We tell the whole truth about the hair of African women.
In photographs in magazines, we are greeted by beautiful African women with a huge shock of hair. The trend for African curls is gaining momentum – small curls that turn your hair into a luxurious mane. But for some reason, in the photographs of travelers, women from African tribes cannot boast of thick and long hair: they go either with a bald head or with shoulder-length hair at the maximum. What is the reason?
In fact, African women are naturally almost bald, especially Kenyans. The inhabitants of this country practically do not grow hair, and if vegetation appears, then it looks like “Crystal” curls… The main genetic feature of the inhabitants of this country is short, brittle hair-mounds, which grow no more than 10 cm. Then the hair breaks off under its own weight. Moreover, such lifeless bundles are simply unrealistic to comb, and you should not do this, because you would rather pull out the vegetation by the roots than unravel these dry mounds of hair.
Residents of African tribes do not care about beauty, because the main thing is practicality, which is why you can often find bald women among them. Those who are a little more fortunate and genetics have presented hair that looks like elastic spirals, also do not seek to waste time caring for them. It is much easier to braid your hair in spit or dreadlocks, be sure to add clay, threads and animal hair. With such a hairstyle, you can forget about leaving for three months, or even six months, while the already fragile hair is not harmed by the scorching sun and dirt.
But how can we explain that African women with a shock of lively and strong hair are looking at us from the pages of glossy magazines as from a shampoo advertisement? Here special chemical compounds – relaxants – come to the rescue. African women process their coarse and unruly hair with them and, as a result, get beautiful hair. But the effect is short-lived, and the chemical attack further destroys the fragile texture of the hair. For a one-time photo shoot, such a tool is suitable. But more often than not, African women borrow hair from other girls: they just use wigs, hairpieces or false strands.
This method is much more convenient and safer: the girl wanted a beautiful hairstyle – she went to the store and bought it. But now a new trend is gaining popularity among African-American women – sewing on hair… The girl spends in the armchair with the stylist until 15 o’clock and experiences terrible pain, because the master weaves her hair into tight braids that should fit to the head. Then a special material is glued, and other people’s hair is sewn to it along the strands. Such a hairstyle also requires proper care, but you won’t go for it for the sake of beauty.
The trend for afrokos and dreadlocks for a European person is a thirst for experiment and a way to stand out from the crowd. But for the inhabitants of Africa – an opportunity to save money and time.