I did a Brazilian Blowout!
I've heard a lot about these Brazilian Blowouts. Currently, my hair i not long enough to even attempt this process, but I may try it one day. Check out the article about one bloggers Brazilian Blowout experience.
Enjoy!
CurLillies
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Curlies: How Often Should You Wash Your Hair?
Curlies: How Often Should You Wash Your Hair?
When I was in the process of going natural, this was a question that I had. I have yet to determine how often I should wash my hair. I figure I would share this with everyone for those who have the same issue.
Enjoy,
CurLillies
When I was in the process of going natural, this was a question that I had. I have yet to determine how often I should wash my hair. I figure I would share this with everyone for those who have the same issue.
Enjoy,
CurLillies
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Pre-Poo. Does it work? Update!!
A couple of days ago I wrote and article about "pre-poo" and its affects. Well, I tried it. Yes, that's right. I did a pre-poo. I loved it. It made my hair really soft and my curls were looser, and not as tight as they usually are. My experience maybe different than someone else's but all in all I would, no I am going to do it again.
Below are tips. Again, I suggest do your own research and experiement to see what works well for you! In the original article, I listed links for you to go to. Enjoy-CurLillies!
Tool/Ingredients you will need:
1. Bowl (to combine ingredients)
2. Applicator bottle/brush (make sure you get something that will get down into your scalp)
3. Conditioner
4. Natural oil ( I used olive oil and raw shea butter oil)
5. 1/4 cup of water
6. plastic cap
7. hooded dryer (you can let the conditioner sit without sitting under the dryer).
Combine into the bowl your conditioner and half of the 1/4 cup of water. Remember you don't want the condition too then as when you warm the conditioner it will then even more. Add enough water until the conditioning mix is at a consistency you are ok with. Add your natural oil. You only need 1 to 2 tablespoons. Mix well and heat. Before applying the oil conditioning mix, warm up your dryer (if you plan to use one). Either using the application bottle or brush part your hair and make sure you get the warmed mix into scalp first. After you have covered your entire scalp, then you can distribute the rest of the mix on your hair making sure all your hair is covered (especially the ends). Cover your hair with the plastic cap and sit under the dryer for at least 30 minutes. If you don't want to sit under the dryer, I suggest putting this on your hair at least 1 hour before washing your hair.
After you have completed your treatment, rinse your hair well before washing it. I suggest using either a low-poo or your regular shampoo for your wash. I think using a no-poo or doing a co-wash will leave your hair too soft. After washing be sure to do a quick condition and pat your hair dry. It is ready for your regular leave in conditioner or daily moisturizer.
I have heard some complaints about "pre-poo's" making your hair to soft. That could be true depending on the type of hair you have. If you notice that "pre-poo's" have that affect on your hair, try just doing a plain hot oil treatment using a natural oil. This is a great alternative that can provide amazing results. I hope you find this helpful.
Enjoy!
CurLillies
Below are tips. Again, I suggest do your own research and experiement to see what works well for you! In the original article, I listed links for you to go to. Enjoy-CurLillies!
Tool/Ingredients you will need:
1. Bowl (to combine ingredients)
2. Applicator bottle/brush (make sure you get something that will get down into your scalp)
3. Conditioner
4. Natural oil ( I used olive oil and raw shea butter oil)
5. 1/4 cup of water
6. plastic cap
7. hooded dryer (you can let the conditioner sit without sitting under the dryer).
Combine into the bowl your conditioner and half of the 1/4 cup of water. Remember you don't want the condition too then as when you warm the conditioner it will then even more. Add enough water until the conditioning mix is at a consistency you are ok with. Add your natural oil. You only need 1 to 2 tablespoons. Mix well and heat. Before applying the oil conditioning mix, warm up your dryer (if you plan to use one). Either using the application bottle or brush part your hair and make sure you get the warmed mix into scalp first. After you have covered your entire scalp, then you can distribute the rest of the mix on your hair making sure all your hair is covered (especially the ends). Cover your hair with the plastic cap and sit under the dryer for at least 30 minutes. If you don't want to sit under the dryer, I suggest putting this on your hair at least 1 hour before washing your hair.
After you have completed your treatment, rinse your hair well before washing it. I suggest using either a low-poo or your regular shampoo for your wash. I think using a no-poo or doing a co-wash will leave your hair too soft. After washing be sure to do a quick condition and pat your hair dry. It is ready for your regular leave in conditioner or daily moisturizer.
I have heard some complaints about "pre-poo's" making your hair to soft. That could be true depending on the type of hair you have. If you notice that "pre-poo's" have that affect on your hair, try just doing a plain hot oil treatment using a natural oil. This is a great alternative that can provide amazing results. I hope you find this helpful.
Enjoy!
CurLillies
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Natural Hair and Professionalism. An Oxymoron?
I read this article and wanted to share it with everyone.
Enjoy,
CurLillies!
Are natural hair and locs unprofessional in corporate America? That was the subject broached by the friend of a friend on Facebook recently. The young lady stated that she likes natural hairstyles, but because she works in an entry level position at a conservative investment bank, she doesn’t think it is “work appropriate,” and that it would be difficult to move up the corporate ladder with an “ethnic” hairstyle. The statement made me wonder whether many women on Black Enterprise’s 75 Most Powerful Women in Business list wore their hair in natural or “ethnic” hairstyles. A cursory glance produced about five, including Ursula Burns, CEO of Xerox and one of the most powerful women in business. I couldn’t think of any C-suite men who had locs or short afros. When I informed the young woman on Facebook what I found, she countered that those five women were at the top of their game, and that their hair may not have been "kinky" on the way up.
