Why so quiet about BGC?

[Lylddlebit]

I never got into them but I have been keeping abreast of the hair shenanigans through afrikan hair gods videos. He had his foot on their neck for a while lol

I am not their biggest fan, but I don't trust any man who stays quick to attack and criticize women in ways they don't step to dudes. He hasn't just done that to BGC. I was originally turned off by the way he targeted Indigenous Stranz, whose regimen was on point. So, although I have my critiques of the BCG method and recognize him as a quality stylist, his leading the charge against the ladies of BCG doesn't sit well with me as a woman. I am surprised so many women are riding that train. He doesn't have to target them for his skill and expertise in the healthy haircare sector to be effective. A man argumentative towards women...nah.


ETA: Fixed typos. I can't type.

 

[B_Phlyy]

This video popped up in my suggested feed and I had it playing in the background while reading. It's longer and in this video he mentioned there is an even longer video of a timeline of the events that lead to the "drama" with him and A&A. When I find the video, I'll post it.




Closer to the end of the video, he plays audio of when one of them went to a DevaCurl stylist class and then tried to replicate the results when she came home. I think you hit it on the head @Lylddlebit with saying they were copying CGM but tweaked it enough to say it's different. It never occurred to me that BGC was supposed to be CGM but with a focus on type 3 and 4 hair.

 

[snoop]

This video popped up in my suggested feed and I had it playing in the background while reading. It's longer and in this video he mentioned there is an even longer video of a timeline of the events that lead to the "drama" with him and A&A. When I find the video, I'll post it.




Closer to the end of the video, he plays audio of when one of them went to a DevaCurl stylist class and then tried to replicate the results when she came home. I think you hit it on the head @Lylddlebit with saying they were copying CGM but tweaked it enough to say it's different. It never occurred to me that BGC was supposed to be CGM but with a focus on type 3 and 4 hair.

Not only that, but they were just bring to the natural hair community a message from Lorraine: https://redcarpetcurls.com/did-lorraine-massey-just-say-oils-are-terrible-for-your-hair-get-the-facts-you-need-to-know/

The video is no longer there, but I'm sure I saved a copy somewhere...
(Copy and paste doesn't work, so I'm adding a screenshot of part of the article)

 

[snoop]

So, it kind of looks like the original messages was: doctored oils and butters are bad for coils and curls under the CGM and mainly because you can't vet the integrity of the source.

 

[GettingKinky]

I have followed BGC since 2019 and it’s from them that I learned to perfect my wash n go.

The story of BGC/CIK is a loooong drawn out drama. Here are some of the highlights.

The founders (Aeleise and Aishia) often referred to as the As, started 2 businesses - BGC (black girl curls) for the consumers and CIK (cut it kinky) for the stylists. In the beginning both businesses were run by both women

The 2 women were always controversial both for promoting no oils/butter and also because of their horrible attitudes. I never liked their attitudes, but I did appreciate some of the things I learned from them.

A year or 2 ago they split the businesses. Aeleise kept CIK and Aishia kept BGC. As of a few days ago Aeleise decided to shut down CIK, but BGC is still in business.

As for the hair damage controversy:
From my understanding the main shampoo that they recommend, AG Balance, is very strong and led to many people over cleansing/drying out their hair. I never liked that shampoo so I didn’t use it.

They also recommended using a hooded dryer to dry the style and I think many people sat under the dryer for way too long and this also led to dryness of the hair.

They also were not fans of leave in conditioner and said it wasn’t needed for wash n gos (they wanted people to use stylers with hold so the wash n go would last a week). I think the combination of over washing + sitting too long under the dryer + not using a leave in was a big problem for a number of followers.

I also think some people over used the detangling brush on wash day and this led to mechanical damage to the hair.

Depending on how good your stylist was, the curly cuts may not have been thorough enough to address all the split ends in the hair so that was just the icing on the cake in terms of damage.

My biggest issue with the curly cuts is that they would always remove too much hair because my coils are super tight, especially at the ends of my hair. I stopped getting them over 2 years ago to help me with length retention.

