Going-Natural
How
to fall in love with nappy hair
By Mireille Liong-A-Kong
Foreword by Patricia
Gaines a.k.a. Deecoily,
Founder of nappturality.com
Cover design: Mireille Liong-A-Kong
Copyright 2011
Going-Natural Inc.
Smashwords Edition
This book is available in print at most online
retailers.
Published by Going-Natural Inc. Brooklyn, NY
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, photocopying of photographs without permission in writing from the publisher.
Dedication
For the greatest parents in the world,
Hertha
Liong-A-Kong-Ritfeld
and Daisy Liong-A-Kong,
who were always
there for me.
Acknowledgements
Patricia Gains a.k.a. Dee: Thank you so much for writing the foreword. You are the best, a great inspiration for all women of color.
Sharine Dawn: Thank you for taking the time to read and edit in my hour of desperation.
Dr. JoAnne Cornwell: Thanks for explaining the Sisterlocks concept to me.
All the models who sent and allowed me to use their pictures: Dolores, Jenteel, Satcha, Sharyn, Sandy, Nicole, Roshini, Fatima, Sherize, Rachelle, Kaissa, Satcha, Mamke, Roline, JoAnne, Deidre Small, Deej, SweetAfrica, Myrena Sint Jago, Richelle Braithwaite a.k.a. Riqui, Porche , Terza, Saskia Norine Abena and Graciella: Thank you so very much.
All the visitors of kroeshaar.com and my supportive audience in Holland and Suriname: You are the ones who got me started: “Dank je wel” and “Grantangi”.
All the visitors of nappturality.com: Your advice, hints and tips are truly motivating. Please continue to offer your thoughts.
My husband and the rest of my family: Thank you for your patience.
Table of Contents
You
have choices
Collect
hairstyles
Your
first natural goal
In
the meantime
Timeline
Picture
your journey
Your
personal journal online
Norm
versus normal
Misconceptions
Conclusion
Characteristics
General
hair characteristics and definitions
Hair
breakage
Hair
products
Natural
hair care
Natural
nurturing
Gentle
Hair Tools
Tender
hair care
The
golden rules for growing healthy hair
Transitioning; going natural gradually
Preparing
to transition
Transition
styles and care
Afro
Style Self Styled
Coils
Styled by: Tameeka
Designer
Cornrows Styled by: Nicole Simson (Suriname)
Afro
puff self styled
Tiny
twists self styled
Twist
Out self styled
Coils
Styled by: Tameeka
Cornrows
Styled by: Riquilox
Flat
Twists Styled by: Netu
Flat
Twists Styled by: NetuThe Big Chop (BC)
The
Big Chop (BC)
Preparing
for the BC
Advantages
of the BC
Natural
styles and care
Starting
yourself or by a professional
Get
a clean start
Starting
loc techniques
Loc
stages
Loc
maintenance
Taking
down your locs
The
golden rules to growing healthy locs
Artificial
hair types
Extensions
Getting
extensions
The
do’s and the don’ts of hair braiding
Extension
care
Taking
extensions out
Weaves
Getting
a weave
Caring
for weaves
The
do’s and the don’ts for weaves
Taking
out a weave
Foreword
By Patricia Gaines
a.k.a. "Deecoily"
Founder of nappturality.com
If, five years ago, someone had come up to me and said "You'll be writing the foreword for a book on Black women's natural hair,” I'd have looked at them like they were crazy. “Natural hair? You must be kidding," I would say. "Why in the WORLD would I wear my hair looking like THAT?"
I knew nothing about my natural hair. It was that mess that grew out of my head. Those ugly, unmanageable, dry, kinky, coily, wavy, bendy strands I couldn't comb that gave me such grief -- which was only relieved by using scalp-burning chemicals and hair-singeing heat. It was that unprofessional, bad, embarrassing stuff that if I were to wear in public, would doom me to everlasting singledom and job failure because, surely, no employer would employ me nor would a suitable life partner love me with hair like... "THAT.” So I would beat it, pull it, break it into submission until it was STRAIGHT!
How many of us can remember that defining incident when we decided our hair was unacceptable in its natural state? Was it something someone said? Was it a painful combing session or a scalp-torturing rubber band removal? I don't think it matters much. The important thing is, we are coming full circle and regaining what we lost… our whole selves.
