19 Gorgeous Beauty Looks from CurlFest 2018
When five friends, who were all at different stages of transitioning from relaxed hair back to their natural texture, started The Curly Girl Collective in 2010, no one imagined that the online support group would turn into what it is today: CurlFest, the world's largest natural hair festival held annually in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. Now in its fifth year, the one-day event draws more than 25,000 people from across the country to celebrate and uplift black beauty. Alongside challenging what "good" hair can look like and empowering women to rediscover what makes them uniquely gorgeous, the festival also creates the stage for them to show off the infinite possibilities of natural hair in the form of dip-dyed afros, box-braid updos, and amazing curls of every kind. Each year the festival welcomes a multitude of guests from first-time attendees to CurlFest vets. Read on to learn their styling secrets and the Holy Grail hair products they can't live without.
Chona Kasigner1/22Omolade Otulaja
Brooklyn
Three products you'd grab before running out of a burning house: "Shea Moisture Jamaican Castor Oil Hair Masque, Shea Moisture Leave-In Conditioner, and Apogee Shampoo for Damaged Hair
Your best hair advice: "Let your hair do its thing. Don't do too much to it and take care of it. It's an extension of you, so nurture it like you would any other part of your body."
What brought you to CurlFest? "This is my first time! I came because it's the best gathering of black women to be themselves to come and enjoy each other in a positive way."
Chona Kasinger2/22Tasia Morgan and daughter Norelle Garraway
Queens, New York
Three beauty products you'd grab before running out of a burning house: "Camille Rose Defining Curl Gel, coconut oil, and Cantu Kids Detangling Serum"
Your best hair advice: "Finger-detangle. I know that sounds really simple, but I used to use a Denman brush and my curls would be nice, but they wouldn't be as defined. I feel like once I started finger-detangling my hair in the shower, everything has been pretty smooth and it's been way easier to take care of my hair."
What brought you to CurlFest? "This is my third time here! Norelle and I have been going since she was in my belly. We go to festivals all the time; it's been something that we love to do together. We're into anything that has nature, music, and black people. I just want to center her around that energy and give her an opportunity to see people that look like her, so she can grow up loving herself."
Chona Kasinger3/22Shehema Masaiah
Brooklyn
What brought you to CurlFest? "Originally I wanted to come by myself because I'm new at natural hair. I used to wear a lot of wigs and clip-ins. Ever since I went natural, I wasn't really confident with my hair. It was short, and I didn't know what to do with it. Now I've got a feel for what to do, and I'm embracing it more. I just really think it's beautiful to come out and see other people that look like you, loving their look, and accepting who they are."
Chona Kasinger4/22Demetria Johnson
Patterson, New Jersey
Describe your beauty look today: "I created this look myself, and to me it says low-maintenance because of the scarf."
What brought you to CurlFest? "My daughter inspired me to come so that we could do it together."
Chona Kasigner5/22Jennifer Lord
Brooklyn
Your best hair advice: "To absolutely love and embrace your own natural hair."
Chona Kasinger6/22Camella Palmer
Queens, New York
Three beauty products you'd grab before running out of a burning house:"The entire Dr. Miracle collection."
Your hair and beauty inspiration: "Seventies throwback Afro Queen."
Your best hair advice: "Keep your hair moisturized."
What brought you to CurlFest? "A photographer told me about it, and I love to see all the beautiful black people."
Chona Kasinger7/22Kaya and Cali Thomas
Brooklyn
What brought you to CurlFest? "It's important for the black community and women in general to have a place to celebrate their natural beauty."
Chona Kasinger8/22Natural Hollywood
Chona Kasinger9/22Curl Fest 2018 Attendees
Chona Kasinger10/22Sherie Shaw and Amira Cook, four
Rockland County, New York
Three beauty products you'd grab before running out of a burning house:"Alikay Naturals,, Shea Moisture, and Deva Curl."
Your best hair advice: "Finding out what kind of curly hair you have and then watching YouTube videos. That was helpful for me and Amira because she has curly hair that has never been straightened."
What brought you to CurlFest? "Although I didn't initially plan on bringing Amira, I'm glad I did! She's able to see a lot of beautiful black women and their hair."
Chona Kasinger11/22CurlFest 2018 Attendees
Chona Kasinger12/22Tabia Wood
Brooklyn
Three things you'd grab before running out of a burning house: "My pic, satin pillowcase, and Taliah Waajid Leave-In Conditioner"
Your best hair advice: "Condition, condition, condition. As natural women, we have to keep our hair conditioned in order to keep that curl shiny and tight."
What brought you to CurlFest? "I live close by, and last year I saw all the beautiful women with hair and outfits coming from the park. So this year I knew I had to be here. I didn't want to miss it. There is so much creativity and so many people doing so many different things. It's just a big ball of inspiration, and I'm here to experience that."
Chona Kasigner13/22Isabelle Domond
Linden, New Jersey
Three beauty products you'd grab before running out of a burning house:"Eco-styler Olive Oil Styling Gel, a brush, and a scrunchie. I know with those three things, I can make magic."
Chona Kasinger14/22Liana Taylor
Long Island, New York
Three beauty products you'd grab before running out of a burning house:"As I Am Co-Wash,, Jamaican Black Castor Oil, and shea butter."
