Hello dearies,
I hope you all are doing amazing and are using this particular time to enjoy your family. . Let me take a minute to write about hair this time for my English Sisters because I already posted for my French sisters. My question for you is; do you know your hair? do you listen toBthem when they talk to you? have you used different types of products and nothing is working? I can feel you. I have been in the same situation and I think I am still learning how to tame my hair. According to the afro American hair stylist Andrew Walker in his book 'Andrew Talk Hair' our hair is divided into categories going from 1 to 4 as you can see on the picture above.
Type 1corresponds to straight hair (which is subdivided into 1a: straight and fine, very soft; 1b: straight medium, have more volume; 1c: straight coarse, difficult to manage like curling etc.)
Type 2 corresponds to the wavy hair (subdivided into 2a: wavy and loose, easy to style differently; 2b: wavy with define wave, a little bit difficult to style; 2c wavy with wide waves. very difficult to style etc).
Type 3 corresponds to the curly hair (subdivided into 3a: loose curls, lots of volume, 3b: tight curl; 3c: very tight curls in corkscrews etc ).
Type 4 corresponds to the kinky hair. (Subdivided into 4a: coily with defined coil, 4b: z coil tighly coil; 4c very tight coil , this is the afro look. etc).
These hair types vary among people. Some people can have a combination of 4a and 4c etc...) Knowing your hair type is a key in determining which product to use on it.
I am a 4C and for so many years, I tried to grow my hair without doing the traditional Cameroonian hairstyle called 'cigarets'. Every Sunday our lovely mama used to braid 'cigarets' on our hair so we can be clean when going to school (a special thanks to all moms for devoting so much time for their children). I have to tell the truth here, it used to hurt me so bad for a few days before the pain eased away. I remember my sisters and I used to have difficulty sleeping because of the pain we had. Some girls after saving their pocket allowance, went on to by hair relaxer (olive hair relaxer for the rich girls (haha) and other cheaper brand for those with less money). My sisters and I on the other hand, had no money so we had to rely on the famous 'hot comb' (remember this? haha). We used it to straighten and soften our hair.(The method consisted of putting the comb on a fire source until it gets hot and then apply it on the hair. As a result, the hair would become softer and more manageable.). Without the hot Comb, I wouldn't have been able to braid my hair because they were so coily. Even with the hot comb, my lovely mom suggested that I shave , which I did in 2004. It was a Saturday morning, after doing my household chore, I went to Sebastien the hair stylist of the street. The guy, in less than 15 min, made me bald(hahaha). I was so happy that I would not have to bear the pain of the 'cigarets' ever again. I will stop here today, and next time, I will write about the history of afro hair and many other things. If you have a comment, a story about the famous 'cigarets', or other hairstyle that marked your childhood, or a question, please don't hesitate to shoot me an email at netchatokam@yahoo.fr.
Love, Carine
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