Well, here I am; five years and a lifetime later, full of NAPPtural hair and pride. I wear my hair in the state it was intended to be worn, and I have never felt freer. These feelings of joy and sky-high self-esteem that go along with the wearing of your hair NAPPturally is something born again naturals feel the need to share. Such elation and freedom after years of torture, hiding, shame and pain drive the desire to talk and meet with others who share the experience. We also want to reach out and touch those who may be thinking about or curious about… the resurgence of the pride in wearing of NAPPtural hair.
Books like this one serve a wonderful purpose. They tell us we are not alone - that this soul-freeing experience is one that is also felt by other Black women who for years have oppressed their hair and their minds into believing there was something "wrong" with them. That the way they were created was less than perfect.
The pain, the scarring, the hair breakage and the inevitable hair loss must stop. We, and our daughters, will only benefit with the healthy knowledge we pass on to them about every part of their bodies while in the process instilling them with pride in themselves. Their skin, their features and their hair are all beautiful in their own right. Black women need to celebrate their beauty, and this book is a great place to start.
I commend Mireille and you, the reader, for reaching out and absorbing this knowledge.
~Dee~
Author’s note
My journey, my motivation
Like so many nappy-haired girls, I started to relax my hair when I was 14. At that age, looking mature was very important. Since I had been wearing an afro from age eight, a change of style was extra welcome. Needless to say, I loved my new look and enjoyed my grown-up straight hair. The joy did not last for long. Dancing to only one song at a very anticipated teenage party would make my carefully styled hair collapse. The humidity and sweat made me look like a drowned cat. Because participation in different kinds of sports was also part of my teenage life, my hair was difficult to keep in place and my straightened tresses became a constant source of concern. Since I didn’t know what else to do with my hair, I just tried to learn to live with it. Sometimes my hair was a real mess, but most of the time I managed. The chemical treatment was something I felt reluctant to each and every time and I certainly did not like the high maintenance, but I resigned myself to the whole process and I coped.
After college, my hair really became more than a constant source of concern; it became a burden. Maybe it was the change of environment, from a tropical one to one with four seasons, but suddenly I had to deal with severe breakage. My hair was also thin, lifeless and dry. Out of desperation, I started to wear braids with extensions. It was uncomfortable in the beginning. I had to get used to the fake, long braids but felt that it would be temporary anyway. I only needed to grow my hair back so I could relax it again and take much better care of it. I was sure that that would solve all the problems. Needless to say, this didn’t work. I went from one expensive professional hairdresser to the next, from a three month to an eight week touchup-period, from a regular lye to a mild, no-lye relaxer and vice versa, but nothing could stop my hair from breaking once it was chemically processed. I was caught in a vicious cycle of braiding my hair, growing lovely healthy naps, then relaxing again only to have my kinks break down to my scalp again.
One day while this nearly bald spot was sadly gazing at me in the mirror, I asked myself, “Why am I doing this?” Why do I keep straightening my hair so compulsively? It is no fun having your scalp burned every couple of weeks, the maintenance is certainly not easy nor cheap and on top of that, my healthy naps were clearly deteriorating after flourishing while wearing braids. It was at that point that I decided, “No more.” I had no clue what I would or could do with my nappy hair but my mind was made up, no more straightening.
The positive aspect about the vicious cycle was that I had become an expert in caring for extensions and taking them out. So, although I couldn’t even make a decent braid, I didn’t have any “hair-aches” for a year. My natural naps were flourishing and I wasn’t really concerned about the next step of learning how to style my natural hair until I had to. After taking out my extensions, washing my hair, combing it and making my usual funny looking braids, I routinely put on my hat and went on my way to the steady braider I had known now for more than one year. This was on a Sunday and I must have rung her bell a dozen times because I just couldn’t believe that she wasn’t there. I was stunned and freaked out! The next day would be a working day and I had no clue what to do with my full head of healthy naps. One thing was sure; as funny as those braids were to me, wearing them to work didn’t seem amusing at all, and showing up with a hat at the job was no option either. Dependent as I was on the mercy of the home braiders, I called every number from possible braiders but no luck. Of course there were plenty of Black hair salons around that loved to take kinks out with a perm. Since I couldn’t style my naps and I was out of braiders, I had little choice and ended up in a salon chair for a relaxer. With a mixed feeling of rage, sadness and despair, I felt the relaxer burning my scalp taking out the kinks of my poor healthy naps once again. My nearly bald spot was gone and I knew it would be back not long after the treatment. But who was to blame? The braider who stood me up, the hairdresser who simply did her job or the relaxer itself that was too harsh for my hair? Sure, I could blame everything and everyone but wasn’t it my choice to sit there because I couldn’t style my own naps?