After using their method for ~ 6 years I haven’t damaged my hair, but I recognize that many people did suffer damage. Shelly, Rosie and African Hair God were the most vocal about the damage and they weren’t able to get help from the As. They were relentless in their criticism and eventually, about a month ago, both of the As posted apologies on their website. And then this week Aeleise decided to shut down CIK

 

[snoop]

@GettingKinky Thanks for this breakdown. This was super helpful.

It sounds like if someone knew/knows their hair, then they could use this method and tweak according to their hair's needs. I realize that people who are just starting their hair care journey might follow the letter of the law instead of the spirit of the message. For example, as you mentioned they are suggesting a specific shampoo, but you knew that it wasn't for your hair and modified accordingly.

I think that there is a lot of policing/gatekeeping of hair trends (not just this one) and it's weird that people think that if they modify it some way then they're not actually participating in the trend.

I think the combination of over washing + sitting too long under the dryer + not using a leave in was a big problem for a number of followers.

I also think some people over used the detangling brush on wash day and this led to mechanical damage to the hair.

I also think that the A's catty, elitist attitude didn't help people to adjust the routine so that it would better suit their hair. I feel like they felt threatened by the possibility that any deviation could affect their message and in turn their $$. If someone found a more effective method to help themselves or someone else, they wouldn't be able to claim that message and the momentum of their movement could potentially slow down or die altogether. I think that their strategy to hold on to their messaging using harsh words was wrong. It may have made them money, but I think that their sharp tongues would have dissuaded people from trying to modify their routine like you did.

It sounds like there was useful information to be had. I'll have to do a deeper dive and see how much I can use on non-wng hair.

 

[GettingKinky]

That is what the message was when they first started. I still have the original materials. I didn't read the book. But in their hour long videos and the pdfs they shared, the information was related primarily to wash and goes. Use balanced products and look for products where oils and butters aren't in the top 5 ingredients. Then use botanical type gels in layers. It was not a one size fit all approach but it started with them trying to educate how to select the right products, based on the hair and the situation.

Unfortunately, what I saw was people said we don't want to hear the background, just give us the steps. And with most messages it gets distorted over time. There is what they said, and then there is what people said they said. But enough people got what they needed and moved on.

This is exactly what I saw. Over time all the nuance was lost and original detailed message became a sound bite. Aeleise was always the more knowledgeable of the two, but she doesn’t like dealing with customers so Aishia became the messenger and I don’t think she is nearly knowledgeable enough to help people with the problems they were experiencing.

Also they don’t appreciate people questioning them so that led to a cult like environment around them where people just did what they were told without questioning if every part of the method was best for their hair.

 

[GettingKinky]

I have so many thoughts about BGC.

I cannot stand Aishia. I joined their digital salon back in 2019 and after my first interaction with her I almost quit. She is soooo rude.

The biggest thing I learned from Aeleise was about the shampoo spectrum. I was on my way to figuring it out on my own, but she explained it so clearly and it really helped me with my shampoo selection. She was also a big proponent of not following a schedule for chosing your shampoo each week, but to really feel and assess your hair while wetting it in the shower and then pick your shampoo. I’m a type A make a schedule person so that part is still hard for me.

I also learned better, faster, more efficient ways to apply products to my hair and the best way to use a diffuser to dry my wash n gos.

I think Aeleise had good intentions. She really wanted to help black women accept and love their natural hair, but they were so dogmatic and snarky, and at times inconsistent. I think their target customer were women who didn’t know how to take care of their hair, and for them this was a great starting point, but as soon as anyone asked questions or pushed back on their teachings they would get defensive and rude.

They were also trying to help stylists make more money and not have to do as many heads of hair/day. But this lead to the super expensive curly cuts. I paid $200+ many times for these cuts and one stylist I used to see gave me one of the best haircuts I’ve ever had, but I got tired of driving 90 minutes each way, paying an arm and a leg and not retaining length the way I wanted to.

What started off as something that could have been truly wonderful has now come to this point where they have just as many haters as devoted followers.

Sorry for the long rambling post, but like I said I’ve been following them for a long time and I have so many thoughts about it all.