The power of embracing your natural curls
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) – During Hispanic Heritage Month, and year round, it's important to celebrate what makes you - you. That means your language, your background, and yes, your hair too. One hair salon in Milwaukee, The Curly Hair Extraordinaire, focuses specifically on curly hair and works to build their client’s confidence in rocking their natural curls.
The Milwaukee salon is unlike many others. Inside, you’ll see curls everywhere - from the clients, to the stylists.
“We grew up in a time where straightening, flat ironing, manipulating the hair was part of the salon industry, what you saw on television,” said Julia Calo, owner of the salon Curly Hair Extraordinaire. That's why Calo has taken it into her own hands to bring out Milwaukee and beyond’s natural curls.
For about ten years now, Calo has been cutting curly, coily, and wavy hair. “It’s magical, it’s really really special because someone can come in and have no idea what a curly cut entails and to be able to go through this experience and look in the mirror and think ‘my hair can do this’ is a magical feeling for me and for them,” she explained.
For some curly girls like Alexandra Sanchez, sometimes it can be hard to tell if you have waves, curls or coils - because you weren't taught how to take care of it. “I had curly hair when I was little but I never knew I had curly hair, it was wavy and frizzy. My mom had flat ironed her hair for years. I remember when she came to Julia, she cried because she saw how her curls came to life,” explained Sanchez, who only recently discovered how to take care of her natural hair.
Calo says she gets clients from all over, like Madison and Chicago, and of all ages too: “I get girls in my chair that are really young and i think ‘wow what would've been like to go to the salon and having that trust in someone and feeling good and confident and growing up into that.”
Wearing your hair natural is more than just a hairstyle. For Sanchez, it means going back to her roots. “I think as a latina we see a lot of colonization of what our hair and appearances are supposed to be like. I feel confident in being who I am, and being confident in being my genuine self and carrying on the legacy that is my family, mi cultura, my everything, even just in my hair makes me feel really proud,” she shared.
Sanchez and Calo encourage everyone to wear their hair naturally, and if you have curly hair, to at least try going to someone who specializes in curls, to see them shine in their natural state.
You can find the Curly Hair Extraordinaire on Instagram and on her website.
This is just one of several Hispanic Heritage Month Stories CBS 58 and our sister station Telemundo Wisconsin will be running from September 15 to October 15. Be sure to tune in for more of our Hometown stories!