Hmmm. She’s got a point.
I’m a believer in freedom of expression when it comes to appearance. I definitely do NOT believe that all Black people should wear their hair natural. But for those who choose to, the idea that you can’t succeed in business if you choose to leave your naturally curly hair, curly, really bothers me. So, when I pitched the idea for an article about natural hair in the C-suite at a recent meeting, a few of my BLACK ENTERPRISE colleagues said that the way in which one wore their hair was an expression of fashion; something meant to change with the seasons and maturity. Others thought the issue had been played in the media too many times. And some just wondered why anyone would care about expressing their self through hair if they were unemployed and in desperate need of work.
Then there were those like me who asked the same question that actress Tracie Thoms did in Chris Rock’s movie Good Hair. Why is it that wearing one’s hair, the way God created it such a revolutionary idea? After debating our different perspectives for the next 10-15 minutes, we all realized this was truly a divisive issue worth covering.
Why is natural hair such a big deal? Here is some background for anyone who is completely clueless on the subject and a reminder for those who already know. There is a negative stigma attached to natural Black hair in the United States and frankly in most places of the world. The story starts way before the current natural hair craze that some people think is a fad, and before the 1970's when afros became popular as a “political statement” for activists who wanted to revel in “Black beauty” but was then temporarily accepted by the rest of the Black community and White ones too.
In the 1800's and early 1900's nappy, kinky, curly, hair was deemed inferior, ugly, and unkempt in comparison to the flowing, bouncy, hair of people from other cultures. The caricatures of Blacks that surfaced during that time in movies, children’s books, on laundry detergent, and food products were commonplace and they taught Blacks and Whites alike to loathe the appearance of Black hair and to associate it with dirtiness, unruliness and even character traits like laziness and dishonesty.
While the dark complexions, wider noses, and fuller lips of Blacks were also disparaged, the texture of our hair was the only thing that we could realistically and drastically change (at that time) about our appearance to escape those negative associations. And making that change was encouraged as Blacks who straightened their hair were deemed more likable, agreeable, and dependable by Whites; even more employable.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, that sentiment still exists, although I do believe that fewer Whites and more Blacks actually believe it to be true. If you haven’t noticed recently, Black women with kinky hair dominate the same commercials that are cast by all White ad agencies (that is the only time you’ll hear me giving Madison Avenue props). It’s mostly Blacks, not Whites who have internalized the hype from 100 years earlier and who just won’t let it go.
The aspiration to straighten and lengthen our hair wasn’t all bad. The money that was created from Black businesses like Madame C. J. Walker, Dudley Hair Care Products, and hundreds of thousands of Black beauty parlors has done some good for the Black community. It also led us to experiment with our hair and pave innovative roads in hair fashion. But our obsession with straight flowing hair has also caused us to allow some people to take advantage of us financially.
As a woman who chooses to wear my hair in natural styles, it’s disheartening to me that I receive more negative comments from Blacks about my hair then I’ve ever received from Whites.
That’s not to say that White people don’t still feel nappy Black hair is hideous, but they aren’t as vocal about it and when they are, they’re usually condemned as racist. Remember the White staffer from Glamour magazine who told a group of lawyers that ethnic hairstyles were a fashion don’t when it came to corporate dress? She was reprimanded and the editor and managing editor of the magazine was made to apologize publicly on her behalf.
Meanwhile, day in and day out, Black women and men tell other Black women and men the exact same things without any condemnation.
Now, having said all of that, I’m going to contradict myself (Hey, Blacks are not a monolithic group and my opinions don’t walk a straight line either). The unemployment rate fell to 9% recently, but it is still 15.7% for Blacks not including the under-employed, marginally attached, and discouraged workers. The reality is that your chances for getting a job and getting promoted are lessened when you don’t conform/assimilate to an ideal, predefined standard of appearance in certain industries. Is it right? No. Is there something you can do about that? Yes. If you’ve demonstrated that you have an incomparable work ethic, you can tame your company’s most challenging projects, and you’ve dotted every I or crossed every T on your resume but you still aren’t getting hired or promoted, then you have three choices: 1) Change industries 2) start your own company or 3) conform and straighten your hair and/or cut your locs.
At any cost, as Indie.Arie once reminded us, we are NOT our hair, and if you cut it, it will grow back. And that’s just what you can do once you’ve proven your worth and scaled the company hierarchy. At which point you can start hiring some of those people who were in your shoes and make sure they don’t have to walk the “fine line” in order to make the cut.
Enjoy,
CurLillies!
Posted by CURLYNIKKI | Labels: Curl to Curl, natural in the workplace, Question of the Day
Is it Possible to Reach the C-Suite Without Straight Hair?
by Marcia Wade Talbert of Black Enterprise.com
by Marcia Wade Talbert of Black Enterprise.com
Are natural hair and locs unprofessional in corporate America? That was the subject broached by the friend of a friend on Facebook recently. The young lady stated that she likes natural hairstyles, but because she works in an entry level position at a conservative investment bank, she doesn’t think it is “work appropriate,” and that it would be difficult to move up the corporate ladder with an “ethnic” hairstyle. The statement made me wonder whether many women on Black Enterprise’s 75 Most Powerful Women in Business list wore their hair in natural or “ethnic” hairstyles. A cursory glance produced about five, including Ursula Burns, CEO of Xerox and one of the most powerful women in business. I couldn’t think of any C-suite men who had locs or short afros. When I informed the young woman on Facebook what I found, she countered that those five women were at the top of their game, and that their hair may not have been "kinky" on the way up. Hmmm. She’s got a point.
