When I began my journey I was extremely green.  Not green in the earth friendly way, but green as in I had absosmurfly no clue what I was doing.  Because I didn’t want to go the BC route and couldn’t afford braids or locs, I’d pretty much decided early on I’d take the growth/cut method.  I’d heard all the many horror stories about hair loss so naturally I was scared, but I was determined to successfully transition from the chemical shackles of constant relaxing.  To prepare myself I piecemealed a plan together using articles I’d found on the Web, advice from friends and natural hair forums such as the ones at Napturality.com.  I’d also had in mind to start a natural hair care library starting with a few titles I’d found online.

Well with Life being as hectic as it was when I first started I didn’t get around to stocking my shelves.  But now with the help of the handy dandy the Columbus Public Library’s Westland branch I have started to thumb through the available natural hair titles (which aren’t very many).  Although I don’t need the books for my own personal edification, I was interested in seeing what I could use from them to help enhance my current project, as well as to provide reviews for those of you who may desire to bone up on all things naptural, but aren’t sure which publication you should invest your time in.  Starting with this title here:

As a writer I know that the first factor in getting your book read and/or sold is how it is packaged/presented, so from the cover design I was initially impressed with Textured Tresses.  Secondly, I was impressed by the author, Diane Da Costa, a well known celebrity stylist whose handiwork has appeared in the pages of Essence and Elle, as well as the heads of Lauryn Hill, Lenny Kravitz and Blair Underwood.  I thought this would be a great resource, since Ms. Da Costa has a totally 20 years experience, filled with tips and tricks galore.  Even though Tanya and the average three star Amazon rating the book received warned me I shouldn’t believe the hype, I was confident I’d be able to unearth something useful.

Really wish I would have listened.

I will not say it was a total waste of my time to have checked this book out, or that I would like a total refund of the cost I paid to check it out (peep sarcasm).  But I personally could have gotten more insight about natural hair and transitioning from the makers of Bone Strait No Lye Relaxer.  Yes, I am serious. Although beautifully packaged, with an eloquent foreword penned by Blair Underwood himself, Textured Tresses is nothing more than an overblown stylist portfolio of Ms. Da Costa‘s work.  As one Amazon reviewer stated, the title of the book “Should Be: Da Costa and the Celebrities’ Hair She’s Done. Period.”

Broken into two parts, one for maintenance and the second for styling, this selection barely skims the surface of the “how to” successfully transition from relaxed to natural.  In part one, Da Costa starts off by offering elementary descriptions for the five main textures presented in the book — straight, wavy, loose curly, very curly, tightly coiled — and pre-k comparisons to objects like silk, Persian wool and cotton.  In order to determine your hair type, Ms. Da Costa suggests that the reader simply compares the five black and white thumbnail pictures presented in chapter one and a couple strands of hair.  *blink blink* Personally, I think any woman who has had hair on her head for more than ten years already knows her hair type from those five choices, but maybe I could be wrong.  Further into part one, Da Costa offers a mixture of common sense advice, plugs for Aveda maintenance products and an abundance of  nods towards utilizing the services of a stylist, which is not much help to the naptural novice looking to go it on their own.

In part two, Da Costa offers suggestions for a multitude of natural styles, but accompanies them with more plugs for Aveda products and long drawn out instructions to achieve said styles (her instructions for a twist out involve eleven steps which include how to do two strand twists… which is a totally different style).  Interwoven through part two, Da Costa includes “celebrity memoirs” which boast what she did for muckity muck celebrity figure this or that, more plugs for Aveda products (she plugs a lot more products that just Aveda, but it was the one she referred to the most — the rest were just as “pricey” though) and celebrity mucky muck photos.  After about ten minutes into this section I seriously began to feel as if I were reading a copy of Hype Hair/National Enquirer rather than a Simon and SCHUSTER production.

Da Costa rounds the book out simply, with a listing of natural hair and braiding salon directory, a recommended products list (yes… Aveda is the first product included, but that’s only because the list is alphabetical), reference, art credits and acknowledgements.

So yeah, I didn’t enjoy the read but this is not to say the book did not possess any redeeming qualities.  In part one, Ms. Da Costa offers helpful information on common scalp challenges such a dandruff and psoriasis, and ways to effectively treat each condition.  In addition to this, she provides a list of products (general in nature ie. shampoo, conditioner and essential oils) and styling tools that will be promote growth and health.  Another part that I felt would be potentially helpful is Da Costa‘s tips on how to pick the right stylist and salon, for those who choose to go that route.  It’s kind of a no brainer that an entire chapter would be devoted to this topic, seeing as the author is a professional stylist, but for those of us not wanting to go the natural route on their own it is a very helpful addition.

For my personal use, I found the book a totally wash, seeing as the section I was most interested in (how to transition using the growth method) was merely two paragraphs long where she mentioned that conditioning and stress-less styles were the key to making it work. *blink blink*

In conclusion, using my usual scale of one to five Afro picks, I’d have to side with the average Amazon reviewer and grant Textured Tresses with three picks.  If I had to recommend it to anyone it would most definitely be the novice natural who is on the transition fence and doesn’t have a clue where to start.  This is not a book for the seasoned nappy, nor one who is intent on being styled and maintained by a professional stylist.  And it dern sure isn’t worth the $15 retail price printed on the back cover, so if you just have to check it out for yourself… Check it out from the library.

Book Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Fireside; illustrated edition  (June 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743235509
• ISBN-13: 978-0743235501
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.2 x 0.7 inches
• Average Customer Review: 3 stars
• JBTM Review:

Healthy Hair Wishes,