KENYA: Increasing number of African women ditch the once sort after chemical hair relaxers and straighteners to wear their hair kinky and natural

Record ID: 362617

  • Title: KENYA: Increasing number of African women ditch the once sort after chemical hair relaxers and straighteners to wear their hair kinky and natural
  • Date: 3rd May 2013
  • Summary: NAIROBI, KENYA (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BLOGGERS NYACHOMBA AND MARY WORKING ON A COMPUTER
  • Embargoed: 18th May 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: Fashion,Lifestyle
  • Reuters ID: LVA87TES3BCJ4I6WA7WC3S64XY58
  • Story Text: Nyachomba Kariuki and Mary Okioga are on a mission to remind African women that they are beautiful just as they are.
    The two Kenyan bloggers - both with full time day-jobs, make time at least twice a week to research and share the rules of natural hair care.
    Their blog, Kurly Kichana, swahili for curly comb, started as a hobby in January 2010 and has become a fun source of information and inspiration for natural hair enthusiasts across cyberspace, with an average 400 hits weekly.
    "We started the blog mainly to share our journey but also to educate. Cause... by the time we had started our blog, I think we had already understood what we needed to do with our hair, we knew what products to use, we knew what kind of steps to follow when we are doing our hair. So it was just a way of sharing and educate... educating being the operative word here. We wanted to educate Kenyan women," said Nyachomba.
    A growing number of black women not only in Africa but around the world are transitioning from relaxed to natural hair - a process that involves cutting off chemically straightenedand going back to your natural texture.
    Traditionally, kinky natural hair was considered untidy and a sign of poor grooming.
    But natural hair is not just about what is on your head - Nyachomba and Mary say the natural journey forces women to confront their self image.
    "I think it's also how we view ourselves, when you look at yourself as an individual and you look at yourself in the mirror are you happy? Are you happy with everything that you have that God gave you? He didn't give you the long locks which are curl free and He gave you the pigment of your skin; are you happy with what you see and I am and I'm thankful for my hair with it's issues and curls and its happy days and its tight days and I think that many women are actually starting to see that my hair is what it is and I'm happy with what I have and there is no need for me to mimic another culture, another race for me to be considered beautiful, said Mary.
    With plenty of resources on how to treat chemically straightened tresses, Mary says African women need a 'hair re-education'. Kurly Kichana is just one of thousands of online sites, including youtube that offer all kinds of video tutorials on how to style and keep natural hair healthy.
    Most natural hair products are simple, like coconut oil, shea butter and even plain old water.
    They are also affordable, with the exception of upcoming brands that are being produced by manufacturers hoping to attract a mushrooming natural hair market.
    The Kurly Kichana bloggers urge women with natural hair to keep it simple.
    "Growing up we are taught how to manage relaxed hair, there are some people who find managing relaxed hair hard but because there are so many resources and knowledge available on relaxed hair and managing relaxed hair, we automatically think it's easier, it's an easier option," said Mary.
    With elements like sodium hydroxide and ammonium thioglycolate, studies show that hair relaxers cause irreversible damage to the scalp. Researcher have also found that most chemical relaxers weaken hair by depleting cystine, an essential protein that strengthens the hair shaft.
    Making chemical battered hair even weaker, is constant manipulation and poor maintenance - practices that can lead to hair loss or stunted growth.
    Hair professional and entrepreneur Minyshu Tafesse runs a salon for natural hair care in an upmarket suburb of Kenya's capital, Nairobi.
    Customers can pay a minimum of 40 US dollars to get their hair treated or twisted using special products imported from the United States.
    The natural treatments have been available here for only a year and their popularity is growing, despite the cost.
    Minyshu says the benefits of natural, healthy hair are worth it for her customers.
    "Natural hair is... most people they don't believe in this, I say natural hair is easy to maintain, yeah and again it is very beautiful I mean have you seen people with short hair cuts, natural hair and you know twist look and all that, yeah," she said.
    Natural hair is even becoming more acceptable in the workplace where straightened hair and weaves are often the preferred look of the female professional.
    Lunde Ndeche, who works for a multinational software company says the "healthy look" is one more and more people are learning to appreciate.
    "Since I was probably like 18 after I finished high school, I have had my hair, you know permed and then a couple... maybe about three, four years ago it started really weakening because of the chemical and even started breaking, so that's why I decided let me just grow it out and then I did. I did notice that it certainly looks a lot healthier, a lot fuller, natural. I'm able to do a few things rather than have it straight, you know just tong it and having it straight or you know just leave it," said Lunde.
    Natural Hair is evolving from being more than just a trend but a lifestyle for many black women who claim they have discovered a new sense of liberation from something as simple as their hair.
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