Your best hair advice: "Just let your hair do what it wants. Don't worry about frizz or definition. Just let it be."
What brought you to CurlFest? "I saw a lot of buzz on Instagram about it and all these beautiful women of color coming together and celebrating natural hair. I was really excited."
Chona Kasinger15/22Essence Gant
Augusta, Georgia
Three beauty products you'd grab before running out of a burning house: "Coconut oil, shea butter, and Ouidod Curl Recovery Hair Mask"
Your best hair advice: "Let your hair do what it does. Don't try to manipulate your texture or curl pattern to match someone else's because it won't ever. Learn to authentically love what you have and then experiment if you want to afterward. But first: Love your hair for what it is."
What brought you to CurlFest?"It's a celebration of black womanhood, and we're not always appreciated. Places like this are just a haven where we can come and gather and celebrate and lift each other up. Because life is tough and we need this."
Chona Kasinger16/22Sydney Hall
Brooklyn
Describe your beauty look: "My hair is my imagination. I see something in my mind and try to re-create art with my hair."
Your best hair advice:_ "Be patient and learn your hair. It's going to take time. Every product is not meant for you and that's OK. Beauty isn't about length or texture; it's about how you feel inside. Once you feel your light within, it doesn't matter what you look like on the outside."
What brought you to CurlFest? "This is my first time attending, and it's a million powerful black women. My niece is also with me; I want to inspire her to love her hair and to help her see that there's nothing wrong with how she looks. All your clones are right here."
Chona Kasinger17/22Ariana Guilfort
Brooklyn
What's your hair and makeup inspiration: "I wanted to channel Willow Smith, since I'm all about some dreadlock love. These curry shells give me serious Willow vibes, and my makeup is Wakanda forever!"
Chona Kasinger18/22Belania Daley
Brooklyn
What's today's beauty inspiration? “My hair is reminiscent of the English crown with the velvet on the inside and the fur on the outside—just with different ingredients. I've got the African print instead, and my dreads are the crown. It’s an African, American, Jamaican mash-up.”
Your best hair advice: “I've learned through my seven-year dreadlock journey that less is more. My family is Caribbean, so my mom prides herself on having daughters with long hair. I grew up relaxing it, but finally broke out and chopped my hair to just four inches long. I didn't know what to put in my hair to tame these curls, so I started using lots of products and watching thousands of YouTube videos and realized all I need is water and hair oil. And to keep it clean and drink lots of water.”
Chona Kasinger19/22Reign Apiim
Pittsburgh
Three beauty products you'd grab before running out of a burning house: "Bobby pins, the entire Shea Moisture collection, and my braiding weave."
The best hair advice you've ever received: "It grows back! Everyone always says that they don't want to dye their hair or mess it up—they desperate to hold on to their hair. If you do something to your hair that you don't like, you can grow it back out, cut it off, redye it, or weave it. There are a lot of things you can do if your hair gets messed up."
What's today's beauty inspiration: "I was inspired by innocence. When someone has a baby girl, they usually wear this powdered-pink shade. Today is all about getting back to my childlike ways and promoting breast cancer awareness."
What brought you to CurlFest? "All the beautiful women. It's so gorgeous to see black women being themselves and living in color. I love seeing women embracing who they are and embracing their curls because once upon a time we were told that our curls weren't enough. Or they were too much. We can't wear them to school, you can't wear locs, and so on. But it's amazing to see all this beauty in one space and show young black girls that it's OK to be themselves and it's OK to have hair that defies gravity."
20/22Alicia Boyd
Brooklyn
What's today's beauty inspiration: "I'm part Native American and part African American, so I wanted to celebrate the idea of curly hair. My African ancestry gives me all the curls, and my Native American side gives me a little bit of length."
Your best hair advice:"Don't perm your hair!"
What brought you to CurlFest? "I live in the neighborhood and stumbled upon the festival five years ago. I was meditating and heard the music. They didn't celebrate black women's natural hair when I was coming up, so it's nice to see the celebration and appreciation of natural hair now. And it feels incredible to be around countless black women that look beautiful."
Chona Kasinger21/22Yelitsa Jean-Charles
Cincinnati
What brought you to CurlFest? "This is my second time. I'm a children's illustrator and started Healthy Roots Dolls when I was in school because I didn't know how to do my own hair. I recognized that there was a huge lack of diversity in children's media. Over 50 percent of children in the U.S. are of color, but make up only 8 percent of the main characters in books. When little girls of color don't see dolls that look like them, it negatively impacts their self-esteem."
All rights reserved22/22Michelle Hunter
Brooklyn
Three beauty products you'd grab before running out of a burning house: "Eco Style Gel Black Castor, flaxseed oil, and my brush because I need my waves to be poppin' at all times. Oh, and my silky too!"
Your best hair advice: "Do not wash your colored hair with hot water. Cold or warm water is the best thing because the heat will strip the color away immediately after you dye it. Also, condition your hair and don't shampoo it [too often] when you have colored hair, because that will cause fading too."
What brought you to CurlFest? "This is my third year, and I love it. I wanted to come and meet people and learn about the products because I'm starting a hair brand. I'm here to learn what works and what doesn't work."
