THE HISTORY OF " BLACK HAIR AND CULTURE"

Hey ladies, did you know that Afro Americans have used their west African roots and their own artistry to create styles and standards that reflect unique black culture for many , many years. Around 1441 when African slaves were brought west to the " new world " they were confronted with their first loss of identity. It was then that the one and only identity they had was stripped from them. Some slaves attempted to stay with their traditional African hair customs like braiding hair using African patterns and using natural herbs from trees for their hair and skin care. Officially, the roots of a hair fiber sticks into something like a bag in the skin. The fiber is pushed out of this bag about 0.35 mm per day growing about 1 cm, of half of an inch per month. The growth rate relates to the individual age , diet etc. Healthy hair has an average lifetime of 26 years . However, there are exceptions the hair of African Americans is usually coarser in texture, tighter in curl pattern, more naturally delicate as well as more vulnerable to damage from chemical treatments. There is no chemical difference in make - up of African American hair in comparison with any other hair type, but what does make Africian American hair different is our wave, curl, or kink and bonding pattern. In reguards to the structure of " black hair" , the reason why kinky hair breaks so easily is because every twist in African American hair represents a potential stress point, which means the curlier your hair the more prone it is to breakage. So there you have it, our brief history lesson for the day ( lol). This was very interesting to me and quite helpful . I hope you ladies find this bit of information to beneficial as well. Enjoy!!!