Ultimately, this desperate act turned into a moment of truth. Blaming the rest of the world and feeling sorry for my naps was not going to improve my hair’s health. Besides that, it troubled me that I couldn’t take care of my own hair just because it was natural. This was when I realized that I needed to learn at least the basics about styling natural African hair. It couldn’t be that difficult and there had to be more acceptable hairstyles other than an afro or extension braids. In my eagerness to learn, I started to search for literature to help me solve the kinky mysteries. Since there were no local books about the subject, I ordered every book available via the Internet and collected the few Black hair magazines the stores offered. Unconsciously this is where my natural journey really started and it has been a wonderful experience ever since.
This time, I was consciously going natural and started with easy styles like tucked in braids. A braider would still do my hair initially, but every few weeks, I would redo the style myself. Inspired by the magazines, I tried Twists and Bantus. Before I knew it, I had the hang of basic natural hair care. This was unbelievable because I considered myself left-handed before. My hair grew like weeds and nothing could beat the feeling of touching my lively, healthy, flourishing naps. Not even people who didn’t like my nappy hair could take away this sensation. My naps made me feel like Samson - invincible. I realized the power of hair and since then I developed a special kind of love for my natural naps.
It is this feeling that I would like to share with every woman of color who ever had trouble caring for her natural hair. I only hope this book passes on a little of my affection for nappy hair because our naps have been undervalued far too much for far too long.
Going natural is a remarkable, astounding journey. After presuming that kinky hair is bad and unsuitable for centuries, learning to truly appreciate natural African hair is not that simple. Consequently, recognizing that you can look good wearing natural hair may take some time. Learning to deal with your tresses naturally is another challenge you’ll have to face because, after decades of straightening, most of us have forgotten what our own texture is like, let alone how to groom or style natural hair.
Still, going natural is not as difficult as it may seem. First, we have to forget nearly all that we have learned about hair care. Most of what we have learned about hairstyling is based on straight or straightened hair and grooming natural African hair is completely different. Secondly, we have to get familiar with our natural naps and learn how to nurture them.
With a little courage and some patience, you will find out that African hair is not hard to groom or to manage. It is just different. Every step of your journey will be worth the effort because the reward is priceless: soft, healthy, flourishing naps.
Cutting your hair short is not the only way to begin your natural journey. In fact, there are a couple of other ways to start going natural and there is no single best way to do this. Every journey is a personal one and you are the best judge to decide on which option will suit you most favorably. The options to start your natural journey are:
TRANSITIONING: this means letting the natural hair grow but keeping the processed hair and gradually cutting it off. Transitioning will be discussed in Chapter 5.
THE BIG CHOP: this means cutting off all processed hair and actually starting the journey with natural hair. The Big Chop will be discussed in Chapter 6.
Either option offers two other possibilities:
LOCS: whether you decide to transition or chop you can start at anytime. Locs will be discussed in Chapter 7.
EXTENSIONS: even if your hair is as short as one inch, extensions can be used to give your hair a rest and a chance to grow, whether you did the big chop or transitioning. Extensions and weaves will be discussed in Chapter 8.
These options offer more than enough versatile styles to make everyone happy. You can look your best and you won’t become bored. If you did the big chop and you want a different look, you can try extensions or an afro weave. If you are tired of trying transitioning styles, you can do the big chop or try switching to extensions. And, it doesn’t matter how far you are in the process of going natural, with today’s techniques you can start locing your hair when you feel ready to do so.
If you feel that you are limited in your options, due to severe hair damage such as bald spots, see a dermatologist and a professional natural hairstylist to consider your alternatives.
Remember that no matter which way you choose to start your journey, the goal is getting there: learning how to appreciate and nurture your natural hair. Either option and every style that you choose will teach you about yourself and your natural hair. Finding hairstyles that suit you and make you look your best, will help you enjoy the experience of going natural. Feeling confident and beautiful are keys to take pleasure in your journey. This, in turn, will allow you to naturally get comfortable with your kinky hair and embrace the natural you.
