; the structural and ultrastructural changes (damages) due to the exposure; the impact on hair strength and surface properties; and also strategies to improve the condition of damaged hair (e.g. [ 13 , 95 – 99 ]). Owing to consumer popularity of using chemical relaxing and grey-covering treatment on the hair, these topics remain important and are likely to be re-investigated frequently with the emergence of improved instruments/techniques or chemical treatments applied to the hair (e.g. [ 100 , 101 ]). Shown by Coderch et al . [ 40 , 102 ], a modification of the Guggenheim–Anderson–Boer sorption model (initially for soil water vapour sorption isotherms) is well suited to evaluate the changes in the permeation characteristics of the hair fibres. Accordingly, the sorbed moisture content ( M in g/100 g) at water activity a w can be monitored by M = M 1 c K a w / ( 1 − K a w + c K a w ) , where M 1 is the sorbed monolayer moisture content (in g/100 g) and c and K are energy constants depicting the difference in free enthalpy of the water molecules in the pure liquid state and in the monolayer (in the case of c ) or in the upper layers in the case of ( K ).

Forensic, medicinal and pharmacological sciences are generally more interested in internal, rather than external, exposure of the fibre to chemicals, although forensic investigations have some interest in exogenous influences. Chemical deposition via endogenous absorption of substances facilitates a non-invasive means to trace chemicals to which the individual was exposed, long after pathological evidence of exposure. This method is not without its challenges. Endogenous absorption is affected by chemical treatments (permanent and semi-permanent) of the hair, which have been found to markedly alter the content of certain drug markers used for hair analyses [ 103 ]. False positives for substance abuse are often reported in forensic investigations. In the USA, there appears to be a higher positive rate for drugs in African (assumed curly) than in European hair (assumed near straight). The view that the elevated rate is attributable to ancestry has recently been challenged [ 104 ]. Accordingly, certain types of cosmetic products (‘ethnic hair care’) increase diffusivity of hair. Applying the same products on hair from African and European ancestry, absorption susceptibility of all fibres was found to increase, which, in turn, resulted in similar drug uptake rates irrespective of race.

Absorption of chemical substances (in any medium) is strongly affected by the hydrophilicity/lipophilicity, pH and other substances in the absorbing medium. As mentioned, there is race-independent direct correlation between fibre shape and cortical cell composition [ 56 , 64 ], and the chemical composition between PCs and OCs differs [ 64 , 65 ]. Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge, there are no reported data on lipid distribution in different hair forms, only race-based lipid distribution reports [ 17 , 18 , 43 ]. A group of Spanish researchers investigating lipid contents in various hair types [ 18 , 40 , 102 ] has reported (among many findings) that African hair has the greatest amount of exogenous lipids with lower permeability than European and Asian hair. It was shown that, after depletion of exogenous lipids, absorption kinetics remained constant, but desorption kinetics changed, leading to a loss of total moisture content. On the other hand, depletion of endogenous lipids promoted lower water permeability. The European and Asian hair used in the mentioned Spanish studies [ 18 , 40 , 102 ] appears to be straight, or almost straight. Furthermore, fibres were acquired commercially, and there is no indication of the size of the donor sample pools from the reported literature. It is therefore impossible to determine whether these important findings are generally true for specific racial groups, or whether they are phenotypical. A recent study [ 105 ] by the same group, where different colour hair from the same racial group was subjected to similar investigations, seems to point to a phenotypical rather than racial origin. Results showed a significant difference in cuticle lipid content, as well as different absorption/desorption dynamics between the white and brown hair. White fibres exhibited decreased absorption capacity and increased rate of permeability. This raises a question about how these observations would differ between fibres of different curliness in the same population. Considering that certain fibre features, previously attributed to race, were later found to be attributable to fibre shape, there is a strong likelihood that lipid distribution may have a phenotypical, rather than racial, nature. If true, it would not be irrational to suggest dissimilarities in biochemical environment (among curly and non-curly fibres) that would affect absorption. This would be critical for correct data interpretations, especially in medicine, pharmacology, forensics and toxicology.

(iii) Surface properties

Various studies characterize and compare mechanical surface properties of the fibre. Typical surface properties include fibre lustre (versus dullness), fractures in the surface (lack of smoothness, increased fraction coefficient and tangling due to damage), hardness (bending stiffness and torsional rigidity), etc. [ 13 , 16 , 106 – 108 ]. Theory suggests that surface properties of curly structures are likely to be dissimilar to those of straight structures. Not many studies could be found for surface properties of curly fibres per se . However, when compared with European/Asian fibres, fibres from African ancestry have a higher friction coefficient, less lustre, higher torsional rigidity and show more surface damage in general [ 13 – 15 ].

(iv) Growth behaviour

Growth rates of fibres are sometimes also studied in a comparative fashion. A 2012 study [ 109 ] of fibres of low curvature is worth mentioning as it provides a comparative tool to understand curly fibres. The sample pool consisted of straight hair (STAM classes I and II) from East Asian ( n  = 26) and European ( n  = 6) donors, from which more than 1000 hair fibres were evaluated. By focusing on the relationships between growth rate and certain morphological parameters, it was found that thicker hair corresponds to faster growth rates, a higher probability of having a medulla and shorter interscale distances, whereas the opposite was demonstrated for slower growing fibres. A significant conclusion of the study was that findings on growth rates of East Asian and European fibres were independent from ancestry but dependent on certain fibre characteristics. In an earlier related study [ 110 ], an opposite inference was made, namely that growth rates corresponded to race: African < European < Asian. While the earlier study evaluated a larger sample pool (511 donors), ancestry was the differentiator and not fibre characteristics.

The ‘how’ question highlighted that some comparative studies are pointing towards phenotypical curly fibre trends that are independent of race. It also showed that it is clear that a race-based taxonomy, without at least accounting for different curl types, leads to confounding effects. The ‘how’ question, again, highlights the need for large-scale studies based on phenotypical taxonomies in order to better understand and describe fibre behaviour under various conditions.

3. Conclusion on review of current research

Significant effort has been directed towards understanding why fibres curl, characterizing the macro- and micro-appearances (characters) of the curly fibre and determining how the curly fibre is likely to behave under different conditions. Three main observations have been made from the review: (i) the curly fibre appears to be a distinct type of fibre, with its own physical, mechanical and biological make-up; (ii) using a race-based taxonomy introduces complexity and bias to understanding the curly fibre, which hinders the recognition of phenotypical trends; and (iii) uncritical use of terminology, such as ‘European’ and ‘Caucasian’ hair or ‘African’ and ‘ethnic’ or ‘afro’ hair, escalates the problems made in the previous points. It also thwarts objective comparison of relevant studies. An appropriate guiding question for future hair research may be to ask how much of the ‘why’, ‘what’ and ‘how’ is ascribable to genotype and how much to the phenotype.