I’m a believer in freedom of expression when it comes to appearance. I definitely do NOT believe that all Black people should wear their hair natural. But for those who choose to, the idea that you can’t succeed in business if you choose to leave your naturally curly hair, curly, really bothers me. So, when I pitched the idea for an article about natural hair in the C-suite at a recent meeting, a few of my BLACK ENTERPRISE colleagues said that the way in which one wore their hair was an expression of fashion; something meant to change with the seasons and maturity. Others thought the issue had been played in the media too many times. And some just wondered why anyone would care about expressing their self through hair if they were unemployed and in desperate need of work.
Then there were those like me who asked the same question that actress Tracie Thoms did in Chris Rock’s movie Good Hair. Why is it that wearing one’s hair, the way God created it such a revolutionary idea? After debating our different perspectives for the next 10-15 minutes, we all realized this was truly a divisive issue worth covering.
Why is natural hair such a big deal? Here is some background for anyone who is completely clueless on the subject and a reminder for those who already know. There is a negative stigma attached to natural Black hair in the United States and frankly in most places of the world. The story starts way before the current natural hair craze that some people think is a fad, and before the 1970's when afros became popular as a “political statement” for activists who wanted to revel in “Black beauty” but was then temporarily accepted by the rest of the Black community and White ones too.
In the 1800's and early 1900's nappy, kinky, curly, hair was deemed inferior, ugly, and unkempt in comparison to the flowing, bouncy, hair of people from other cultures. The caricatures of Blacks that surfaced during that time in movies, children’s books, on laundry detergent, and food products were commonplace and they taught Blacks and Whites alike to loathe the appearance of Black hair and to associate it with dirtiness, unruliness and even character traits like laziness and dishonesty.
While the dark complexions, wider noses, and fuller lips of Blacks were also disparaged, the texture of our hair was the only thing that we could realistically and drastically change (at that time) about our appearance to escape those negative associations. And making that change was encouraged as Blacks who straightened their hair were deemed more likable, agreeable, and dependable by Whites; even more employable.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, that sentiment still exists, although I do believe that fewer Whites and more Blacks actually believe it to be true. If you haven’t noticed recently, Black women with kinky hair dominate the same commercials that are cast by all White ad agencies (that is the only time you’ll hear me giving Madison Avenue props). It’s mostly Blacks, not Whites who have internalized the hype from 100 years earlier and who just won’t let it go.
The aspiration to straighten and lengthen our hair wasn’t all bad. The money that was created from Black businesses like Madame C. J. Walker, Dudley Hair Care Products, and hundreds of thousands of Black beauty parlors has done some good for the Black community. It also led us to experiment with our hair and pave innovative roads in hair fashion. But our obsession with straight flowing hair has also caused us to allow some people to take advantage of us financially.
As a woman who chooses to wear my hair in natural styles, it’s disheartening to me that I receive more negative comments from Blacks about my hair then I’ve ever received from Whites.
That’s not to say that White people don’t still feel nappy Black hair is hideous, but they aren’t as vocal about it and when they are, they’re usually condemned as racist. Remember the White staffer from Glamour magazine who told a group of lawyers that ethnic hairstyles were a fashion don’t when it came to corporate dress? She was reprimanded and the editor and managing editor of the magazine was made to apologize publicly on her behalf.
Meanwhile, day in and day out, Black women and men tell other Black women and men the exact same things without any condemnation.
Now, having said all of that, I’m going to contradict myself (Hey, Blacks are not a monolithic group and my opinions don’t walk a straight line either). The unemployment rate fell to 9% recently, but it is still 15.7% for Blacks not including the under-employed, marginally attached, and discouraged workers. The reality is that your chances for getting a job and getting promoted are lessened when you don’t conform/assimilate to an ideal, predefined standard of appearance in certain industries. Is it right? No. Is there something you can do about that? Yes. If you’ve demonstrated that you have an incomparable work ethic, you can tame your company’s most challenging projects, and you’ve dotted every I or crossed every T on your resume but you still aren’t getting hired or promoted, then you have three choices: 1) Change industries 2) start your own company or 3) conform and straighten your hair and/or cut your locs.
At any cost, as Indie.Arie once reminded us, we are NOT our hair, and if you cut it, it will grow back. And that’s just what you can do once you’ve proven your worth and scaled the company hierarchy. At which point you can start hiring some of those people who were in your shoes and make sure they don’t have to walk the “fine line” in order to make the cut.
What do you think? Can natural hair and professionalism co-exist? Or should we all expect to conform when we take (or apply for) positions in various companies?
Should it matter how you wear your hair as long as you present yourself well? Join the conversation by leaving your comment below.
Originally featured on BlackEnterprise.com
Should it matter how you wear your hair as long as you present yourself well? Join the conversation by leaving your comment below.
