Design Essentials and the Family Behind Almond and Avocado

Cornell McBride Sr. was a pharmacist before he built a haircare business, and the family's first company, M&M, started in 1973, years before he founded Design Essentials. He had already created the Sta Sof Fro product, and he started Design Essentials in 1990. It is still family-owned: his son Cornell McBride Jr. has been there since the start and now leads it, with the McBride siblings and their mother Harriet in leadership. The brand makes professional-grade care for textured hair and is sold in more than 30 countries, and its Almond Avocado collection is one of its best known. The curl enhancing mousse is the piece I would start with for soft, defined curls. Next to it, Mizani's sleek holding gel gives flexible hold without crunch. Pattern, which Tracee Ellis Ross launched in 2019 after two years and 74 samples with chemists, makes the edge control and a styling custard for hold and shine. Ross is still the majority owner and keeps creative control.

Moisture comes next. Whitney White built an audience as the natural hair YouTuber Naptural85 by sharing homemade recipes, and when viewers asked for them in bottles she started Melanin Haircare with her sister Taffeta, launching in 2018 after six years of research. The multi-use leave-in softens and detangles, and it makes a good base for a twist out. Bounce Curl's Hydra-Lite is a weightless cream-gel from Merian Odesho, who formulates every product herself. Moroccanoil's intense curl cream carries the argan oil Carmen Tal first found in a Tel Aviv salon, and Mizani's 25 Miracle Milk leave-in detangles, hydrates and shields hair from heat.

Healthy styles start at the scalp. Melanin's Pure Oil Blend was one of the sisters' first two products, light enough for hair and body. Mizani, founded in Chicago in 1991 by Terri Gardner, makes Wonder Crown, a foaming pre-cleanser that helps the scalp feel balanced. Julian Addo started Adwoa Beauty because she was frustrated by how brands marketed to people with curls and coils, and the Baomint deep conditioner is built on peppermint and baobab. Ceremonia's Aceite de Moska, from Babba Rivera, is a pre-shampoo oil based on a Dominican Republic hair ritual. What I would skip is using every oil and cream at once. Heavy layers weigh coils down and build up on the scalp.

On wash day, start with the scalp oil or pre-cleanser, then shampoo and condition. Apply the leave-in, then the Design Essentials mousse or a cream, and smooth edges last. Deep condition once a week. Keep what works and drop what does not after a month. Trim ends every few months so the curls sit evenly and the products can do their job.