African Americans and Our Hair

Hair is a sizable facet of the African-American culture. Long, healthy hair is seen to our people as a sign of beauty. In order to have long, healthy hair you must be knowledgeable of hair. There are so many legends in our community about our hair that I must clear. Now pay close attention because these myths tend to tie in with one another.

Myth #1: Our hair does not grow. Anyone who has ever put a relaxer in their hair should know that this simply isn't true. Why? Every couple weeks you need a touch up for the "new growth." New growth is newly grown hair in its natural state.

Well why is our hair so much different than others, in most cases shorter? It is the shape of our hair follicle.

Myth #2: Our hair is nappy. Our hair is not nappy. Nappy is a state, not a texture. Your hair is nappy when you haven't combed it or it's tangled. Our hair follicle shape and direction dictates that our hair is curly. We have an oval shaped hair follicle. The difference between our "curly" and other races "curly" is locks. Other races hair grows in curly locks. That is patches of curls growing in the same direction with a pattern. African American hair may grow in smaller locks but most of the time each strand has its own unique pattern and direction that it grows in. This creates volume and thickness, along with the fact that our hair is tightly curled.

So what does this have to do with hair growth? Curly hair in all races is drier than straight hair. The curlier the hair the drier, and the drier the hair the more the hair breaks off. That is where our length goes. Our hair grows at the same rate, but falls out at an incredibly larger rate. The comb, the brush even your hands simple touch will pull your dry hair out.

Myth #3: We need to use hair grease. We do not need hair grease. It is the last thing we need. Hair grease can make the hair grow less. It blocks the air that the hair shaft so badly needs to grow. Because our hair is tightly curled our hair is extremely dry. There are some conditioners that you can use, but hair grease isn't one of them. It makes the hair appear unattractive, it creates acne, and it makes the hair harder to comb. It weighs the hair down, and if you want your hair to blow in the wind it is best to ignore grease in the hair store. You should never comb wet hair, and greased hair is technically wet hair.

Pantene has a whole line of effective products that work specifically for African American hair. One of my favorite products is their daily oil cream moisturizer. It is nice and light. Don't put it on your scalp, but instead on the hair. On relaxed hair it lasts about 3 days(on natural 1 day.) It doesn't weigh the hair down and it replaces hair grease with pressing hair. Just make sure you put it on your hair the day prior to hair pressing. Reminder: heat makes the hair weak. Weak hair breaks off a lot. Don't go heat crazy.

Myth #4: We shouldn't wash our hair frequently or it will fall out. There is some truth to the statement, but overall the statement is false. We shouldn't wash our hair everyday, but we should wash our hair about twice a week and use wash-out conditioner. In order for the hair to grow, the shaft needs air. Simple oils from gels, hair greases, and sweat blocks air from getting to the hair shaft. Nowadays shampoos are targeting the African American community with shampoos to fit our hair type. Those shampoos like Pantene (the brown bottles) can make your hair up to 99% stronger. Make sure that you use the conditioner also. The conditioner does almost all of the work. If you wash your hair and not condition it then you are leaving your hair in a worse state. Using the shampoo and conditioner of the same brand was made to work together. Do I use it?

Myth #5: We shouldn't cut our hair. Many African Americans don't cut their hair because they think "why cut my hair even shorter?" Healthy hair needs to be cut. If you don't cut your hair the split ends will split even further down the hair. Then you will have raged, unhealthy hair. Am I saying cut your hair every two weeks? No, although it isn't a horrible idea. You don't have to cut a lot off either. Look at it this way: the ends of your hair are dead. It is as if they have a disease that will spread to the rest of the hair strand if you don't cut off the dead part. Remember that is just an illustration; don't go to your doctor telling him about your split end disease because he will look at you crazy.

If you're shy about cutting your hair cut it in a style. Style cuts are getting popular.

Myth 6: Relaxers make our hair grow. Relaxers work by breaking the bonds of your hair. Most people use relaxers with claims of making their hair easier to manage, but the truth is to simply fit in with society. Most of society does not have hair like African Americans, and like anything else being different make people feel self-conscious. Love with you have and work with it. If you want your hair to grow after relaxing it, you will need to do some extensive healthy conditioning. Relaxers tend to dry the hair tremendously.

Before I conclude, I have tips on hair growing. Hair coloring is hot. Just like relaxers, coloring dries the hair out. Tracks or lace-front wigs that are pre-colored has the same effect without as much damage. Sleep with a hair wrap. Tossing and turning in the night is havoc on our sensitive hair. Don't comb or brush your hair a lot because it pulls your hair out. Don't mess with your hair or scratch it a lot. Hair grown below the waist grows a lot because of blood due to gravity. Every night laying upside down for a few seconds, blood rushes to your hair waking up hair follicles that aren't growing. Remember there is nothing wrong with natural hair. Yes, it is different, but if everyone was the same what would be our point of existence?

I hope you wised up on your hair! You know how your hair works, and are no longer clueless now act on it!