Certainly, you have seen enough attractive kinky hairstyles to wonder, “Can I look good wearing my hair natural?” Sure you can! Since looking good and feeling confident are essential to enjoying your journey, Going-Natural will help you to look as attractive as the hairstyles you so admire.
Begin collecting all the natural hairstyles that you like, and use these wonderful styles as inspirations to start your journey. Magazines are a good source to collect pictures, and with a digital camera or a picture phone, you can quickly record your favorite styles. The Internet is an excellent source but ask permission before you save or print a picture.
Collect diverse styles if you like versatility, from short naturals to long box braids. The only criteria should be that the style would look appealing on you. If you aren’t sure, this old trick might help: cut your face from a photo, hold it against the hairstyle picture and see if the style will suit you.
Don’t limit your collection to a certain number. Collect as many styles as you can. Your favorite hairstyles will be helpful throughout the whole natural journey.
Choose one hairstyle out of your collection of favorites and make it your first natural goal. This is the first hairstyle that you want to experience with your own natural hair. Select any style you wish as long as it is completely natural and at least three inches. It will take about six months to reach this length and that’s about the minimum time you’ll need to learn the basics about your natural hair. Extension styles are not allowed as your first natural goal, unless you want to recreate the style with your own natural hair. Do not worry about the length or the condition of your hair right now. The journey should lead you to the desired natural hairstyle.
Now that your first goal is clear, you can start planning the way to get there. We will call the time you spend to get there “in the meantime.” In the meantime, the path to your first natural goal should also be paved with nice hairstyles because we always want to look good and there is no reason not to. We will call the styles you wear in the meantime “in-between” hairstyles. All your collected pictures, except the one you choose for your first natural goal, could be seen as your “in-between” hairstyles. In fact, you start your journey with “in between” hairstyles.
“In the meantime” is a very important period; it is quality time for you and your hair and you will learn three major lessons. You will:
1. Rediscover your texture
Many of us
don’t know our natural naps because for as long as we can remember,
we have had our hair straightened. “In the meantime” will allow
your hair to heal and your natural texture to reveal itself so that
you will get the chance to know your own unique kinks.
2. Learn how to care for your wonderful
naps
Not only will you learn about natural African hair care,
but you will also find out what works best for your hair.
3. Learn about hairstyling
Experimenting
with different hairstyles will allow you to learn the fundamentals of
natural hairstyling.
Hair is continuously growing, but it will take some time before your hair has reached the desired length to experience your first natural goal. How much time will depend on the condition of your hair and scalp. If you have used chemical straighteners for years, you can be assure that your hair and scalp have been adversely affected by their use. Even if there is no visible damage, it is very likely that hair needs time to recover after chemical treatments.
Another important factor is the speed of your hair growth. Hair grows half an inch monthly on average, so if you are healthy and your hair growth is average, you should be able to realize your first natural goal within six to eight months for a short hairstyle and within 10 to 12 months if you choose one with longer hair. Use the hair growth guideline to estimate how long it will take you to reach your first natural goal.
Figure 1. The
hair growth guideline
(How long before you reach your first
natural goal?)
When you have a collection of favorite hairstyles, a natural goal and a timeframe, you can easily plan your journey. Start selecting your in-between hairstyles from your collection of favorites. Since it normally takes one to two years to grow a full head of hair, select 11 to 23 hairstyles and add a picture of yourself with your current hairstyle to make a collage. Each picture represents the hairstyle that you will wear in a certain month. Once you get the hairstyle, you replace the picture by your own photo. This way you will be able to see your hair’s progress over a one to two year period. You may not need that many hairstyles if you are planning to wear the same hairstyle for more than one month. For example, braid extensions can carry over for two to three months. Just make extra copies of a hairstyle that you wish to wear for a longer time to match the number of months and the number of pictures.
Begin with a picture of yourself wearing your current hairstyle and follow by arranging your collected hairstyles in the order you want to wear them. It is easier to split up the journey in periods of six months, as it keeps things clear. See figure 2. You will have an overview of your journey in periods of half a year. So arrange your pictures in four rows of six hairstyles like in “Error: Reference source not found.” Schedule al least two milestones; your natural goal and the big chop. Later you can mark, color and keep notes from milestones and remarkable moments. When you are finished with the collage, you should be able to picture your journey by looking at your collage. If this gives you a happy feeling, you are ready to begin and enjoy your journey.
