Womb Central

My Hair, My Crown

Part I:  A Few Ideas

            Here of late, when I become upset, or am feeling generally uncreative, there is one thing that allows me to return to a state of reality and excitement.

            That obsession is my natural hair and its upkeep.

            In retrospect, I have learned something new and incorporated this idea into my hair regimen every summer since I started to college. I still remember the summer when I began to do hot oil treatments and began wrapping my hair at night. At first, I styled my hair with hot oil, which, of course caused my hair and forehead to become incredibly oily. I then changed this and began to give myself a hot oil treatment each time I did my hair, and then styled it with something else, possibly another oil. Hot oil treatments are a method that I suggest to anyone that asks me about caring for natural hair. This allows the oil to really penetrate and affect the hair, as well as moisturize it effectively. I find that my hair is much easier to comb through than it was prior to my hot oil treatment days, especially when it is wet, as I only comb my hair when it is wet.

            The following summer, before I headed off to Egypt for a year, I read an amazing book that taught me how to wash my hair in smaller sections, detangling it while it was wet, then applying shampoo, and washing it out in sections. Then, I style my hair in these sections, working from back to front. The name of this book is Going Natural: How to Fall in Love with Nappy Hair and is beautifully written by Mireille Liong-A-Kong. Another great author of books about natural hair is Lonnice Brittenum Bonner. I read one of her books years ago when I first became natural and learned quite a lot.

            This summer, you ask? I have learned copious amounts of techniques to care for, style, and treat my hair. First off, after visiting one of my favorite blog sites about natural hair, curly nikki.com (I would suggest that you visit this amazing site) I learned a lot about a substance called henna. There was a long discussion all about the substance, which comes from a plant and is used as a natural dye. You may have seen it used on the palms of women’s hands as an exotic tattoo. The blog was all about how henna had assisted women in maintaining the length of their beautiful hair. Henna, according to the blog, thickens hair and may partially straighten one’s hair. If one’s hair is dark, the chances of it turning red are slim to none.

            I was thrilled to be gaining so much knowledge about hair. I had heard of henna before, of course, but never had I seen such an array of people that broadcasted its effects. At the time, meaning earlier this summer, I was experiencing split ends in my hair. I felt that my ends were very dry and I knew that in order to maintain my length, I had to do something to take care of my ends, the oldest and most vulnerable part of my hair. I wanted to use this henna stuff, and right away!!

            I kept researching and determined that there are other plants in the henna family that nourish the hair, but do not affect the color because I did not want any “side effects” as I call them, the idea in this case, that my hair would have red highlights. Cassia Obovata is very effective and popular, as it assists with conditioning the hair just as its sister, if you will, henna does.

            In further researching, I found that there was a henna and placenta mixture made by Hask that is sold at Sally’s Beauty’s Supply ®, my absolute favorite hair product store. I had had amazing experiences with Hask Placenta ®, as I bought some when I was in Cairo, and I loved the effects it seemed to have on my ends, but as I insinuated before, I needed something more. I found what I was looking for with Hask Placenta and Henna ® and I have been suggesting it to each person with natural hair that asks my opinion of what to do for moisture.

            Keep in mind that henna is not a detangling agent, but do not despair if you are looking for ways in which to keep your hair from tangling because there are many. I would like to share a few with you.

            One that I have already mentioned is hot oil treatments, but now, I would like to explain how I go about doing this. I go through my entire shampooing ritual so that my hair is nice and wet. While I am washing my hair, I get a bottle of my oil and place it on an eye of the stove in a pot half-full of water. I allow the oil to heat as I am going through my shampooing ritual, then I take it off the stove. I put the oil on each section of my hair, brushing it through from root to end. Once I have gotten my entire head of hair covered in oil, I place a shower cap over my head and let the oil saturate my tresses for a while. Then, I start styling!!

             I prefer to style my hair wet, as it is very soft and easy to untangle.

            One of the many things that I have determined about natural hair this summer is that it differs among all of us. What works for me as far as rituals and techniques go will not necessarily work for you to the same extent. This is one of the many things that I love most about my hair; it is so unique, as am I.

            Why, then, am I sharing this with you? I am sharing this because I feel that though there are many of us out there that are in love with our natural hair, many that have their own natural hair lines for natural hair, many that will instill in their daughters the beauty that they were born with, many that see and heed the detriment that perms and chemicals have on our hair, and many that see nothing more beautiful than their own kinky, curly, straight, nappy, or otherwise hair framing their faces, there are some that are simply ashamed of their hair. We will address this matter in two weeks, so stay tuned!

Works Cited

Mireille Liong-A-Kong Going Natural: How to Fall in Love with Nappy Hair. Brooklyn: Sabi Wiri, Inc., 2004.

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