 Hey Co-Friends, I'm Bianca Renee, and you're watching Bianca Renee Today. And today, we're gonna hop into a topic that got pretty heated on Instagram a couple days ago. This was all triggered from an Instagram reel. She is a professional model that made a reel about how when she goes to set, she has to do her own hair before she gets there because the stylists that are hard to do her hair on set don't know how to do curly hair. I found this extremely relatable. I too have been on plenty of sets living here in LA. I've done a couple modeling gigs, a couple fashion shows. I've been in music videos, and every single time, I have always done my hair before going to set, even though there's supposed to be someone on set to do my hair makeup and wardrobe. Why is that? Why is that a norm? Why don't professional hairstylists know how to do all textures of hair? Well, obviously this is definitely deeply rooted into systemic racism. I don't know if we have enough time for that topic, but that's the truth. Straight hair has always been the standard, the norm. Anything else is extra or specialty, but I thought there was a gray line there, right? I think maybe like weaves, sew-ins, wigs, braids, individuals, locks, those might be specialty things that maybe I wouldn't say that not everybody has to know. But I'm talking about the basics. I'm talking trims, cuts, color, and styling. You should be able to at least style all textures of hair if you are a professional licensed hairstylist. Before making this video, I actually just called three of my friends that are either professional stylists now or are currently in school to become a professional stylist. And I asked them, like, what do you learn in school to get your license about curly hair? And all of them said the same thing, nothing. Basically they told me there's like one chapter in the book about natural curly hair, but it's like how to permit, how to relax it, how to straighten it. So basically it's like how to get rid of it. That ain't right. This is really a kind of triggering topic for me because like I said in my Instagram story, I of course, just like other natural hair influencers, get a couple comments every blue moon where people try to say don't listen to these YouTubers, they're not professional stylists, da-da-da-da, and they try to like discredit my channel, our channels, because of that. First of all, I never said I was a stylist, so there's that. I've always said I'm just a girl with curly hair who's basically your guinea pig trying products and I let you know if they're good or not so you don't waste your time. That's what my channel is all about, educating you on what works for me and hopefully they work for you as well. And from my normal comments and my amount of subscribers, I think you stick around because I've been able to help you in some way. And honestly, after my Instagram story, I got the most replies that I've ever gotten from my story, I actually wrote it down. I got 486 replies. I'll be honest, I didn't get to read every single message. I appreciate them, but all the ones that I did read were people sharing their horror stories where they actually did call salon. They asked if you did curly hair and the stylist said yes, then they got there and they did a hack job. I firsthand can relate to this. For my loyal subscribers that have been here since day one, you might remember my fake diva cut experience, my first curly cut where same thing happened to me. I called the salon, I asked if you could do a diva cut which is a dry cut on curly hair. She said yes, once I got there, she was like, yeah, I had to Google a diva cut and then I was like, Google, what? I mean, you just learned what this was today and that's when I should have left. But instead I stayed there and I watched her brush my curls out into a big frizz ball and then cut my hair. So she did do a dry cut like I asked, but it was not what I wanted at all. And because she brushed it out, it now looks longer because it's stretched, so she cut it and then once I washed my hair, everything shrunk back up to a new size that I didn't ask for. So I mean, comment below if you can relate. Comment below if you have ever gone to a hair salon that said they can cut a curly hair and then they ruined your hair. Just let me know. There's a couple of you that also can relate. And that's the problem because so many of us have that same exact story. We have trust issues. We go to salons nervous. Like most people go to hair salons, like, oh my God, my hair died. I'm spoiling myself. I'm gonna get pampered. Where curly people go to salons, where it's like, oh God, where it's praying and I say it's like, please, please let me keep my legs. Please don't let me leave here bald. Like we are nervous and that sucks. Like we shouldn't be uncomfortable the whole time we're in the salon. Fortunately, I have found some very trustworthy hair salons. You guys know I have my favorites here in LA and I found some in other states. Make sure you go to my Instagram. I have a whole highlight of all my favorite stylists in different areas of the US. Looking for one in every state. So you know, let's just do this. Let's try to find the best curly hair stylist in every state. Comment below, start