Originally featured on BlackEnterprise.com
Monday, February 28, 2011
Pre-Poo. Does it work?
One element that is new to me is the concept of "pre-poo". Pre-poo is a pre-shampoo treatment for your hair that consists of your favorite oils, conditioners, or both elements combined. The idea is to treat your hair for 30 minutes to 1 hour prior to washing your hair. I have heard that this process leaves your hair soft and manageable.
I personally have never tried this exact process. I have done a hot oil treatment before, but that was a simple oil treatment leave on for 10 minute and then shampoo. So my next trial is to "pre-poo" before my next wash. I'll let you know how it goes and the products that I used. Below I have listed some websites about "pre-poo". I hope everyone finds this helpful.
Pre-poo websites:
http://healthtexture.live.subhub.com/articles/20080901
http://www.curlynikki.com/2010/10/do-you-pre-poo.html
http://www.afrobella.com/2008/03/28/do-you-pre-poo/
Enjoy!
CurLillies
I personally have never tried this exact process. I have done a hot oil treatment before, but that was a simple oil treatment leave on for 10 minute and then shampoo. So my next trial is to "pre-poo" before my next wash. I'll let you know how it goes and the products that I used. Below I have listed some websites about "pre-poo". I hope everyone finds this helpful.
Pre-poo websites:
http://healthtexture.live.subhub.com/articles/20080901
http://www.curlynikki.com/2010/10/do-you-pre-poo.html
http://www.afrobella.com/2008/03/28/do-you-pre-poo/
Enjoy!
CurLillies
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Black Hair Care Blog
Black Hair Care Blog
I found a new blog site by another curly girl! I enjoyed her comments and thought I would share with my viewers!
Enjoy,
CurLillies
I found a new blog site by another curly girl! I enjoyed her comments and thought I would share with my viewers!
Enjoy,
CurLillies
Black History of African Hair
In honor of black history month, I thought we should look back on our hair history. I pulled this article from Wikipedia. Pay special attention to the controversy surrounding natural hair in professional America and the reasons why we choose to straighten our hair. I think this article is a very good representation of the conflict we as a people, no matter how you wear your hair, in America.
Enjoy!
CurLillies
Afro-textured hair is a term used to refer to the typical texture of Black African hair that has not been altered by hot combs, flat irons, or chemicals (by perming, relaxing, or straightening). Each strand of this hair type grows in a tiny spring-like, corkscrew shape. The overall effect is such that, despite relatively fewer actual hair shafts compared to straight hair,[1] this texture appears (and feels) denser than its straight counterparts. Due to this, it is often referred to as 'thick', 'bushy', 'coarse' or 'woolly' . For several reasons, possibly including its relatively flat cross section (among other factors[2]), this hair type also conveys a dry or matte appearance.[3][4] Its unique shape also renders it very prone to breakage when combed or brushed.[4] Adjectives such as "kinky", "nappy", or "spiralled" are often used to describe natural afro-textured hair in Western societies.
There are differences across ethnicity in the structure, density, and growth rate of hair. With regards to structure, all human hair has the same basic chemical composition in terms of keratin protein content.[5] However, Franbourg et al. have found that Black hair may differ in the distribution of lipids throughout the hair shaft.[5] Afro-textured hair was not as densely concentrated as other phenotypes.[1] Specifically, the average density of Afro-textured hair was found to be approximately 190 hairs per square centimeter. This was significantly lower than that of Caucasian hair, which, on average, produces approximately 227 hairs per square centimeter.[1] Further, Loussourarn found that Afro-textured hair grows at an average rate of approximately 256 micrometers per day, while that of Caucasians grows at approximately 396 micrometers per day.[1][6] In addition, due to a phenomenon called 'shrinkage', Afro-textured hair that is a given length when stretched straight can appear much shorter when allowed to naturally coil upon itself.[7] Shrinkage is most evident when Afro-hair is (or has recently been) wet.[7]
The manifestation of Afro-textured hair, along with darkly complected skin, was initially an adaptation to the intense UV insolation of the tropics.
African-American woman wearing styled textured hair. Photo taken ca 1850.
Diasporic Black Africans in the Americas have been experimenting with ways to style their hair since their arrival in the Western Hemisphere well before the nineteenth century. In the U.S. following emancipation (between the late 1890s and the early 1900s), Annie Malone, Madam C. J. Walker and Garrett Augustus Morgan revolutionized African American hair care by inventing and marketing chemical (and heat-based) applications to alter the natural tightly curled texture. During the 1930s, conking (vividly described in "The Autobiography of Malcolm X") became an innovative method in the U.S. for Black men to straighten kinky hair; whereas, women at that time tended to either wear wigs, or to hot-comb their hair (rather than conk it) in order to temporarily mimic the same straight style without permanently altering the natural curl pattern.
A young African-American woman wearing styled textured hair. Photo taken between 1885 and 1910.
