4C Naturals on TikTok Are Fully Embracing Their Shrinkage

Ice-cold take: The natural hair scene is a little too focused on perfect curls. Doesn't matter if it's S-shaped, coiled, or both — that pattern better be defined. Preferably with a truckload of product. And while we all like to indulge our crowns with that other kind of creamy crack (the one that doesn't burn) it can be a whole lot of work.

What happens when growing and maintaining long, defined curls becomes the ultimate goal but your hair just doesn't… do that naturally? It becomes a pain in the ass. More than that — it's another ridiculous beauty standard to live up to. And it's one Texas-based TikTokker Sasha, known as @Lipglossssssssss, is over. 

"[I'm tired of] fighting against what my hair wants to do," she tells Allure over the phone one afternoon in late July. Her very tight coils naturally experience shrinkage — meaning that when her hair dries, it looks shorter. People with highly-textured hair often experience this phenomenon, but on type 4C hair, it is even more pronounced.

She decided to embrace her shrinkage and share the journey on TikTok. This simple act of self-acceptance sparked a trend on social media that aims to properly center those with kinky hair. "I feel like the constant need to stretch your hair was giving me anxiety," Sasha says. "As soon as you wash it, you're trying to figure out a thousand ways to make it look as long as possible."

In the original video, which she has since made private, Sasha candidly shares her frustrations and feelings of vulnerability surrounding her unstretched hair. She acknowledges her shrunken coils, but still only lightly styles and moisturizes. Then, she lets them be. She jokes that she can "only pull white boys" with her hair in this state, a reference to how texturism (preference for looser patterns as a result of white supremacy) plays out within the Black community. 

Though her joke did cause a bit of controversy, Sasha says her goal was just to show herself love, not start a trend. "I don't want to be part of a movement," Sasha says. "I just want to be myself." Her videos still underscore the need for natural hair spaces to actually be inclusive of kinks as they exist. Though her initial clip is gone, the sound still lives on. Other creators are using it in their content about embracing shrinkage. 

New York-based TikTok user and natural hair influencer Hakima Alem shares that the video made her feel "less alone." In her own version, Alem washes and blow-dries her hair as Sasha's voice plays in the background. She reveals her coils in a simple half up, half down style at the end. 

Alem has always been aware of the bias against tighter textures — it's why she chooses to center her content around kinky hair. "I'm also Ethiopian. I grew up thinking I was somehow 'less' Ethiopian because I didn't have the long curly hair that people really romanticize in East Africans," she shares. "I just want other Ethiopian women to see that our Afros are beautiful too!"

Sasha's video resonated deeply with Juanita, another TikTok creator. She tells Allure that she feels pressure to keep her naturally kinky hair perfectly styled — no simple puffs or messy buns allowed. "I felt best when my hair was 'done up,' aka not in its natural state," she says. "I'd wake up at the crack of dawn to spend hours braiding, twisting, Bantu knotting, and doing different types of manipulation to my hair." Juanita's video chronicles her wash day routine, ending with a clean and moisturized (but otherwise unmanipulated) 'fro.

It hasn't always been smooth sailing, but she never really thought her coils were ugly per se. Instead, the pressure to constantly style her hair a certain way came from outside. "I knew the state of my hair determined how I was perceived and treated by people," she says. She's less inclined to do all that work today. "It's more worth it to spend that time and energy loving and appreciating the kinks that grow out of my scalp, for myself and for the many other Black girls who [want to feel good] with their natural hair," she says. 

"It's so beautiful seeing a group of similar individuals finally deconstructing today's interpretation of what 'good hair' looks like," Los Angeles-based TikToker Jacinda Pender, known as @adultsdrink, says. Their video quickly takes us through various stages of getting glam. "Good hair isn't about the texture of your hair and how loose your curl pattern is. It's about the beauty and natural state of your hair," they share. 

Deprogramming yourself from a lifetime of conditioning is not an easy road, but if you ask Sasha, it's worth it. She's not trying to convince anyone that kinky hair is beautiful as it is. She's just trying to love who she is. Despite the negativity that came her way, she's enjoyed seeing people use her sound and hopes that audiences continue to take positive things from her videos. "Whenever you're just being your authentic self and you learn to detach from what others will say, you just feel freer."

Read more stories about natural hair:

• Why Don't You See More Natural Hair in #BlackGirlLuxury TikTok?
• How to Ace Your Washday
• It's Time for Fluffy "Cloud Hair" to Have Its Moment

Now watch how Jamé Jackson washes her blonde locs:

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