It’s Time For A Reckoning In The Natural Hair Community

Over 10 years ago, the natural hair movement was blowing up the scene. It was a quiet storm that quickly picked up steam and became a huge thing. So huge that product manufacturers took notice and figured out ways to capitalize on the goldmine. The natural hair movement also proved to be profitable for the small mom and pop stores or street vendors who made their own natural hair products out of their kitchens like shea butter for your skin and hair, organic hair oil mixes, all natural shampoos and conditioners, hair masks and gels. Back then, the goal was for black women to leave the relaxers and chemicals alone and have healthier hair using all natural products. These all natural products were not readily available in stores, so we relied on the small vendors and businesses to get these things. We learned how to use them and make them through early how-to Youtube videos.

We also learned about protective styling (Myth 1.) which entails the use of braids, wigs, or weaves. We were told protective styling would protect our natural hair from over manipulation and help grow our hair. This works for some, but for many not so much. As manufacturers figured out how to get a piece of the natural hair movement pie, they developed products (Myth 2.) catered to black women using images of biracial or racially ambiguous women in their advertisements. They promised that if you use their line of products your hair will curl up and bounce the same way as the biracial woman with 3C hair does. Of course, that was nothing but a big fat lie. In the midst of all of this, wig culture grew tremendously as did the hair braiding shops. Everybody found a way to make money off the natural hair movement and have been winning ever since. But there’s been one consistent loser: Black women.

For centuries, black women have been told that their natural hair is ugly, unkempt, and unprofessional. We were forced to either cover up our hair or bend to European standards of beauty by straightening our hair. This brainwashing has stayed within our culture ever since, being passed down from one generation to the next. We invented straightening combs, came up with a dangerous formula called Conk that later became the standard relaxer to straighten our natural hair in order to be “accepted” by whites.

In the 60’s and 70’s when black pride took over, many black women embraced their natural hair and wore their afros and corn rows proudly. And then the relaxers came back and the Jheri Curl craze took over and chemically altering our hair became the norm again. Fast forward a few decades and black women finally realize the natural beauty of their hair. With the help of doctors and science, they see the damaging effects of chemical relaxers and decide to go back to their natural roots. Instead of being supported, they are fleeced.

If there’s one thing black women will do, it is invest in our hair. Companies know this and they’ve found ways to profit off of it by selling us products that do not help our hair. But we can’t just blame companies and manufacturers. We must blame ourselves for being greedy as well. Protective styling is a myth. It’s game. It’s a way to make money. The idea that we have to give our hair a break is a joke. How do you give your hair a break when you manipulate and put stress on your hair and your scalp by braiding, weaving or crocheting cheap synthetic or human hair into your natural hair? Not to mention the harmful chemicals used in synthetic braiding hair and wigs that causes sometimes severe allergic reactions in a lot of women. Nine times out of ten people are braiding or weaving this hair incorrectly and way too tight which causes traction alopecia or hair loss. There are women who swear protective styling grows their hair or has helped them retain hair length, and this may be true for some. But what does protective styling do for a woman that has issues with wearing her natural hair out?

Nothing.

Once it’s time to take the protective style down, most women will either get it done over again as soon as possible, usually too soon, or they will put a wig on. Do you know how many women are claiming to be natural but never show their natural hair because it’s tucked away under wigs or they keep going to the braid shops getting knotless braids? The wig industry is booming. You can go on Youtube and learn how to make your own wig. You can buy wigs online or at any hair supply store in black neighborhoods that are owned and run by Asians. (And the Asians have a choke hold on hair weave and black hair supplies. But that’s another story for a different day.) My point is, black women are being sold lies from all angles. Lies about the need to protective style, lies about the need to buy a whole line of products that won’t work for our kinky, coily hair. At one time I believed those lies. I kept protective styling, and my hair and scalp continued to suffer. I changed the type of hair I used, I changed who I allowed to do my hair and at the end of the day, after a lot of damage was done to my hair, I finally woke up and realized that protective styles were the problem.

