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Interesting & fun facts about afro, textured, kinky, curly, natural relaxed, coily, nappy.... hair
Hair strand
On average, about 100,000 strands of hair are growing out of your head at a time. It is estimated that you will naturally shed 50-100 of your hair strands daily.
Because of this, it is very important to maintain healthy grooming habits when you have textured hair.
Without proper moisturization and detangling tools, you may accidentally cause excessive shedding or unwanted breakage along the hair shaft.
Chastity Jones
How textured hair is styled in modern America can become a political statement.
Just in 2010, a woman named
Chastity Jones was offered a job under the condition that she cut off her dreadlocks.
The reason she was given was that they were messy and dirty.
This challenged many’s spiritual practices and beliefs and turned a hairstyle into a political statement.
Chastity Jones refused the offer and was not given the job. The case was brought to court but never received justice.
This is why the CROWN Act and the CROWN Coalition exist today.
Co-washing
In the last few years, there has been a rise in popularity of the new hair care product and process called co-washing.
Many women find standard shampoos too harsh for their textured hair.
As a result, they began experimenting with using conditioner for more than just moisturizing.
Now, you can buy co-wash right off the shelf at your favorite store and provide your natural hair with a gentle cleanse while assisting with moisturization and detangling.
The secret to long hair from Basara Arabs women in Chad.
Known for having very long naturally coarse hair that grows passed their butts, these women use a homemade mixture to keep their hair super moisturized and hydrated.
This secret mixture keeps their hair from breaking since their early childhood.
The ingredients are specific to Chad and Sudan and include Shébé seeds (Croton zambesicus/Croton du Zambèze), Mahllaba soubiane” seeds, “Missic” stone to scent, cloves, “samour” resin, scented oil, and hair grease or pomade.
The Dassanech elaborate hairstyles
The Dassanech men in Ethiopia style their hair with chalk and butter, to create somewhat of a headband that lasts for several months.
The headband is then decorated with feathers and colored in yellow and red.
To protect their hairstyle while sleeping, the men use a small wooden headrest.
The Hamar tribe in Ethiopia and ochre dreadlocks
Hamar women in Ethiopia wear thin ochre dreadlocks, called Goscha, on their hair.
They bind water with resin to do the dreadlocks and wear colorful beaded jewelry to embellish their distinct look.
But, pre-teenage girls wear their hair in cornrows that they decorate with beads.
Rastafarion dreadlocks
According to some African cultures and Rastafarian views, dreadlocks symbolize deep spiritual energy.
African culture believes that dreadlocks are a sign of wisdom and strength.
Many people who take the time to grow dreadlocks embody what they believe to be an intimate spiritual journey with God.
To lock their hair is to relinquish vain tendencies often accompanying hair in society.
Disney & textured hair
Disney’s Pixar animation team spent 3 years studying the unique qualities of naturally textured hair.
They did this to develop the perfect animation of curly textured hair for the popular film Brave.
They went so far as to hand-place every single curl on Merida’s head and ended up with 1,500 individual hand sculpted curls. They did this to embrace the complex qualities of thick natural hair.
The CROWN Act
The CROWN Act stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair.
It was formed in early 2019 by the CROWN Coalition. This band of organizations works together to protect natural hair in professional environments.
Their main goal is to encourage the state and federal governments to pass legislation that protects minorities from hair discrimination in school and at work
Public places
For some African Cultures, hair was held in such high regard that to not style your hair implied that you were mentally ill in some way.
It was so widely accepted that your hair represented your place in society that men, women, and children were expected to have their hair styled when in public spaces.
Madam CJ Walker
Madam CJ Walker was a black woman that lived in the late 1800s. She wanted to create products that were good for black women and embraced the natural and diverse hair textures found across the black community.
Madam CJ Walker
However, you may not know that her hair products venture was so successful that she literally became a self-made millionaire off her business.
Now you know!
Lorraine Massey
Lorraine Massey is one of the many innovators of products and techniques specifically tailored to meet the needs of afro-textured hair.
This is because the hairstylist came up with the popular Deva cut which is used to style curly hair so it can be adopted into any desired shape when it is dry.
Bantu knots
Bantu knots is one of the most popular hairstyles among women of African descent. However, have you ever wondered about its origins?
Well, Bantu knots as a style has its origins in the Zulu community of South Africa.
That is why they are also known as Zulu knots. However, to majority of the people in Jamaica, Bantu knots are known as Chiney Bumps and not Bantu, Zulu, or Nubian knots.
256 micrometers
Afro-textured hair is unique in its composition and growth.
This is because firstly, afro-textured hair has a slower growth rate that stands at 256 micrometers a day compared to straight hair types which grow by 396 micrometers per day.
This is an average growth rate!
Wolof & marital status
In the Wolof community of Senegal, hairstyles were used to communicate marital status as young, unmarried girls styled their hair in a particular way which was different from those of married women.
50% & 80%
Up to 50% of black people acknowledge the fact that their hair is a critical component of their identity. This is evidenced by the fact that African-Americans spend about $1.2 trillion annually on beauty communities – a large portion of which is dedicated to hair care.
In places like the UK, up to 80% of the total revenues earned from the sale of hair care products are courtesy of Black women.
Making a point!
Besides being used to make political statements, some hairstyles in the African culture were used to subtly antagonize and prove a point to rivals.
For instance, kohin-sorogun is a hairstyle in Nigeria that was used by women married to polygamous men to tease and taunt their co-wives. That is why the style’s name translates to “turn your back to the jealous rival wife.”
The shrinkage is real...
1Another distinguishing quality of afro-textured hair is its shrinkage properties.
Natural afro hair tends to shrink a lot after exposure to moisture by 20% to 30%. In some cases, afro-textured hair can even experience shrinkage of up to 75%.
However, this is not a sign of bad hair health. Rather, it is a natural response of afro-textured hair when it absorbs water.
Terminology
Over the years, Black women have grown more confident in their identity and cultural history. This has increased the number of women who wear their natural hair.
However, do you know that there are several terminologies used to describe natural hair or the practice of wearing it? These terminologies include breaking the cast, dusting, plopping, and pre-poo.
Emperor Ras Tafari
Followers of the Rastafarian doctrine are known for their immense reverence for dreadlocks as a symbol of spiritual faith.
However, the most interesting thing is that, Emperor Ras Tafari – after whom the dreadlocks were named to pay homage – wasn’t particularly known for spotting the hairstyle. Instead, the most striking hair on his form was his facial hair.
Thick hair textured
Many African traditions fall around the intentional styling of thick textured hair to indicate a person’s socioeconomic status.
For example, in West Africa, hairstyles were often used to indicate ethnic identity, religious beliefs, age, and marital status
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Alison
Sylvia
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Noemie
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