You can have your personal journey pictured online. The website, http://going-natural.com, was specifically designed to help women on their natural journeys. Whether you are in the process of going natural or already natural, this site will allow you to keep an online journal, select hairstyles, upload pictures and connect with other naturals. Many sisters, who have been in the exact same situation as you are now, are more than willing to answer questions and support you on your natural journey. Visit going-natural.com to join and become part of this supportive, online community.
Figure 2. Picture your journey
The truth about going natural
Unlike what most people believe, dealing with natural African hair is not a difficult task. The most difficult task is dealing with misconceptions that we have regarded as facts for so long that they became an accepted reality for many of us. In this section we’ll discuss ways these misconceptions came to be and how to battle them.
Who is not familiar with the phrase “Your hair is nappy; it needs fixing?” This means that it’s time for a touchup and implies that pure African hair is undesirable. The worst aspect is that our hair care routines - and in many cases even our lives - are based upon and revolve around these kinds of notions. The beliefs are so profound that, of course, it will take some time before people will be able to let these misconceptions go.
These routines and beliefs about our hair did not just appear out of the blue one day. A closer look will tell you that our routines - the way we comb, wash and style our hair - are merely based on a straight hair care model. This is hardly a surprise. Straight hair has been a dominating beauty standard in our society for such a long time that it became the norm and we unconsciously adopted it as a model for all hair types. However, the standards for straight hair are not necessarily correct or healthy for kinky hair. By using these standards as a norm for all other different hair types, we confused the norm with what is normal.
This pattern has occurred for centuries throughout history. Another example that we all can relate to is the “size six norm.” Even though being a size six is the prevalent beauty standard and the majority of us strive to fit this norm, we cannot confuse this “size six norm” with “normal.” Beautiful women come in all sizes. Actually, most women do not fit into a size six category, so in fact, that size is not even “normal.” Still, it rules as a standard and we have unconsciously adopted it as a norm for everybody.
We must clear up these contradictions. You don’t need to be a size six to be beautiful. Likewise, your hair does not need to be straight to be beautiful. Beautiful hair comes in all textures and in all lengths. Additionally, African hair responds differently to routines designed for straight hair, but that does not imply that our hair is unmanageable, bad or abnormal. Normal African hair is naturally singular so it responds differently; it has other needs and that’s why we need other norms and routines. However, before we get into our afro routines, let’s first try to clear up some stubborn misconceptions.
African hair can’t grow long
It is still a pervasive belief that African hair can’t grow long. When you offer a cursory look around, you hardly see women of color with long hair. This is deceiving because naturally straight hair is compared to chemically straightened hair. Hair that is chemically treated to look straight has been through numerous processes to keep it straight. Apart from the chemical process, which is already damaging, it is very likely that blow-drying and ironing are done on a regular basis to keep the hair straight. This makes the comparison unfair because naturally straight hair does not need all the unhealthy treatments to keep the strands straight.
A closer look will show that Black women with very long hair usually wear natural hairstyles like dreadlocks. To make a fair comparison, compare long, natural, straight hair to naturally cultivated dreadlocks. Try to imagine all women who are now wearing perms wearing luscious locs instead and then make the comparison again. Compare the long locs with long straight hair. Do you still believe that afro hair cannot grow long?
Natural African hair is hard to manage
The misconception that African hair is hard to manage is based on the customs of daily combing and daily styling one’s hair. Natural African hair does not need combing or styling everyday because hairstyles stay unimpaired for at least one week on average. In addition, most combs are unsuitable for natural African hair. That means being able to quickly comb through the hair on a daily basis cannot be used as a standard to define our hair as “hard to manage.” Defining nappy hair as unmanageable based on the above standards would be like, defining straight hair as unmanageable because it is difficult to braid straight hair and it can hardly keep a braid, a cornrow or a curl. It doesn’t make sense, does it?