I stopped wearing protective styles and rocked my natural afro until I decided to loc up my hair. I was never a product junkie so that was never an issue for me. But for so many others, they continue to believe the hype. They want their hair to curl up and bounce so bad like these biracial women who are promoting these products in the advertisements instead of accepting and loving their own hair and seeing the beauty in their natural hair. Wearing wigs and weaves may be easier because of the line of work you’re in, but what about when you’re not working? What about when you’re home, or out and about? It’s so easy to rely on wigs and weaves as an accessory that you can’t live without, or as something to hide behind because you are too scared to show the world your beautiful, natural hair as it grows out of your scalp. This is why the natural hair community needs a reckoning.

We have done a serious disservice to black women. There’s no education. There needs to be self love education where we get to the root of why so many of us don’t love our hair or ourselves. Then we need to take actionable steps to change that. There needs to be an education on the history of black hair and the different ways our ancestors wore their hair and took care of their hair and the meaning behind various styles and why we should be proud of our kinky coils. There needs to be product education that teaches people how to read product labels and know which ingredients are bad for our hair and which are good and to know that just because a bottle or box says “Natural” or “For Natural Hair” doesn’t mean it is. Just because the model on the box has big beautiful ringlets doesn’t mean you will get the same. And finally, there needs to be hair education on the different types of natural hair and how to identify your hair qualities and what natural ingredients will work for your hair.

Black women, we must be willing to put in the work when we decide to go natural. You cannot just jump in with unrealistic expectations and think you’re going to get the same results as the person you follow on Youtube with long 3c curly hair. STOP HIDING YOUR NATURAL BEAUTY black women! You have so much to offer and to show your daughters, nieces, nephews, sisters, aunts, mothers, grandmothers, and friends. Trust me, they are all watching you and will be inspired by you. Find that boldness and confidence within yourself to rock your natural hair proudly! Don’t let the opinions of others stop you, get you down or cause you to shrink into yourself. Your natural is beautiful, and you need to keep telling yourself this until you believe it. And be encouraging to each other, lift each other up, compliment one another and be a source of information, a safe place to to ask questions and vent or just celebrate our hair.

Finally, to the black owned natural hair companies who build enough wealth to sell to the likes of Proctor & Gamble who ultimately change your formula to cater to white women: be honest about your reasons for selling. Don’t pee on us and say it’s raining. You were offered millions for your blood, sweat and tears and you took it. It’s business, yes. But it’s also very personal to millions of black women who supported you when you were just a vendor on the street or a small mom and pop store. You catered to OUR HAIR and we loved you for it. But you can’t get mad at us for being mad at you for taking away another black centered brand from black women. Shea Moisture, Carol’s Daughters and others have all sold to P&G and P&G changed the formulas (watered them down) and they no longer work for most black hair. Mielle is the latest to sell to P&G and we know the fate of their products will be the same. You say you’re taking the money to grow more businesses in black neighborhoods and put money back into the black community. That’s your intention and that’s great, but don’t get mad at us when we give you the side eye because we’ve yet to see it happen.

Black women, I know we all have different textured hair which means we all have different needs. One size does not fit all, but at some point we have to stop being so reliant on so many products for our hair. Narrow down your products to just a few if possible, and learn how to care for your hair using natural ingredients that you can buy and make for yourself or look for small black owned businesses in your community that you can buy ingredients or products from. Our ancestors used locally sourced ingredients for centuries and created their own hair products, and many in different countries still do. Less is more. There are so many things we are using on our hair that our hair don’t even need! But because we believe the marketing hype that we need to buy or have an entire line of products in order for our hair to grow, have body, shine, or be moisturized, we continue to waste money buying things that are actually ruining our hair and irritating our scalps.