It has been debated whether hair straightening practices arose out of a desire to conform to a Eurocentric standard of beauty. Supporters of the second process believe that the same prejudice that viewed lighter skin as preferable to darker, held that straight or wavy hair (i.e. "good" hair) was preferable to tightly curled hair, and that this prejudice originated not from Black African Diasporic peoples but from European slaveholders and colonizers as part of the rhetoric used to support slavery and racially-based social class stratifications. Some claim that the dominant prejudice for Eurocentric ideas of beauty pervades the western world.[8] Further, the tendency to judge people, especially women, based upon their physical appearance speaks to the fact that this issue is especially poignant for African American females. In other words, it is a clear example of an inherent, interlocking conflict that Black women face with Western norms that involves both race (i.e. the fact that the natural afro-hair texture of sub-Saharan African descended peoples deviates starkly from the global 'norm'), and gender (i.e. the fact that the disproportionately strong need for women to be physically 'beautiful' is heavily marketed to all Westerners, and is thus reinforced by men (and women) of all races).
The civil rights movement and black power and pride movements of the 1960s and 1970s in the U.S. created an impetus for African Americans to express their political commitments and self-love by the wearing of fairly long, natural hair. This contributed to the emergence of the Afro hairstyle into American mainstream culture, as an affirmation of Black African heritage, that "black is beautiful," and a rejection of Eurocentric standards of beauty. It has been used in songs, as a symbol of Black African heritage, notably in I Wish by Stevie Wonder. By the 1970s natural hair had evolved into a popular hairstyle.
Over the years, the popularity of natural hair has waxed and waned. Today, a significant percentage of African American women elect to straighten their hair with relaxers of some kind (either heat or chemically based). This is done despite the fact that prolonged application of such chemicals (or heat) can result in overprocessing, breakage and thinning of the hair. Nonetheless, over the past decade or so, natural hair has once again increased in popularity with the emergence of styles such as cornrows, locks, braiding, twists and short, cropped hair, most of which originated in Ancient Africa. With the emergence of hip-hop culture and Caribbean influences like reggae music, more non-blacks have begun to wear these hairstyles as well. There has been a boom in marketing hair products such as "Out of Africa" shampoo to African American consumers. Slogans that promote a pan-Black African appreciation of Afro-textured hair include "Happy to be nappy," "Don't worry, be nappy," as well as "Love, peace and nappiness."[citation needed]
In 1971 Melba Tolliver, a WABC-TV correspondent, made national headlines when she wore an afro while covering the wedding of Tricia Nixon Cox, daughter of President Richard Nixon. The station threatened to take Tolliver off of the air until the story caught national attention.[10]
In 1981 Dorothy Reed, a reporter for KGO-TV, the ABC affiliate in San Francisco, was suspended for wearing her hair in cornrows with beads on the ends. KGO called her hairstyle "inappropriate and distracting." After two weeks of a public dispute, an NAACP demonstration outside of the station, and negotiations, Reed and the station reached an agreement. The company paid her lost salary and she removed the colored beads. She returned to the air, still braided, but beadless.[11]
A 1998 incident became national news when Ruth Ann Sherman, a teacher in Bushwick, Brooklyn, introduced her students to the book Nappy Hair by African American author Carolivia Herron. Sherman, who is white, was criticized by parents of black children, who thought that the book presented a negative stereotype.[12]
On Wednesday, April 4, 2007 radio talk-show host Don Imus referred to the Rutgers University women's basketball team playing in the Women's NCAA Championship game as a group of "nappy-headed hos" during his Imus in the Morning show. Bernard McGuirk then compared the game to "the jigaboos versus the wannabes," alluding to Spike Lee's film School Daze. Imus apologized two days later, after receiving criticism. CBS Radio canceled Don Imus' morning show on Thursday, April 12, 2007.
During August 2007, American Lawyer Magazine reported that an unnamed junior Glamour Magazine staffer did a presentation on the "Dos and Don'ts of Corporate Fashion" for Cleary Gottlieb, a New York City law firm. There was a slide show where the woman made negative remarks about black women's natural hairstyles in the workplace, calling them "shocking," "inappropriate," and "political." Both the law firm and Glamour Magazine issued apologies to the staff.[13][14] However, natural afro hair texture continues to be an issue in US workplaces.[15]
In 2009, Chris Rock produced Good Hair, a film which addresses a number of issues pertaining to African American hair, including the styling industry surrounding it, the acceptable look of African American women's hair in society, and the effects of both upon African American culture.
Because of the highly politicized nature of natural black hair in the United States of America and the intersectional pressures faced by black women in particular, the care and styling of natural black hair has become an enormous industry. Throughout the United States, there are a number of salons and beauty supply stores that cater solely to clients with natural afro-textured hair. Online forums, social networking groups and web-logs have also become enormously popular resources for Blacks in the exchange of styling ideas, techniques, and hair-care procedures.
There are a number of specific hair-styles that are commonplace in the canon of styles for natural Black hair, many the result of the experimentation of African slaves in the Western colonies. The afro is a large, often spherical growth of afro-textured hair popular in the Black power movement. The afro has a number of variants including the "afro-puff" and a variant in which the afro is treated with a blow dryer to become a flowing mane. The hi-top fade was common among African-American men in the 1980s and has since been replaced in popularity by the Caesar hair cut. Other styles include plaits or braids, the two-strand twist and basic twists all of which can form into manicured dreadlocks if the hair is allowed to knit together in the style-pattern. Basic twists include finger-coils and comb-coil twists. Dreadlocks, also called "dreads," "locks" or "locs," can also be formed by allowing the hairs to weave together on their own from an afro.
