Curl Class 4: Why Afro Hair Needs Extra Care (Part 1)

So how are curls and kinks formed? It’s all down to two things: the keratin fibres that make up the strand and that wonder of chemistry: the chemical bond! (I bet you wish that you had listened in chemistry class now!) The building block of the hair is the amino acid, and a couple of these join together to form a peptide (another name for a small bit of protein). These peptides then link up to make several long strand chains called fibrils. Several of these fibrils then accumulate several times over producing the cortex of the hair¹. There are three different bonds that keep all this stuff together: the permanent disulphide bond (which means two sulphur atoms joining) and two weaker bonds: the ionic (or salt) bond and hydrogen bond.

The disulphide bonds in the strand are due to one amino acid: Cysteine (there are only two amino acids that contain sulphur anyway). Disulphide bonds are permanent meaning they cannot be dissolved by water, they are only destroyed by heat, force or a strong chemical and once destroyed cannot be reformed. They occur between the individual fibrils across the strand and in between the scales of the cuticle¹. The number of bonds formed determines if your hair will grow to be curly or straight as well as the strength of your hair (also they cause that horrible distinctive burning-hair smell when you straighten your hair). The more disulphide bonds you have the more your fibrils twist around each other leading to a wavy, curly or kinky strand.

This is actually collagen, but it's a good illustration of how fibrils twist around each other causing a curl.

The ionic and hydrogen bonds are the reason why your hair looks different when wet and when dry. Both are also the reason why hair has the ability to change shape using twists, braids, rollers, straighteners, blowdryers (basically lots of things) as they interact with water molecules², (this is why rain and humidity can ruin a good hairstyle!) Hydrogen bonds are the most numerous and occur in between the peptide chains, their soluble nature allows us to set our hair in a style when wet, then as the hair dries the water evaporates and new hydrogen bonds are formed meaning the dry hair remains in the style. Slightly stronger ionic bonds occur down the length of the chain, they can dissolve in water (but in hair usually stay strong) but are totally dissolved by acids and alkalis², this is why we may need hair products to keep our hair in a style (this is also how those ionic blow-dryers and straighteners that claim to strengthen the hair work). 

Next time I'll talk specifically about the structural weakness of afro hair.

Maz xx 

References

• Franbourg, A. et al (2003) Current research on Ethnic Hair Journal of American Academic Dermatology, Volume 48, S115-9
• Wolfram, L.J, (2003) Human Hair: A Unique Physicochemical Composite, Journal of American Academic Dermatology, Volume 48, S106-14
• Images from Current research on Ethnic Hair (2003) and European Bioinformatics Institute

Get empowered by your afro! (Part 2)

So there I was. For the first time since my last relaxer, I faced my hair in its new state. I was still ready to chicken out and call in sick for work the next day until I realised I had no choice but to go in. A simple roll, tuck and pin was all I could do in the short time I had designated to my hair that morning, (it would take longer than I had planned) but after a second stare (you can tell I enjoy looking at myself in the mirror lol) I actually didn’t look all that bad! I made it a point to watch the faces of everyone that I came in contact with that morning and honestly, nobody really cared! I had to wonder why I thought they would. Because it was such a big deal to me, I assumed it would mean the same to everyone else. It sounds stupid, I know, but these were the thoughts racing through my head.

A month later and I do get the odd questions from colleagues but I’m so comfortable in myself that it doesn’t bother me. “Why is your hair not done?!” Erm… This is my hairstyle guys! “Aren’t you going to relax it? *GASP* Why not?!!” Of course, people will never understand what they aren’t a part of but that’s a whole ‘nother story and it’s a long’un!

It’s so easy to be brought down by the negative comments you get from people. It’s actually worse when people don’t realise that what they say can be seen as hurtful but in some ways, it helps me to realise that this natural hair journey is truly a JOURNEY. I’ve learnt so much about myself that I never realised existed or mattered. Now it’s just about sitting back and awaiting results. Well, not so much sitting back. Mostly moisturising and detangling but you get my drift. Stay empowered by what you have guys. It’s not always easy but it’s definitely worth it.

