In a world where beauty standards often dictate the narrative, it’s essential to recognize and celebrate the natural beauty of black hair. Beyond its aesthetical beauty, black hair embodies a rich tapestry of culture and history. It also boasts of canvassing personal heritage, resilience, and self-expression.
Over the last few decades, there’s been an incredible appreciation for natural hair within the Black community. More women have gravitated towards wearing their natural hair and experimenting with different styles. Nowadays, thanks to social media, we have access to a myriad of contents about natural hair from so many Black celebrities, models, influencers, and everyday people.
Despite the overwhelming increase in the number of Black people (most especially women) who have embraced wearing their natural hair, still, there remains a lot of misinformation that prevents some people from accepting their natural hair. To put those “misinformations” to rest, we’re debunking some common myths about our natural hair.
Photo: IG/@Jequania
1. Natural Hair Is Weak and Brittle
Not true! Not only is our natural hair easy to manipulate, it is strong in terms of its water-holding capacity and tensile strength. The only reason most people believe our natural hair is weak is because of the way that our hair grows. As it wraps into a curl/coil, it becomes fragile and susceptible to more breakage.
Photo: Pinterest/@Length Check
2. Natural Hair Doesn’t Grow
Not true again! While this general misconception is fairly understandable due to the illusion of stunted growth in our natural hair, it is important to emphasize, that, in fact, ALL HAIRS GROW!
On average, all Black hair types grow at the same rate which is half an inch per month (so six inches in a year). However, due to the curly/coily state of our natural hair, there’s usually shrinkage which will prevent you from seeing its real length, and this leads to the popular belief that it doesn’t grow long. What many don’t know about our hair shrinkage is that although frustrating, it is actually a sign of healthy and elastic hair.
Photo: Pinterest/@_jenee.m_
3. Natural Hair is Hard to Maintain
This is another common misconception most people believe by mere hearsay, and it’s carried about by people who don’t even have natural hair! In this day and age, social media has made it less difficult to maintain a lot of things, natural hair included. Though, on social media, the constant influx of natural hair products can get understandably overwhelming, but the DIY videos and pictures on how to maintain natural hair from countless TikTok accounts, YouTube tutorials, and Instagram pages make up for it.
Photo: Pinterest/@Latoya Ebony
4. Natural Hair Doesn’t Need To Be Washed Often
False. Leaving a build-up of oil, sweat, dirt, and hair products on your scalp can potentially block your pores and hair follicles, leading to poor quality hair growth. This is why it is important that we build a regimen that regularly cleanses our hair and scalp. Otherwise, the build-up will cause dryness.
Your hair should be washed once a week with a sulphate free shampoo to help clear buildup. Failing to wash your hair deprives it of the moisture it needs.