Straightening African hair makes hair care easier
It may seem easy to comb through and style straightened hair on a daily basis but it certainly is not easier to care for relaxed hair. If this were true, where do you suppose the majority of our hair problems come from? Why do so many women of color wear weaves and braids these days? Contrary to popular belief, relaxed hair is high, actually very high, maintenance. In fact, chemically altered hair is more difficult to care for than natural hair because of the chemical damage to hair. Relaxers first destroy the outer layer of a hair strand and then subsequently break the hair structure so that the hair becomes straight. That is why African hair needs extra care after it has been permed. It is more vulnerable. You can read more about how relaxers work in Appendix B.
Relaxers not only make it harder to maintain healthy hair, they also limit us in our lifestyles. To maintain a straight and healthy looking hairstyle, we condition, roller set, blow-dry, wrap or tong our hair. After all efforts we put into creating a hairstyle, we do everything to keep the hairstyle and we limit ourselves to activities that will not hinder the style. We don’t exercise because perspiration messes up our hair, as does swimming, and a lot of other outdoor activities. The truth is, chemicals really do not make life easier and they make it absolutely harder to maintain healthy hair.
Natural African hair is difficult to style
Styling natural hair is not difficult at all. It may take some time getting used to like when you first learned to roller set, wrap, blow-dry or hot iron your hair, but natural hair is no more difficult than that. Actually, compared to actions like blow-drying and wrapping, the basics of natural hair care are a breeze. The most difficult practice to get used to will be untangling the hair, but besides that, it comes down to twisting and braiding. The majority of us are already familiar with these basics, so it won’t be difficult to learn to style your own hair.
Natural African hair offers limited hairstyling
This is far from the truth. African hair is probably the most versatile hair type there is. Styles range from casual and classic up-do’s to hip and extravagant. In fact, African hair is so unique that many styles designed for our hair type are impossible to recreate with other hair types. We should embrace this uniqueness.
Natural hair care is too time-consuming compared to relaxed hair
This is just one more misconception accepted as truth without question. Let’s do the math. Error: Reference source not found shows a maintenance/time schedule of different hairstyles. To make a fair evaluation, we compared the maintenance of medium hair lengths for different hairstyles on a bimonthly basis.
Table 1. Table of maintenance
*
HS=Hair Styling, WM= Weekly Maintenance, DM=Daily Maintenance
Maintenance of Relaxers
Women routinely have touchups every four to eight weeks to maintain a straightened hairstyle. This process takes three hours on average at a salon. Parting the hair, basing the scalp and applying straightener will take about 30 minutes. Rinsing, neutralizing, washing and conditioning will consume another 40 minutes. Since trimming the hair is recommended after a touchup, an additional 30 minutes is included to complete this. Roller setting or blow-drying takes a minimum of 30 minutes. After this, either the hood-dryer or curling iron will take another 45 minutes.
This means that a typical person will spend at least three hours every four to eight weeks to straighten her hair. See the left column “Relaxed hair”.
To maintain a relaxed hairstyle, a person spends a little more than two hours per week to wash, condition, dry and style the hair.
This means that a person will spend eight times two hours and 10 minutes - 18 hours bimonthly to maintain a straightened hairstyle.
Daily styling and nightly preparations take about less than an hour per day - about 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes before bedtime. This is an average because some people spend an hour doing their hair with a curling iron and some just put their hair in a ponytail in the morning. Nightly preparations don’t take that long. Most women just comb and wrap the hair, which will take 10 minutes. Other women will take time to roll their hair, which takes about 30 minutes.
This means that a typical person will spend at least 30 hours every two months to care for her straightened hair.
By the end of the two months, a person with relaxed hair has spent as much as 52 hours on hair care!
Maintenance of Extensions
We chose to compare the maintenance of a relaxer to the maintenance of braided extensions because most people are aware that it time consuming to complete such hairstyles. In general, a braider would need anywhere from five to 10 hours to complete a medium size braid style depending on the skills of a braider. We chose medium-size braids because micro-braids are bad for your hair; braiding the hair into too small box braids causes hair breakage. See the chapter “Weaves and Extensions.” We choose to take more than the average time. Let’s say it takes 8 hours to complete a hairstyle with extensions.
So it takes about eight hours to complete a box braid hairstyle that lasts for at least two months. See the third column “Extensions.”