From a sizeable DNA hair phenotyping study [ 10 ], it appears that more than 50% of hair fibres from European, African, Asian (including Middle, Eastern and Western) and admixed populations exhibit some degree of curl. The high incidence of fibre curvature points to the ‘ordinariness’ (rather than peculiarity) that curly fibres should enjoy when studying hair. If most advances in hair research in the past were made based on available straight/near-straight hair sample pools, the current presentation of fibre development, growth, character and behaviour (mostly from the perspective of straights fibre) is logical. However, were these initial sample pools mostly curly, the fundamental view on hair would have been coloured differently and the narrative would read as follows: Hair comprises many scalp-protruding fibres that adopt a variety of curved shapes. A fibre is formed in a curved follicle, which is embedded in the scalp, at a gradient. The shape of the follicle is geared towards producing a curved structure, having an asymmetric distribution of follicular substructures and certain follicular substances. In cases where the fibre develops without a curved shape, the follicle may be expected to be at right angles to the scalp and without the asymmetry that is needed for shape formation. In these instances, the growing fibre adopts a round (as opposed to an elliptical) transverse shape, and is potentially thicker than normal. Without the mechanical limitations of curvature, these fibres are also likely to have higher elastic limits.

4. A systemized approach to curly hair investigations

(a) curvature fibre model.

Based on the discussion presented in the review section, it is evident that a framework for considering curly hair research would be beneficial. To this end, a curvature fibre model is presented in this section. The main purpose of this model is to present a systemized architecture of curly fibre elements. It is important to note that the design of the curvature fibre model is based on historic and current research interests that focus on hair shape. The review and model are therefore only a subset of general hair fibre research. The model described below might be extended to all types of hair research, but, for such a purpose, the above review would need comprehensive expansion. In its current form, extension of the curvature fibre model would be required as new relevant research topics arise.

Extrapolated from the broad focal points of relevant research activities, the model architecture exists as three main tiers, namely the formation (why), characterization (what) and behaviour (how) levels. A fourth tier, the novel level, exists alongside other levels and leaves a vacancy for new topics relating to curly hair research ( figure 6 ).

The curvature model enables easier categorization of research activities relating to curly hair fibres.

(i) Formation level

The formation level explains why certain fibres are curved. The level comprises three lateral layers, namely the biological, philosophical and diagnostic layers. In the biological layer, which we focus on, four sublayers summarize the main activities that explain the causation of curvature. These include the follicle sublayer that accounts for research activities on follicle morphogenesis. Closely related, and often intertwined with the follicle sublayer, is the developing fibre sublayer, where proliferation and differentiation activities that give rise to the fibre's shape are explored. Theories that describe mechanisms that form specific structures (e.g. IFs and MFs) supporting fibre curvature belong to the structural sublayer of the biological layer. It must be noted at this point that structural sublayers of the biological layer (in the formation level) and micro-layer (in the characterization level) are likely to share a high level of commonality. Level distinction is made by asking whether the research activity describes an observed phenomenon, or whether it describes a process/activity. Studies that report on the visual appearance of patterns or structures (e.g. via various microscopic techniques) are micro-characterization activities. On the other hand, research theories that describe mechanistic processes that lead to specific visual appearances of patterns or structures are assigned to the formation level, as they offer explanations of why fibres curl.

Anthropological and palaeontological theories of why fibres curl belong to the philosophical layer. Both of these two sciences often cooperate with biological sciences. Therefore, interaction between the philosophical and biological layers, especially the genetic sublayer, is expected. The diagnostic layer, which is mostly concerned with health or drug effects that cause otherwise straight hair to curl, is also likely to interact with the biological layer. In this case, interaction is mostly expected to be with the follicle and developing fibre sublayers, where the developing fibre is exposed to disease or drugs from the bloodstream.

(ii) Characterization level

The characterization level describes the visual appearance of the fibre, which may be plainly observable or may require micro-investigations (e.g. microscopy, spectroscopy and chemical analysis). Macro-characterization research activities describe not only visible fibre traits but also development of tools, terminology and classes to accurately depict the curly fibre. These activities belong to the curvature, taxonomy and surface sublayers, respectively. For the curvature sublayer, research activities focus on developing and using appropriate geometric descriptors (e.g. curvature degree, index, width, depth and amplitude) for various applications. The taxonomy sublayer hosts research activities that develop and describe taxonomies, which classify fibres in order to support further (other) fibre investigations. Various visual/surface characteristics of the fibre (e.g. lustre, diameter and stiffness) are studied in the surface sublayer.

Micro-characterization of curvature focuses on the follicle, structural units of the shaft, their interrelationships and multidimensional interactions. As such, micro-layer characterization is categorized in the follicle, shaft structure and shaft biocomposition sublayers. Micro-shaft structures are formed and supported by biochemical components, comprising proteins, lipids, water and other cellular material. The two shaft sublayers are consecutive in nature, with the biocomposition having a regulating effect on the formed structures. The shaft biocomposition describes not only relevant biomolecules but also the chemical bonds that drive underlying bonding networks, which are pivotal in fibre curvature.

(iii) Behaviour level

Fibre behaviour studies may have a characterization or comparative nature. In the first instance, fibre behaviour studies are used to determine how a curly fibre would deviate from its normal character under certain (usually stress) conditions. Monitoring the behaviour of the fibre, pre-selected fibre properties are characterized, e.g. application of mechanical stress is used to characterize the fibre's material strength, bending and torsional properties. Behaviour studies with a comparative nature aim at establishing performance ranges of specific types of fibres. For example, how does the tensile strength of curly hair compare with that of non-curly hair? Currently, most of the comparative studies use different populations or races, and not degree of curliness, as the comparison discriminant. Distinguishable behavioural layers or classes include the physical, mechanical, absorption, growth, ultrastructural changes and biochemical changes layers. The physical layer describes the behaviour(s) of the fibre surface under various test conditions; the mechanical layer is a platform where mechanical responses of the fibre to various test conditions are described/compared; research activities on the absorption layer investigate endogenous and exogenous absorption of the fibre. Depending on the interests of the specific discipline, the absorption responses may be intertwined with any of the other layers on the behaviour level. For example, forensic and medical scientists may be interested in the biochemical changes of the fibre, while engineering sciences may be interested in mechanical and ultrastructural changes after fibre absorption. The growth layer provides a platform for positive and negative growth rate studies. Currently, growth rate studies that relate to curly fibres are mostly comparative in nature. Furthermore, current comparative studies seem to use population/race as a comparison discriminant, and not degree of curliness. Negative growth rates (hair loss) do not appear to be studied from the perspective of curly fibres as a distinct phenotype. The final two layers on the behaviour level provide a platform to describe how the fibre changes microscopically after being subjected to certain stresses or environments.

(b) Application of the curvature fibre model to human scalp hair

The described model presents a simplistic interpretation of current research topics on curly hair. Application of the curvature fibre model (with references to case literature) is depicted in figure 7 . As a first research step, applicable literature reviews typically guide experimental planning or theory development. It is at this point that researchers may spend a significant amount of time trying to make sense of the myriad of hair research material, with efforts that may be marked by an inverse correlation between frustration and productivity. Being able to distinguish between apples and pears in publications that intersperse them may be challenging, especially for younger researchers.

Application of the curvature fibre model.

Using the model to converge literature searches, it is necessary to ask whether intended research focuses on the growing portion of the fibre or on the hair shaft protruding through the scalp. Based on the answer, further questions are asked. If intended research focus is on the growing portion, does the intended research concentrate on biological, evolutionary or diagnostic reasons of why hair curls? If not, the research probably belongs to the characterization layer. If the answer is affirmative, it is necessary to determine in which of the three focus areas the research would reside: biological, evolutionary or diagnostic. In case the research has a biological nature, further decision-making is necessary, namely whether it has a genetic or mechanistic nature. If mechanistic, the main focus area (follicle, developing (whole) fibre or specific fibre structures) of the mechanisms to be studied must be established.