The reckoning starts with us, in our own community. The natural hair movement has been stagnant for years. There has been no movement and that’s not good. Our lack of mobility has led to the regression of women with natural hair getting relaxers again or women with locs combing out or cutting off their locs and getting relaxers. I don’t know what purpose this serves or how any of this even makes sense, but it’s happening. We need to get the natural hair movement out of the social media phase and into real life, and that starts with honest conversations with ourselves and education. Social media has proven that many will do anything for clicks and likes or to go viral. This is not a good thing for the natural hair community. And while I’m all for people doing whatever they want with their hair, putting a negative light on natural hair as if it’s bad is not the messaging the natural hair community needs. If you’ve noticed on social media, there are tons of advertisements for class action lawsuits against hair relaxers that have proven to cause cancer and other major health issues for black women. I hope that will help convince more black women to leave relaxers alone and grow out their natural hair.

It’s past time that the natural hair community take a long look at itself. We have a lot of work to do and a lot of educating needs to take place.

Thinning Locs

Getting locs, no matter what kind, does not mean your hair worries are a thing of the past. Locs can be just as problematic as loose natural hair if not taken care of properly. One of the main reasons why I got tired of my loose natural hair was because of the constant breakage I was experiencing. I was protective styling too much. My protective styles were being installed too tightly, the synthetic hair that was used caused allergic reactions to my scalp, and I wasn’t taking care of my hair properly. Before my sisterlocks were installed, I cut as much of the damaged ends and breakage as I could. To date, my locs are growing out nicely in those areas. But is this the end of my worries? Not by a long shot.

What causes locs to thin?

Tension

• Too tight styles
• Too tight reties
• Getting reties too often
• Not staying on schedule with your reties
• Not incorporating loose hair back into the loc during reties if your hair grows outside of the grid
• Overall negligence of the care of your locs

Health

• Hysterectomy
• Low iron
• Hormone imbalance
• Alopecia
• Thyroid issues
• Other health issues that may be undiagnosed

what can be done

First, figure out the cause. This should be done with your loctician. If you self-retie, you have extra work to do. With your locitician, you will need to discuss your diet, water intake, physical activity, any new medications you may be on and any new stresses in your life. A visit to your primary care doctor should happen as well, and a trichologist if your primary doctor can’t pinpoint the cause. These same steps should be taken if you self-retie.

Trichology is the medical term for the study of the hair (and scalp) and all problems related to them. A ‘trichologist’ is someone who specialises in hair loss problems such as baldness, hair breakage and itchy/flaking scalp. He or she will also treat all forms of alopecia.

Once you figure out the cause with your loctician, primary doctor or trichologist, develop and follow an action plan that will stop the thinning and breakage of your locs and regrow healthy hair. This plan can include vitamins or supplements, the use of certain oils that promote hair growth and heals the hair follicles, or a change in diet and medications.

all is not lost

Thinning locs isn’t the end of the world, although it can be quite devastating. No one wants to lose hair or have locs hanging on by a strand of hair. However, all is not lost. There can be many causes for thinning locs. The trick is finding the cause so you can do something about it. Unfortunately, some do suffer permanent hair loss due to alopecia or other health issues. But if your hair loss isn’t permanent, be proactive. Talk to your loctician and see your family doctor and a trichologist. Keep a hair journal if need be. Take notice of how you care for your locs. Keep an eye on your diet and any stressors in your life so you can make needed adjustments.

My Natural Hair Needs Braids To Grow

As a little girl, through my tween years, my mother and older sisters kept my hair braided in various styles. When I say braided, I mean regular braids without the addition of synthetic hair. My hair always flourished this way. When it was time for my hair to be washed, the braids would come down, my mother would wash and deep condition my hair, give me a hot oil treatment complete with a scalp massage, and my hair would get braided up again.

Fast forward to today, and one of the most common ways to braid hair is with the addition of synthetic or human hair. This practice is by no means new. It has been done for centuries by African women all over the African continent. It allows for a myriad of styling and color options, and it adds to the longevity of the style. I know there are those who swear by the rule that you can grow your hair without the use of protective styles (mainly protective styles that require the use of synthetic or human hair via braids or wigs.)  by simply taking better care of your hair and following strict hair care routines. To that, I say no two heads of hair are alike.

