"Do You All Do Afro Hair?"

How many of y'all remember school picture day in Elementary School? We'd all line up single-file, drudge down to the gym to wait in an endless line of other kids in button-ups and lacey dresses while all around us, cameras snapped and flashed, and preschoolers screamed. Man, what a sight. Who else remembers how they'd hand out little black combs so the teachers could fix little Jesse's comb over and Julie's bangs? I, too, received one of those combs, only instead of fixing my nonexistent bangs, I just stared at it like, "what the hello am I supposed to do with this thing? My hair is braided up in cornrows."

Flash forward to third and fourth grade health class, where we were taught how to wash our hands and brush our teeth properly. According to all the experts, you had to wash your hair at least every couple of days so it wouldn't get dirty and greasy. I sat in the back of that class, arms folded across my chest, perplexed since I washed my hair every two, three, or even four weeks--and that grease everyone else was worried about? My mom purposefully put grease in my hair before she braided it up.

Now let's jump forward to sixth grade, when we went on a class camping trip. At this time, I had a relaxer (straight perm), so my hair was now hanging down straight instead of curls being braided up. Every night, I would wrap my hair up on my head and put a scarf and bonnet over it so that in the morning, it would fall nicely at my shoulders. Suddenly, on a camping trip surrounded by other eleven and twelve year old girls who'd never seen another Black girl outside of the six that went to our school and whoever else they saw on TV, my mundane nightly routine was a beauty lesson.

Jump even further to high school swim class--the worst time ever for any high school girl, but especially so for me. We only had twenty minutes to wash up and change back into our regular clothes--tell that to my Black hair, which needed special attention, lest it dry out and fall off.

This is all only just through high school. The struggle continued into college. Where was I going to go to get my hair done? Were there any African hair braiders in Champaign-Urbana? Not to mention all the times I've had to explain afro hair to my friends and students, as I grew out my straight perm and went back to wearing my natural afro. My preschool kids would often call my curls my "crazy hair," or ask why it was "all over the place like that." Two of my best college friends had never been to a Black beauty supply before, so the day that I took them to pick out some packs of hair for my next installment of braids was quite the experience.

In this country--and really, every country other than the motherland itself--we are poorly educated in afro hair, its unique properties, and how to care for it. Many beauticians can not style or care for it unless they are Black themselves, or have Black children, which makes it difficult for me to go somewhere just to get a haircut. We are not educating young adolescents on it, so it's a huge shock whenever they come in contact with an afro, or natural hair.

That all ends with this post.

Here is everything you never knew about African American afro hair:

1. There are subsets of curls ranging from 2A to 4C. 2A is wavy, and 4C is an extremely kinky and coiled up texture. I am probably a 4B. My curls are very tight, but have a distinct spring-like pattern.

(Image http://www.mynaturalblackhair.com/natural-hair-types/)

2. Depending on how tight or loose your curls are, you care for them differently. Very tight curls need a lot of hydration and moisturizing. A method for locking in water is called the LOC method: leave-in conditioner, an oil (olive, coconut, tea tree, etc), then moisturizer. This is applied to wet hair.

3. Kinky curls don't have to be washed everyday because they do not produce the same oils as straight hair. Many wash their hair once a week, once every couple of weeks, or even once a month. For instance, I wash mine with shampoo and conditioner once a week, but condition in the middle of the week to help keep my hair moisturized.

4. Products with sulfate, parabens, certain alcohols and mineral oils can be very drying to afro hair, and potentially damaging. Many naturals such as myself choose sulfate-free shampoos to avoid damaging hair.

5. Some naturals choose protective styling, which are styles that reduce manipulation to the hair (daily combing, styling, etc are examples of manipulation). These styles can include braids, twists, sew-ins, weaves, and wigs that are many times very costly, and can take hours to install. For example, I have paid anywhere between 120 and 220 dollars to have my hair braided, and have sat for 3-10 hours with an average being something like 7 hours to finish braiding my whole head. Braids typically last for about 3 months, as keeping them in any longer could damage the hair. As expensive and timely as this is, I don't have to do my hair (other than weekly washes) for 3 months! Braids also help my hair grow by leaps and bounds. I continually had braids for about two years before I grew out all of my straight perm, and my hair to the length I wanted.

6. THE SHRINKAGE IS REAL! What does this mean? This means that since afro hair is curled up so tight, it's often longer than it appears. My curls have a TON of shrinkage, and can be stretched out tremendously either by twisting them and then letting them loose, straightening them, etc. Shrinkage is a good thing; the more your curls shrink up, the healthier they are, and the more moisture they're retaining.

(Image http://blackgirllonghair.com/2016/06/20-pictures-of-natural-hair-shrinkage-that-will-blow-your-mind/)

7. DON'T TOUCH MY HAAAIR (Solange Knowles). It's incredibly rude to reach out and put your hands in someone's afro, especially if you don't know them. Many have expressed feeling like a petting zoo when folks reach out and do this. So please: ask first!

Naturalistas, am I missing anything? Comment below with any other natural hair information others may not know!

Best,

Reina