If the study intends to characterize the follicle, it would belong to the follicle sublayer in the micro-layer of the characterization level. However, if it were to concentrate on characterizing the hair shaft rather than the follicle, the first question to ask is whether the research focuses on macro- (surface) or micro-features of the fibre. Surface-based research activities may be handles (classification or terminology) to better describe curvature or may be physical properties such as fibre dimension, colour, tangling, interscale cuticle distances and so on. Micro-characterizations focus either on the follicle or on the shaft. Follicle characterization studies commonly interweave structural and biochemical observations, whereas these topics are often separated in shaft characterization studies.

To establish whether or not the intended research would study the behaviour of the fibre, it is necessary to ask whether the intention is to study certain fibre properties under stress or extraordinary conditions. Alternatively, intended research may want to compare fibres from different sample pools with one another. If the answer is yes to either of these questions, the final step is to pigeonhole the intended research as physical, mechanical, absorption, growth, ultrastructural or biochemical related. If the answer is no to the former two questions, the intended research is likely to be a novel topic. In this case, extension of the model would be in the interest of the body of knowledge relating to curly fibres.

5. Conclusion

The paper presented a literature review on research of curly scalp fibres. The review categorized existing research areas into three categories, essentially asking why fibres curl, what the curly fibre looks like and how the curly fibre behaves. Several data gaps also became evident, of which the most important was that the use of race-based taxonomies in curly fibre research introduces complexity and bias to understanding the curly fibre as a phenotype, which, in turn, hinders the recognition of phenotypical trends. Based on the review, we also presented a first effort to systematize research activities on fibre curvature into a usable model. The model gives an instant overview of relevant available research focus areas. Supplied guidelines for applying the model during research planning are expected to help clarify the intended research focus among the myriad of topical research interests; assist in performing targeted literature searches; assist with comparative studies (comparing apples with apples); and help highlight areas in which more research is required.

Supplementary Material

Data accessibility, authors' contributions.

E.C. wrote the paper. M.N.N. and N.P.K. edited the manuscript.

Competing interests

We declare we have no competing interests.

Funding for this work was received from the National Research Foundation SARChI Chair for Dermatology and Toxicology and The South African Medical Research Council.

Home — Application Essay — Business School — Talking about Natural Hair and Beauty Standards

Talking about Natural Hair and Beauty Standards

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Words: 666 |

Published: Jul 18, 2018

Words: 666 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

Do you know what your hair type is? Probably not. I have natural 3c-4a hair. Beyond interesting trivial, I honestly don't think much about natural hair and care less as to what my hair texture is, but at one point in my life I felt as if my hair texture would either make me or break me. Society doesn't help with this internal battle for black teens in America either. The standard of beauty is unrealistic for most and causes them to want to change who they are and become someone they're not. Growing up I wanted to have pin straight hair like all the white girls, because that’s all that I knew.

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I didn't think it was acceptable to rock my natural hair in an afro. I saw that as ugly and barbaric, as awful as it is to say. In hindsight, it almost makes sense as to why l thought this way. All the young black girls on television had straight hair: That’s So Raven, True Jackson V.P, and My Wife and Kids. These protagonists lived up to white beauty standards. Even though I craved pin straight hair, the closest thing I came to having was a bunch of protective styles. Protective styles are styles that tuck the ends of your hair away from being exposed to damaging agents such as sun, heat and constant manipulation. With a little bit of straightening I never had manipulated my hair too drastically.

That’s up until sixth grade, when l made the biggest mistake of my life.

At the time, l was elated because l finally felt like l fit in, one step closer to looking like all of my white friends and the black girls I saw on television. With the new hair came a tremendous amount of maintenance I wasn’t ready for. I had anticipated l would relax it and that would be the end of it , but that’s not what ended up happening. Once every month and a half my mother and l would spend my Friday nights or Saturday mornings in either my kitchen or the salon getting my hair relaxed. I would sit in a chair for no more than ten minutes dealing with the excruciating pain of my scalp being on fire,but beauty is pain, right? I spent around four years dealing with this process. But it wasn’t until the summer before tenth grade where I was getting fed up with putting chemicals into my hair. I began the process known in the natural hair community as “transitioning”. Transitioning from relaxed to natural was personally difficult because all l wanted to do was to get rid of all the curly roots that were growing in. The idea of letting my curly hair grow back in was completely foreign to me because the second I saw growth I would immediately relax the roots in an effort to make everything look uniform.

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During this time, I didn't put any heat on my hair unless it was to blow dry it. The final “big chop” made me feel like a new woman. At first after l cut off all of the straight ends I felt a little insecure. It was a culture shock seeing myself, but over time, whenever l look at myself in the mirror, l actually recognize the girl who’s staring back at me. If you told me six years ago that I would be wearing my natural hair in an afro pouring out self confidence, l would have looked at you like you had five heads. Going natural was probably one of the best things that could have ever happened to me. It has created a sense of personal pride l didn't have before. It has even taught me not to succumb to other people's beauty standards because everyone is beautiful in their own way. Leo Tolstoy once said “It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.” With this, I finally realized that I am beautiful, too.

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My Curly Hair

Ellen Martin

I could write 250-500 words on that topic in a jiffy for my personal college essay. “I dare you!” you may say.

Ahhhh…the web of a personal narrative I could spin. And that’s exactly what college admissions officers are looking for. They want to hear your voice in the essay so they can get a sense of who you are and the emotional drivers behind the story that you are telling them. When this authenticity comes through, those reading your application can see how you would add to the collective personality of their incoming freshman class. You are much more than your numbers. This is where your essay comes into play. It will help you answer that commonly asked question, “That student in my high school class was so strong. Why didn’t they get into that college?” If you don’t show the colleges who you are, you will be at a huge disadvantage.

Now…back to the curly hair. First of all, it seems like the simplest and most narrow of ideas. This doesn’t showcase anything extraordinary about me or something that I’ve accomplished. Exactly! This essay is not the time to brag about how you “saved the world” by making that one mission trip to the beaches of Costa Rica (nice work if you can get it!).

I was born with no hair, but once it started coming in, it took the form of ringlets and even through three babies, it never straightened out. But, why is this important and how can you learn about me it? My curly hair has made me stand out for as long as I can remember. I hated it growing up. There were too many people who felt free to comment about it and hairdressers whining that it was too difficult to work with. As I grew into it, I began to embrace the uniqueness of my hair as part of who I was, though unfortunately this wasn’t until after the use of harsh-lye straighteners during my teenage years.

The timing worked out well in college when there were plenty of hippies to be found, and we just “let it all hang out,” including frizzy, curly hair. I claimed my hair. It told of my Jewish ethnicity and Northern roots. I started to view my hair as a positive as I became surer of myself. It made me look a bit quirky, which I was and was happy to be. When I moved from the more ethnic North to the more homogenized South, I felt that familiar feeling of sticking out and not in a good way. I was called a “Yankee” at times, but by then I was mature enough to appreciate that uniqueness, which made me feel less cookie-cutter.

