I remember being a little 5/6 year old girl and telling my Mum that I wanted ‘white people’s hair’. I think this really concerned my parents in terms of my perceptions of beauty, which is probably why they bought me a black Barbie for christmas that year. Yes, that did help with my own mental image of what beauty is (in terms of someone of my own complexion) however, the black barbie ‘Christie’ still had very long, straight hair.
Although I did not directly link caucasian hair to beauty while I was growing up, it was still an important asset in terms of what it meant to be a beautiful woman in my eyes. Hence why I really wanted a perm. Braids and afros seemed quite childish in my eyes. And while it was stylish to have your hair smelling of ‘Pink’ and having half of your head braided with ribbons in it and gel slicking down your baby hairs during secondary school in south London, it did not reflect the standard of beauty for a woman, just a teenage girl.
The only celebrity I can recall growing up and idolising her natural-looking hair was Alicia Keys, but even then, the hair texture was completely different from my own tight kinks and frizz. The general assets of a beautiful woman only really began to alter for me when I got to university, and even more so when I did my year abroad in America. Natural hair was like the cool, new, unique thing which represented self-love, confidence, and a certain level of depth in your character. It was no longer childish. It was sophisticated. And I was no longer plugging in my flat iron and buying blue magic pressing oil. But for as much as I’m ecstatic about my hair being considered beautiful, there are qualms which I possess in regards to the ‘natural hair movement’:
- A slave to the beauty store: the black haircare industry was worth $684 million (£446m) in 2012 and is predicted to be worth $761 million (£497m) by 2017. It seems as though we will buy anything which claims to add moisture or promote growth. And then when we buy one product from one company, we have to then complete the collection and buy the gel, the conditioning creme, the conditioning spray, the shampoo, the co wash, the curly creme, the refreshing curly spray etc etc etc. But the really distressing part of all this is that when we go to our local hair shop to spend all this money on the same products with different labelling and promises, we are taking advice and purchasing the products from asian men. So a large amount of our black hair multi-million dollar industry isn’t even black owned. Akash doesn’t know whether aragon oil or tea tree oil will work best with your 4c hair.
- Nature or nurture: To be completely honest with you all, I think my hair was at it’s best when I was 17/18 years old. And at this age I didn’t know what conditioner was, I oiled my scalp with blue magic, I’d leave my hair in extensions for months at a time, and I had no strict sealing, co-washing, or shampooing products or routine. But this is what my hair was like:
I’m not saying that adopting some techniques and products won’t make any difference to the health of your hair, but I also don’t believe every story about the speed and length in which some people’s hair grows and retains quality. My hair was at it’s worst during my second semester in America, which was, ironically, the time in which I started getting on a strict hair regime (don’t worry, it’s better now lol). I was trying a bunch of different products. Using shampoo and a protein conditioner once a week, sealing my ends, not using blue magic or dax on my scalp, no heat, just natural hair styles. After a few months my hair started to breaking and I honestly think it was down to having my ends out in curly styles too often, too many products, and too much manipulation, or in other words, regime.
- Routine or regime: I personally don’t know any of these women on youtube who have the time and money to constantly buy and try new products and routines while supposedly having a job or business, looking after a loving husband, being a part time MUA or fashion blogger, and having a child. I think it’s all a facade to be honest. If theres one thing I’ve learnt this past year it’s not to compare people’s filtered and controlled portrayal of reality to your actual real life. People’s lives are only as perfect as they depict it to be. And I don’t believe it is possible to have the time and money to actually keep up with the routines people promote. Which makes you feel bad because you feel as though you aren’t taking proper care of your hair
- Natural hair snobbery: the natural hair movement has come a long way in a relatively short amount of time in terms of getting black genetics to be accepted as beautiful and appropriate for different social settings such as on stage at the VMAs or an office in canary wharf. However, this has come with a bit of snobbery towards women who wear weaves or have a perm. Almost as though they are selling out in some way or don’t have that ‘depth’ I spoke of earlier. It’s almost as though the tables have turned and now straight hair is looked down upon, which is a huge contradiction because we have spent so long trying to get hair black accepted on a wider scale. Black hair is the most versatile of all the hair types. Straight, afro, curls, dreadlocks, braids. It’s all possible, and so our hair should be accepted in any format.
@CillaHope_
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