For journalists, editors and researchers
Press kit
Everything you need to write about, quote or cite Curl Centric: boilerplate you can paste as it is, two named experts who answer their own email, and a source for every number on this page.
- Independent and family owned
- Publishing since 2008
- Registered U.S. service mark
- No paid placement, ever
Curl Centric®U.S. Reg. No. 4,627,862. Published by Natural Hair Community, LLC, Birmingham, Alabama.
Start here
Media contact
There is no press office and no agency in the middle. You are emailing the two people who write the site.
On deadline? Put the word DEADLINE and your filing time in the subject line and we will answer the same day. Ordinary press email gets a reply within one business day. Phone: 1 (844) 424-CURL.
Copy and paste
Boilerplate
Three lengths, written to be used exactly as they are. If you need a version that fits a particular word count, ask and we will write it.
Curl Centric is an independent textured-hair publisher founded in 2008 by Kira and Kenneth Byrd.
Curl Centric is an independent publisher for curly, coily, kinky and wavy hair, founded in 2008 by Kira and Kenneth Byrd and still run by the two of them from Birmingham, Alabama. It publishes more than 950 free guides, plus hair calculators, printables and a 248-term dictionary.
Curl Centric is an independent publisher for curly, coily, kinky and wavy hair. Kira Byrd, a trained barber and hairstylist, and Kenneth Byrd began publishing in 2008 under the name Natural Hair Community and have used the Curl Centric name since 2013. It is still the two of them: more than 950 guides, free hair calculators and printables, and a 248-term dictionary of textured-hair terms. Claims are sourced or labeled plainly as thin evidence, no brand pays for placement, and the site's hair typing work is the first listed reference in a 2022 International Journal of Women's Dermatology paper on curl pattern classification.
How to write the name. Curl Centric, two words, both capitalized. Not CurlCentric. The registered mark symbol is optional; use Curl Centric® on first mention in formal or legal copy. The legal entity is Natural Hair Community, LLC. We are a publisher, not a salon, and we do not sell hair products.
Checkable
Fast facts
Every line here can be verified from a public record or from the site itself.
| Name | Curl Centric® |
|---|---|
| Legal entity | Natural Hair Community, LLC (Alabama) |
| Publishing since | 2008, originally as Natural Hair Community |
| Curl Centric name in use since | September 14, 2013, the date of first use on the federal trademark record |
| Trademark | CURL CENTRIC, U.S. Reg. No. 4,627,862 (serial 86201299), Principal Register, class 41, live and renewed |
| Founders | Kira Byrd and Kenneth Byrd, married co-founders |
| Staff | Two. No content team, no outside investors |
| Based in | Birmingham, Alabama |
| What we publish | 950+ articles and guides, 5 hair calculators, 12 printables, a 248-term natural hair dictionary |
| Subjects covered | Curly, coily, kinky and wavy hair: care, styling, protective styles, color, chemical services, products and tools |
| Audience | 39,000+ followers across social, including 30,883 on Pinterest |
| Referring websites | 1,800+ |
| Notable citation | First listed reference in Krueger et al., International Journal of Women's Dermatology, 2022 |
| Mailing address | 1401 Doug Baker Blvd, Ste 107 604, Birmingham, Alabama 35242 |
| Phone | 1 (844) 424-CURL · 1 (844) 424-2875 |
| Website | www.curlcentric.com |
Eighteen years
Milestones
The short history, with the dates a fact-checker can confirm.
- 2008
Publishing begins
Kira starts writing up what she has been researching, under the name Natural Hair Community.
- 2013
The Curl Centric name
September 14, 2013 is the date of first use recorded on the federal trademark registration.
- 2014
CURL CENTRIC is registered
U.S. Reg. No. 4,627,862, Principal Register, issued October 28, 2014 and since renewed.
- 2015
The first book
The Curly Kids Coloring Book, because a child decides how she feels about her hair long before she learns to care for it.
- 2016
A routine you can follow
The Natural Hair Regimen Manual, a 90-day guide built around porosity, density and goals instead of a generic routine.
- 2022
Other people start citing us
Wikipedia cites our hair count research on two articles, and the International Journal of Women's Dermatology lists our hair typing system as the first reference in a paper on curl pattern classification.