off the comment with where you live. So it's like, Texas, go to this hair salon. Florida, I recommend this hair salon. That way maybe my comment section can be like a huge curl friend recommended hair salon list and I'm gonna check them out if you know their Instagram for their Instagram and if they, you know, look legit, I'll add them to my story because every place needs a legit curly hair salon to go to, that would be the ultimate goal. So as you guys know, I do have my favorites and now I'm finally in a position where I know I can go to these stylists and I can feel comfortable and I can be in the chair knowing that I'm gonna walk out of here with exactly what I wanted and exactly what I paid for. And that, that is rare. That is rare for us curly people to be confident in a salon chair knowing that we're gonna like what our hair looks like. And I just wish it wasn't that way. And I wish that there wasn't like this like secret rival between professionals and YouTubers. Like even in the makeup industry, a lot of makeup artists like hate YouTube makeup artists because they're like YouTubers and they're not legit but like they're not gonna take your job. Like YouTubers aren't trying to do other people's makeup. They're trying to make videos. So they're not even like a threat or a competition. Like why are you mad? Not all, not all of course, there's always exceptions to the rules but even with hair stylists, a lot of hair stylists like hate YouTubers and they call us like, you know, I don't know, YouTube stylists and they just try to discredit everything that we do. And I mentioned that in my story. And fortunately I got a lot of personal messages thanking me that they've learned a lot from my channel. And even though I'm not a licensed professional because of my relatable content and my tips, I have been able to help a lot of people when it comes to their daily hairstyles or how to take care of their curly hair. That's just the facts. It's in writing. I haven't asked you guys to say these messages. I am very fortunate and blessed to have received these comments and messages from you guys and I appreciate them so much because it just, you know, it can get to you. Like, you know, people try to say that, I don't know, you're not legit enough. I wanted to share with you a DM that I got from another hairstyleist that I know and she was saying that she actually sends a lot of her clients to my YouTube page because it is so helpful. This is even true for a couple other of my friends that are hair stylists and I'm very thankful that they send their clients to me. So I really appreciated this fact that she said, you understand that product knowledge is one of the first steps to maintain healthy hair. It's true and that is like my specialty. It's more product reviews. I'm your guinea pig. I literally try things to see if they work because you can have a great experience at the salon but you're not gonna be at the salon every day. So once you get home, if you don't know what to do with your hair, that's where I come in. That's where YouTube comes in to help you with the everyday day to day knowledge. That does not mean that you should discredit YouTubers because they aren't licensed. We're helping in a different way. There's room for both of us. There's no need for this rival. Experience is always gonna come before anything for me. All I'm saying is there needs to be a change. It's just all about equality and changing what is considered standard because if curly hair isn't standard, then that means it's not normal, which I mean it's not because it's extra fabulous. But then it kind of goes with the negative stigma. Like now my hair is a problem. My hair is an issue. So, you know what? Let me just straighten it. Let me just possibly damage it. Let me just relax it because it's too hard. Stylus don't want to deal with me. I'm a problem. Like there's so much negative connotation that can come from getting that rejection of going to salons and they just don't know what to do with you. Like you feel like an outsider, you feel like an outcast. It's a horrible feeling. So once again, this is absolutely no shade to hair stylist in general, but I have so much more appreciation for these stylists that do go the extra mile to learn hair textures that aren't their own, to learn different ethnicities. That says a lot. And if you go to cosmetology school, you're gonna get the bare bones, straight hair, cut one-on-one. You can get your license and you can get hired at a salon without ever touching hair like mine. You know, there might be a specialty case where a model came in and you got to practice with someone with hair like me maybe once, twice, unless you go to a school that is specific for black hair or curly hair or whatever it may be, you can pay extra to go to a specialty school and learn more, but not everyone either wants to pay more or can pay more to get what should be standard. Aspiring stylist should not have to pay more money to learn what should be standard. That's what I'm talking about. The whole curriculum needs to change. Wouldn't you agree? And I'm really happy that I reached out to some stylists to get some other perspectives because another issue is the price of a haircut. Let's be real. A