Pelo Bueno
Me with my fresh new peinado in front of a portrait of the founder of Pelo Bueno, Cirle Arzua
For most of my childhood I grew up with chemically straightened “relaxed” hair, but stopped treating my hair in order to be able to wear it naturally curly when I was in high school (thank you to one of my oldest friends, Alice, who encouraged me to do so!). I did a “transition”, where I stopped relaxing my hair for a few months while it grew out, and then did a “big chop” where I cut off all the chemically relaxed and damaged parts of my hair to be left with a TWA, a “teeny weeny afro”.
I was really excited back then for the journey that lay ahead with my new look, but once my hair started to grow a bit longer, and my little afro was no longer so little, I was very lost. There were no salons near me for women who wore their hair the way I did. Personal preferences and trends, but also societal pressures and racism led to many Black women straightening their hair or tucking it away using other styles. I didn’t even know anyone else in my own family who was wearing their natural hair out like how I was back then. However, I got by by experimenting and trying out things that I saw in YouTube tutorials. My go-to style for years was a twist-out, but once I got to Cartagena, the city’s heat and humidity turned my signature look into frizz-central. The little that I knew about my hair was no longer cutting it.
@pelobueno.co
I turned to braids for a change in style and a break from wrangling my hair for a little while, but I missed having my hair out and free! After a bit of time in Cartagena I was pleased and literally blessed to find out about a hair salon designed specifically for people with curly, coily, and kinky hair called Pelo Bueno via my friend and fellow Fulbrighter, Eloísa, who is a Cartagena native (muchas gracias Elo!!!!). It was so beautiful to find a salon that catered to this hair type, to MY hair type, for literally the first time ever in my life.
Some of the products used in Pelo Bueno
The thing is that Cartagena has a unique set of characteristics that make the city the type of place where a salon like Pelo Bueno does not only exist, but it thrives. Cartagena is a city of afro-descendant people, so there are tons of people with curly hair. In turn, there is a high demand for salons that cater to this hair type, in a way that just wasn’t the case at all in my town when I was growing up. This demand, plus the heat, plus a different set of beauty standards and differences in how Blackness is represented and showcased throughout the city all create an environment where Black natural hair is embraced, flaunted, and celebrated.
Right after coming back to the city from Palenque and El Festival de Tambores, I went to Pelo Bueno for the very first time on my free day from work to get a trim and to get my curls defined. I was super excited because that is one style that I literally never learned to do myself; I never met anyone else who knew how to do it who could teach me, and none of the YouTube tutorials were helpful either! If you don’t have my hair texture or never heard these words before, undefined = afro, and defined = clumps of curls that are more visible and…defined!
Smilessss
The stylists trimmed, washed, deep conditioned, steamed, defined, and dried my hair before separating out the clumps of curls a little bit and giving my hair more volume with a trinche (afro pick). It was a heart-warming and healing experience. I felt so excited to see my hair this way. I felt so beautiful and so lucky to finally discover that I could style my natural curls like this. It was also really sweet getting to spend that time in the salon chatting with the stylists. They were around my age, and we talked for hours about our lives, our backgrounds, about culture, about hair. They literally showered me and my hair with love, kindness, and compliments as they did it. My inner child was comforted. I realized at that moment how much negativity I had heard about my hair and natural hair in general up until that point in the States that I had always just ignored but obviously not forgotten; unprofessional, untidy, nappy… But for the first time I heard the complete opposite, and it was genuine. For the first time I could just be. I wasn’t being told to change or try to look different, I was celebrated for me, exactly as I am.
During the process one of the stylists taught me her method for defining curls, but I was not able to recreate it on my own later on at all. It takes practice!! After my failed attempts of recreating the Pelo Bueno method, it was ultimately Danesly, one of my best friends in Cartagena, who finally taught me how to do it (mil gracias amiga mía<3)! The process requires patience, practice, water, gel, and crema de peinar (styling/detangling cream), but once you get it, you’re set! It's actually quite simple and doesn’t require a ton of products or time. Where had Pelo Bueno and my dear friend Dane been all my life?!!! I am so grateful for both of them!
My favorite gel and crema de peinar that I’ve been using in Colombia!
My Pelo Bueno experience and the learning and epiphanies that followed about hair, beauty, and identity really left a lasting impact on me. The way that I saw my natural hair texture highlighted, loved, and represented in the way it was in the salon and all around the city was a springboard for thinking more about my relationship with myself, my self-image, and more about self-love. I love Cartagena for the people, the beach, the food, the music, and much more that I’ve already mentioned, but a big part of my love for the city was how my experiences there triggered a lot of reflection and growth, and for this I am eternally grateful. Pelo Bueno recently celebrated its 7-year anniversary, and has expanded to have locations in Bogotá, the capital city of Colombia, and Medellin, the highly coveted “city of eternal spring”. I’m hoping they’ll continue expanding, and hopefully open up a location in Cali in the future, so they can keep teaching many many more women, especially afro-descendant women, how to care for, love, and rock their curls, because they did just that and much more for me! I recommend visiting a million times over if you ever have the opportunity!
My peinado with one of my absolute favorite Champeta Africana songs playing in the background, “Yamba Ngai” by Mbilia Bal <3