Manicured locks - alternatively called salon, or fashion locks - alone have a large variety of styling options that involve strategic parting, sectioning and patterning of the dreads. Popular dreadlocked styles include cornrows, the braid-out style or lock crinkles, the basket weave and pipe-cleaner curls. Others include a variety of dreaded mohawks or lock-hawks, a variety of braided buns and combinations of basic style elements.
Natural hair can also be styled into bantu knots, which involves sectioning the hair with square or triangular parts and fastening it into tight knots on the head. Bantu knots can be made from both loose natural hair as well as dreadlocks. When braided flat against the scalp, natural hair can be worn as basic cornrows or form a countless variety of artistic patterns.
Other styles include the "natural" (also known as a mini-fro or "teenie weenie afro") and "microcoils" for close-cropped hair, the twist-out and braid-out, "brotherlocks" and "Sisterlocks," the fade and any combination of styles such as cornrows and afro-puff.
It is important to note that an overwhelming majority of Black hair styles involve parting the natural into individual sections before styling.[16] Research shows that excessive braiding, tight cornrows, relaxing and vigorous dry combing of afro-textured hair can be harmful to the hair and scalp. They have also been known to cause ailments such as alopecia, balding at the edges, excessive dry scalp and bruises on the scalp.
Enjoy!
CurLillies
Afro-textured hair
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Afro-textured hair is a term used to refer to the typical texture of Black African hair that has not been altered by hot combs, flat irons, or chemicals (by perming, relaxing, or straightening). Each strand of this hair type grows in a tiny spring-like, corkscrew shape. The overall effect is such that, despite relatively fewer actual hair shafts compared to straight hair,[1] this texture appears (and feels) denser than its straight counterparts. Due to this, it is often referred to as 'thick', 'bushy', 'coarse' or 'woolly' . For several reasons, possibly including its relatively flat cross section (among other factors[2]), this hair type also conveys a dry or matte appearance.[3][4] Its unique shape also renders it very prone to breakage when combed or brushed.[4] Adjectives such as "kinky", "nappy", or "spiralled" are often used to describe natural afro-textured hair in Western societies.
Structure
There are differences across ethnicity in the structure, density, and growth rate of hair. With regards to structure, all human hair has the same basic chemical composition in terms of keratin protein content.[5] However, Franbourg et al. have found that Black hair may differ in the distribution of lipids throughout the hair shaft.[5] Afro-textured hair was not as densely concentrated as other phenotypes.[1] Specifically, the average density of Afro-textured hair was found to be approximately 190 hairs per square centimeter. This was significantly lower than that of Caucasian hair, which, on average, produces approximately 227 hairs per square centimeter.[1] Further, Loussourarn found that Afro-textured hair grows at an average rate of approximately 256 micrometers per day, while that of Caucasians grows at approximately 396 micrometers per day.[1][6] In addition, due to a phenomenon called 'shrinkage', Afro-textured hair that is a given length when stretched straight can appear much shorter when allowed to naturally coil upon itself.[7] Shrinkage is most evident when Afro-hair is (or has recently been) wet.[7]
Evolution
See Main Article: HairThe manifestation of Afro-textured hair, along with darkly complected skin, was initially an adaptation to the intense UV insolation of the tropics.
Cultural Significance
History in the United States
Diasporic Black Africans in the Americas have been experimenting with ways to style their hair since their arrival in the Western Hemisphere well before the nineteenth century. In the U.S. following emancipation (between the late 1890s and the early 1900s), Annie Malone, Madam C. J. Walker and Garrett Augustus Morgan revolutionized African American hair care by inventing and marketing chemical (and heat-based) applications to alter the natural tightly curled texture. During the 1930s, conking (vividly described in "The Autobiography of Malcolm X") became an innovative method in the U.S. for Black men to straighten kinky hair; whereas, women at that time tended to either wear wigs, or to hot-comb their hair (rather than conk it) in order to temporarily mimic the same straight style without permanently altering the natural curl pattern.
It has been debated whether hair straightening practices arose out of a desire to conform to a Eurocentric standard of beauty. Supporters of the second process believe that the same prejudice that viewed lighter skin as preferable to darker, held that straight or wavy hair (i.e. "good" hair) was preferable to tightly curled hair, and that this prejudice originated not from Black African Diasporic peoples but from European slaveholders and colonizers as part of the rhetoric used to support slavery and racially-based social class stratifications. Some claim that the dominant prejudice for Eurocentric ideas of beauty pervades the western world.[8] Further, the tendency to judge people, especially women, based upon their physical appearance speaks to the fact that this issue is especially poignant for African American females. In other words, it is a clear example of an inherent, interlocking conflict that Black women face with Western norms that involves both race (i.e. the fact that the natural afro-hair texture of sub-Saharan African descended peoples deviates starkly from the global 'norm'), and gender (i.e. the fact that the disproportionately strong need for women to be physically 'beautiful' is heavily marketed to all Westerners, and is thus reinforced by men (and women) of all races).
The civil rights movement and black power and pride movements of the 1960s and 1970s in the U.S. created an impetus for African Americans to express their political commitments and self-love by the wearing of fairly long, natural hair. This contributed to the emergence of the Afro hairstyle into American mainstream culture, as an affirmation of Black African heritage, that "black is beautiful," and a rejection of Eurocentric standards of beauty. It has been used in songs, as a symbol of Black African heritage, notably in I Wish by Stevie Wonder. By the 1970s natural hair had evolved into a popular hairstyle.