curly haircut's gonna cost you at least $100 to maybe like $200 plus, where if you have straight hair, you could go to supercuts. It's probably not gonna be the best, but at least you have the option of, okay, should I do the affordable supercuts or should I go to the Shishi salon and pay $100 or more? You have the option. Curly hair people really cannot risk going to supercuts. Like it's a huge risk and if your hair is butchered, people would be like, well, you went to supercuts. What do you expect? So I would just, I would love if we had an alternative. Same with hair products. You guys know I love curl smith. It's not a cheap product. That's why I try to review both. I also love not your mother's drugstore. We have options to fit your price range. When it comes to stylists, you better be saving up because that's how much it costs. And my girls that do try so much, I love them and they definitely deserve it because they put in work and you will leave with your curls looking flawless. But there is no alternative. And if there's no alternative, people give up on their curls. They give up on their natural hair. Like this is why I don't want to do it. It's too expensive. I'm going to straighten my hair. It's easier and they just give up on the naturally beautiful hair that they were given. And that sucks. But I did talk to one of my friends, Haifilesh as I'm sure you guys know who is now a licensed hair stylist. Congratulations girl. And you know, we had this conversation and she also mentioned that curly hair stylists do charge more because it is more work. And when you think about it, she explained how she had one curly client that took her, you know, hours. And at the same time, she watched other stylists in the salon maybe get three or four clients done by the time she was still working on her one girl. That's because we do require a little extra maintenance. I mean, this is a beautiful crown to work with. You gotta give it some tender love and care. So she's sectioning hair. She's deep conditioning. She's applying products correctly. All that's gonna take a little bit more time than like a quick blow dry or a little trim that doesn't require any washing or detangling. So because there's more work, it costs more. I'll say, you're right, I see that. You know, I respect it and it's true. And even she said, but it would be nice if there was some type of cheaper option. And I know these salons are starting to pop up. I think I know of like maybe two that specialize in like washing those, you know, or just like applying the product for you. Little steps, just deep conditioning. You could pay just for a deep conditioning treatment. I think that's great. And I think we need more of that. So in conclusion, I say all this to say that we still have more work to do when it comes to the curly hair inclusion. We're still an afterthought. We're still not just truly accepted. And I just don't think it's right that you can get your hair stylist license and not know how to work with curly hair. Like you just don't know what to do with it. Where if you didn't know what to do with straight hair, you would not get hired. Like period though. You can't, you can't trim. You can't do highlights. You can't just do an ombre. You're not getting hired. But if you can't do that on curly hair, you can't cut curly hair. You can't even style curly hair. It's okay. It's fine. We'll figure it out. At the same time, aspiring stylists pay so much to go to school. If you're paying not much money to go to school and get your license, you should be able to get a full education on the full spectrum of hair. You shouldn't have to pay extra to learn how to do hair that may be like yours or that's not like yours. You shouldn't have to pay extra to learn about a very predominant hair type. It's not like I'm talking about like people with purple hair. Okay, that's pretty rare. But curly hair is like very, very common. So why isn't it a norm? So that's just my two cents. Let me know what you guys think in the comments below. How do you feel when you go to a curly hair salon? How easy is it for you to find a hairstylist that knows what to do with your hair? Have you ever gone to a salon that said they know how to cut curly hair but then ruined your hair? Have you gone to cosmetology school and gotten your license and realized that you needed and wanted more education on curly hair? And do you think that curly natural textures should be taught more predominantly in cosmetology school? Let me know your thoughts. Open conversation, it's a safe space. Let's keep it that way. No fights in the comments please. So I just wanna say that I really appreciate your comments and messages that just let me know that even though I'm not licensed, I'm still helping you in some way. If you enjoyed this little curl talk, make sure to give me a thumbs up and subscribe, I post new videos every week. You also can follow me on Instagram and TikTok and Twitter at Ms. Bianca Renee. And once again, I do have a highlight on my Instagram page with all of my favorite Bianca Renee-approved curly hair stylists that I trust. I either have been to them or I've seen their work and they're legit. I'll see you guys next time. Thanks for watching Bianca Renee today.