![]() ![]() Next came mass distribution and commercialization of the product thanks to entrepreneur, Comer Cottrell, with his Curly Kit, which enabled black men harboring thoughts of being like Jackson to realize such dreams. It was in fact the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson, who’d fulfill this role by ditching his boyish afro – a sociocultural look that was waning in terms of its, clout, edge, and buzz – for the newly-emerging and chemically-overwhelming Jheri curl. Richie who’d be the celebrity who’d bring the Jheri curl into the mainstream limelight… The Jheri curl made its way into the commercial hairstyling stratosphere at the end of the 1970s with singer-songwriter, Lionel Richie wearing the style in its proto format. equating somewhat to the 60s buzzword, “radical”), the Jheri curl was popularized amongst the African-American community in the United States, with its heyday arriving in the mid-1980s. A flamboyant and ‘bad’ style (in the MJ 80s sense of the word, i.e. Well folks, it’s actually a hairstyle invented by Jheri Redding – the founder of modern-day hair conditioner. Care for a twirl in that one son!? A full-blown, commercialized concotion for the iPad-tweeting-vine-ing-snapchatting age of children… It sounds like some sort of new, slightly Disney-infused (and therefore American!) concoction of an ice cream. He may have abandoned his signature shiny tresses later in his career, but for many, Jackson he will always be associated with Jheri Curls.Ah… the Jheri curl. ![]() The King of Pop made the unctous hairstyle popular beyond Cottrell’s greasiest dreams. T-worhty ropes of gold routinely draped around Deion’s neck. If you had a Curl back then, it meant you were doing something big. The athlete who split his time between football and baseball personified the glitz and glamour that had long been associated with Jheri Curls. ![]() The former Los Angeles Lakers forward - and perpetual thorn-in-the-side to the Celtics - maintained a Jheri Curl from mid-80s well into the 90s. It is unclear if he used the lubrication to his advantage on the Fenway Park mound. His look - angry eyebrows beneath a shiny, curly mane - became iconic.Ĥ) Keenan Ivory Wayans, “Hollywood Shuffle’’īefore he struck gold on “In Living Color,’’ Wayans played a homicidal breakdancer (aptly named Jheri Curl) who was perilously - and hilariously - reliant on his supply of “activator.’’Īlthough his Jheri Curl use was never confirmed, the former Red Sox ace’s hair seemingly one day just up an appeared exponentially more lustrous and curly than ever before. With his omnipresent 40 of malt liquor, Doughboy commanded fearful respect. He was a walking advertisement for the product, always admiring his shiny locks while administering the potion via a handy spray bottle.Īs Doughboy, a gang-affiliated parolee, rapper Ice Cube unabashedly sported Jheri Curls - a stereotype of black Los Angeles gangbangers in the ‘80s. “ER’’ actor (and Hartford, Conn., native!) Eriq LaSalle played a slimy executive at Soul Glo, his family’s Jheri Curl-esque business. (What, are you gonna tell him they’re played out?) Jackson’s old-school appearance in the 1994 film belied his character’s murderous, tough-guy persona, which is probably why he could get away with rocking Jheri Curls in the first place. Which is why we decided to celebrate Cottrell’s life by taking a look back at the most important Jheri Curls in pop-culture history. Stench be damned, Jheri Curls have rightfully earned their spot in regrettable hairstyle history, right alongside mullets. Some called it a wet look, others called it greasy, but from the mid-1980s through the early 90s, Jheri Curls endured, probably a bit longer than some might have liked.Īnd although Comer Cottrell, the black hair-care entrepreneur who helped bring the unique hairstyle to the masses, died this week, the trend lives on, thanks to the many, many folks who are too settled in their ways to change their hairstyles now. What were Jheri Curls? A fine mist of chemicals you sprayed onto your hair that would “activate’’ on contact, loosening up your curls and adding a lustrous sheen. While the hairstyle never stuck with me individually (thanks, Mom), it certainly caught on like wildfire with black people across the country - quite literally in at least one instance. Instead, all I got was a pair of greasy hands and a smack across the face for wasting my mother’s moisturizer. I first became acquainted with Jheri Curls as an elementary school-aged kid watching Michael Jackson do his signature moonwalk move while performing his hit song Billie Jean during a TV special in the 1980s Immiediately feeling inspired, I rushed to the bathroom, got a handful of baby oil and applied it gratuitously in hopes of replicating what I perceived as the hippest new hairstyle. ![]()
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