My hair became my label when people who didn’t know my name would refer to me: that “woman with the curly hair.” Were there that few of us? In the 1980s South, the answer was, “Yes.” The discomfort of not fitting in had raised its ugly head again, but this time I had the skills to combat it with action. I became motivated to meet less narrow-minded people and extended myself even more than usual so that I would feel welcomed, curly hair or not. So, a nod to “Team Curly Hair” for being a motivator behind my reaching out to find more accepting and diverse people.

Since my thirties, I’ve embraced (dare I say even loved?!) my hair and its personal meaning. Just for fun, there have been a few times when I’ve flat ironed my hair straight. When I look into the mirror, the woman staring back is not me.

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Duke University Admission Sample Essay on Personal Growth

Duke University Application Essay on Personal Growth

Essay by Andie MacDonald

I can't imagine wanting straight hair. People suggest it all the time, but I simply could never change my hair. It's a part of my identity, part of the reason people remember me. You see, it's not your ordinary hair—it's HUGE. And I'm not just talking curly; I'm talking mega frizzy and tangled. But no matter how difficult it is to manage, I would never get rid of it because my hair defines who I am.

The bottom layer is actually fairly straight and smooth. It's orderly, predictable and easy to manage, kind of like a part of me. I'm organized. Never mind that my room may be completely covered with piles of clothes. Still I can always find my favorite pink t-shirt or that last Harry Potter book. Maybe my room is the epitome of organized chaos. That bottom layer of hair is calm, not too frizzy, again, relaxed like me. I've always been one to chill, maybe watch a movie rather than stay out prowling till unprecedented hours of the morning.

The top layer of my hair is oh so different. It spikes like crazy; it puffs as if the laws of physics didn't apply to certain renegade strands. Actually it's crazy and unpredictable, kind of like another part of me. I've always had a creative, somewhat impulsive streak, whether it was inventing games to play with my brother or building a tower with ketchup-cups from McDonald's. I absolutely love to make things. When I was eight, one of my birthday presents was a huge box of tape and string of assorted types and colors. I was so blissfully happy with those simple, but magical "art supplies." I used it all within a few days making various tape contraptions which even blocked the stairs. I'm creative. I'm unpredictable, just like my hair. I like to try new things, to extend into new directions like that renegade curl refusing to lay flat.

Without a shower in the morning and copious amounts of gels and mousse, I look like I've just been mauled overnight by a large bear. But actually I'm ok with chaotic hair. It's me; it's wild, crazy, and unpredictable, and yet with care, creativity and effort, it can actually be tamed, organized. Trust me. People remember me because of my hair. That's exactly who I am. I'm me, Andie MacDonald, the girl with the HUGE HAIR.

Andie MacDonald attends Duke University.

Essay Review

"The girL with the huge hair"

Author Andie MacDonald is a person comfortable in her own skin—and hair. Many students could use her essay as a model. She makes her hair into a metaphor, with its two layers representing two sides of her personality. It helps that she is funny, as when sharing that after waking up, she looks like she has "just been mauled overnight by a large bear." The essay's charm lies in the fact that she has embraced a trait that would make others self-conscious. Writes Andie, "I had started out writing some really serious essays about things I had done, but they were all coming out really cliché (which was frustrating) so I just started writing really random things. I have big hair and people always remember me as 'the girl with the big hair.'"

More Information

• Duke University Admission Essay on Racial or Cultural Differences
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• Stanford University Admission Essay on Personal Growth
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• Duke University Admission Essay: Music as My second language
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The Hair on My Head

Favorite Quote: Okay. Okay.

“So do you have any ideas on what you want it to look like?” an innocent question, yet my hairdresser had no idea of its magnitude. I was preparing to enter senior year without the slightest idea of how I wanted my hair styled. In the past, every time I entered the salon before a new grade, I knew precisely what I wanted changed about my hair, and the result was always drastic. Entering freshman year, I chopped off all of my hair, and chose a short bob. With the arrival of sophomore year came the disappearance of the bob, replaced by a head of blond locks. Half of junior year the blond hair remained, yet with the New Year came a new me: black hair. The real challenge then, arrived at the beginning of senior year: what to do with my hair. Over the course of the summer I came to a striking realization- that my various hairstyles reflected my dissatisfaction with who I was, and my intense desire to alter the physical, harbored the belief than an emotional change would soon follow. In an epiphany of sorts, I came to understand what each style represented. The bob of freshman year reflected my insecurity; the short lifeless hair paralleled my frail body, as it wasted away from the effects of anorexia nervosa, which I was battling. On the other hand sophomore year marked my triumph over the eating disorder, and I felt the urge to shed my previous look for a more outgoing bubbly hairstyle; one that I believed would help others accept as the true me, not the confused child from the previous year. However, I was unhappy with who I was becoming as an individual, contrary to my enthusiasm with the new blond hair. I began dating sophomore year, and the blond hair reflected mainly my desire to be attractive. Unhappiness led me to alter my looks yet again, opting for black hair mid junior year. I was no longer the attention seeking sophomore, but someone who desired to be taken seriously as an upperclassman. Also influencing my decision to opt for black hair, I was struggling with depression and feelings of isolation. I maintained my grades and friendships, but the stress of junior year responsibilities as well as a troublesome home life weighed my spirit down. The black hair was a cry for help, and my hair color paralleled my emotions. As the year wound to a close, the love and support of friends aided me in overcoming the despair. The summer following junior year allowed me to grow fully into a mature young adult and enjoy being me. As I sat in the salon early September I had an understanding that I had matured to the point that I am happy with whom I am. I have inner peace, something I strived for my entire high school career. “Nothing different this time, just cut off some dead ends…I’m happy the way it is.”

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Loving My Natural Hair Has Been 10 Years in the Making

If you were to go on YouTube right now and search for videos related to "natural hair," you'd be met with more than 2.5 million clips covering everything from how to do a blowout on coarse curls to countless tutorials, tips, hacks, and product hauls dedicated to the care and maintenance of hair that is free of any chemical straightening treatments. It's through some of these very videos and countless websites, social media groups, and forums that I learned to embrace my own curls, though the road from being a kid who received monthly relaxers to an adult with a curly 'fro has been a journey filled with many twists and turns.

The latest natural hair movement, particularly as it relates to black women and women with naturally kinky, coily, and curly hair, has been a force in the beauty industry since the movement gained momentum in the mid-2000s. Not since the 1960s and 1970s has there been such an open celebration of afro-textured hair in its natural state, and today's generation of curlies now have access to countless products, tools, and resources available to help keep natural hair healthy, though that wasn't the case when I was growing up.

It wasn't a lack of love for my natural hair that caused me to get relaxers as a child; my mother and I just simply didn't know any other way. Growing up in the '90s, relaxers created specifically for young black girls were common in my community, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that all of my female family members and most of my classmates had relaxed hair. Straightening black hair to make it more "acceptable" for mainstream society dates back to the early 20th century and persisted in black communities around the world. I couldn't have been more that 10 when I began begging my mom to let me get bangs like the girls on TV, and when a hot comb wasn't doing the trick anymore to press out my curls, we went to a beauty salon where I got the style I wanted, but not before getting my hair chemically straightened. What followed were years of me burning my neck, ears, and cheeks as I tried to straighten, crimp, and curl my hair myself, and by high school, I had mastered doing my own relaxers and continued to do them through college. Somewhere between my college days and the rise of YouTube, there was shift in the attitude toward natural hair, and I began to feel it on a small scale, personally, and on a larger scale, culturally.

