Journey Guest 04 - Picking up the Natural Guantlet

Natural Hair Care

by Ms SNIPS of OurHair.net

Do you remember seeing your first Afro? Where you impressed, jealous, disgusted or shocked? Nothing gains a second look faster than a person of African or Ethnic descent wearing what God gave them naturally.. Whether you are on one side of the fence or the other about natural styles, their beauty is undeniable. Over the last 40 or so years, hair worn in its natural state has been as much about politics as it has been about personal choice. During the turbulent ’60’s and ’70’s hair worn naturally was about freedom more so than a sense of style. It was an attempt by people of color to embrace their individuality.

As we moved into the 1980’s, a more businesslike attitude overtook the country and our hair conformed right along with it. Relaxers where more popular than ever and the Jeri Curl was being born (thank heavens it died!).

Now we fast forward to the new millennium and people of color are redefining themselves and their commitment to hair that’s been fried, dyed and laid to the side. Once again, the hairstyles worn by African American and Ethnic women point to a new sense of pride and acceptance of natural hair.

Embracing this fierce new acceptance of self is a breed of woman who is dropping the lye habit in droves. Popular culture reflects this trend in commercials showing nappy heads in corporate offices, theatres, and malls, driving expensive autos and chatting via cell.

Many women who are either considering dropping the lye habit, transitioning, newly natural or have been natural for years, have all come from a common place of thought about their hair. They were tired of the chemicals, the long waits at the salon, the scabs and burns, the fear of anything touching our hair (even our men) and the thin lifeless beast relaxers left us them. For them, to no longer relaxer gave them truly wash and wear hair. In this article, we will walk you through the process of going natural and how to take care of a style the newly natural you!

Relaxed But Considering Natural Hair

I know, your relaxed hair is as long as you have ever had it. Your man thinks you look slamming with that bra strap length straight n’ shiny stuff. Your mamma would slap you if you ever cut off “all that hair”. If you are happy with it relaxed, wear it, but take good care of it. However, if you are considering dropping the lye habit, you will be in good company as many women are doing just that.

Deciding to wear your hair fully natural will be perhaps one of the greatest fears you overcome as a woman, especially if you are a woman of color. Deeply ingrained cultural values that uphold straightened, long hair as the norm for women of color and look down on nappy, shorter hair will be difficult to overcome. Your family and friends will either be the greatest supporters or the worse enemies of your ego and confidence.

You may find it helpful to visit discussion forums and boards like OurHair Voices or Nappturality.com and participate in talks with fellow natural hair wearers. Also, frequent websites that feature natural hairstyles, such as HairWeb.com [no longer live]. Most importantly, if you do meet with opposition to your natural hair choices, find a way to communicate your right to wear your hair as you please.

How To Go Natural

Because the process of going natural is a fairly lengthy topic, we cannot devote the space here to the task, however, there are many good books on the subject listed in OurHair Products section.

Now That It’s Natural?

There are five things you should keep in mind when dealing with natural, kinky, nappy super curly hair:

• What we traditionally have called nappy hair is just super curly hair, with tight, spring like coils. The coils can vary in size, texture, density and width. When they clump together, they can appear as ringlets. When they separate, as during combing, they frizz into the look we have all come to associate as being nappy.
• Caring for your hair properly means creating a regular hair care routine to counteract dryness, which can contribute to breakage.
• Remember that moisture is your friend. Water is the best moisturizer around.
• Treat hair as a type of fiber, and handle it as such. You would not subject silk fabric to extreme heat or rough handling therefore you should be just as gentle with your hair.
• Find a style, or set of styles that work with your natural texture and not against it. Kinky, curly, nappy, super curly hair is exceedingly beautiful and can be molded into many shapes and forms.
• The use of oils and creams will make the hair feel soft and more flexible. Avoid oils and creams that contain mineral oil or petroleum. Skin and scalp experts feel that these chemicals can block and clog your scalp’s natural ability to produce sebum. If you cannot totally avoid these chemicals, then try to choose products that have them several items away from the top of the ingredient list. Usually the further from first place an ingredient is, the less of it is in the product.
• Some natural oils to try are olive oil, shea (shay) butter, jojoba and safflower. For more information about oils, see our OurHair Products section.
• The best way to apply oils is by first wetting the hair, then applying the oil over it. The oil will help to trap and hold the moisture water adds. Creams usually contain water and are a great in between pomade for refreshing a style or on days you do not wash or wet your hair.
• The type of oil or cream you use in your hair is going to depend on your hair type and may take a little it of experimenting to find what works best for you. Also, the time of year and your hair’s exposure to the elements will vary your routine.
• You will find that although natural hair can be washed daily, you may not want to. African textured and Ethnic hair tends to be dry and shampooing can worsen that condition due to the detergents. A better idea is to rinse your hair with plain water daily and then shampoo every 3rd to 7th days. Towel-blot, don’t rub hair.
• How often you rinse or shampoo will depend on your activities and your how your hair responds, but generally speaking, out hair reacts better to fewer exposures to detergent and more exposures to plain water.
• If you prefer not to rinse your hair daily, at least mist it with a bottle of water to moisturize the hair fibers.

