The Curly Hair Dictionary

Co-wash, pre-poo, pineappleing — the world of curly hair care can be a confusing one for even the most advanced student of spirals. For those that decide to embrace their natural texture after years of fighting it with chemical processes and products, it can be a bit confusing trying to learn the natural-hair speak. Heck, there a quite a few words within the community that even those long-standing naturals have to Google from time to time.

The natural-hair grassroots movement took hold in the late '90s and grew up during the dot com boom. The same way that LOL made its way into the texts of millennials across the globe, so too did no-poo, APL, 4B, and wash-n-go make their way into chat rooms and discussion boards across the Internet.

Today, that movement is finally starting to go mainstream. To help clear up the confusion for any newbies (and those seasoned pros who need a refresher course), we've compiled this Curly Hair Dictionary. It features all the need-to-know styles, treatments, techniques, and acronyms every naturally curly lady needs to master. Read on for a master class in all things curls.