Why Most Black Women Don't Have Long Hair
But first, let me just put this out there. It's absolutely true that most black women do not have long hair. Most black women have hair that stops somewhere between the top of their neck and the bottom of their shoulders. That's simply not long hair. Long hair goes down a person's back. But here are the reasons why most black women fall short when it comes to having long hair.
There is a great amount of confusion about mineral oil.
Many black hair care websites will tell you to stay away from mineral oil because it's not moisturizing at all. These websites will tell you that all mineral oil does is clog up your scalp's pores and attract lint to your hair. However, at the same time, many other black hair care web sites will tell you that it's OK to use mineral oil on your hair. They'll recommend that you grease your scalp with mineral oil-based products and all kinds of things like that. The unsuspecting web user will probably follow whatever advice she stumbles upon and go years without long hair as a result.
People don't know whether to trim or not to trim.
Some websites tell those interested in hair care that they don't need to trim their ends in order for their hair to grow. Other websites say you must trim your ends or split ends will travel all the way up the hair shaft causing major breakage. So what does a web user do? Who knows which web site is right?
Hairdressers are trained to style hair, not to grow hair.
Most hairdressers definitely know better than to burn you with the curling iron or cause your hair to fall out. But you won't find many hairdressers telling you how to grow long shiny hair. One reason may be because they don't want you to start doing your hair on your own. But another reason may be that they just don't know too much about growing long black hair themselves.
Case in point: There's a hairdresser I've heard of around my area who has a reputation for knowing how to get black people's hair to grow. But she has a waiting list. I'm really hoping she can get me into her schedule. I've been to several other hairdressers around here and none of them have a reputation for growing hair, and consequently, they always have room on their schedule for more clients.
But here's what you can do to make an attempt to finally grow long black hair. Realize that the confusion is out there. Just because you read something on a web site doesn't mean it's right. Do thorough research about mineral oil and trims. A black hair care website isn't exactly science. So maybe look into detailed experiments and research that have been done on the subject.
And look at someone with long black hair, and ask where she gets it done. But here's the kicker. Ask her if she has always had long hair. If she says something like, "No, my hair was breaking all the time, but then I changed hairdressers and-" That means you've got a winner because her dresser knows not only about long hair but healthy long hair.
Published by clarissa
Clarissa's been writing for over 10 years in several different sectors including her college newspapers, local magazines, and online media. View profile
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64 Comments
Post a CommentThere is a difference between short, broken hair and cut, short hair. You cannot assume that people with short hair can't grow hair and you definitely can't assume that all long hair is "healthy". The conflicting information is confusing, but you have to cut through the crap. It boils down to this- wash your hair at least once a week, condition well, and moisturize everyday. Use quality products with natural ingredients.You will have to choose the products that are right for your hair texture. Trim as often as neccessary. Eat healthy, take vitamins, drink water, and exercise. It's not rocket science people!
This is why you will usually see Rastas with dred locks down to their feet our hair grows it's how you take care of it.
Beautiful Models with but long hair 100% all real no weaves example is :
Nerissa Kamoy : www.nerissairving.com/
(International Model and 1st natural hair woman to be featured in Playboy)
Toshia Shaw : http://www.toshiashaw.com/
To see my hair journey visit:
http://ilovemylocs.blogspot.com/
click on the About Kitty tab or look at the photo slide show on the sidebar
or download a FREE copy of ILoveMyLocs Magazine (I Love My Locs by Kitty SonFlower)
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start from the bottom
I had to re-open this post (by someone else) / to answer cause this question needs to be answered.
If an Afro haired person (not just African descendants) puts chemical straighteners in your hair (making your natural Afro hair un-naturally straight) then in most cases your hair will break off.
When an Afro person leaves their hair "natural" as all other races do (they don't have to chemically treat their hair) our hair grows just as long. I actually cut my hair bald and grew it back and documented the growth for a whole year it grew 1 inch per 2 months which is AVERAGE for all hair types. Some people genetically may grow hair faster, but alot of things come into play. How you take care of your hair in various climates. Do you have a diet rich in vitamins and Omegas.
This is why you will usually see Rastas with dred locks down to their feet our hair grows it's how you take care of it.
Beautiful Models with but long hair 100% all real no weaves example is :
This is more important than hair:
http://www.ebiblefellowship.com/links/We_are_Almost_There.html
according to me for black women it has to be genetic i have long hair (down my bra band) i think i am blessed but in my familly from my mum side we all have long hair without even really taking care
7. Just leave it alone. Stay away from coloring it. If it's permed wait 8-10 weeks to get a retouch. So many black women say they're hair is too thick to wait that long, but it's not. Just be patient. The more often you do it the more fragile your hair becomes and it will break more
8. Get it trimmed by a professional. Let them know you're trying to grow it out so they won't get scissor happy but every perm you should probably get the ends trimmed. If you have split ends it won't grow. period. Put the pride aside and do what you know you need to do.
9. Eat healthy, drink lots of water, take vitamins if needed like biotin or nail/hair vitamins you can probably find at a pharmacy or grocery store
First off focus needs to be on healthy hair not long hair. That's why a lot of black women don't have a lot of hair, because we aren't focusing on it's health. I am a black girl with long hair and it's not too difficult to attain
1. Don't blowdry or flat iron, hot curl or hot comb. Keep the heat out of your hair as much as possible. If you can afford it go get a wash and set every two weeks with no pressing or flat ironing
2. Use good shampoos like from agadir morrocan oil line or Keracare
3. Don't wear a lot of ponytails or intricate styles. Keep it down more than you put it up
4. Wrap it everytime you lay your head down, even if for a quick nap or just while on the couch watching tv. Wrap it at nite and put agadir argan oil or some really good oil on the ends before wrapping and then put a silk/satin scarf over the wrap
5. Keep it moisturized but not super oily or greasy.
6. Use a wide paddle brush not a comb or wire brush
7. Just leave it alone. S
Black women of ALL textures can and have grown their hair long, midback and longer. I'm one of those women. There is nothing wrong with wanting long healthy hair. You can achieve this, you just need to stop letting people tell you, you can't. There are a lot of ignorant people out there. Educate yourself about your hair and what it needs and you will achieve your goals.
I AM A VERY BEAUTIFUL BLACK/ AFRICAN AMERICAN FEMALE.WE ALL DON'T HAVE SHORT HAIR OR USE RELAXERS,MY HAIR COME TO THE MIDDLE OF MY BACK.I'VE NEVER BEEN BOLD OR NAPPY HEADED IT RUNS IN MY FAMILY, AND YES WERE ALL BLACK!
To be honest its usually Black Americans that i see with short hair. Im Haitian and everyone in my family has long hair.and when i say long im not talking about shoulder length,im talking about mid back or longer. My hair almost touches my waist&no im not making this up. Same goes for other black ppl of carribean descent-Trinis,Guyanese,Dominicans,etc. they all have long hair
The first time I saw so many weaves&overprocessed hair was when i came to the States.