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African-Ethnic Hair Styles 101 - Continued
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Jheri Curl
Those black men and women who want a curly hairstyle, but not the tight, kinky coils that
are commonly found among those of African descent, sometimes opt for a soft-curl perm. This perming process became known as the Jheri
curl, named after its creator, stylist and hair product mogul, Jheri Redding. The style was created in a two-stage process of relaxing
the hair and wrapping it on perm rods and creating larger curls. The permed hair is treated daily with an activator. The style lost
popularity with most people because of the expense of maintenance, and the staining effect of the activator product that had to be
constantly applied.
Natural
Natural hair among those of African descent refers to any hairstyle or styling technique that
uses the hair as it grows from the scalp, without any chemical processing to change the hairs texture or wave pattern. There has been a
strong refocus among black women especially in recent years to stop using the harsh chemicals on their hair and “go natural”. Their aim
seems to be to emphasize the beauty of natural black hair, whether it’s worn in an afro, twist, braid or other non-chemically-treated
style.
Relaxed
In an effort to make the hair smoother and easier to style in different ways, some black
women and men choose to “relax” their hair. This process involves the use of chemicals that break the chemical side bonds of the hair
(the disulfide bonds) allowing the hair to hang straighter and lay smoother. In most cases, once the hair has been relaxed, it is
styled using another styling method (roller set, curling iron, hot rollers, etc.) to create a finished look as desired.
Twists
This is a styling technique that is sometimes used to begin dreadlocks. The finished look
for a “twist” style depends on the length of the hair and the amount of hair used in each twist. The finished look also depends on
whether the hair is sectioned with a comb, or simply separated using the fingers. Using the fingers to section the hair creates a
fuller look. Sectioning with a comb creates cleanly defined sections and can be used to make patterned sections in the scalp. The
twists can be wound as tightly as desired, and are generally plied with styling creams or gel to secure the look. In some cases, the
section is divided into two equal parts and the two halves are twisted around one another to create a more textured twist.
Stacy - Stylist ©Hairfinder.com
More about African-American Hair
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