Ah, Devacurl. It was once the holy grail of curly hair products. It shone a beacon on those with damaged hair with an aggressive marketing campaign that inspired hope and confidence that your curls would come back. They had a fun and friendly vibe with tips and methods on their blog and YouTube influencers plastered on the top of their website with an armful of their products. Devacurl used fun names like “Heaven in hair,” “B-leave in,” “Devafresh,” “Arc angel gel,” and more. Though Devacurl was founded in 1994, it really grew in popularity in the 2000s just as the natural hair movement came about.
In my childhood, curly hair was not accepted. It was too big, too wild, too unprofessional and attracted too much attention. Majority of my peers with hair like mine used relaxers to kill their curls and blend in with others (which really says a lot about the cosmetics industry but that’s another discussion for another day). However, once I became a young teen, pride and love of curly hair boosted, causing an impressionable generation rushing to undo the damage from the relaxers or perms in our childhoods. Devacurl was our answer.
Devacurl a wildly expensive brand that marketed the benefits as outweighing the costs. Soon, people were spending hundreds of dollars on a Devacurl hair routine. As technology grew, Devacurl advanced their products. Their website features a hair quiz which helps tailor a haircare routine specific to your hair! Devacurl was expensive, so it was high-quality. That was the thought until 3 weeks ago.
Ayesha Malik is a YouTube influencer who was a ride-or-die fan of Devacurl products. She was featured on their website regularly and posted videos about how to maintain curly hair in an all-natural way. 3 weeks ago, she posted a 16 minute video titled, “Why I Stopped Using Devacurl,” and it went viral. The thumbnail photo is split in half and on the left, it shows her smiling with an armful of Devacurl products with great hair. The right shows her empty-handed, sulking in her palm with her weakened and damaged hair in the foreground. She starts the video by apologizing for promoting them so much and explains how Devacurl has led to her having bald spots, straighter hair, itchiness, dandruff, scabs on the scalp, hair loss and hair damage. As soon as her video went live, hundreds of people who used those products religiously noted the same effects.
One person (who will remain unnamed) confessed that after going on vacation without her Devacurl products, she noticed an instantaneous change in her hair. Her curls were more defined, she didn’t lose as much hair when combing it in the shower and she had more volume. Another person (who will remain unnamed) went to one of the Devacurl salons in New York and the stylist told her to stop using their products because of those same effects. If the stylist is telling you to stay away from the brand they’re getting paid to represent, that says something about the company. The pride that people once had in their curly hair and their products were ripped away after hearing what Devacurl had done.
Personally, I did a relaxer when I was 10. I stopped retouching that relaxer when I was 13. My mom took me to a Devacurl salon for my first haircut to start the process of getting rid of the damage and got a consultation of what products to use and how to maintain it. I used Devacurl for 2 years and since I’d never really had experience in dealing with curly hair up until that point, I thought the effects were normal. Oh, too much hair came out? I must have pulled too hard when combing it. Oh, there’s more dandruff? It must be residue from the conditioner. I must not have washed it out properly. I was under the impression that these were all my fault because I didn’t know how to take care of my hair but I never questioned the product. Thankfully, a broke college student can’t afford Devacurl and I was forced to switch.
The curly hair movement is still ongoing today. I still take pride in my curls like many others alongside me. It’s a part of my identity that was once shunned and now, I want to show it off. The maintenance process associated with curly hair is great but the feeling of attracting attention with it is greater. Devacurl has taken that away and I’m not the only one who’s upset about it.
The outcry against the famous brand has led to a class-action lawsuit. There have been more rumors that Devacurl has reformulated their products to have these negative effects such as putting relaxer in their products to tame frizz. Devacurl has come out saying that they tested the products and found nothing wrong with them and will continue to do further testing. After this scandal, I’m not sure they’ll ever regain their consumers’ trust again.