If you’re a black girl in the 21st century, I bet your hair is important to you.
So, have a read of these seven different hair options to give you some inspo.
Starter pack: hair extensions, at least five centimetres of natural hair, money (unless you’re lucky enough to have a sibling who can braid) and a lot of patience.
Braids are the perfect anywhere anytime hair style. They’re always very classy in a ponytail or a huge bun. There are a few different types of braids such as box braids, Senegalese twists, faux locks, Marley twists and cornrows… Say goodbye to the daily struggle and horror stories of brushing your hair.
You can have any colour hair you want (including purple, pink and grey to chestnut-brown, honey-blonde and deep black) without damaging your hair by dying it. I’ve never been approached in the street as much as when I had silver-grey braids.
It’s a great investment to save time in the morning. Yes, it will take you ages to get done but once it’s done you’re ok for at least one month.
One rule: don’t have them in for longer than four weeks at a time and please don’t do it all year long or you’re going to lose hair.
Starter pack: YouTube, shampoo, conditioner, clarifying shampoo, deep-conditioning mask, leave-in conditioner, oil, shea butter, detangling brush, silk cap, protein treatment and a lot of patience, meticulousness and diligence.
Here’s the first step if you have relaxed hair: stop doing it! Then there is the infamous ‘Big Chop’ where you cut off all your relaxed hair and let your natural hair grow out.
You can also gradually grow out your relaxed hair (transition) then once you feel confident enough, just cut the relaxed ends off. Sleep with a silk cap every night to protect your hair from cotton pillowcases which can absorb all the moisture from it. Condition your hair and seal the moisture in with with an oil or a butter at least once or twice a day.
Use a non-sulphate shampoo, conditioner and deep conditioner once a week. Detangle when your hair is still wet, apply leave-in conditioner and seal again with an oil or hair butter. Once a month use clarifying shampoo to deeply wash your hair and scalp. Do a protein treatment when needed. You have to find the balance between moisturising and providing your hair with protein. A few times a year and especially during winter, adopt a protective style such as box braids, weave or faux locks…
Reminder: black people’s natural hair DOES grow. You just have to be patient.
Starter pack: a good Afro-hairdresser, protein, keratin and conditioning treatment.
A simple, classic, all-occasion hair style. Don’t do it before the age of 16 years old though. Once you relaxed your hair for the first time only re-relax the edges and no more than four times a year. Wait at least a week before dying your hair after relaxing it. Relaxed hair can be damaged extremely easily. You must take care of it as much (or even more than) if it were natural. Protein and keratin treatment to rebuild the body of the hair must be your priority – by moisturising.
Reminder: Relaxers are toxic chemical products. Use them carefully or go to a professional hairdresser.
Writing about dreadlocks requires a few disclaimers. The first one is: dreadlocks do need to be washed as often as other hairstyles. The second: dreadlocks are not an easy hairdo. Unless you have the time to take care of them or the resources to do so, take some time to consider your decision.
That being said, dreadlocks offer you the liberty to do different hairstyles while keeping 100 per cent natural. You can braid them, dye them, cut them, shave a part of them, wear wraps and even undo them (admittedly after a very long session of unravelling them).
