In this cultural takeaway, we will look at Afro hair.
Yes there are 4 broad hair types with various sub groups, from bone straight to wavy, curly and the final type, kinky (or some would say coily). For this cultural takeaway, we will look at type 4 hair, or what is referred to as Afro hair.
All type 4 hair is not the same. As you can see from the illustration, Afro hair comes in different curl types and conditions. The tighter the curl, the lower or shorter the hair will appear; the looser the curl, the longer the hair will look. This is an important point when it comes to cutting. Whilst European hair is often cut when it is wet and with scissors, this approach would be ill advised for Afro hair. It is better to cut Afro hair (and very curly hair) when it is dry. This is because Afro hair is subject to shrinkage – even relatively mild humidity can have an impact. Cutting the hair when it is dry enables the normal length to be observed. You run the risk of cutting too much hair off when it is wet, causing much distress once the hair is dry again and the realisation that the hair is shorter than desired.
Then there’s the issue of aftercare. For those of us who can literally wash our hair and step out the door for work allowing our hair to air dry, I sit in envy. I do not have what you could ever describe as wash and go hair; I’m a 4b – full thick black bouncy coils. This type of hair doesn’t need to be washed every day; in fact when washed, it needs a wide toothed comb to separate the strands and to be nourished with conditioners and oils to keep it supple and to prevent the delicate hair from breaking.
Afro hair is so curly that it can appear compact and stuck together. One might even think it would be difficult to cut or that specialist equipment is required. In fact the same clippers that work on European hair work just as effectively on Afro hair…with a little training. We could talk about protective styles, weaves, extentions and cornrows, the revival of wearing Afro hair naturally but this is just a takeaway. Hopefully you’ll be curious enough to do some research.