Over the years, the popularity of natural hair has waxed and waned. Today, a significant percentage of African American women elect to straighten their hair with relaxers of some kind (either heat or chemically based). This is done despite the fact that prolonged application of such chemicals (or heat) can result in overprocessing, breakage and thinning of the hair. Nonetheless, over the past decade or so, natural hair has once again increased in popularity with the emergence of styles such as cornrows, locks, braiding, twists and short, cropped hair, most of which originated in Ancient Africa. With the emergence of hip-hop culture and Caribbean influences like reggae music, more non-blacks have begun to wear these hairstyles as well. There has been a boom in marketing hair products such as "Out of Africa" shampoo to African American consumers. Slogans that promote a pan-Black African appreciation of Afro-textured hair include "Happy to be nappy," "Don't worry, be nappy," as well as "Love, peace and nappiness."[citation needed]
Controversy over natural Afro-textured hair in the United States
Although there has been a reemergence in the popularity of natural Afro-textured hair, it is still widely perceived by African-American women that straight hair is viewed as more professional. Women who feel pressured to straighten their hair for reasons related to this perception cite the fact that many high-profile professional Black women still straighten their hair.[9] There are, of course, very prominent exceptions, including: Ursula Burns, the first Black CEO of a Fortune 500 company and Leah Ward Sears, the first Black Chief Justice of a state court in the United States.In 1971 Melba Tolliver, a WABC-TV correspondent, made national headlines when she wore an afro while covering the wedding of Tricia Nixon Cox, daughter of President Richard Nixon. The station threatened to take Tolliver off of the air until the story caught national attention.[10]
In 1981 Dorothy Reed, a reporter for KGO-TV, the ABC affiliate in San Francisco, was suspended for wearing her hair in cornrows with beads on the ends. KGO called her hairstyle "inappropriate and distracting." After two weeks of a public dispute, an NAACP demonstration outside of the station, and negotiations, Reed and the station reached an agreement. The company paid her lost salary and she removed the colored beads. She returned to the air, still braided, but beadless.[11]
A 1998 incident became national news when Ruth Ann Sherman, a teacher in Bushwick, Brooklyn, introduced her students to the book Nappy Hair by African American author Carolivia Herron. Sherman, who is white, was criticized by parents of black children, who thought that the book presented a negative stereotype.[12]
On Wednesday, April 4, 2007 radio talk-show host Don Imus referred to the Rutgers University women's basketball team playing in the Women's NCAA Championship game as a group of "nappy-headed hos" during his Imus in the Morning show. Bernard McGuirk then compared the game to "the jigaboos versus the wannabes," alluding to Spike Lee's film School Daze. Imus apologized two days later, after receiving criticism. CBS Radio canceled Don Imus' morning show on Thursday, April 12, 2007.
During August 2007, American Lawyer Magazine reported that an unnamed junior Glamour Magazine staffer did a presentation on the "Dos and Don'ts of Corporate Fashion" for Cleary Gottlieb, a New York City law firm. There was a slide show where the woman made negative remarks about black women's natural hairstyles in the workplace, calling them "shocking," "inappropriate," and "political." Both the law firm and Glamour Magazine issued apologies to the staff.[13][14] However, natural afro hair texture continues to be an issue in US workplaces.[15]
In 2009, Chris Rock produced Good Hair, a film which addresses a number of issues pertaining to African American hair, including the styling industry surrounding it, the acceptable look of African American women's hair in society, and the effects of both upon African American culture.
Natural Black Hair in other Diasporic Black Populations
Natural Black Hair in Continental African History
Natural black hair styling
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Because of the highly politicized nature of natural black hair in the United States of America and the intersectional pressures faced by black women in particular, the care and styling of natural black hair has become an enormous industry. Throughout the United States, there are a number of salons and beauty supply stores that cater solely to clients with natural afro-textured hair. Online forums, social networking groups and web-logs have also become enormously popular resources for Blacks in the exchange of styling ideas, techniques, and hair-care procedures.
There are a number of specific hair-styles that are commonplace in the canon of styles for natural Black hair, many the result of the experimentation of African slaves in the Western colonies. The afro is a large, often spherical growth of afro-textured hair popular in the Black power movement. The afro has a number of variants including the "afro-puff" and a variant in which the afro is treated with a blow dryer to become a flowing mane. The hi-top fade was common among African-American men in the 1980s and has since been replaced in popularity by the Caesar hair cut. Other styles include plaits or braids, the two-strand twist and basic twists all of which can form into manicured dreadlocks if the hair is allowed to knit together in the style-pattern. Basic twists include finger-coils and comb-coil twists. Dreadlocks, also called "dreads," "locks" or "locs," can also be formed by allowing the hairs to weave together on their own from an afro.
Manicured locks - alternatively called salon, or fashion locks - alone have a large variety of styling options that involve strategic parting, sectioning and patterning of the dreads. Popular dreadlocked styles include cornrows, the braid-out style or lock crinkles, the basket weave and pipe-cleaner curls. Others include a variety of dreaded mohawks or lock-hawks, a variety of braided buns and combinations of basic style elements.
Natural hair can also be styled into bantu knots, which involves sectioning the hair with square or triangular parts and fastening it into tight knots on the head. Bantu knots can be made from both loose natural hair as well as dreadlocks. When braided flat against the scalp, natural hair can be worn as basic cornrows or form a countless variety of artistic patterns.
