HAIR TALK: THE EXTREMELY LAZY NATURAL II (YOUR RESPONSIBILITY)

Picture from CN2

After reading the first Part I some of you might ask...

What exactly is my hair care responsibility? 

The fact is that most of us grew up with other people taking care of our hair. In Nigeria where labour can be cheap, getting someone to wash and style your hair can be easy. Our mothers might have been the ones to wash our hair  but most times than not the responsibility of styling and maintenance was someone else's job. This sort of slipped in as a habit and now that we are  older, a lot of us are still over dependent on hair stylists who sometimes know very little about afro-hair care. 

I have met women who think it is tight fisted or broke ladies who wash their hair by themselves. Its no wonder why a lot of us actually rock severe 'iya iyabo' like it is a style that has always being in season.

If you can give yourself a bath each day, then please work up liver to take some responsibility for your hair. 

Since we all know that a lot of our hair stylists know next to nothing about kinky or permed hair it is our responsibility to:

1. Educate them or direct them on what to do with our hair, and

2. Take proper care of our hair first before letting them style it.

To elaborate more on this, two extremely laid back naturals have given me the permission to share the error in their ways. 

ELN #1: Ms P

I met Ms P in 2012 and we have stayed in touch since then (you know how naturals connect easily). 

Three weeks ago, she called me to come style her hair. We agreed on a date, which was tight for both of us, but knowing how our schedules where we decided to stick to the plan. On our appointment I was so disappointed to find her with damp hair that was tightly coiled at the roots because it was not properly stretched. We met at 12:00pm and she was to go to work by 2:00pm!! Her excuse was that she came back very late from work the previous day and could only wash her hair early that morning. Harmattan had gone so there was no way she could have air dried her hair and be ready for our appointment by 12:00pm.

We attempted to quickly blow dry her hair but when I started braiding, the
roots did not look neat at all (sorry, I forgot to take a picture)

Solution:

Instead of braiding and leaving her with rough hair, as it was not my fault (na so our hair stylists dey reason na) I decided to smooth her hair and thread it so that when next we meet styling would be easier on both parties.

         RESULTS

Ms P wanted the style I had recently done for EnKay so we did hers with a slight twist :)

ELN #2: My Sister

Believe it or not this really is my sisters hair. Yes, all four of us seem to have different hair textures but that is no excuse for why her hair looks the way it does.

Now, this yeye girl  decided to wear her hair out like Resane Babalwa of Sisterhood. When she got back home, she did not moisturise and braid or even thread to keep the kinks protected....no....not my sister, she went straight to bed like that. I refused to wake her up because I have this suspicion that I make my sisters hair lazy. They take care of their when in school but when they are around me, its like they don't even try. Its seems like my 'hair talk'  is only to be applied in school and never at home.

Back to my madam, by the next morning, I had to restrain myself from telling her what to do but by evening I couldn't take it any more. I sat her down, sprayed on some water, patiently detangled, and braided her hair. The funny part is that detangling was not as difficult as I expected. I then proceeded to give her the LumoNaturals henna mix treatment I had promised her. 

This child needs to start paying me, because she keeps saying "when you are here nko? why should I bother?" 

No be her fault sha, there are dishes I do not eat until she is around:)

Why are my stressing both ladies?

Simple, I have told them times without number to take care of their hair before sitting down for me or anyone else to style their hair. Why?

1. Time: When we refuse to take proper care of our hair, we spend a lot of time trying to smoothing out kinks that could have taken us a few minutes to stretch.

2. Knots and Breakage: The results of poorly maintained natural hair. Keep the knots away by properly detangling and stretching natural hair after washing and before sleeping (when you wear the fro out)

3. Slow growth: Your hair would take a longer time to get to your desired length if it keeps breaking off due to neglect.

4. Wastage: I had to take four trips to Ms P's, no thanks to her care free attitude towards her hair. I mean, she could have washed her hair days before I came. Abi? (one love Ms P :))

5. Frustration: Unkempt natural hair can frustrate both you and the hair stylist - who might know very little about your hair type and its needs. Keep those tears at bay, take care of ya hair ya self :)

6. Cost: Both of this ladies are my people, but if they were clients best believe I will charge them double for their negligence.

My Opinion...

While it might be someone else's job to style your hair, it is your job to take proper care of it. Know your hair texture and what it responds to. With the knowledge at your finger tips it will be easy for you to tell others what you want instead of complaining.