Michelle shares how creativity helped her understand her curls and identity. “I still haven’t met anyone in New Zealand, who has curly hair who’s Asian. …
Celebrating the beauty of naturally curly hair
Especially in Asian and Pacific Islander Communities
This is a place where people with curly hair, who don’t feel that they fit into the beauty standards of their cultures and communities, can share their stories and be empowered to wear their hair naturally and with pride.
Let's redefine our beautiful
A multicultural hair movement transforming the narrative for curly hair
API Curls has an ambitious mission: to build and empower a community of people who identify as API (Asian and Pacific islander) that want to challenge and live beyond the straight hair standard. We are transforming outdated narratives on what it means to have beautiful hair and championing greater representation for the stories of our community.
Our vision comes to life through haircare education, spotlighting healthy hair journeys, hosting interactive creative prompts, and encouraging dialogue on the intersection of beauty, culture and identity.
The stories that made us
Because your story is our story, too.
The beauty we see in the mirror doesn’t match our media. API Curls is a multicultural movement that addresses, challenges, and reshapes cultural attitudes towards curly hair in Asian and Pacific Islander communities using the voice of our shared experiences.
Participate & Engage
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*Please note that “anti-blackness” has multiple definitions. In this post and video, the writer/speaker refers to the term as “anti-Blackness” with a capital B pertaining to …
In response to the viral #DontRush and #PassTheBrush social media challenges (co-created by Toluwalase Asolo + her 7 girlfriends), members of the API Curls community …
I think the strangest thing in my wavy (curly) hair journey is that I don’t remember having wavy/curly hair as a child. My hair was …
This platform was built for you – Asian and Pacific Islander individuals with naturally curly hair.
The history of our curls are different, and presents unique challenges physically, mentally and emotionally. Honest talk – our society values straight hair, and we’ve gone to extraordinary lengths to conform.
We want to educate ourselves, our families, and our community about the unique qualities or our hair. Let’s create new standards of beauty for future generations that honor healthy, curly hair.
Start your hair journey with us – subscribe to read stories, participate in our fun, creative challenges and prompts, and commit to cultivating your natural, beautiful curls.
The API Curls story
#APICurls
In 2017, I decided that I was going let my hair be the way it was meant to be – beautifully curly. The problem? I had no idea where to start or even how to care for natural curls. Little did I know that one photo and a video would result in an outpouring of replies expressing, “Your story is my story, too.”
Inspired by these shared experiences, I created #APICurls in 2019 to amplify our voices and document curly hair experiences from the perspective of the API community.
Today, API Curls is a platform for us to address the misconception that Asian hair can only be straight and create awareness of how to celebrate and care for our curls.
Curly Girl Starter Kit
We’ve created a compilation of resources that can help you get started on your healthy hair journey!
Conversations & Tutorials
It’s more than just about how we look on the outside. How we relate to curly hair affects us on the inside and how we think and feel about ourselves and others. Learn about relevant conversations happening right now in relation to haircare, lifestyle and community.