Since being natural for five years now, I can honestly say that I have experienced the most growth when my hair was in braids. When my hair is simply left alone in a protective style, it thrives. I keep it moisturized, I keep my scalp and braids oiled with castor oil, and I simply let it be. I have learned how to minimize the shedding and breakage, and I don’t tug and pull on my braids because of trying to put them in cute buns or other styles.

I have decided that my girls and I will wear braids more this year. As long as our braids are not tight and we practice edge-saving techniques and healthy maintenance, we’ll all be fine, and our natural hair will love us for it.

I would love to hear from you! Does your hair fair better with or without braids? Hit the comment section and let me know!

Xoxo

African Head Wraps

“African women wear the head-wrap as a queen might wear a crown.”

To say that I’m obsessed with head wraps would be a huge understatement. If you looked at my Pinterest page https://www.pinterest.com/eyeznsmiles/wrap-it-up/ for head wraps, you’d understand. While I’m not the greatest at wrapping my hair, I do enjoy finding beautiful fabrics and scarves to use.

In the African and African American community, wrapping one’s head is more than a fashion statement. It has cultural and historical significance as well. I found an informative article (see link below) that explains the origins of head wrapping, which started in sub-Saharan Africa. It is important to note that other cultures practice head wrapping as well, and this is discussed in the link as well.

African women and the significance of a head-wrap (Dhuku)

Living in the mid-west where we have some of the coldest winters, it is important to protect your natural hair. This is the time of year that wrapping my hair – even if it’s in a protective style – is a must. Put your crowns on, queens!

 

 

 

Natural Hair In Review – 2017

Every year I learn something new. New techniques, new natural things to use on my hair such as herbs and oils. While I may not have tried them all, they’ve definitely been added to my “to-do” or “wish” lists.

Lessons Regarding My Hair

The first important thing I’ve learned is to let go of the bad ends. I neglected to clip my ends for quite some time, and I paid for it. My afros,while big, looked scraggly. When I finally got rid of those bad ends, my afro looked healthy. Let go of the dead weight people. Don’t hang on to bad ends for the sake of length. It will always hurt you more in the end with the amount of hair that you end up having to cut.

The second important thing I learned about my hair is that it grows better when it’s braided or in some type of protective style. For a good portion of 2017, I wore my hair in its natural state. I let my fro fly free. While I enjoyed rockin’ my big hair, it became a chore at times. I felt pressured to find and try new styles that weren’t always good for my hair.

For one, the temptation to twist my hair into two strand twists or plaits every night to have fresh curls in the morning was something I had to fight against. Also, the temptation to semi-straighten/stretch my hair more than I should (in the attempt to try new styles) was also there.  Both things can cause breakage when done in excess, and after finally clipping my bad ends, more breakage is the last thing I want. I also noticed that my hair growth seemed slower when not in a protective style. Having observed all of these things about my hair, it’s time to listen to what it needs. I will be more diligent about my protective styles to promote healthy hair growth.

Lessons From The Natural Hair Community 

We have a long way to go with education, acceptance, confidence, support towards one another, and respect. While I’m happy to see many women making the change from chemical relaxers to natural hair, many of them need to be educated on African American hair so they can better understand their own hair. They need to learn our history about hair braiding, head wraps, designs, and why certain negative terms and views that date back to slavery and beyond still have a vice grip on many of us today that prevent us from seeing the true beauty of our hair. Educating yourself is one of the most important steps in your natural hair journey.

It makes me happy to see that there are so many natural hair events all over the states that celebrate all types of African American hair, and I hope to attend a few of them that are close to my neck of the woods. I’ve heard nothing but good things regarding those events, and we need more like them.

I’m going to continue to do my part by encouraging hair-positive messages in the natural hair community through my blog. My focus will be on the positive stories in the natural hair community and less on the negative ones. And as usual, I will continue to strive to take better care of my natural hair.