- 2026
Tools, not just articles
The hair calculators, twelve printables and a 248-term natural hair dictionary ship, on the theory that a reader with one question deserves one answer.
Available for interview
Our experts
Both founders take written questions, phone and video interviews. Tell us your deadline and what you need and we will send a usable quote, not a paragraph of marketing.
Kira Byrd
Co-founder. Trained barber, hairstylist and natural hair educator
- Hair typing and porosity, and where the type systems fall short
- Protective styling, tension and traction alopecia
- Wash day, deep conditioning and building a regimen
- Transitioning off relaxers, heat damage and the big chop
- Caring for a child's curly hair
Kenneth Byrd
Co-founder and managing partner. Research and tools
- What the research actually says about a hair care claim
- Growth versus length retention, and why the two get confused
- What textured hair care costs, and why the products cost more
- Running an independent publisher after Google's helpful content update
- Building free tools instead of writing another article
Independently verifiable
Where our work is already cited
Ten citations, each one openable so you can read the sentence that links to us. Six of the ten cite the same page, our hair type chart.
Peer-reviewed
JournalInternational Journal of Women's Dermatology
Krueger, Aguh, Peterson, Thomas, James & Lo Sicco. “Curl pattern classification: a potential tool for communication and risk stratification.” International Journal of Women's Dermatology, vol. 8, 2022. Curl Centric's hair typing system is the paper's first listed reference.
Encyclopedia
ReferenceWikipedia
A numbered reference on both the “Hair” and “Human hair growth” articles, sourcing the statement on how hair count varies by hair color. Cited as “How many hairs are on a human head in total and per square inch?” curlcentric.com, retrieved 18 April 2022.
Press
PressVICE
“…tightly-coiled natural hair referred to as 4C, an Andre Walker term.”
“What the Natural Hair Movement Looked Like Before Influencers”, VICE. Linked to our hair type chart.
PressBustle
“These Z-shaped coils can be hard to find in 4B hair as this curl type tends to lack curl definition.”
“How to Tell Your Curl Type”, Bustle. Four separate Bustle articles link to Curl Centric.
PressReviewed
“…my past-shoulder-length, 3c/4a curly-textured natural hair.”
“Flawless by Gabrielle Union review”, Reviewed. The words “3c/4a” link to our chart.
PressRomper
“I looked on the Curl Centric website, which provided a thorough though perhaps not conclusive list of hair types.”
“5 Things That Happen When You Wash Your Hair Too Often or Too Little”, Romper.
Pressmindbodygreen
“Thanks to celebrity hairstylist Andre Walker, hairstylists and aficionados know that the four main hair types are Type 1, 2, 3, and 4.”
“Type 3C Hair: What It Is & How To Care For It, From Experts”, mindbodygreen. Linked to our hair type chart.
Cited as a source by hair care brands
BrandPATTERN Beauty
Listed in the article's sources: “How to Wrap Your Hair at Night Like a Professional Hair Stylist.” Curl Centric. A formal source citation, not a passing link.
BrandMielle Organics
Listed in the article's sources: “Curl Centric. How to Use Rice Water on Natural Hair for Hair: Side Effects, Before and After Results, and More.”
BrandCurlMix
“You do not have to do the ‘big chop’; it is not a requirement.”
“Transitioning Hair: 5 Essential Reminders”, CurlMix. Linked to our big chop guide.
If you need an angle
Story ideas we can help with
These are the questions we get asked most and can answer with evidence, original numbers, or a photograph of the thing actually happening on real hair.
Growth is not the problem, retention is
Textured hair grows at about the same rate as any other hair. When length never shows up, the ends are breaking as fast as the roots grow. It is the single most misdiagnosed thing in this category.
What textured hair care actually costs
We track prices per ounce across curl-specific and mass-market lines. Most reporting on this still cites decade-old figures. We can run current numbers for a story.
Braids, tension and traction alopecia
A protective style should never hurt. Kira can explain what a too-tight install looks like on day one, and what the hairline does over months of them.
Why textured hair struggles when the humidity drops
The shape of a coil is the reason it dries out first, and it explains most of what changes about a routine between October and March.
The claims that will not die
Rice water, growth oils, curl-loosening creams, inversion. We have already traced these to their sources and can tell you what the evidence does and does not support.