YouTube provided a world of information about how to care for curls that changed how I viewed my hair. Through tutorials from vloggers like Naptural85 and Natural Chica , I began to learn everything from the correct way to cleanse my curls to which products to buy and avoid. By the time Chris Rock's 2009 documentary Good Hair about hair culture in the black community came out and more information became available about the health dangers of chemical relaxers , I was fully convinced that I could swear off relaxers and go natural.

Ditching the chemicals was easier said than done. I didn't embrace my natural texture right away, and instead of doing "the big chop," I gradually snipped off my relaxed hair and used a blow dryer and flat iron to straighten my curls. While I was committed to doing away with relaxers, I still wasn't comfortable wearing my curls on a regular basis. This changed in May of 2014 after I shaved the left side of my head during a period when I was still straightening my hair more than 80 percent of the time. As my hair began to grow back, I couldn't imagine taking heat to my growing hair, and it was during this time when I decided to fully embrace my curls.

My curls are unpredictable and frizz-prone, but they're mine, they're here to stay, and they're glorious.

A decade into my natural hair journey, I'm still learning about my hair texture, and I discover something new about my curls every day. I've learned that my curls love the water in Atlanta and are nearly impossible to manage after a wash in New York City, and I've accepted the fact that just a little heat can damage my curl pattern. I still struggle with my hair often being unbearably dry, and I can't do a successful twist-out to save my life. I still get nervous about traveling with my curls because they can be so unpredictable and require a lot of time, so I regularly get my hair braided before every major getaway. And as much as I love my curls, I have a long way to go.

Though YouTube warned me about the investment in time and money that comes with going natural, I had to learn how to navigate life with natural hair on my own. I've had to face my deep-rooted insecurities about my hair and question why I never felt comfortable going to job interviews or formal events with my curls on display until a few years ago. Times are different now, and you can't walk pass a billboard without seeing a model rocking gorgeous curls, while modern-day natural hair icons like Issa Rae , Yara Shahidi , Lupita Nyong'o , and Tracee Ellis Ross have proven that natural hair is made for the red carpet. From the runway to the boardroom, afros are now everywhere, yet I've still had to compose myself when strangers abruptly touch my hair and call my curls "bushy" and similar to that of a French poodle. Even with the awkward social interactions my natural hair elicits from those not use to seeing hair like mine, I'm proud of my hair and of my journey.

My natural hair texture suits my facial features, personality, and style in a way that straight hair doesn't, and while my hair doesn't define me, there's no denying that it has helped me become more comfortable with everything that I am. My curls are unpredictable and frizz-prone, but they're mine, they're here to stay, and they're glorious.

• Natural Hair
• Personal Essay

Why Did I Spend 15 Years Pretending I Had Straight Hair?

After years of excessive straightening, writer Alice Robb charts her journey back to her natural curls.

It was an early August evening, and I was on the ferry to Montauk, away from the pounding humidity of New York City and toward the beach house of a man I’d just started seeing. I should have been savoring the anticipation of a romantic weekend away. Instead, I was crouching over a plug socket, avoiding eye contact with my unruffled fellow passengers, waiting for my hair straighteners to heat up. As soon as the metal plates were warm, I rushed them into the bathroom and ran them over my rapidly expanding hair. But my efforts were in vain—I felt my hair re-inflating the moment I left the stall. The shore was approaching, and my anxiety grew along with the frizz atop my head. Would my new beau regret his invitation if he saw my natural curls? That trip–spent reading alone on a beach towel, protecting my tenuously smooth hair while my host cooled off in the sea–marked what I now consider my rock bottom. It would be another two years before I would forgo my straightening routine. In the meantime, I bought a pair of portable, battery-powered mini flat irons.

Some teenage girls dream about growing bigger breasts or getting their braces off; I fantasized about the invention of a drug that turned curly hair straight. Flat irons were the next best thing. I was 13 the first time I pressed my curls between two hot plates and watched them magically transform into the silky locks I’d always wanted. In trying to recreate that high over the next 15 years, I would scald my forehead, inhale $300 keratin fumes, plan my social life around my blow-dry schedule, and skip showers and workouts that might compromise my handiwork. Each potential yoga class or jog around the park involved a calculation: would the endorphins be worth redoing my hair? The occasional Brazilian blowout provided temporary relief, but the effects never lasted as long as my hairstylist promised. I hated how the odor—reminiscent of rotten pickles—clung to my hair for days.

I parsed Millionaire Matchmaker —a trashy reality TV show about women pursuing wealthy men—eager for clues into the mysterious world of romance. I memorized host Patti Stanger’s straightforward advice: let him call you first, don’t mention exes (a breeze for a 13-year-old yet to land a date), and straighten your hair. Men, Stanger explained, liked hair that they could run their fingers through. All of these lessons were reinforced by the summers I spent in Japan, where my dad sometimes worked and where I was the only curly-haired child for miles. Many nights, I would stand in front of the hotel mirror and pull at the ends of my hair, pretending I had the same dark, silky locks as the fashionable women I saw on the Tokyo Metro. As I entered my mid-twenties, my curly hair was my best-kept secret, known only to my family and a few remaining childhood friends.

In March 2020, when the pandemic hit, I scrolled through my old Raya matches and picked one—Jeremy—to meet over Zoom. Alone in my one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn, I gave myself a break, straightening only the front sections of my hair for our video calls. But I resumed the full, laborious routine for our first in-person date in April. After all, we’d “met” under the pretense that I had straight hair, and I kept it up when we moved in together in May. However, there were a few close calls: our first weekend away to a beach town where, luckily, it was too cold to swim and early-summer mornings when I would wake to find my hair crimped with sweat and sneak off to straighten it while he slept.

You might think that all this work made my hair look good. It did not. After almost a decade of abuse, my hair was so damaged and the ends were so frayed that I would sometimes spend 45 minutes in front of the mirror with my blow dryer and flat irons, only to then tie it up in a sad, limp ponytail.

About a month or two into our relationship, I took Jeremy home to meet my parents. With quarantine restrictions just starting to lift, our four-person dinner felt like a party. I was thrilled to see my new boyfriend bonding easily with my family. After a final nightcap, I relaxed on the sofa, drowsy and content, while Jeremy perused the photos on the mantel. When I’d met his brother, I had happily submitted to a presentation of old yearbook photos for insight into who he’d been in the lifetime before we met. Now, presumably, he was doing the same. And then, from the fireplace, Jeremy asked a question that broke my reverie: “What happened to your curly hair?”

I followed his gaze. In between framed photos of my brother graduating from college and me at ballet with hair slicked back in a bun was the incontrovertible evidence: me, aged four or five, with shiny red sandals, a floral-print dress, and corkscrew curls exploding out of my head, like a scruffy Shirley Temple. How could I have forgotten to put it away?

“Hmm,” I said, stalling. “I’m…not sure.” Sensing my reluctance, he let it go. But I started to wonder: who was I doing this for? Most days, Jeremy was the only person I saw. Besides, it was becoming difficult to keep this up. I hadn’t given my hair a day off in months, and Jeremy wondered why I spent so much time in the bathroom. By then, we were living together and planning an international move, but I didn’t know how to reveal this secret, or whether he would feel betrayed when I finally did.

