While extensions can be a great protective style for Black women, oftentimes, we end up doing more harm than good to our hair as we attempt to alter our hair texture to match that of the extensions. Hairstylist and founder of True + Pure Texture, Pekela Riley, hopes to change this.
“What inspired me with True + Pure Texture is that in my mind, beauty is always about enhancing, and all of our extension options before required us to literally alter and pulverize our hair so it didn’t really enhance our beauty. It was counterintuitive,” Riley told MadameNoire.
That is where True + Pure Texture steps in. The company, which has been selected to participate in Sally Beauty and Cosmo Prof’s Cultivate Cohort of Women Entrepreneurs initiative, offers luxury human hair extensions that seamlessly match the natural hair textures of Black women.
“True + Pure Texture intends to disrupt because hair extensions have never been an aid to healthy hair and they should be,” said Riley. “When textures match your natural hair, that in itself is inherently protective because I have prevented all this extra stress, heat, and duress on the hair and so then myself attribute to better hair care because you are allowing it to be in its natural state to blend with these textures. You are applying less trauma to your hair in order to extend it. It is conducive to a healthy here regimen and not counterproductive.”
Here are five stand-out products from the collection.
Jasmine Coil Ponytail (4B/4C)
“The Jasmine Coil is our hero texture,” said Riley, “but the Jasmine Coil ponytail is contending to be our hero because it has so much versatility. People have the ease of installing it. It’s instant. It’s gentle. Then they have the ease of uninstalling and I think that’s an unspoken plus. We could take things off but Jasmine texture in itself is the most versatile. So people wear it as it is. People brush it out, fro it out. You can stretch it out. You just stretch it out and he has something. It has so many versatile qualities.”
