Natural hair Journey, what’s that?

Are you on a natural hair journey? Maybe you don’t even exactly know what a natural hair journey entails—but you’ve seen various posts on Instagram lamenting about this movement. Before delving deeper into what a natural hair journey is, lets first understand what “natural” hair is. Black natural hair (i.e., African American natural hair) is the hair we are referring to when talking about a natural hair care journey. Natural hair by definition hasn’t been altered by chemical straighteners, including relaxers and texturizers. Natural black hair ranges from wavy to kinky-coily, with a wide range of variation in between. This hair when examined at the cuticle level (strand by strand) has a larger cross section than different types of hair. Its cuticles are composed of 7-11 layers on average. This increased number of cuticle layers makes it harder for products to penetrate deep into the hair strand. In general, black hair tends to be drier to the touch than other hair textures, fragile, and extremely difficult to over-condition. Although it looks strong, natural hair is very delicate and needs to be handled as such.

Natural hair has a large range of versatility when it comes to hairstyles. Including styles such

as updos, braids and cornrows, twists, and afros. An Afro is a hairstyle created by combing the hair away from the scalp, forming the hair into a rounded shape. The afro hairstyle is typically shaped and maintained with an afro pick. Hair twists are popular with afro-textured hair around the world. Twists can be made when naturally curly hair is still wet. In order to maintain twist hairstyles one should cover their hair at night with a headscarf or durag. A variation of hair twists is called a “twist out” where twisted hair is untwisted to create a large, loosely crimped texture.

There is a debate in the natural hair community as to whether coloured hair is still considered natural. As long as there is no texture-altering chemicals on the hair, one can say that their hair is natural. The texture of the hair is generally what people refer to when referencing natural hair.

The natural hair movement has seen a rise in Black naturals giving up relaxers, allowing their hair to grow in its natural texture. Relaxing the hair is a form of chemical processing which breaks down the keratin bond in the hair—chemically straightening it. Being natural does not necessarily indicate a strict adherence to any particular type of product. What it does involve is the creation of a consistent hair care regimen. This regimen involves washing, deep conditioning, protein and moisture treatments to improve the health of the hair. It is of great importance when taking care of natural hair, to do adequate research and stick to a desired regimen. This consistent effort will have the best results when it comes to healthy, long, and strong, natural hair. Stay tuned for my next few posts where I outline how to create a natural hair care regimen as well as information on braids, and other protective styles.