“We value natural hair as much as we value our love of the ocean, and we wanted our name to reflect that,” says Duran. “At sea, our hair grows to its natural state, our skin grows to its natural tone, and our bodies cannot hide behind the latest trends. Beauty is defined by hiding yourself. If you are, you will never feel beautiful.”
In Black Lion’s case, years of curling irons, relaxing, and shaping her coils had taken a toll on both her hair and her self-esteem. “Finding her beauty in her own natural hair required her to unlearn many of her learnings and embrace her self,” she says. “Learning to love and care for her curls changed her relationship with her hair.”
Vans’ world-class surf athlete, Woody, prioritizes moisture and hydration when it comes to his hair. But most important is her mental health. “I try to keep her hairstyle simple and not control her happiness,” she says.she washes together Briogeo I use a leave-in conditioner every day to avoid stripping my hair of its natural moisture from over-shampooing. Seungbeom Helps detangle, condition and protect.
Black Lions uses this styling cream. Sunbeom and cantuDuran bread beauty line.Blaze and Lower live Tracee Ellis Ross pattern products,especially intensive moisturizer. “This is the only product that has been able to keep my hair from drying out,” Blaise says. “A little goes a long way,” Laws adds.
I still iron my hair for special occasions and buy a low-grade relaxer for my roots every 3-4 months. After co-washing and deep conditioning, braid your hair into two pigtails with leave-in conditioner, let it air dry, then detangle the braids with oil.
Finding the right hair care goes hand in hand with finding water confidence. “When I get in the water, I get respectful and a little cheeky,” Lower says. “The confidence I have in the surf lineup keeps me fit. Let’s respect and have a relationship with the ocean, like the ocean has consciousness and memory. Other black surfers… I see them paddling out with the same confidence, the same aurora of belonging.”
It’s a very exciting time for Black female surfers to reclaim their space in the ocean without hesitation or restriction. Blount says, “Going naturally is about taking power back, but swimming and surfing is about going further.”
