It’s the sound first. That squelch. If you grew up in the 80s, you know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s the sound of someone sitting down on a plastic-covered sofa and leaving a greasy Rorschach test behind. We’re talking about the Jheri curl—often spelled jerry curl coming to america style—and its absolute chokehold on Black culture.
People joke about it now. They see the stains on the headrests in Eddie Murphy’s 1988 classic Coming to America and laugh. But back then? It was everything. It wasn't just a hairstyle; it was a massive, multi-million dollar industry that shifted how Black people interacted with chemistry, celebrity, and their own identity. It changed the game.
The Chemistry of the Curl
Most people think Jheri Redding, the white entrepreneur who invented the process, just woke up one day and decided to make hair shiny. Not really. Redding was a chemist. He realized that if you broke the protein bonds in hair—essentially "relaxing" it—and then set it on rods with a different chemical solution, you could create a permanent, loose wave.
It was a two-step nightmare of a process. First, you hit the hair with a "rearranger" (usually ammonium thioglycolate). This breaks the natural curl pattern. Then comes the neutralizer to lock in the new shape. If you’ve ever smelled a perm, you know it smells like a laboratory explosion mixed with rotten eggs.
The jerry curl coming to america vibe really hit its peak because it offered something Black hair hadn't easily done before: it moved. It bounced. It looked "wet" even when it was dry (though, let’s be honest, it was usually actually wet).
Why Coming to America Defined the Era
When we talk about the jerry curl coming to america, we have to talk about the Soul Glo commercial. It’s arguably the most iconic parody in film history.
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In the movie, the fictional "Soul Glo" family represents the peak of the Jheri curl obsession. They are dripping. Literally. The humor worked because it was barely an exaggeration. In the mid-to-late 80s, you couldn't walk into a Black household without seeing a bottle of Care Free Curl or Hawaiian Silky on the bathroom counter.
Eriq La Salle’s character, Darryl Jenks, was the villain primarily because of that hair. It signaled a certain kind of "new money" arrogance. But it also highlighted the reality of the maintenance. You couldn't just "have" a Jheri curl. You had to live it. You had to sleep with a plastic cap. You had to spray activator every morning until your shoulders were damp.
The Business of the Drip
Let's look at the money. This wasn't some niche trend. Brands like SoftSheen and M&M Products Company (the makers of Sta-Sof-Fro) became titans of industry off the back of this one style.
The "activator" was the gold mine.
Unlike a standard relaxer which you might touch up every six to eight weeks, the Jheri curl required daily product consumption. You needed the moisturizer. You needed the gel. You needed the finishing spray. It was a recurring subscription model before the internet existed.
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Marketing played a huge role. Michael Jackson’s Thriller era is the undisputed peak. When the biggest star on the planet has a shiny, loose curl, everyone wants it. It crossed gender lines, too. Men, women, children—everyone was under the dryer.
The Maintenance Nightmare
Honestly, it was a lot of work. If you skipped a day of activator, your hair didn't just look dry; it turned into a matted, crunchy mess. The chemicals were also incredibly harsh. If the stylist left the rearranger on too long, your hair didn't curl—it fell out.
There’s also the fire hazard. This isn't an urban legend. Because the hair was saturated in oil-based activators and glycerin, it was highly flammable. Michael Jackson's infamous Pepsi commercial accident in 1984, where his hair caught fire, was made significantly worse by the products used to maintain his curl.
Cultural Backlash and the Fade Out
By the early 90s, the jerry curl coming to america craze started to die. Why? Convenience.
People got tired of the mess. The "S-Curl" and the "Wave Nouveau" started taking over because they offered a similar look with less grease. Then, the rise of Hip Hop brought back the "High Top Fade" and a more natural, matte aesthetic. The Jheri curl became a punchline almost overnight.
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But we shouldn't dismiss it. The Jheri curl era was the first time the Black hair care industry saw that level of global, mainstream visibility. It paved the way for the massive natural hair movement we see today, mostly because a generation of people saw what happens when you over-process hair and decided they wanted something different.
What You Can Learn from the Curl Era
If you’re looking back at the jerry curl coming to america phenomenon, there are some actual, practical takeaways for hair health and history.
- Porosity Matters: The reason those curls needed so much activator is that the chemicals made the hair highly porous. It couldn't hold moisture. Today, we know how to check porosity (the water bowl test) before applying chemicals.
- The Glycerin Lesson: Jheri curl activators were mostly glycerin. It’s a humectant. It pulls moisture from the air. This is why people’s hair looked great in humid climates like Atlanta but turned into a bird's nest in dry places like Arizona.
- Chemical Breaks: The biggest mistake of the 80s was "overlapping." Stylists would apply fresh chemicals over previously treated hair. Modern hair science tells us to only hit the new growth.
Taking Action Today
If you’re trying to achieve a "wet look" or a defined curl pattern without the 1988 chemical damage, here is how you do it properly in 2026:
- Stop using "Rearrangers": Use a curl-defining cream or a light-hold gel on soaking wet hair.
- Focus on Humectants: Look for products containing aloe vera or glycerin, but seal them with a light oil (like jojoba) so the moisture doesn't evaporate.
- Steam Treatment: Instead of sitting under a dry heater, use a hair steamer. It opens the cuticle without breaking the protein bonds.
- Silk, Not Plastic: Ditch the 80s plastic cap. Use a silk or satin bonnet to keep your hair hydrated overnight without the greasy mess on your pillows.
The Jheri curl might be a relic of a specific time, but its impact on how we think about Black hair—and how we market it—is still very much alive. It was messy, it was expensive, and it ruined a lot of car upholstery, but it was a foundational moment in style history.