And so I started following natural hair influencers online. I ordered a product called “Miracle Curl,” and hoped it lived up to its name. Then, one day, about four months into our relationship, I got out of the shower with wet hair. I combed in a dollop of my new curl cream, sat down next to Jeremy at the kitchen table, and opened my laptop, keeping with our co-working routine. I felt my hair begin to dry. I watched Jeremy type and waited for him to look up. I scrunched the ends of my hair, as I’d seen in a TikTok tutorial, and braced myself. I tapped at the keyboard, pretending to write.

“Do you have curly hair?”

I looked up from my computer and searched his face. He looked shocked. Did I also detect disappointment? Loss of attraction? Was it all over?

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

I had no answer.

And then he grinned. He swore I’d never looked better. I didn’t quite believe him. But I wanted to see myself the way he did—and I decided to try.

Liberated from my blow-drying regimen, I had hours of newfound free time. I started exercising more and discovered the joy of running and rinsing off without reworking my social calendar. My hair began to recover from years of heat damage. As quarantine let up and I reunited with friends, I relished their surprise at seeing my natural hair for the first time.

Unrelated to my hair, my relationship with Jeremy ended along with COVID-19, and I redownloaded the dating apps. In some ways, meeting someone was harder than ever; I was older, with more baggage, but scheduling, at least, was simpler. I no longer had to arrange my plans around blowout appointments or the weather forecast.

It was raining the night I walked to a nondescript pub to meet a Hinge match named Oscar. My hair was huge, but I didn’t panic; I had nothing to hide.

Oscar and I spent the next 10 days together. I broke all of Stanger’s rules. I talked about exes. I texted him when we were apart. I let him see me makeup-free and messy-haired. And now we’re engaged. He’s only seen my straightened hair in old photos. He says I look like a different person now. I feel like one, too. Less anxious, more free.

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My Hair; Common App Essay (Share Your Story)

jjdt 1 / 1   Aug 22, 2013   #1 What's good everybody!? Just drafted my common app essay. I'd greatly appreciate any suggestions, critiques, help, etc. Thanks! I cannot remember the last day that went by when I did not have a conversation with my parents concerning my hair. My hair has long been a popular and divisive topic of discussion in my household. Its texture is curly, wavy, nappy, essentially everything but straight and, therefore, all the more difficult to manage. To the dismay of my mother and father, I have almost strictly sported an Afro since I began high school. For four years, people have associated me with the Afro hairstyle. I have an Afro in the yearbooks. I have an Afro in my driver's license. It's nearly impossible to find a photo of me without an Afro on my Facebook page. In a superficial light, I'm known as "the kid with the fro." However, I view my Afro as beyond just a hairstyle; I see it as an embodiment of my embrace of my multiracial identity. For the most part, I was raised in a predominantly white suburb of Nashville, Tennessee. The homes are large, the school system is adequate and everyone drives an SUV. When I started elementary school, there were just enough black kids to fill each of the five classrooms per grade. Having a black mother, I was told to identify myself as black despite being surprisingly fair-skinned, especially compared to my older brothers. So, each year I was the only black kid in my class, although my skin was almost the same shade as all the other students, most of whom fervently denied my claim of being black. Growing up, I often received comments such as, "You're not really black," or "I think of you as white," or my personal favorite, "Julian, I'm blacker than you!" According to my friends, I talked white, I acted white and I looked white; therefore, I was white. This was awfully confusing. To my peers, I was white, but to my family, I was most definitely black. After all, I attended a reunion every summer for my mother's side of the family where there were hundreds of black people all related to me. It seemed as if my identity was split; I was leading two racially disparate lives. For the first twelve years of my life, I fragmented my identity and failed to fully assume my multiracial self. Something changed as I transitioned into adolescence. Thanks to puberty, my preferences evolved as I went on to pursue music and filmmaking and to try to be intellectual. Furthermore, I grew to be independent and rebellious. I demanded to be taken seriously and I wanted to be truly recognized for who I was in all facets of my life, but I was still being told by my friends that I talked white, acted white and looked white. It was at this time that I had a realization: there was one thing that could physically distinguish me from my white counterparts. As a child, I wore my hair buzzed. My brothers and I played baseball and short hair was required. Also, it was convenient for my parents to grab the clippers and shave the heads of their four sons every few months rather than worry about maintaining anything fancy. I let my hair grow out for the first time when I was thirteen. In eighth grade, I rocked a mini Afro. Subsequently, I went through the first two years of high school without so much as trimming my hair. It was liberating. With my Afro, my presence is entirely unique: a few inches over six feet, lanky, thin and bushy hair representative of my biracialism, but my Afro transcends physical appearance. It enables me to completely recognize and appreciate my identity. I no longer have to straddle the divide between being black or being white. Although my parents have begged me get it cut, I am comfortable with who I am because of my hair.

OP jjdt 1 / 1   Aug 23, 2013   #3 Yeah man, it's the first Common App topic. Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

I think an essay about changing hair color, if done well, could be fun and interesting but I would not delve deeply into “hating” yourself. It might be better to keep it as self-exploration, playing around with different identities and how the different hair colors played into that. Just my thoughts.

I think an essay on personal growth and maturation through what I am guessing is struggles with colorism can be a very powerful topic. I would love to read an essay like that!

My daughter wrote a similar essay about her alopecia and confidence.

Listen to @compmom . Your not there yet. It can be a fun and clever read if written correctly. Like the idea but you need to really be able to execute this.

Honestly, to me it sounds like not such a good idea. Are there any topics that might give an admissions committee insight as to what you want to study, accomplish, become?

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Curly Undergrad: Easy Curly Hairstyles for College

Everything about college is complicated, from the homework assignments to the lectures. Thankfully, your hair care doesn’t have to be! Simplify your routine with these quick, but long-lasting curly hairstyles that will take the guesswork out of hair care for up to a week.

So many options, one great style!

This bun is created by placing the hair in a ponytail, then winding a sock around the ponytail. The hair is then placed over the sock to hide it, creating the round shape of the bun. A thin hair band is then placed over the sock and the hair to keep the hair in place. Tuck excess hair under the round shape of the bun.

Southern Tease Bun

To accomplish this look, pull hair back in to a low ponytail, and then take the end of the tail and pull it up to the center of your head. Holding the tail in place, pull one side of your hair back into the same place. Holding both this side and the tail in place, repeat the process on the other side. Pin the hair in place at the axis point (where the tail and two side pieces of hair are positioned”>. This will create a low bun look, that will look like you spent a lot longer than you actually did!

Why not try to play around with the placement of your bun for more interest? To be more sophisticated and chic, attempt a high bun or top knot and gather your hair at the very top of your head so your bun will be higher. However, if you want the more relaxed girly girl look, do the low bun by gathering your hair at the nape of your neck, or the side bun by gathering your hair at either side of your head. Also, if its one of those lazy days, then try pulling out a few strands out of your bun to give it a more messy I-just-got-out-of-bed look.

Start with soaking wet hair in the shower, and separate hair into two sections. Then create three big twists on each side, six in total. Once out of the shower, let the twists out and rake your product through to define the curls. Then, section out a 1 to 2 inch chunk of hair at your face and flat twist it. Gather the twist and loose hair into a ponytail holder, pull through twice and secure with bobby pins. Repeat on the opposite side. Use this pictorial how-to to see how it is done.

