By stufflovely
In the last decade or so, the conversation around cultural appropriation entered the mainstream. There are a few who incorrectly equate the term with cultural exchange, but as defined by Everyday Feminism, cultural appropriation actually refers “to a particular power dynamic in which members of a dominant culture take elements from a culture of people who have been systematically oppressed by that dominant group.”
The Black community is all too familiar with the phrase, as it has become commonplace to see the beauty looks we created become not only adopted but accepted when non-Black people wear them. Box braids. Locs. Long acrylic nails. You name it, and the list goes on.
After tiring of seeing non-Black women appropriate these hairstyles, people on Black Twitter shared a few hairstyles, like fishtail braids or pin curls, that are better suited for straight and wavy textures that white women typically have.
The iconic flip hairstyle that Farrah Fawcett wore in the ‘70s and similar hairstyles also received shoutouts in the discussion. Although black celebrities like Donna Summer, Tina Turner, and Chaka Khan wore similar styles during that time, a TikTok tutorial on how to achieve it is going viral for being a fabulous look that works great for hair that is naturally not afro-textured. The video was created by Netherlands-based TikToker Rose van Rijn. A scroll down Rijn’s social media shows that the 19-year-old is a pro at recreating the vintage styles symbolic of that decade.
Rijn starts the video with freshly washed hair and gives her bangs a slight trim. Using a round blowdryer brush (the GHD Rise brush is a good one if you’re in need), she adds volume to her bangs, curling them away from her face. To add curls to the rest of her hair, she sleeps in pillow curlers overnight. She takes out the curlers in the morning and brushes out her hair using a paddle brush. Rijn looks like she time-traveled straight from the ’70s with the completed look.
While Rijn cuts her bangs in her tutorial, hairstylist Laura Polko, an ambassador for NatureLab Tokyo and T3, shares with Allure that giving yourself a haircut is not necessary. Polko says, “The key is how you direct the sectioning for your rollers and hair dryer!” To “cheat” the haircut, she recommends that you “direct the hair on the sides of your face vertically away from the face and the sections on the top of your head directly straight back.” You get the swept-back look without having to reach for a pair of hair shears.