by
Black Girl With Long Hair
In the run up to Carnival, it’s common to hold smaller pre-Carnival parties and parades. These events can have different themes, and a group of Afro-Brazilians chose natural hair as their parade theme. The results are pretty incredible. From Fusion.net:
The “curl power” parade was one of more than 100 street celebrations held in Rio ahead of Friday’s official start of Carnival, where street celebration themes can range from the playful to the more serious, touching on the country’s social or political issues.
The curl empowerment parade was sponsored by a Brazilian beauty salon chain. “We are telling women that they can leave their hair the way it naturally is, and feel confident and pretty, without denying their identity,” Leila Velez, a partner in the Natural Beauty salon told The Associated Press.
Velez said the salon wants to chip away at the perception that black women are more attractive if they straighten their hair.
Natural Beauty promoted the parade with the slogan: “If your hair is curly, no need to cry. Come relax with the curly-haired women!”
The photos (via Fusion.net) are beautiful. Revelers also captured moments on their Instagram accounts:
Ladies, what are your thoughts?
30 Responses
It is always good content which deals with natural hair, but this Carnival block is organized by the Natural Beauty Institute. Unfortunately the biggest goal is not to take care of natural hair, but to turn the hair through chemical relaxation to create curls.
Sorry errors do not speak English!
Hug!
CARNIVALLLLLLLLLLLLLL love ittttt
All of them are so beautiful! I love it! I wish we could have a curl parade in Ohio.<3
icryclouds.blogspot.com
This hairdresser does not encourage natural hair. In fact, it only alternative to the curly hair and smoothing via relax.
In slogan’s block, they make this clear ““If your hair is curly, no need to cry. Come relax with the curly-haired women!”
LOVE IT
That little girl is too adorably cute!! My Afro Brazilian sista’s are simply GAWGEOUS!!!
The Lord is good!
Great article, a perfect celebration!
Just beautiful.
This is beautiful! HEY AFRO BRAZILIAN BOOS!
Awesome! What a great idea. That little doll stole my heart with the fierce pose.
Assim é que é!
THIS MADE ME SOOOOOOO HAPPY. that baby girl is giving me ALL TYPES OF LIFE. FIERCEEEEE
This is awesome! I love how this “curl” parade is integrated into their cultural celebration. Well done Beleza Natural for sponsoring it.
I wish that I could attend!!
love it
I thought I had posted but I guess I didn’t. Anyway, I believe they’re celebrating curly hair not necessarily natural hair (as in unprocessed hair) The main sponsor, Beleza Natural, has a mild relaxer treatment infused with natural ingredients that help clump and elongate Afro-textured hair. Here’s a link to their site. http://belezanatural.com.br/en/2012/08/super-relaxante-2/ You can see Beleza Natural tagged in most of the pix. The effect of their process is probably similar to Miss Jessies silkening treatment. Also, some of their hair look obviously processed. I’m not saying this to knock them as I believe curly hair is still Afro (as in African) hair. You won’t see someone with this texture hair and think they’re of another race. And if they have a mild chemical process that maintains the integrity of their curls and hair, why not use it. Kudos to them for promoting curly hair and their version of what it is to be natural. I currently live in Brazil and I can honestly say I’ve seen very few naturals (in our context), especially 4b or 4c. Nonetheless their hair is beautiful Afro hair. Looking forward to indulging in some carnival activities after work 🙂
This is awesome. But I think they’re promoting curly hair, not necessarily natural hair (in the context we typically use natural), and I’m no way knocking that! I still think that’s great. The vast majority of women with curly hair I’ve seen in Rio are chemically processed. If you look at some of the pix, you’ll see them tagging Beleza Natural. Here’s the site. http://belezanatural.com.br/en/2012/08/super-relaxante-2/. They use a mild relaxer with natural ingredients to make curls pop. Their process is similar to Ms. Jessies silkening treatment. If you look at the pictures closely, you can probably tell whose hair has been chemically process. I currently live in Rio and have seen very few naturals (again used in our context). Most times, the naturals I’ve seen are in the 3 range. Most curly girls I see use a mild relaxer to elongate and clump their curls. I’ve seen even fewer TWAs. Nonetheless, I agree we should celebrate curls regardless if one choose to have a lil chemical help or not. Curly hair is afro hair 🙂
Please educate me since you live in Brazil. Do a lot of the afro-brazilians have type 4 naturally or is it more type 3? Because of the slave trade and mixing so long ago, I would think type 3, but maybe I’m wrong. Please enlighten. Thanks!!! Would love to visit Brazil one day!
I just moved here so I’m not an expert. Ive seen a lot more of what I would consider type 4s than 3s since I’ve been here. Most Brazilian blacks we foreigners see are more mixed, middle class blacks who can afford to travel n move in diff social circles. The majority of blacks I see are here in Rio are medium brown to dark brown complected w type 4 hair similar to the US black population. I’m brown skinned w African features and I don’t stand out in Brazil. People think I’m Brazilian before speaking w me. In facts I’ve gotten the look like what’s she doing in here on many occasions tho they’re somewhat discrete about it.. I see hanging ringlets , but not as often as I see hair that would grow up towards the sky if unprocessed.
yes, I want to see more DARK chocolate skin, type 5Z hair type sistas in the media for Afro Brazil…I don’t want to see ringlets…my opinion
Thank you Jojo for your insight! Very interesting!
We have all hair textures here, everything is mixed . We are a multiracial people, so it’s hard to say what type is most common, but I can say the most people here, more than 50%, have wavy and curly hair.
What we must understand too is there was mixing in the U.S. The question seems to suggest that American blacks are “un-mixed.” Our hair types are a mixed bag too. 🙂 Even in my own family we range from a tighter curl to wavy hair.
When I went to Brazil to study abroad, I ended up taking my braids out and upon recommendation, going to a salon. They gave me the “Black,” aka a texturizer. My Portuguese wasn’t the best, and despite my insistence that I didn’t want any chemicals or anything permanent in my hair, I’m sure they thought that I didn’t mean what I thought I did. Either or, they texturized and cut my hair. I was devastated! Lesson learned, but yes, when we say natural, they mean exactly what you said.
It’s not natural hair: this hair salon is well known in Brazil beacuse of their “super relaxante”, or super perm. Really curly and kinky hair, for them, needs to be permed to be considered pretty. The owner herself said in many interviews that her afro was not acceptable in a workplace, so she had to create this formula to transform her kinks in curls/waves. They never, ever promote real natural hair!
Alguém precisa denunciar esta farsa. Muito bom! Cristina
I want to dance in this parade!
Wow! This is amazing!!
I love this! best post in ages!!
I LOVE THIS!!!!!