Blueprint Beauty with Crystal Nicole
During the summer of 2006, I remember asking my mom to put another relaxer in my hair before I started my college journey as a freshman at San Diego State University (SDSU). Throughout my adolescence, I had a tug of war with relaxers. My hair would flourish, and after a year, my thick hair would break off once again. Since I was a brand new adult, I thought this time would be different. In my mind, it would be much easier to take care of relaxed hair in college because I did not have the patience nor time to learn the intricacies of my own hair. My goal? I wanted to have bone straight hair with no kinks so I could blend in with the beauty standards of the mid-2000s.
And just like clockwork, my hair broke off again in the summer before my sophomore year. This was my last straw with relaxers and I vowed to remain relaxer free this time around. For the remainder of my college journey, I stuck to press and curls and protective styles, such as braids and weaves. It wasn’t until after I graduated from SDSU and after starting my graduate school journey at California State University (CSU) Northridge that I started wearing natural hairstyles, like twistouts and braidouts. I credit my newfound interest to the many Black female natural hair care creators on YouTube who showed me how to properly love the natural hair that God gave me. It was a resurgence of the natural hair movement and creators, like Crystal Nicole aka CurlieCrys, schooled a new generation of Millennial and Gen Z Black women who yearned to know how to truly love our hair in its natural state.
Crystal Nicole, a Metiere native, started her YouTube channel as CurlieCrys to record her own natural hair care journey to inspire Black women, like myself, to learn and love how to properly take care of our natural hair. Metairie, a suburb bordering New Orleans, is where Crystal was raised. “Growing up in New Orleans was full of culture…and I wanted to know how it [my hair] grew out my head naturally”. Crystal was raised around influential women, like her mother and grandmother, who truly influenced her.
As a first-generation college student, she wanted to break generational curses in her family. Women, like her mother, influenced her major in college because she ultimately wanted her to succeed. Although Crystal graduated with a Civil Engineering degree from the University of New Orleans, she originally wanted to go to college for fashion. And even though she was a Civil Engineering major, that didn’t stop Crystal from creating her own fashion line in college called Lady Ann Legs with the slogan of “Sky Scrapper Beauties”. This fashion line was inspired by Crystal’s mom and grandmother who were both tall women, like herself. As the shortest person in her family at 5’10, Crystal still found that it was difficult to find clothing that would fit tall people well. This was a passion project for her and a fashion line that she would love to bring back again.
Photo Credit:
IG @newyorkmemories
The parallel between Crystal’s career as a Civil Engineer and as a creative is undeniable; she has designed and built a path to success that will ensure her spot in the ever expanding beauty space. To other first-generation college students who think they can’t take a leap of faith and truly pursue their passions without worrying about falling, her advice is “right now is the time but don’t quit your job without a plan…build up six months of income in case something happens”. She also noted that “when you have a degree, you have options to choose from”.
Throughout her successful career, Crystal continues to make those around her proud. One of her proudest moments and the moment she knew she “made it” was when she took her mom on a first-class trip to Europe. “It took her over the moon”, Crystal said enthusiastically with pride”. Allowing her mom to be a kid again and giving her a child-like experience will always be one of Crystal’s fondest memories. This viral post made it to publications, such as People Magazine. The coast of Italy was their favorite stop during this international adventure and the pair have more fun adventures planned together in the near future.
Crystal’s ever expanding adventure in the beauty space is continuing to create new paths. She wants to dive more into skincare or collaborations with skincare lines, possibly a skincare kit. She enjoys mixing skincare and adding fun. Some of her favorite products right now are topicals since they are innovative and trendsetting. And her advice about how the beauty industry can be more inclusive? “They can get it right the first time”. Black owned brands, such as Fenty Beauty and Danessa Myricks (one of Crystal’s favorites for skin and blushes), have opened up doors for inclusivity. Around 2020, many brands started to increase their inclusivity but as Crystal stated, a lot of those brands have decided to backpedal. And as Crystal has also stated about natural hair movement,“ who you naturally are is here to stay and no trend can ever replace what is naturally yours”.
As Crystal’s brand continues to evolve, she knows that whatever is to come will be amazing. She wants to get more into skincare collaborations, bringing back her fashion line for tall women, and wants to dive even deeper in her knack for interior design. Throughout it all, she appreciates the consistent support from her audience. Crystal's advice to others who want to get into the beauty space? “ Never compromise integrity, be yourself, and find a niche”.