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Myths and Facts about African-Ethnic Hair
When it comes to training for a career in the hair care and styling field, we think in terms of
Caucasian (or European) hair and “Ethnic” hair. We are taught to recognize the traits of the hair found among the various races: those
people of Asian descent, of Indian descent, and of African descent. Learning to identify these traits helps to see how the various
stereotypes are formed, but it is the practice of actually working with hair of various ethnic types that helps you see that the
stereotypes are often false.
Having grown up hearing a wide variety of these stereotypes, it was educational for me to
learn just how many of the things I had heard are completely false. Here are some examples:
“African hair feels harsh and scratchy.”
Ok, so I actually learned this was false early on. In grade school I sat behind an
African-American girl who wore her hair in thick twists. One day, after asking, she let me touch her hair and I discovered that it was
very soft. It was only the tightly-kinked wave pattern that made it appear that it would feel rougher.
Visual appearances can often be misleading. Hair that is very kinky can look damaged, which
is why we gauge the health of the hair by feel. Personally, I think the reason kinky hair became closely associated with damaged hair
is a result of the “home perm” revolution of the 70’s. There were so many badly-done perms and cases of damaged hair that ended up
kinked and frizzy, that kinky hair caused people to be reminded of a badly done perm.
“Unless it is processed, African hair will be kinky and bushy.”
This is completely untrue. African hair can be found in a wide range of wave patterns. I have
met women and men of African descent whose hair covers a range of wave patterns, from almost straight, to smooth, tight coils. Yes,
there are a larger percentage of kinky wave patterns found among African hair, but even the kinky hair varies from individual to
individual.
It is only societal pressure that has led women and men of African descent to resort to
chemical relaxing processes to make their hair smoother, and more like the popular images of beauty; that, and the desire to have
more options for styling the hair.
“African hair is oilier/greasier than European hair. This is evidenced by the fact that water beads up on their
hair.”
This is also untrue. African hair actually tends to be no more or less oily than any other
ethnic group’s hair. The reason that water tends to bead up on African hair is that the hair tends to have a more compact cuticle layer,
which makes the hair resistant to moisture. Water and other liquids cannot penetrate the cuticle layer as easily, and therefore
simply sits on the surface of the hair. This also means that resistant hair holds moisture better and is usually in better condition.
The compact cuticle also means the hair looks shinier than hair with less compact cuticle
layers. The shine can be enhanced by the oils produced by the scalp, which leads to overly-shiny or oily-looking hair, since the oil
will be less likely to penetrate the hair shaft.
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