Maintaining the Style

The key to keeping this style for at least a week is starting off with moisturized hair, so lay on the moisturizer to avoid dry frizzy hair mid week. Also, in order to maintain this style, you will need to tie your hair down at night. I suggest using a silk scarf to tie down the crown, and a bonnet to keep the rest of your hair covered. I know that this is not the cutest bedtime look, but sleeping out on a satin pillowcase will mean having to redo the bun every morning. Trust me, you will want the extra twenty minutes of rest in the A.M.

See more wavy bun hairstyles! »

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Twists & Braids

Not just for your pre-teen girl anymore.

Many women adore these curly hairstyles since they last a long time. Once done, this style can last for upwards of a week- some curlies even leave them in for a month!

Being able to rock this look for an extended period requires that the braids or twists be installed properly from day one. Start of with a clean scalp and overly moisturized hair as you do not want to have to re-moisturize and cleanse too early on which will cause frizz. Also, do rope twists instead of regular twists to help them last longer and cut back on frizz. Rope twists are done by coiling the two sections of the hair prior to twisting them. This binds the hair more to keep the frizz at bay and causes the twists to have a twirlier, cuter look.

You could sleep on a satin pillowcase and call it a day or night. However, I highly suggest using a silk scarf to keep the twists in one position while you sleep as the friction between them could cause frizz. Also, the scarf helps to keep the braids or twists in a downward position so they don’t stick out at weird angles come the following morning.

See more braided wavy hairstyles! »

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Quick, easy and long-lasting!

It may seem weird that I’m suggesting these curly hairstyles, but a wash-n-go is perfect for a college curly on the go. For the most part, a wash-n-go can be done quite quickly. Also, unlike styles like twists, braid outs or curler sets that require a whole day of being locked inside the house while your hair dries, a wash-n-go can be worn out while it dries. As the days wear on, a wash-n-go only gets more gorgeous, as the curls loose the crunch and the hair swells. The way to rock a wash-n-go for an entire week is by wearing it out for the first few days then pulling it up by either doing a pony-puff using a stretched headband or a big messy ponytail or bun using a hair tie. This style will help you to have a new look every few days without having to go through the whole routine of washing and styling.

Normally I wouldn’t condone crunchy hair on day one, but in the name of longevity I would suggest using a tad bit more product to have really defined hair from the start. This will help to control the frizz so that as the week wears on, you do not end up with a puff ball.

Read all about users’ wash and go successes! »

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See how a wash and go is done. »

Not only for formal occasions.

No, I’m not talking about the super formal curly hairstyles for proms and weddings! I’m talking about the cute messy updos easily created with a light hold gel and a few bobby pins. This style is so effortless and perfect for pulling the hair back to showcase your gorgeous face and getting the hair off of the neck for the hotter months. Try grabbing small sections of hair and loosely twirling, twisting or braiding them, then pinning them at the center of your head or base of your neck.

With this style, a good hair gel is a must. Try to find something that gives good hold without the crunch or flake factor. Also, you will need to scarf it at night to ensure that everything stays in place. However, if things start to droop or fall, just grab another bobby pin and put it back into place.

See more wavy updos! »

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Extra Insight

• Test products to see what works best with your hair type. Crunchy curly hair looks fake, and it isn’t! So, avoid the crunch factor whenever possible.
• Do you have cool, easy and long-lasting curly hairstyles you love? Tell me about them. After all, it is all about love peace and curly hair bliss.

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Sarah McLachlan Is Resurfacing

The Canadian songwriter became a superstar through a series of defiant decisions. After slowing down to be a single mother, she has returned to the stage and studio.

Sarah McLachlan is on tour celebrating “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy,” the 1993 album that turned her into an avatar for the sensitive, mysterious singer-songwriters of ’90s radio. Credit... Alana Paterson for The New York Times

Supported by

By Grayson Haver Currin

Reporting from Vancouver, British Columbia

• Published May 30, 2024 Updated May 31, 2024

Sarah McLachlan was just 30 hours from beginning her first full-band tour in a decade, and she could not sing.

She was in the final heave of preparation for eight weeks of shows stretching through late November that commemorate “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy,” the sophisticated 1993 album that turned her into an avatar for the sensitive, mysterious singer-songwriters of ’90s radio. But three days into a string of seven-hour rehearsals, her voice collapsed, the high notes so long her hallmark dissolving into a pitchy wheeze.

So onstage in a decommissioned Vancouver hockey arena, a day before a sold-out benefit for her three nonprofit music schools, McLachlan only mouthed along to her songs, shaking her head but smiling whenever she reached for a note and missed.

“It only goes away when I project, push out,” she said backstage in a near-whisper following the first of the day’s mostly mute run-throughs. She slipped a badge that read “Vocal Rest” around her neck and winked. “Luckily, that’s only a third of what I do.”

For the last two decades, McLachlan, 56, has contentedly receded from the spotlight and the music industry she helped reimagine with the women-led festival Lilith Fair . Since 2008, she has been a single mother to India and Taja, two daughters from her former marriage. With rippling muscles that suggest a lean triathlete, she is now a devoted surfer, hiker and skier who talks about pushing her body until it breaks. Though she writes every morning, waking up with a double espresso at the piano in her home outside Vancouver, she has focused on motherhood and the Sarah McLachlan School of Music , offering free instruction to thousands of Canadian children since 2002.

A few years ago, she finished a set of songs about a pernicious breakup but reckoned the world didn’t need them; she hasn’t released an album of original material since 2014. “What do I want to talk about?” she said months earlier during a video interview from her home, swaying in a hammock chair. “I’m just another wealthy, middle-aged white woman.”

McLachlan, though, now may be on the verge of a renaissance. She is amassing a $20 million endowment for her schools, and exhaustive interviews for a Lilith Fair documentary just wrapped. In a year, her youngest, Taja, will head to college. For the second time, McLachlan’s life is opening toward music.

While revisiting her catalog to build this two-hour concert, which begins with a clutch of personal favorites before pivoting into a muscular interpretation of “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy,” she flew to Los Angeles for multiple sessions with the producer Tony Berg, who has worked with Phoebe Bridgers and Aimee Mann. She has cut at least a dozen songs there, including a gently psychedelic cover of Judee Sill’ s “The Kiss.” She has more to write. “I’m so energized by music, now that I’m living and breathing it every moment,” she said. “It’s a very different feeling.”

During the day’s second rehearsal, however, she tempered her enthusiasm with tacit worry about her voice. She told her tour manager that Taja would soon be backstage, probably with a prednisone prescription. “Mom, I’m already here,” the 16-year-old screamed, 20 rows back in an otherwise empty arena. “I have your medicine! Do you want it?”

McLachlan couldn’t hear her. She nodded to her band and started a song called “Fallen,” humming to herself.

DURING SUMMER BREAK between sixth and seventh grades, McLachlan’s friends in Nova Scotia labeled her a lesbian. She had indeed kissed another girl, practicing for a boy. She instantly became a pariah, a middle-class kid from a conservative family surrounded by wealthy bullies.

“I became poison. Then they started calling me ‘Medusa,’ because I had long, curly hair,” she said. “There was physical abuse, too. I thought, ‘I am on my own.’”

