Late last year we reported on the discrimination being practiced by the Air Force against a Black woman wearing her hair in neat cornrows that in our opinion and the opinion of many others were not against military regulations.  You can read that story here: Hair Discrimination in the Military.    The cornrows were professional in appearance and did not interfere with her duties.  Many of you offered words of support, signed petitions and some went as far as to offer legal advice.  People keep asking us “What ever happened to Kim?”  We hadn’t heard from her in a while.  So, we wrote to her and got an update.  Unfortunately, it’s not good news. Continue Reading >>

My Hairdo Pillow^TM is a unique hairdo style saver.  You know what it’s like to get that perfect salon hair style and then have to try to sleep in a way to preserve it. Gone are sleepless nights tossing and turning to avoid flattening your salon perfect style. My Hairdo Pillow is designed with the elbow and arm in mind, the unique shape of My Hairdo Pillow mimics the way you naturally sleep, comfortably cradling your face, chin, neck and shoulder.

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• Sleep comfortably – even stomach sleepers
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• Reduces style time while extending the look of your salon hairdo
• Made of machine washable soft fleece fabric
• Compact size great for travel
• Works with most hair styles
• Can be used along with your favorite pillow

My Hairdo Pillowâ„¢ was designed for black women by a black woman.

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What women are saying about My Hairdo Pillow:

This worked so well for me – I was in my sister’s wedding (me the bride’s maid) I did not have my hair done the day of the wedding
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You really sleep comfortably on this pillow ~ I LOVE IT!
Cherita H, Birmingham, AL

I have my hair done every two weeks and using the hairdo pillow maintain my hair the entire time.
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I used my pillow for my prom night and – it kept my hairstyle – I could take a nap and it was ok
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There have been several attempts to define hair “type”. You may ask “Why should I care?” Well, mostly you shouldn’t.  We think typing systems actually complicate what can pretty easily be conveyed in a few words.  By the time you sort through what a 4b or 1a really means you might as well just say “I have thick kinky African hair” or “I have straight, thin Caucasian hair”.  And, hair typing systems are so subjective as to be almost worthless in our opinion.  Who determines whether your hair shafts are thick or thin?  And whether the curl pattern is “loose” or “tight”.

There are controversies surrounding hair type methodologies that use works like kinky, nappy and other words that have less than positive connotations for some people. Other systems use numbers. But, they tend to lump all African American hair into one big  category with a few variations. So, how useful is that really? Considering everyone’s hair is slightly different and people can even have different types of hair on their head at one time, categorizing hair is a difficult proposition at best.  There are two major systems that seem to be the most popular. There is a system called LOIS that uses the hair shape as the defining hair “type”. For more on LOIS, do a Google on “LOIS Hair Type”. Until many people switch over to the LOIS system, the standard seems to be the numbering system developed by Andre Walker.

In spite of our reservations about hair typing systems, knowing your hair type can allow you talk with others and research products, styles and regimens that are best for your particular hair. And you will often see people saying they have 4a or 4c hair.  So you might as well know what it means.

The most common system seems to be one that categorizes hair based on curl pattern (with a number from 1 for the straightest to 4 for the kinkiest) and on the thickness of the shaft (note this is not the amount of hair strands you have but how thick each one is).  The thickness is rated with a letter ranging from a to c.  The following numbers refer to the amount of curl or wave in a hair.

• Type 1 Hair- Type 1 hair is straight with no discernible curl or wave pattern.  This type of hair tends to get oily and is usually shiny.
• Type 2 Hair- Type 2 hair is hair that has some soft waves, but little to no real curl.  It doesn’t form rings, just waves.  It typically is more coarse than Type 1 hair and will cling to the scalp in long “S” shaped waves.
• Type 3 Hair- Type 3 hair has a more definite “S” pattern to it with the “S” being more tightly formed.  It will typically be relatively soft and will have less shine than type 1 or 2 hair.  It will straighten out or form ringlets when wet but will draw up into a curlier pattern when it dries.  This hair type is typical of biracial (African and Caucasian mix) people and of Blacks of a more mixed heritage.
• Type 4 Hair- Type 4 hair will have kinks and twists and possibly coils but does not form an “S” shape. It may be “L” shaped with bends in it. It may form tight coils or “O” shapes (not really the same as the “ringlets”formed by Type 3 hair.  This type of hair generally doesn’t change shape much wet or dry.  It can be wiry and usually is fragile.  It tends to be drier than other hair types because the bends and twists not only provide points that are more fragile, they actually make it hard for the natural oil (sebum) produced by the scalp to reach the ends of the hair shaft.  Because the cuticles do not lay flat on Type 4 hair, the hair tends to be less shiny than Types 1, 2 and 3 and people will often think natural Black hair is dry or dull looking.  Most African-Americans have Type 4 hair, which is why this designation alone is not really super descriptive.   It seems we are the ones most concerned with categorizing our hair and by this pretty crude system, most of us fall into basically the same category.
• Chemically Straightened Hair- Chemically Treated or Permed hair is a hair type we think we have to add.  Perming the hair changes the natural structure of the hair creating its own hair type.  It is going to be anywhere from a Type 2 to a Type 1 in terms of straightness (depending on the strength of the perm).  In spite of the fact the hair shaft is slightly thinner due to the action of the perming chemicals, it might still be a relatively thick hair shaft.  It will have more shine than natural hair because the cuticles lay more flat.  But, it will tend to be dry.

