YOUR HAIRLINE, YOUR RESPONSIBILITY

Compare Nigerian hair in the 60's with the unhealthy fluff that we see as normal today

If you spend one week in a salon in Nigeria, the number of women with hair and scalp related problems will surprise you. As Nigerians, we rather assign responsibility for a lot of things to other people than learn how to do it ourselves. When I speak to ladies with hair problems like traction alopecia, there is always a story of how the stylist used too much of this or added that other product wrongly. "He or she pulled my hair tightly" or "I was advised to plait my tender scalp so the hair can grow".
While I feel very sorry for them, my response usually is "are you not aware that there is no legislation covering hair care in Nigeria?" We all know that  most of us stylists learned by observing people who might not have  known better themselves. The rate of women with unhealthy hair on the streets can testify to that. So it is for this reason that I advise Nigerian ladies to know their hair first before trusting some else with it. That way, you can guide anyone styling your hair to do what works best for you.

A FEW TIPS TO KEEP AWAY "IYA IYABO" (no hairline)

 Braids, twists and weave-on's are usually the styles of choice for most of us. Not only do they help us save time and money on daily styling ,they also help keep our hair from breaking and/or entangling as a result of over manipulation. While this is a good thing, it can be also be harmful to the hair at our edges. When braids are done too tightly, they can cause damage to your hair follicles leaving you bald in one spot (marginal alopecia) or all through your hair line for the rest of your life. Here are a few tips to remember:

My hair loose chunky twists

1. As the stylist braids your hair, press down the beginning of the braid with your finger to reduce the amount of pressure to your hairline.
2. Avoid plaiting the same style over and over again. If you take down a style like ghana braids, leave your scalp to rest for about 2-3 weeks and then do a different style. As for me, I like to do chunky, loose twists after taking down styles like Ghana-braids or havana twists. 
3. If after braiding or twisting your hair you feel unbearable pain, take down the style. A lot of us think about the money spent but trust me, that amount isn't worth getting bald for.



Notice the sores?

4. The moment you notice little bumps around your hair line with  pus coming out, please loosen your hair immediately and see a specialist. And if you think that it is just hair and should not be taken that seriously, note that sores (like the one in the picture) have been known to cause infections. Where hairlines are concerned, safety should come before beauty.

NO, I DO NOT HAVE GOOD HAIR

Recently, I came across a Natural who I had met during one of our meet ups. My hair was up in a bun and she was excited to finally see it loose. (I'm almost always in loose twists or braids with my ends tucked in)
As she came closer, she noticed my thin hair line and I could see the confusion on her face.
 "You too?" she said and I smiled.
 "Yes o, haven't you seen my improved iya iyabo on my blog?" I asked. And she replied with a "NO''. Lol... I took down my hair band and she saw that there was a huge difference between what grows in front and the rest of them.
After giving her a brief history of my hair, she was shocked to hear that my hair line was much thinner some years ago.

Going through my blog I see that I never fully discussed my hair and its short comings. So if you are a  reader and you have not noticed what I call my improved-iya-iyabo hair line here's what it looks like.

A Little History
 For the most part of my life, I have been natural. Mom, my precious Aunty E, and a few other ladies (I cant remember all of them now) took care of my hair until I got into secondary school. My first year in boarding house saw me taking care of my hair myself because I had not yet found a plaiting patner. In JSS3 (Junior Secondary School) I permed my hair and almost everything in front fell off. In SS1 (Senior Secondary School) I transitioned and by SS2 second term I had my hair back. After graduation, I decided I was going to relax my hair just to show that 'me sef, don age"  and by my 4th year in University, I was back to where I started from but with a difference...

  Ms Natural Hair with no edges.

2009-2011
By the time I started growing my Natural hair again, I noticed that my edges were nearly gone. I worried about it for a while but then I started ignoring it. Every now and then a natural would tell me what remedy she found,I would salute her but never follow up on her advice. I might start applying whatever oil she asked me to use but after a week I would get bored and stop.
Hair Blogs,my favourite places to be when I started my journey, sort of encouraged me to take care of it but then I found that if I left it alone, it 'seemed' to get better.

During my NYSC it improved but then I passed out and life happened.

     

The picture to the left was taken during my NYSC...look at my hair line can you see the difference?

2012/2013
Last year was a transition period for me. Fresh out of NYSC I started to see that life after school was more adventurous than I expected. Finding myself in the midst of all the well meaning advice I was getting plus all that I wanted to do was not easy. Juggling a job and my many other interests left me exhausted with little time to care for me as a person not to talk of my hair. There was a month when I could not get myself to eat even when I thought I was hungry. The crashing point was when I had to close my nose to force food down my throat. But before it  got to my stomach, I was running to bring it back out. With goose bumps all over my skin I fell down sobbing. I knew then and there that some things had to give.

2014
I am still learning to find balance and I'm getting better at saying N-O. Farida of Lumo Naturals has also been very supportive. I have added and deleted some steps in my regimen as my hair is sort of longer and my ends tend to get dry very fast.
My poor diet and neglect caused me some breakage early this year but fingers crossed, things would get better. 12 months is how long I have given myself to see if I can solve the problem that 4 years of relaxing and tight braiding has caused me. If my edges get fuller, fine, if not...we continue as we began-with scanty edges :)
All in all, I am very grateful to God, that I did not end up bald after all the damage that relaxers caused me... but now you know, I don't have a perfect head of hair.

 

 2009

2013...shrinkage is your friend :)

 

                        Style name: My hair must pack :)

       

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