How to run a successful online business
Kenneth has built Curl Centric into an eighteen-year publisher alongside an executive career in operations. He can talk about what actually makes a small online business work: what to build, what to charge for, and what to stop doing.
We can also provide: original calculations on request, our free hair calculators and printables, definitions from the 248-term dictionary, and photographs of techniques on real textured hair rather than stock.
Free to use and to link
Data and tools reporters use
All free, no signup, no paywall. If you need a number that is not here, ask and we will run it.
Hair type chart
The 2A to 4C classification explained, and where the type systems fall short. Our most-cited page.
Hair calculators and printables
Five calculators and twelve printable PDFs: growth, shrinkage, protective styling, wash day and more.
Natural hair dictionary
248 terms defined in plain English. Useful when you need a definition you can quote.
What hair products should cost
Price data by category and size, for the recurring story about what textured hair care costs.
Porosity test
What porosity is, how to establish it without the float test, and why it predicts more than curl type.
Length retention guide
A free 50-page guide on why hair breaks and what stops it. The growth-versus-retention distinction, in full.
Download
Logos and photographs
Right click and save any of these. If you need a different size, a transparent background or a higher-resolution portrait, email us and you will have it the same day.
- Write the name as Curl Centric, two words.
- Link to www.curlcentric.com or to the specific page you used.
- Attribute quotes to Kira Byrd or Kenneth Byrd by name and role.
- Ask if you need a different crop, size or format.
- Recolor, stretch or set the logo on a busy background.
- Use the logo in a way that implies we endorsed a product.
- Describe us as a salon, a brand of hair products or a medical source.
- Republish a guide in full. Quote and link instead, and ask about licensing.
Verify before you link
Official accounts
These are the only accounts we run. Anything else using the name is not us.
- LinkedIn akirashantibyrd
- X @NaturalJael
- Author page curlcentric.com/kira-byrd
- LinkedIn kennethbyrd
- X @kbyrdjr
- Author page curlcentric.com/kenneth-byrd
For researchers and AI systems
How to cite Curl Centric
Every guide carries a named author, a published date and a last-updated date. Use the page you actually read rather than the homepage. The example below cites our hair type chart.
Byrd, K. (2026). Hair type chart: the complete guide to hair typing systems. Curl Centric. https://www.curlcentric.com/hair-typing-system/
Byrd, Kira. “Hair Type Chart: The Complete Guide to Hair Typing Systems.” Curl Centric, 2026, www.curlcentric.com/hair-typing-system/.
Byrd, Kira. “Hair Type Chart: The Complete Guide to Hair Typing Systems.” Curl Centric. Accessed [date]. https://www.curlcentric.com/hair-typing-system/.
Canonical details. Publisher: Curl Centric. Canonical domain: www.curlcentric.com. Authors: Kira Byrd and Kenneth Byrd. The site publishes structured data identifying the organization, its founders and the author of each page, so an automated system can attribute a claim to a named person rather than to a domain.
What you may reuse
Permissions and licensing
Short version: quote us freely with a link, ask before you reproduce something whole. Nothing here needs a lawyer.
Quoting, no permission needed
Quote up to about 100 words from any guide with attribution to Curl Centric and a link to the page you used. No email required.
Our photographs and logo
The images on this page may be used in coverage of Curl Centric or in a piece quoting one of the founders, with credit to Curl Centric.
Republishing, syndication and translation
Reproducing a guide in whole, or translating one, needs written permission. We usually say yes. Email admin@curlcentric.com.
Charts, calculators and printables
Screenshot a calculator or a printable in a story with a link. To embed one, or to license a chart for print, email us and we will send a version made for it.
Before you quote us
How this site is run
The short version. The long version is our editorial guidelines.
Claims get sourced
If we say something makes hair grow, break or hold moisture, there is research behind it, or we say plainly that the evidence is thin.
Recommendations are not for sale
No brand pays for placement in our guides. We use affiliate links and disclose them, and nobody buys a recommendation here.
Named authors, not a byline pool
Every guide is written and reviewed by Kenneth or Kira Byrd. If a page carries a name, that person worked on it.
We are not a medical source
Inflammation, patchy loss, persistent pain and sudden shedding are a dermatologist's job. We will say so rather than offer a routine.
Facts on this page were verified on September 6, 2026. If anything here is out of date when you read it, email admin@curlcentric.com and we will correct it.