Thank you all for supporting my blog, and here’s to healthier hair in 2018!

Sonya

 

 

I Picked THE HOTTEST Weekend…

…To take down my micro braids!! Good lord it’s HOT!!!! The take down process ended up being a day and a half. The detangling, washing, deep conditioning and styling took another five hours. When I say I’m exhausted, please know that I mean it!!

My hair is in small – medium sized plaits that I will take down in the morning for a curly fro style. I’m not posting any pictures of it’s current state because 1) It’s too darn hot 2) I’m sweaty 3) Sweaty on me = not cute in my book 4) I’m too lazy to put on decent clothes to take a picture.

I did watch some videos and read some blogs about how to detangle hair after taking down braids, and one very helpful tip was to use conditioner. I applied a liberal amount to my hair with a little water, and slowly and gently detangled sections of my hair. It was very time consuming but worth it. Had I tried to comb through the product build up, dead hair and tangles,  I would have lost a lot of unnecessary hair. My hair feels soft, my plaits are bouncy and juicy, and my scalp feels very clean.

I had my micro braids in for three months and didn’t have a lot of product build up. The hair shedding I experienced was normal and I haven’t noticed any bald spots. 😉 My hair grew A LOT, especially in the back which is where it typically grows the fastest.  I gave my hair (the ends in particular) and scalp a lot of TLC this weekend and will continue to do so going forward. Scalp massages are the BEST!

The one thing I didn’t get a chance to do because I didn’t have any on hand was a protein treatment. I need to purchase some product ASAP. Otherwise, this was a long, hot weekend dealing with nothing but my hair. But, it was a labor of love. Show your hair some love and it’ll love you right back! 🙂

Be Encouraged

I don’t have all the answers. I’m still learning and I’m over four plus years into my natural hair journey. Lately I’ve been hearing a lot about protective styling – those who are against braids/weaves/wigs, and those who are for them. I’m very pro-braids and protective styling, as I sit here with micro braids in my hair now. But I do agree that overuse of braids/weaves/wigs can be very detrimental to your hair and should be used sparingly. What I don’t like is the negative bashing toward those who do like to use protective styles.

There have been many conversations about wash and go’s and how they can be done on 4c hair. I’m not disputing that at all. I did wash and go’s when I big chopped and barely had an inch of hair on my head. That was super easy to do! My hair isn’t what I’d consider to be long right now, but it’s long enough to become time consuming. Wash and go’s also entail the use of several products for them to work such as leave in conditioners, moisturizers, and some type of gel. All of those things cause flaking and white residue in my thick, coarse, 4c hair. From what everyone says, you have to find the right combination of products for a wash and go to work. There’s my red flag. I don’t want to have to buy a bunch of products to have a style that will only last a day and a half for me, or at the worst, leave a flaky residue in my hair. I’m not a product junkie, but trying to achieve the perfect wash and go will definitely turn me into one.

I’ve set a personal goal for myself to stop being lazy and to do a better job at keeping my hair moisturized and well conditioned. I think if I start there, the rest (healthiness and growth) will follow. The thought of doing another big chop have crossed my mind, but we’ll see. I’m not quite ready to give up on my hair. I’m saying all of this to say that I read a lot about natural hair because I love reading other women’s experiences, struggles and triumphs. But we all have to remember that what works for one person may not work for you. Many of us wear protective styles out of necessity or convenience. Not everyone have time in the morning to do a wash and go, and quite frankly, not everyone wants to – and that’s okay.

Reading some of these blogs will have you feeling like the world’s laziest, loser, slacker natural. No one should feel that way. Recognize where you need to make improvements and then make them. My laziness towards my hair resulted in bald spots and breakage, and it’s been well documented in this blog. Now I’m investing more time in my hair. I’m paying closer attention to leave in conditioners, good deep conditioners, and protein treatments. And I’m still looking for good DIY ideas so I can keep my coins in my pockets.  😉 Be encouraged and keep learning. Give your hair the TLC it needs so it can thrive and grow.

