What
is Natural Hair Care?
By Marcia Truman
Recently,
more and more women of color have been making the
decision to wear their hair natural. Unfortunately,
a majority of these women have no idea what this actually
means or what natural hair care entails. This article
will attempt to provide definitions, tips and advice
on how to best promote stronger, healthier, natural
hair.
I started my career in natural
hair care over seventeen years ago with the intent
of making people of African decent more aware of the
benefits of maintaining, caring and loving their beautiful,
natural hair.
For many people of different
races and backgrounds natural hair care can means
different things. As a young lady growing up in Guyana,
I noticed that natural hair was mostly worn by the
bold and brave individuals who went against what society
accepted as beautiful hair. Our hair in its natural
form was not respected or welcomed in the Caribbean
and African American communities. Terms such as nappy
and bushy allude to a texture simply of African and
not of European origin.
As a natural hair care specialist
I have seen the many devastating effects that result
when women of African origin go to many lengths to
achieve the European look without thinking first about
the health of their hair. So many of my clients come
to me with issues such as baldness, breakage, and
lack of growth. Many of them, when asked, cannot name
the brand of their hair care products or even pronounce
the main ingredient in the contents of their products.
Their disconnection is clearly a lack of education
and proper promotion of natural hair care products
within our communities.
By the 1980s, the afro had
gone out of style and was replaced by different chemical
processes like jerry curls, S-curls, and relaxers
which were all new methods of damaging coarse hair.
But recently, a new wave of natural hair care establishments
along with the internet, have provided many more ideas
and options on how to wear our hair in its natural
state. Styles such as kinky twist, feeding cornrows
and dreadlocks are insights on styles that best suit
our hair texture. Here are a few of the common questions
asked by my clients.
Q: What is natural hair care?
A: Natural hair care is managing your hair without
the use of any man-made chemicals that change the
texture of the hair from its natural form.
Q: What do you recommend for
my really coarse hair that is difficult to manage
and maintain?
A: When dealing with coarse hair several different
steps are needed to ensure that the hair is manageable.
Q: What should I do with my
daughter who has relaxed hair that is beginning to
fall out?
A:
1. Stop relaxing her hair.
2. Allow her hair to grow back naturally with braids
or cornrow until the entire perm is gone.
3. To maximize growth, apply extra virgin olive oil
to keep hair moisturized. Relaxers were created for
those who can maintain the hair style; not as a detangling
method.
Q: What should I do with my
dreadlocks that I’ve been growing for ten years
and are starting to thin out?
A: This is a difficult subject because there are several
different solutions to this problem.
Q: Will constant braiding thin
out my natural hair?
A: Yes. Wearing the hair braided on a consistent basis
without allowing the hair to take a break in between
styles will thin out the most sensitive parts of the
hair, which are the front follicles. Allowing the
hair to breathe after wearing it braided for two to
three months will allow the follicles to strengthen
and grow. A simple style such as a two strand twist,
worn for several weeks, will relieve the hair and
allow it to thicken on the roots.
These are ideas and suggestions
normally made to my clients that are having similar
problems. For any additional questions or comments
please email me at Marcia@islandvibesmag.com.
Many blessings to you and remember;“Healthy
roots grow into a healthy crop.”
