Black Hair Care for African American Women

Natural Hair Care for African American Women

Nikki Jones - African American Community Examiner

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Black women have a complicated relationship with their hair, whether it’s short, textured, curly, relaxed, extensions, a wig, or a weave. Sherri Shepherd, one of my favorite ladies on The View, has done a lot to educate women on Black women’s hair matters by changing her wigs daily.

Many of us already know, however, that our hair is no laughing matter - the styles we choose hold great personal, political, and cultural meaning. Ingrid Banks takes up some of these issues in her book, Hair Matters: Beauty, Power, and Black Women’s Consciousness.

Over the years, I’ve worn my hair long and straightened and short and natural. My preference for my budget and my spirit: short and natural.  Finding a natural hair care salon for African American women, however, is not easy.  After a long search, I finally found my stylist, Ms. Nyota Koya of “Hair Today, Hair Tomorrow” in Oakland, CA.

Nyota, who is also the salon’s owner, works with the concentration of an artist as she cuts and styles my loose curls into a soft and flattering do each month.  She also does traditional Black hair care with the same amount of attention, including relaxers, wigs and weaves. Until recently, there wasn’t a large enough customer base to support an all-natural Black hair salon, but times may be changing.

If you are looking for a natural hair care stylist in the Bay Area, check Nyota out. If you have a favorite natural hair stylist where you live, feel free to leave their information here.

In the future, I’ll write more on why hair matters.

I’ll also drop some natural hair care tips straight from my stylist’s chair.

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Black hair care products

Black Hair Care Products

Black Hair Care Products
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African-American/Black hair in general is more brittle, coarser, dryer and curlier (nappy) than those of non-African decent. Because of this hair care for a Caucasian would be different than for an African, who needs to be more careful when treating his/her hair because it is more delicate.

Another feature of black hair is that it is irregular in diameter. Neither the fiber diameter nor the cuticle diameter is the same all through its length. Because of this typical structure and coiling structure the hair has many fragile points. The outside of a tight curl puts stress on the outer hair fiber cortex and cuticle. At some points outside the curls, cuticle becomes very thin and flakes easily. These areas of stress in the hair fiber are prone to damage by chemicals. Even vigorous combing is enough to flake the cuticle and damage the hair.

Another undesirable feature of the black hair Read more…