Black Hair FAQs - How to Care for African Hair

There are many questions that people unfamiliar with African-American hair have. In fact, there are many questions that people that have African-American hair would like answered. Some non-ethnic people will gussy up the courage to ask a question about black hair that they are dying to know, while others keep it their questions to themselves and silently ponder the wonderment of ethnic hair. Below are the answers to questions about black hair that you never had the guts to ask:

Q. What’s the truth about hair relaxers? What’s the difference between “relaxed” and “natural” hair?

A. The article The Benefits of Using Hair Relaxers is a very informative article about hair relaxers and explains the difference between relaxed hair and natural African-American hair.

Q. Why do black women use so many hair products?

A. Black women use a lot of different hair products for various reasons. Black hair tends to be dry, so hydration and moisturizing is key. Manageability is another focus in choosing hair products for black hair care. There are a lot of products out there for black women and while not all of them work, they all serve various purposes.

Q. Why don’t black women like to get their hair wet?

A. All the work that goes into straightening thick, course and/or curly hair can sometimes be ruined by a little precipitation. Natural hair tends to be harder to manage in general and becomes quite unpredictable when wet. Relaxed hair isn’t always the best hair to wet just because blow-drying damaged relaxed hair only makes it worse with the heat. It’s hard to find any woman, black or white, who readily enjoys getting caught in a rainstorm and dealing with aftermath on the top of their heads.

Q. How often do you wash black hair?

A. On average once a week. Washing hair too frequently strips hair of natural oils, so it’s best to limit the washes. Surely you can wash black hair as much as desired, as there is no set rule about washing black hair. The frequency also depends on the activities of the woman (such as pool usage, exercise, etc . . .).

Q. Why doesn’t black hair grow?

A. It does grow. Various chemical processes make delicate dry, course and/or curly hair more prone to damage and breakage. Also, extremely curly natural hair may grow out, causing an Afro, instead of cascading down, which makes the hair appear shorter.

Q. Why are black women so touchy about having their hair touched?

A. Not all black women mind you touching their hair whether is natural, dreadlocked or in an afro. Just don’t touch an African-American woman’s hair and be surprised at the amount of product in their hair. Some women put a lot of product in their hair causing it to be slightly greasy to the touch. Also, black women spend so much time on their hair that it’s not fun to have someone come along and mess it up by putting their hands all over it. Again, some women don’t mind at all, so there’s no firm rule.

Hair products galore.

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