African American women - question about hair.?

Question

Hi ladies,

Can you enlighten me? I am watching America's Next Top Model and they talked about African American hair. Can you tell me - is it difficult to style? What do you have to do to take care of it? How is it different from Caucasian hair? Thanks!

Answer 1

you can't wash it everyday--more like once a week

its wayy kinky, which makes it hard to manage--it gets nappy a lot

we can't just wear it down unless we have it straightened with a relaxer or a hot comb--it'll look nappy and tacky

it can be difficult to style if you haven't gotten a relaxer

most of these are exceptions if you are mixed with something, or just have "good hair"(hair that isn't as dry, mostly extremely curly, and easy to run your fingers through)

Answer 2

It's way different than Caucasian straight hair. We do share some  similarities with Caucasian curly hair types though but ultimately our hair is unique as their is no other hair type like it. Our hair tends to be the dryest, super curly and most fragile which means it breaks off super easily so we have to constantly moisturize and condition it to prevent that. Our hair tends to be dry because our hair curls and coils tightly making it difficult for oil to travel down the hair shaft. However most African American women are doing all the wrong stuff that's bad for their hair such as very damaging chemical relaxers that thin and break the hair, hair grease loaded with mineral oil(yuck), etc.

Unfortunately, many of us have NOT been raised and taught on how to properly care and properly style our hair in it's natural state, so we feel as though we HAVE to chemically relax and straighten our hair or you have to be mixed and have "good hair"(God, I hate that term) for it to look good and easy to style. I don't really think it's difficult to style,maybe because my hair has been natural all of my life and never had a chemical in my hair. It might take longer than someone with stick straight hair, it's not really difficult if you know what you're doing. Our hair is very versatile and can hold many hairstyles that other hair types can't. I can wear it wash and go curly, twist-outs, straight, afro, etc. A lot of styles and my hair is a 4a/4b type, so it's very curly and kinky.

Answer 3

it takes a lot more maintenance then just shampooing in the shower every day

Answer 4

I have what some women refer to as good hair. My hair is naturally curly. To keep it healthy I use a lot of conditioner and very little heat. I alternate between curly & straight hair dos. For the curly looks I simply wash, condition, and let air dry prior to styling. F or the straight looks after I have washed my hair I allow it to air dry then flat iron. I may treat my hair with a relaxer once a year to help keep it sleek and prevent the roots from looking frizzy. I find that for me healthy hair means keeping it clean and moisturized.I don't think it's hard to style and care for at all.My only hair problem is keeping the straight looks straight when it's rainy and humid outside.