The natural hair care movement for black girls everywhere

Hair is never just hair. The locs, curls or coils covering your crown are a representation of who you are. Like what you choose to wear or how you choose to wear it, your hair is an extension of identity, a little piece of yourself telling the outside world who you are.

For black girls like me, hair is not only about identity, it’s about politics as well. Throughout history, black women have been told our hair isn’t beautiful or ‘normal’, our coils have been dismissed in favour of European beauty standards. For decades, racism and sexism alike have fed this idea that black women’s hair is unruly, chaotic, and needs to be policed.

The media we consume from advertising to magazine articles have told us that we need to do everything in our power to control that chaos with relaxers, and straighteners, and hot irons, no matter the damage to your cuticles or to your self-esteem.

When I was growing up, the war against black women’s hair was still waging in every corner of pop culture I could see, and subconsciously I wanted to live up to those ideals. I hated the way my textured hair felt course under my fingers, I hated that it didn’t grow past my shoulders like my white friends, I hated the growth that crept into my roots after the chemicals of relaxers wore off and all I wanted was the sleek, smooth, honey-coloured hair of the girls I saw as beautiful.

It wasn’t until technology started to connect us through the Internet that black women from all over the world were able to share their experiences, affirm one another, and grow into an interconnected movement. The natural hair care movement was a way of black women realising our collective magic and embracing our heritage.

For the first time, we are able to see black women in intricate braids, glorious afros, unafraid and unashamed to say our hair is beautiful in all the shapes, forms and textures it comes in. Finally, we are able to see black women who have no desire or aspiration to look like anybody but themselves, despite the world telling us we should be anybody but ourselves.

With all that being said, nobody has the right to tell you what you can and cannot look like. Black women are versatile, dynamic and most importantly, we are not all the same. Our lives are shaped by different experiences and choices, so the natural hair care movement is not suggesting that if you have a weave or if you prefer to straighten your hair it means you’re not embracing your blackness. The movement is just a way of letting us know that we have the power to choose and whatever that choice may be, you don’t have to look like anybody else to feel valid.

See Just Trendi for some Tips on Going Natural

Tips for going natural:

These are only tips from various sources and research on the Internet that I personally follow. You can also do your own research and remember to do what’s best for you and your own circumstances. If you know you don’t have the capacity or resources to follow all these steps, follow your intuition. Remember, we’re not all the same and even the advice from books and computers gets it wrong. Find what works for you and stick to it.

1. The Big Chop

If your hair is damaged under years of relaxant, the Big Chop is where to start. The Big Chop involves cutting the damaged, frayed ends of your hair to where the growth/natural bits start. For me, this involved shaving my head entirely. It can be scary, but it’s worth it.

2. Knowing your hair texture

There is a scale we use in the natural hair care movement that ranges from type 1 (straight hair) to type 4 (kinky hair) and subsections in between. There are different regiments and requirements for each hair texture, so finding yours can help you make the most of looking after your hair and what it needs. My hair is 4C, the kinkiest of the types and breaks very easily, so I know I have to use conditioners, oils and moisturisers without parabens or sulphates (two very damaging chemicals found in most hair products) to seal in the moisture.

3. Drink water!

Keeping hydrated does wonders for your skin and moisturises keratin (the protein your hair is made of)

4. Wearing a silk doek or satin cap when you sleep

Black hair, also depending on the texture, breaks extremely easily. The cotton from pillow strips the hair of its natural oils (stuff called sebum) and can break your fragile coils. Wearing a silk doek when you sleep retains that moisture. Also, wear fun and colourful head-wraps during winter to protect your hair during the day.

5. Protective styling

This is my favourite thing about black hair, the way you can play with it and invent a new you just by trying a different style. Protective styling like braids, cornrows, weaves etc. helps guard your hair from the elements, especially in harsh winter months when your hair tends to break under the cold. Whatever style you choose, and there’s pretty much every single style under the sun, make sure to only keep your braids/bantu knots/locs etc. in for a maximum of 6 weeks, or risk damaging your hair line from the weight of the fibre. Also, remember to keep the hair underneath moisturised with hair sprays (yes, even when it’s still braided!) and wash once a week with gentle shampoos.

This isn’t even scratching the surface of what you need to know about the stuff growing from your scalp, but if you learned something new about your hair and the natural hair care movement, let me know in the comments section below!