Every morning, a few thousand girls and women across India follow a routine. They undo the ‘pineapple’ or remove the silk cloth wrapped around their heads. With hair flipped over or parted into sections, they spend a few minutes wetting it, raking in products, scrunching and pumping and using the ‘praying hands method’. Once done, the hair is air dried or diffused. Later in the day, another few minutes will be spent scrunching out the ‘cast’.
If half the words above sound unfamiliar, it’s because they are in a language spoken by a select group of people. They’re part of a curly girl’s lifestyle or, if you prefer its official name, the Curly Girl Method or #CGMethod or CGM. But, if you are a curly girl like me, chances are that you practise this routine or some variation of it, daily.
The revolutionary styling method and haircare regimen, for people with either curly or wavy hair and everything in between, was introduced by hairstylist Lorraine Massey in her bestselling book, Curly Girl: The Handbook, in 2002. Now, her techniques have spread across the globe, spawning curly girl communities, curls-only salons and bloggers who share videos, shot in bathrooms, of their CG tips and tricks.
In India, much of the movement can be credited to a determined ex-software engineer, Asha Barrak. Online, she is Right Ringlets and one of the first bloggers to acquaint Indian women with products and styling for curly hair. She created the Facebook group Indian Curl Pride, to bring together a community of curly girls, and this year, she launched the first curly hair brand in India, Ash:ba Botanics. Its been an impressive journey for a girl who was raised in a household that didn’t use shampoo.
Starting a movement
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August - September 2019-Ausgabe von Verve.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August - September 2019-Ausgabe von Verve.
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Making Amends
This generation’s penchant for thoughtless consumption gets Madhu Jain roiled up, and she wonders if nature is getting its own back for our missteps…
Diamonds With Provenance
In keeping with the company’s commitment to environmental and social responsibility, Anisa Kamadoli Costa, chief sustainability officer at Tiffany & Co. and chairman and president at The Tiffany & Co. Foundation, enlightens Shirin Mehta on the efforts that make the jewellery giant an industry leader in transparency
SARTORIAL ECONOMICS
Sisters Tashi and Tara Mitra demonstrate to Akanksha Pandey how deviating from the mainstream can bend the way we think, live and dress
NOTES TO SELF
An anthropomorphized tiger’s perspective, a viscerally worded futuristic interpretation of loss, a critique of performative activism, a meta reflection on the earth’s crises. Told through different lenses, Janaki Lenin, Indrapramit Das, Keshava Guha and Roshan Ali’s stories — written exclusively for Verve — attempt to make sense of the fraught reality that we exist in today
The Eternal Optimist
As Generation X and xennials grapple with fully transitioning to conscious living, young millennials and Generation Z are leading the charge to reverse human-caused environmental damage. Sahar Mansoor, founder and CEO of the Bengaluru-based zero-waste social enterprise Bare Necessities, has a simple overarching philosophy: consume less and stay positive. Verve gets deeper into the mindset of the action-oriented earth advocate
Redemption SONGS
Indian music festivals have been demonstrating a refreshing sense of responsibility in terms of their ecological impact. Interacting with stakeholders who strive to make these large-scale events greener, Akhil Sood investigates the reasons behind the improved attitudes of audiences and the increase in corporate support.
earth hour
Crafted using nature’s elements, these dials draw inspiration from the many heterogeneous materials and hues around us.Verve turns its lens onto a mesmerising few
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
Children are holding adults accountable for both the grim future they are facing and the toll this is taking on their mental health. Madhumita Bhattacharyya initiates conversations with families of young climate activists and observes the extent to which parenting has changed in the face of catastrophe
NATURAL JUSTICE
Most of us are only just waking up to the urgency of climatic action. When the stakes are so high, what can individual action solve? Mridula Mary Paul, an environmental policy expert, is proof of the tenacity needed to effect systemic change. It’s not glamorous, and the rewards are few and far between, but that doesn’t stop her from aiming big, finds Anandita Bhalerao
Along For The Ride
Navigating Indian streets as a woman is hard enough. But what is it like while riding a bicycle? Bengaluru-based Shreya Dasgupta, a regular cyclist, speaks to five urban women about the pros and cons of this increasingly popular means of transport.