Handling Natural Hair

• If you are working with truly African textured hair the most gentle handling can be accomplished while your hair is freshly conditioned and still wet with a WIDE toothed pick-not comb! You may even find that your hair combs easily while you are under the direct spray of your shower so that as the water flows through the hair, your pick will as well.
• If you comb your hair while it is dry, mist it with a bit of water first or apply a little cream pomade to help the comb glide rather than catch. Go slowly and if you encounter a tangle or knot, loosen it with your fingers, then continue combing.
• When you rinse or shampoo, keep the hair in a straight back position and only rub in one direction. This can help to prevent tangling and matting.
• The use of brushes should be kept to a minimum and used to distribute oils or creams. Invest in a soft boar hairbrush. More information can also be found in the OurHair Care section.
• Include a pH balanced shampoo specially formulated for your hair texture and type, a moisturizing conditioner and a shining gel or spray that adds luminous sheen while it conditions and protects your hair.
• Try to avoid styling products that contain alcohol, as they can further dry your hair.

• Try to give blow dryers and curling irons a break. Instead, consider a hairstyle that works with, not against your hair. Popular choices include braiding, cornrows or thread wraps. Don’t, however, leave braids in place for more than 60 days. Give your hair and yourself a break from prolonged stress. Also, remember to continue regular shampooing and conditioning while wearing braided styles to keep your hair healthy and moisturized.
• If you have color treated hair, condition weekly to add moisture and offset drying from chemicals.
• Before you go to bed, wear something to protect your hair during sleep. Use a scarf or cap for straight hairstyles. Apply a small amount of moisturizer to the hair and then put on your cap.
• To avoid rubbing and to stop hairline breakage, never sleep in any type of hair band that will rub the hairline. If you use a sleep cap, make sure it’s satin and that it does not go above the ears. You can also resort of a satin pillowcase if you cannot keep a cap or scarf on.
• Massage the scalp regularly to encourage oil production.
• Once a month try a hot oil treatment, which will lubricate dry scalp conditions as well as moisturize brittle hair.

Styles For Natural Hair*

Lengthen It

To showcase the length of natural hair, try wetting then braiding it in large sections. After it is dry, you can do a large roller set or use a WARM curling iron to smooth each section. This will help to enhance the shine because the hair will be lying flatter and the length because it will have dried stretched.

Roll It

While you hair is still wet from a shampoo or rinsing, takes pencil to maker sized sections and roll them around in a twirling fashion either around one finger, or between finger and thumb. The tighter your coil. The longer and skinnier the resulting coil will be. The looser you twirl, the fatter and shorter the curl.

Curl it

Use the tail end of a rattail comb like a hair roller and do African Curls, also known as Comb Rolls. Take a damp, gelled section of hair the size you prefer and while holding the tail of the comb against the hair, wrap the end of the hair over the comb. Once the end is wrapped, roll the comb tail towards your scalp, as if rolling your hair in a roller. When you reach the scalp, slide the comb out of the roll. Complete all sections, let air dry, or wrap a scarf over your hair and sit under a COOL dryer until 80% dry. The roll will tighten more as it totally dries.

‘Fro It

For this look, simply wet set your hair using a pomade or oil for moisture and hold. The size of the rollers will determine the size of the ‘fro. Large rollers will give you a voluminous, looser fro, while smaller ones will give you a tighter curlier fro. A variation on this style is to separate wet or dampened hair into sections and plait or twist each piece and wrap the hair around the base of the plait or twist. When the hair is dry, loosen the twists or braids gently and finger comb into place.

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I found this gem of an article on OurHair.net.