As a curly haired girl, you’d tend to use any opportunity to create a short cut when faced with the daily task of doing your hair. I have tried and tested every curly cut available to me in the western hemisphere – the DevaCurl Cut, the RezoCut, the Ouidad Cut – spending thousands of dollars for a service I could only get outside of the country. Being back in Guyana, I would sometimes go to different salons – I even went to one that gave me an unsolicited keratin treatment that ruined my curl pattern and forced me to chop it all off in the style of a boy cut. So it was to my absolute delight when I discovered that one of my Instagram friends – referring to a person I know purely through the social media site – was quietly getting her cosmetologist’s license and being trained in the art of cutting curly and textured hair. Enter Latrice Collymore, the founder and lead stylist of Texture & Curls. Latrice is a curl specialist, and Texture & Curls focuses on care and cuts for curly hair.
(Latrice Collymore, Founder, Texture & Curls)
After putting off my visit to Texture & Curls for months, I finally reached out to Latrice to book my appointment. I was pleased when in that conversation she directed me to her website which laid out answers to her FAQ’s ( frequently asked questions) as well as her booking portal, powered by Fresha, a beauty booking tool commonly used by local beauty pro-viders. While my appointment had to be split in two due to an untimely power outage, it was a completely distinctive experience, unlike any I’ve had in Guyana. Within the first 45 minutes of an initial consultation, she did a deep dive into my curls – looking at them, looking at my scalp, going over the products I use and don’t use and finding out why. She then looked at my curl pattern and ask a dozen questions about how I care for my hair, how I usually style and wear it, what my goals are – questions that, truth be told, I haven’t asked myself. The strangest thing came out of that interaction – I felt cared for, thought of, seen. I immediately began to understand part of the allure that salons hold, amid you taking care of yourself, your beautician begins to take care of you. After the consultation, which I must add we did on TikTok live with me and 400 of the people that follow me, we headed into the service.
(Image of my hair length at the beginning of my appointment)
Detox, shampoo, rinse and repeat. Followed by conditioning, Latrice spends ample time during each step educating me on the products she’s using, the way the water is sitting on my hair and why, the pros and cons of using this product versus that and what to expect my hair to feel like post treatment. She also began the curl defining process in the sink and walked me through an easy process that I could start doing at home. Sitting through this experience you’d understand her interest in what she was doing, as well as the knowledge she has acquired and the desire to share that knowledge with me. Once my hair was styled and about seventy five percent dry, she began cutting. I came in with long hair, and had no desire to retain length, just for it to be healthy. So, my instruction for cutting was take off as much as necessary, and it was very funny to me because every time she looked at me with doubt I kept encouraging her to cut more. It was cathartic for me, in that with every clip of the scissors my head became lighter and curls more themselves, and for Latrice, her cut became more confident as she had the creative license to cut freely.
The global haircare industry is projected to generate over $90 billion USD in 2024, according to Statista.com – sixty percent of the world’s population has textured and curly hair – data which validates investment into this industry and highlights a clear gap in the market being filled by Texture & Curls. While Latrice only works on weekends currently, the fact that she is consistently booked out is proof that the market exists for what may be considered a novel specialization and that the people she is serving has the disposable income to use her services. If you are or know someone with texture and curls this should be considered as your next stop for maintenance; you can find out more on her website, www.textureandcurls.com.
