From an early age I realized that my hair was more on the "kinky or nappy" side of African hair, which tends to be quite dry and very fragile. Which made it quite painful to comb through. Not being able to comb my hair peacefully without any pain had made me not even like the texture of my hair at all. It bothered me quite a lot because I had different races of friends and seeing how their hair was made me very jealous to be honest.
I didn't appreciate the amazing and magical texture of my hair! Our hair is able to shape shift like no other and it's amazing! You get so many textures of African hair!
You get people with coily, wavy, kinky and curly hair.
- Coily hair:
- Wavy hair:
- Kinky hair:
- Curly hair:
It's only until recently that I started loving my hair. It's only now that I see how amazing my hair really is!
African hair requires a lot of care. Washing it every day can lead to the hair being extremely dry and breaking off very easily. Our hair thrives on oils and washing our hair and having to replenish the oils again requires entirely too much time and honestly a lot of money. Not only must we wash our hair but we need to condition, apply leave-in conditioner, and then wait a couple of hours so that the hair can air dry.
One thing I realised was that a lot of people have misconceptions about African hair, one of them being that it cannot grow to be very long. African hair actually grows like any other hair. Our hair is sensitive and must be cared for very diligently to reach optimal length.
A lot Africans braid or weave their hair a lot because:
- We won't have to keep going to the salon to do our hair which can be costly.
- We can put on braid extensions and leave them on for up to 2 months before we would need to remove them.
- Putting on a wig or weave doesn't damage our hair. Straightening and applying certain products damage our hair. So more wig and weave shopping for me!
The fact that I am able to do certain hairstyles such as braids, cornrows, and weaves just to name a few makes me very happy! Braid extensions are my personal favourite because I am able to braid my hair and have it stay that way for approximately 2 months before I would need to remove it.
Picture of myself with braid extensions:
I absolutely love it!
Thank you for reading!