Do We Really Need Another Forum?

I felt the need to post a bit more information about why I feel the Live Curly, Live Free forum was necessary.

While naturallycurly.com and other sites provide a welcome and supportive space for curly women (and men) to explore products and try to determine the best ones for their particular hair, there is no site that actually takes a scientific look at these products and applies the principles of hair science to understand how and why a product may work for a certain type of hair.

Product manufacturers spend millions on marketing plans so you will buy their products. And if you buy them, the marketing plan will have done its job--which is to make the product manufacturer money. Educating you on the special needs of your own individual hair is wayyyy down at the bottom of the product manufacturer's list, if indeed it is even on the list at all.

There has been, up until this time, no site that is 100% devoted to objective curly hair education without being tied to a particular brand. That is why Live Curly, Live Free was created.

We took it one step further and created a forum on the site--because we perceived a huge need for a place that was not loyal to any brand, where we could talk about products and hair properties and figure out how and why certain products work for certain hair. And without having our members wonder if there might be any underlying motive afoot because the site is either owned by a product manufacturer or is a site that accepts sponsored advertising or other income-generating opportunities from a product manufacturer.

I get asked quite often if I will be developing my own product line in the future. Now, I've learned to never say never, but at this point in my life, I would rather crawl into a corner and stick forks in my eyeballs. Education is my passion, not product development. Besides, I feel once I develop my own line, my objectivity goes right out the window--and my ability to stay brand-neutral is far more important to me right now than having product bottles with my name on them.

With all this, I am in no way inferring all product manufacturers are going to be less than forthcoming about their products or whose main goal is to sell you crappy, sloppy stuff just to make a buck. There are some good, decent companies out there with whom I am happy to do business in my salon and with whom I enjoy my professional relationship.

What I am saying is that your curly hair education is not their priority; selling their products and their services is. Anyone who is serious about the health and care of their hair needs to have a space for proper, brand-generic, objective hair education in order to do so.

And I believe Live Curly, Live Free and its forum is the place that can fill that need.