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The Jheri curl (often spelled Jerry curl or Jeri Curl) is a permed hairstyle that was popular among African Americans during the 1980s.
Invented by the hairdresser Jheri Redding, the Jheri curl gives the wearer a glossy, loosely curled look. It was touted as a “wash and wear” style that was easier to care for than the other popular chemical treatment of the day, the relaxer.
Who was Jheri Redding? Wait……..THIS MAN??
Jheri Redding (born Robert William Redding March 2, 1907 – March 15, 1998) was an American hairdresser, chemist, hair care products entrepreneur and businessman. Redding is best known for having created the Jheri curl.
Redding is credited with being the inventor of modern-day hair conditioner. He was the first to make “pH balanced” shampoos, to put vitamins in hair care products, and to market added minerals. He developed the perm product Jheri curl, as well as numerous other beauty products. He founded the international beauty products business that bore his name, along with three others.
A Jheri curl requires a two-part application that consists of a softener (often called a “rearranging cream”) to loosen the hair, and a solution to set the curls. The rearranging cream uses pungent chemicals, causing the naturally tight curls to loosen. The looser curls are then set and a chemical solution is then added to the hair to permanently curl it.
To maintain the look of the Jheri curl, wearers are required to apply a curl activator spray and moisturizers daily, and sleep with a plastic cap over the hair to prevent it from drying out. These products are expensive; a typical bottle of activator was small, retailed from $3 to $6, and was quickly depleted. The activator in particular has the undesirable side effect of being very greasy, and often stains clothing and furniture.
The S-Curl is a trademark for a line of hair products produced by Luster Products designed to loosen the natural hair texture of people of African descent so that natural wave and curl patterns are looser and more prominent. The term “s-curl” soon came to describe the hairstyle acquired from the use of the S-Curl line products and the products of competitors.
Depending upon the strength of the application, an “s-curl” hairstyle can have hair texture only slightly less kinky than natural tightly coiled hair. Similar to a woman’s permanent, an s-curl is applied using relaxers containing lye, and, like a jheri curl, requires continued use of specialized shampoos and conditioners to keep the chemically altered hair from becoming dry, hard, and brittle.
S-curls were most popular among African-American men during the 1990s, when many popular musicians wore the hairstyle.