The letters a, b and c after the number tell you how thick the hair strand is.  One would think the thicker the strand the less fragile the hair.  But, actually type 4c hair can be the most fragile because of the curl pattern and the dryness of the hair.  Type 4c hair needs to be moisturized regularly, treated gently and should never be brushed with a bristle brush that can catch the bends and break the hair.

by Frederick Alexander Meade (Guest Columnist)

 

   In the most recent of times, women of African descent within many of the industrialized nations have begun to garner a significant amount of financial, social and political status.  This phenomenon finds its expression especially within the confines of the United States of America.  With the emergence of Oprah Winfrey, Tyra Banks and most recently Michelle Obama,   African American women have started to establish a heightened standing among previously white male dominated industries and thus have increased their visibility within exclusive social and political circles.  With the status of women of African descent ascending to exceedingly high societal echelons, rather new dimensions have started to develop in terms of the physical images projected of such elite figures.  Images of prominent African American women depicting strength, poise and sophistication have cascaded through many of the traditional media channels as well as through the internet.  Much of the visuals depicting this relatively small but increasingly influential group not only serve to influence fashion styles but also function to expand the public’s sensibilities in terms of what is acceptable and what is deemed to be unacceptable.  With a plethora of clothing and hair styles worn by these celebrities being continually presented to the world one feature of the African aesthetic has been absent.
African hair and related styles have largely seen an increase in acceptance by women of color around the world.  Many women of African descent determined to redefine present day standards of beauty (many of which find their origins in Europe) have shed the wearing of perms and straight hair weaves, instead insisting on and embracing what is naturally theirs – African hair.  In the face of this growing trend however, no such movement from those African American women belonging to what may be considered to be the “power elite” has surfaced.  Oprah Winfrey has not (even on occasion) worn an afro during the taping of her popular show.  Tyra Banks has never filmed a season of America’s next Top Model in which she, week in and out, wore her hair in African locks.  Lastly, the dawning of an African hair style by Michele Obama would be deemed by many (even in the African American community) as an affront to beauty and subsequently an act unworthy of that of a would be “first lady.”  With this pervasive and pathological rejection of this feature of African beauty prevailing from those who are widely considered to be our communities’ role models, one question must be asked.  What are African American women of influence without African hair?
The answer to this question may yield a startling but valid depiction of what many famous African American women have allowed themselves to become. For a woman of African descent to wear her hair in a manner that is completely foreign to that which is innately intended is to reject in large measure “the self.”  This phenomenon is made exceedingly worse by virtue of the fact that these groups of women have not only rejected in large measure themselves but have accepted standards of beauty for which they can never reach.  To abuse one’s hair whether by straightening comb or through the use of chemicals in a nebulous and futile attempt to obtain and maintain a pseudo image of a European woman, is to yield to a power which the individual feels is greater than she.  An African American woman who practices such a ritual rooted in self contempt has essentially reduced herself to a mere figment of her own imagination.  The prevailing image (in relation to beauty) embedded in such an individual’s mind is that of a woman whom she can never become. This paradigm serves to perpetually undermine any feelings of equality (and even more still any feelings of superiority) in relation to the mimicker and that which is being mimicked.  Furthermore, this state of affairs merits an especially significant measure of absurdity considering the fact that these African American women of note perpetually chase an image of a woman who is largely void of the financial, social and political resources which they possess.  This behavior on the part of many of these women of high regard, suggests that if it were possible for them to become a woman of another ethnicity they would surrender all of their fortunes to achieve this state.
As more African American women enter into the ranks of those for whom resources are seemingly endless, the image of the African woman will continue to evolve.  If the acceptance of African hair is continually met with avoidance, then women of African descent will have once again reduced themselves to that of perpetual “runner up” in the world’s beauty contest.  The esteems of these women will never fully be realized and an almost timeless scar on the face of mother Africa will again grow deeper.  We may only hope that these acts of self denial will one day cease, that we may see mother Africa’s beauty once again.

To read more articles by Frederick Alexander Meade go to the link below.
http://www.myspace.com/fredmeade

These view are not necessarily the views of Treasured Locks.  But, we thought Fred’s article worthy of discussion.  What do you think?