Other styles include the "natural" (also known as a mini-fro or "teenie weenie afro") and "microcoils" for close-cropped hair, the twist-out and braid-out, "brotherlocks" and "Sisterlocks," the fade and any combination of styles such as cornrows and afro-puff.
It is important to note that an overwhelming majority of Black hair styles involve parting the natural into individual sections before styling.[16] Research shows that excessive braiding, tight cornrows, relaxing and vigorous dry combing of afro-textured hair can be harmful to the hair and scalp. They have also been known to cause ailments such as alopecia, balding at the edges, excessive dry scalp and bruises on the scalp.
- ^ a b c d Loussouarn G (August 2001). "African hair growth parameters". Br. J. Dermatol. 145 (2): 294–7. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2133.2001.04350.x. PMID 11531795. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/resolve/openurl?genre=article&sid=nlm:pubmed&issn=0007-0963&date=2001&volume=145&issue=2&spage=294.
- ^ Franbourg et al. "Influence of Ethnic Origin of Hair on Water-Keratin Interaction" In Ethnic Skin and Hair E. Berardesca, J. Leveque, and H. Maibach (Eds.). page 101. Informa Healthcare. 2007
- ^ Teri, LaFlesh (2010). Curly like me. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 978-0-470-53642-1.
- ^ a b Dale H. Johnson, Hair and hair care, (CRC Press: 1997), p.237
- ^ a b Franbourg et al. (2007). "Influence of Ethnic Origin of Hair on Water-Keratin Interaction". In Enzo Berardesca, Jean-Luc Lévêque and Howard I. Maibach. Ethnic skin and hair. New York: Informa Healthcare. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-8493-3088-9. OCLC 70218017.
- ^ Khumalo NP, Gumedze F (September 2007). "African hair length in a school population: a clue to disease pathogenesis?". Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology 6 (3): 144–51. doi:10.1111/j.1473-2165.2007.00326.x. PMID 17760690.
- ^ a b http://www.blackhairinformation.com/Natural_Hair/how_to_work_with_shrinkage_in_natural_curly_black_hair.htm
- ^ Byrd, Ayana D.; Tharps, Lori L. (2001). Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-28322-9.
- ^ Viscoti, Luke (Aug 3, 2009). "Do Blacks Need to Relax Their Natural Hair to Get Promoted?". http://www.diversityinc.com/article/4731/Do-Blacks-Need-to-Relax-Their-Natural-Hair-to-Get-Promoted/. Retrieved July 25, 2010.
- ^ Douglas, William (Oct 9, 2009). "For Many Black Women, Hair Tells the Story of Their Roots". http://www.mcclatchydc.com/244/story/76915.html. Retrieved Dec 29, 2009.
- ^ "1981:Television reporter Dorothy Reed is suspended for wearing her hair in cornrows". http://newswatch.sfsu.edu/milestones/decade1980_reed.html. Retrieved Dec 29, 2009.
- ^ Leyden, Liz (1998-12-03). "N.Y. Teacher Runs Into a Racial Divide". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/frompost/dec98/hair3.htm. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
- ^ Moe (2007-08-14). "'Glamour' Editor To Lady Lawyers: Being Black Is Kinda A Corporate "Don't"". Jezebel. Gawker Media. http://jezebel.com/gossip/your-roots-are-showing/glamour-editor-to-lady-lawyers-being-black-is-kinda-a-corporate-dont-289268.php. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
- ^ Kym Platt (2007-09-07). "Glamour Apologizes". Ask This Black Woman. Archived from the original on 2008-04-17. http://web.archive.org/web/20080417024438/http://askthisblackwoman.com/2007/09/07/glamour-apologizes.aspx. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
- ^ Having ethnic hair in corporate America
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6961935.stm
References
- Bundles, A'Lelia Perry (2001). On her own ground: the life and times of Madam C. J. Walker. New York: Scribner. ISBN 978-0-684-82582-3. OCLC 44548979.
- Craig, Maxine Leeds (2002). Ain't I a beauty queen?: black women, beauty, and the politics of race. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-514267-9. OCLC 47995928.
- Chaubey G, Metspalu M, Kivisild T, Villems R (January 2007). "Peopling of South Asia: investigating the caste-tribe continuum in India". BioEssays 29 (1): 91–100. doi:10.1002/bies.20525. PMID 17187379.
- Interview by Dr Victoria Holloway-Barbosa from the definitive award-winning documentary on Black Hair called"My Nappy ROOTS: A journey through Black HAir-itage".
- Kivisild T, Rootsi S, Metspalu M, et al. (February 2003). "The genetic heritage of the earliest settlers persists both in Indian tribal and caste populations". American Journal of Human Genetics 72 (2): 313–32. doi:10.1086/346068. PMID 12536373.
- Quintana-Murci L, Chaix R, Wells RS, et al. (May 2004). "Where west meets east: the complex mtDNA landscape of the southwest and Central Asian corridor". American Journal of Human Genetics 74 (5): 827–45. doi:10.1086/383236. PMID 15077202.
- Tishkoff SA, Dietzsch E, Speed W, et al. (March 1996). "Global patterns of linkage disequilibrium at the CD4 locus and modern human origins". Science 271 (5254): 1380–7. doi:10.1126/science.271.5254.1380. PMID 8596909.
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