Once the style is complete, there is nominal maintenance time to take care of the braids. Washing the braids will only take 20 minutes since deep conditioning is not recommended for extensions styles. Daily and nightly preparations take only one minute. Taking the braids out is the most time-consuming part of wearing braids. But even so:
A person with extension braids barely spends 25 hours on hair care bimonthly.
You can do the math for the other two hairstyles however, the message should be clear. The schedule proves that although it is time-consuming to create natural hairstyles; the daily and weekly maintenance of chemically altered hair takes much more time than natural hair care. Even with exaggerating untangling times in the natural hair columns. In fact, relaxed hair maintenance always consumes more time than caring for natural hair.
Hopefully, by explaining the basic stubborn misconceptions, you will be able to separate facts from fiction. Being able to separate the two is an important part of journey. It means that you are ready and open to see the beautiful truth about natural African hair.
The most outstanding feature of African hair is its texture. The tightly coiled spiral ringlets separate African hair from other hair types at the first glance, and these coils vary in size as well as in form. The coils can have an O, S or Z form, and you can have a tight O, or S, or Z form, a loose O, S, or Z form, and anything in between. It is also very common to see more than one of these textures on the same head of hair.
The kinky, coiled and spiral ringlets that are so unique in African hair are also responsible for other unique characteristics. These characteristics may not be noticeable at one glance, but they do distinguish African hair from other hair types.
Figure 3. African hair types
- its tenderness,
- the tendency to group
together,
- the ability to absorb considerable moisture,
-
its matte look and,
- the ability to shrink more than any other
hair type.
African hair is the most delicate of all hair types and the distinctive kinks and coils are responsible for the tenderness of this hair type. Everywhere a hair strand twists into a coil is, in fact, a vulnerable spot in the hair shaft. The tinier the coils, the sharper the angle in the hair strand and the more vulnerable the hair type. Too much stretching and bending may lead to a crack in the hair shaft right on the fragile spot, a crack that eventually will cause a hair strand to break. That is the reason why African hair is so vulnerable.
African hair densely groups together
African hair grows out of the scalp in different directions in spiral ringlets. Consequently, hair strands densely cover the scalp. This is a wonderful trait because we love having our scalp completely covered by hair. Conversely, however, there is some inconvenience connected to this trait. Hair that grows in different directions and densely packs together also tangles easily. The spiral curls are not symmetric so disturbed hair strands can hardly avoid each other on their way to their natural position and the coiled ringlets get tangled in each other.
African hair needs moisture
African hair thrives on moisture; kinks can only flourish when they are well-moisturized. To keep the kinks moisturized, African hair produces three times as much sebum as other hair types. Sebum is the grease that hair naturally produces to protect and lubricate the strands. However, the more the coils have to endure, the more moisture they need and the naturally produced sebum can quickly be insufficient because almost anything can disturb the moisture balance of the tender curls. Extreme weather conditions, synthetic products and heat can all draw moisture out of a coil, leaving the kinks feeling dry. Every time this happens, the moisture balance needs to be restored so that the coils can re-establish themselves. So, always keep your kinks moisturized; remember, water is your hair’s best friend. Kinks can absorb loads of moisture and moisturized, natural hair is flexible; the kinks can stretch and bend without causing damage to the hair strands. For more about hair structure, see Appendix A.
Be careful of hard water
As much as our coils need water, be aware that hard water doesn’t improve hair’s health. We speak about hard water if it is high in minerals, normally calcium and magnesium. Hard water leaves a sticky residue that coats hair strands, leaving them feeling dry, hard and unmanageable. You know the film that develops over time in the sink or the bathtub? That same sticky residue can coat your hair and scalp and it may be the cause of your itchy scalp.
If you want to know whether you have hard water you can ask your water supplier about the hardness level or you can buy a water hardness testing kit at your local hardware store.
The easiest solution to the problems that come with hard water is a water treatment system for the shower. It will make a world of difference in the softness and manageability of your hair. You can buy a purification system at your local hardware store.
Dry versus matte
Another typical characteristic of African hair is that it is matte-looking. Natural African hair does not reflect light, which is why the hair has more of a matte sheen than a shiny look. People may confuse this with the hair being dry, which is something very different. African hair will not only feel dry if it is not well moisturized, it will also be fragile. Well-moisturized coils and kinks also absorb light, but the hair won’t feel dry; it will be pliable rather than fragile.