There was little quarter at home. McLachlan was the youngest of three adopted children that she said her father never wanted. Since he tormented her older brothers, her mother — unhappy with marriage, depressed by circumstance — responded to her daughter with equal disdain, ensuring everyone was miserable. “I didn’t have a relationship with my father, because my mother wouldn’t allow it. If I showed him any attention, she wouldn’t speak to me for a week,” McLachlan said, lips pursed.

Music, however, became her refuge. She graduated from ukulele at 4 to classical guitar at 7 after the family moved to the provincial capital. She struggled in school, skipping class to hide in the empty gymnasium and play piano there. Though she despised the hard stares and high expectations of recitals, she begged to join a band. Her parents relented to a few hours of Sunday practice. The group’s first show, for several hundred dancing kids in a student union, was transformational.

“I was being seen, and I was being accepted,” she said. “It was the first time I felt that way.”

That night’s headlining act included Mark Jowett, who was then running a small label, Nettwerk, in Vancouver. Stunned by McLachlan’s voice and verve, Jowett urged her to move west and start writing songs. Her parents insisted she finish high school and college. Soon after meeting the label’s co-founder Terry McBride, she defied them, anyway. They barely spoke for two years. “She was green but really disarming,” said McBride, McLachlan’s manager until 2011, in an interview. “Her ambition was to get out.”

McLachlan soon cut a ponderous debut informed by the folk of her youth — Cat Stevens, Simon and Garfunkel, Joan Baez. Jowett and McBride wanted a producer to push her. When they asked Pierre Marchand, who had worked with the Canadian folk royalty of Kate and Anna McGarrigle, what he’d do with McLachlan’s music, he seemed flippant, saying he’d find out in the studio. “My manager was like, ‘I don’t like this guy.’ But I’m like, ‘I love this guy,’” she recalled. “It was all about exploration.”

The pair decamped to the New Orleans studio of the iconoclastic producer Daniel Lanois, where their professional relationship turned physical. (“We wrote a lot of songs naked,” Marchand admitted, laughing.) That intimate bond proved critical when an ascot-sporting representative from McLachlan’s American label, Arista, stopped by to listen. When he didn’t hear a marketable single, they didn’t capitulate. They told him to leave.

“It was a defining moment for me in deciding how I wanted to control my future,” McLachlan said. “I thought, if this is what being famous and successful means, to compromise this thing that feels so important, I don’t want it.”

They gambled correctly. The success of “Solace,” McLachlan’s second album, drifted from Canada into the United States, where it was released in 1992, buying her and Marchand good will. They spent a year and a half in a studio in the Quebec countryside, McLachlan often walking home by moonlight while Marchand built late-night loops and atmospheres. The result, “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy,” remains an uncanny singer-songwriter record, her frank observations on betrayal, friendship and lust warped by his outré sensibilities. “I like it when it’s complex, when there’s not one feeling,” Marchand said. “It’s like a person.”

Marchand and McLachlan added the layered grandeur of U2 and the supple strength of Depeche Mode to these testimonials of yearning and loss. Critics lauded it as smart and sensual. Sales were stronger still: It went quintuple-platinum in Canada and sold more than three million copies stateside.

“I was in a punk band listening to a lot of hardcore — and, strangely, Sarah McLachlan,” said Leslie Feist , the Canadian songwriter who will open the U.S. leg of McLachlan’s tour. “I could hear her power, but it was being expressed more fluidly. It wasn’t about aggression. It was about conviction.”

As McLachlan’s profile grew, letters from stalkers mounted at Nettwerk’s offices, especially from an Ottawa programmer named Uwe Vandrei. They met once, and he slipped her a scarf. But after she read one of his pleas, she asked not to see more. Still, in the album’s opener, “Possession,” where bass pulses and guitars radiate above droning gothic organs, she worked to mirror his mind, to articulate his misplaced passions. When it became a hit, he sued, alleging McLachlan had lifted his words. Vandrei died before trial.

“I felt a strange sense of relief,” McLachlan said haltingly. “But then I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is somebody’s son. Should I have tried to reach out? Tried to talk some sense into him?’”

The success of “Fumbling” — and the draining circus that followed, including conspiracy theories about label involvement in Vandrei’s death — helped spur McLachlan’s most historic defiance. She demanded to not headline every show, to be partnered with acts who could share celebrity’s weight. Promoters balked at the idea that women could carry such a docket, rankling McLachlan. She named a genre-jumping touring festival for Lilith, a woman repeatedly lambasted in sacred texts. Lilith Fair not only dominated the summer concert scene of the late ’90s but showed onlookers and executives that women were not music’s second-class citizens.

“I busked outside of Lilith and applied when I was 16,” said the singer-songwriter Allison Russell , who made her onstage debut by performing McLachlan’s “Mary” alongside high school friends in Montreal. “She changed the landscape for women. She resisted what everyone told her she had to do.”

When McLachlan was the kid being bullied at school or alienated at home, music made her feel valuable. After her hit-laden 1997 album “Surfacing” (“Building a Mystery,” “Adia”) and Lilith Fair, it had also made her wealthy and famous, affording her a family and an activist legacy. She no longer needed the spotlight’s validation, getting it instead from her daughters and dogs, her music school and morning music practice. Her career steadily slowed, with more years passing between albums and her experimental ardor fading. She didn’t mind.

“I’m a middle-aged woman. You kind of became invisible,” she said, leaning in with a wide grin. She whispered: “And I really like that.”

THE ENCORE BREAK on McLachlan’s new tour is brief, maybe 40 seconds. At her benefit show in Vancouver, soon after the band faded from the title finale of “Fumbling,” McLachlan slipped through a black curtain and rushed to her polished Yamaha grand. She’s making a new record, she told the crowd, and she wanted to try a song alone: “Gravity,” her balletic ode to perseverance, to letting others lift you. If McLachlan discarded an album of breakup songs, this is a hymn for what comes after.

It is also a fitting prelude for “Angel,” the poignant 1997 ballad that became a maudlin punchline after scoring a commercial for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

“I see it at the end of the day, and it’s like, ‘Hi, I’m Sarah McLachlan, and I’m about to ruin your day,’” she said of filming the commercial as a favor. “But that’s just not me.”

Before “Adia,” McLachlan told the audience she never explained that song, because it immortalized her taboo transgression — ruining a relationship by dating her best friend’s ex. “We needed to part ways for a while,” she said. “And I swear it was the hardest breakup I’ve ever been through.”

But they fixed the friendship, which has since endured divorces, children and new love. For years, that friend, Crystal Heald, urged McLachlan to take “Fumbling” on tour. “Thank goodness she forgave me,” McLachlan continued.

McLachlan is candid about her prospects. Relevance, she admitted, is a young person’s game that she has long resisted. She’ll be at least 57 by the time she releases new music, and she knows most people only like the old stuff. Still, when she told her forgiveness tale, the arena erupted with a wave of recognition for bygone mistakes and second chances, for comebacks. Her audience has aged with her; stepping back into the spotlight, she is ready to have that conversation.

“I didn’t talk for the first 10 years of my shows. When the music was happening, I knew what I was doing. Take the music and my voice, and I’m 12 again,” she said two months before stepping onstage. “But in the last 10 years, I say whatever comes to mind. I feel more freedom daily to be who I am.”

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