Breakage Again *Update*

There is a such thing as having too much of a good thing. Initially, I assumed my breakage was due to not protective styling, too much combing, etc. After really thinking about what I’ve been doing to my hair, I figured it out. Too much caffeine in my homemade sage tea rinses. I didn’t do my tea rinses on every wash day. More like every other. But where I messed up is I made my tea too strong which dried out my hair and made it brittle and break off in the back. Caffeine is drying to your hair, something that never crossed my mind. Please learn from my mistake my lovelies. Do everything in moderation. Including tea rinses. They shouldn’t be very strong teas, and you shouldn’t do them too often.

I took the scissors and cut as much as the damaged ends off as I could. Yes my hair is uneven and shorter on one side of my head, but I don’t care about that at the moment. My main concern is getting my hair back healthy and keeping it moisturized. At the moment my hair is in micro braids and I’ve had them for about three weeks now and I LOVE them! I haven’t had micro braids in over 15 years! I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

 

Breakage…again!

I did not want to have to blog about breakage again, but here we go. I already know the cause of it:

1. Not protective styling enough
2. Becoming lazy when caring for my hair
3. Using too much heat (blow dryer & straightening brush)
4. Not moisturizing enough

It’s all shameful because I know better. I know better. However, I took a break from getting my hair braided this winter and I’m paying for it. I became a very lazy natural and now I have breakage as a result towards the back of my head. I noticed more than the usual shedding and unevenness. I have no one to blame but myself, and I know what needs to be done to fix it. I need to do the opposite of all four things I listed above!

I’m going to cut off as much breakage as possible (try to even out my hair back there), give it some extra TLC, and then get my hair braided. It’s time, it’s been almost six months since I’ve been to the shop to have my hair braided. I tried faux loc crochet braids recently (see picture below) but could only tolerate them for almost three weeks because the synthetic hair made my scalp itch horribly! But they were cute! As always, I’ll keep you posted on my breakage saga. 😦

Protective Styling – It’s Not That Hard!

So why have I been making it so hard? Or am I just lazy/content with what I’ve been doing thus far? I think it’s the latter. Lately, I’ve been seriously thinking about other ways to protective style that will not hurt my pocket book so much. (I just showed my age saying pocket book LOL!)  I LOVE going to the shop and getting my hair braided, however that’s not always financially feasible. Braids are a wonderful investment that you can get two – three months out of, especially when you find a great hair braider. Crochet braids only last for a few weeks (depending on style and type of hair you use) and then you have to take them down.

In the meantime, I’ve gotten myself into the bad habit of twisting or plaiting my hair and then taking it down the next day to wear a curly fro, then retwisting or plaiting to do it all over again night after night. Well, I’m noticing split ends and extra shedding. Not good. The shedding and split ends aren’t just because of over manipulation. It’s also because I haven’t been tucking my hair away this winter. The cold, harsh winter air has my hair dry and brittle. To be more loving and gentler to my hair, I’ve set a new goal for myself, inspired by fellow Naturalista’s on Facebook. My goal is to leave my hair in a protective style for a week and to keep doing it every week until it becomes a habit. I think this is a great goal for people like myself who desperately need to leave their hair alone.

Yesterday, I had an epiphany. Not only am I going to invest in more colorful scarves so I can wrap my hair in different styles, I’m going to also invest in a WIG! And not just any ole’ wig, I want a good wig that looks like my natural hair. I’ll admit that I’ve been resistant towards wigs for quite some time. I’ve never worn one in my entire life except for a talent show. I’ve always felt that I wouldn’t look right in them. But I’ve now had a change of heart and I’m ready to rock a wig! Maybe it’s because I’m in my 40’s and I no longer care about what other people think. Regardless of the reason, I’m here for them. I’m here for wigs! 

Until I get my wig and more colorful scarves, here’s what I’m rocking today to keep my plaits in my hair:

Come through, hat! 😉