Zee xx

Oh BTW, I just realised how melodramatic this may sound to the readers that have had their hair out all their lives, haha. This is just my story and I thought it could help those of you in the same situation. It’s really not as easy as it seems!

Get empowered by your afro! (Part 1)

It seems like just yesterday I forced myself to stop hiding behind the various head gears that seem to be sold on every street corner - weaves, wigs, extensions and of course, my beloved turban. These were just a few of the things I used to stop myself from having to deal with my own afro and also prevented me from having to face what I believed would be negativity on a daily basis.

Now, don’t get me wrong guys, I LOVE my extensions. They take a few days to put in (depending on the size) but when they’re in... The numb bum is so worth it! And my turban. Let’s just say, if I start talking about her, I won’t stop. But really, why do we decide to cover up what all other ethnicities flaunt so proudly? It’s just hair, right? WRONG. (I think I've heard that before...) It’s so much more than that! It’s an expression of our personalities and a shining beacon to everybody we come in contact with, conveying the fact that we take care of ourselves, that our appearance is important and that we’re individual and unique in our own right.

But let’s face it. Maz and I aren’t here to lie to you guys. It feels ten times easier when you can just stick your braids in a bun and bounce at a moments notice! You don’t have to think about sealing the ends with Shea Butter. You don’t have to think about how much growth you’ve had. You don’t even have to bother doing the whole wash routine that normally, you’d be planning days ahead! Time is saved and now, your fingers won’t cramp up at the thought of detangling your afro. A job made slightly more difficult due to shrinkage (grrr).

But one day, after taking out my braids, I suddenly thought to myself, “What would happen if I was to go out like this? No braids, weaves or anything?” I had to stare for a long time and imagine the faces of people when they saw me approach. In my head they all seemed to laugh and point at me! (The serious kind of laugh too… Tears coming outta their eyes and everything.) After staring for what seemed like an eternity, it seemed worth it to just give it a try. What harm could it do? If it all went down the toilet and if I couldn’t face it, Mariama would be there to re-introduce me to my braids and life would be “normal” again. 

Zee xx

What happened when Zainab took out her braids? Find out in Part 2...

Curl Class 3: Why doesn't my hair grow?!

So, last time I said I was going to convince you that all hair grows. Let’s be honest I know there are lots of people who still buy into the myth that black hair doesn’t grow. You or your sister or your mother have had the same length of hair for [insert number of years you’ve been alive], and you’ll say ‘Mariama, even Wikipedia says that black hair grows more slowly or doesn’t grow at all!’ (Don’t believe the papers cited by Wikipedia though, one of the studies was done on 38 people, hardly representative of the entire black population, and the other was done on school children - we all know school children don’t take proper care of their hair! Even in the pictures you can tell they don’t have healthy hair, most of it is damaged and broken… anyway I’m straying from the subject). 

Aug 2011

Feb 2013 (with much better glasses :D)

All I can say to you is… (and please don’t throw rocks at me if you see me!) it’s your own fault your hair doesn’t seem to grow. Yes, I said it! It’s YOUR fault! You’re probably thinking, ‘but Mariama, everyone in my family has short hair! It’s my genes that mean my hair can only grow up to this length!’ WRONG! (Actually I’m being a bit mean, that is partially true). What I am trying to say here is that your hair doesn’t seem to be getting longer because of your hair care practices. Contrary to the myth Afro hair is not tough at all, it is actually very weak and when uncared for becomes more fragile and dry causing it to break very easily. The strand grows at the root and then breaks at the end meaning that it cannot retain the length from the root, and you end up with no added length. The reason why everyone in your family has the same hair length is probably because you all do the same things to your hair rather than your genes.

Unfortunately I probably haven’t done an amazing job yet of convincing you that Afro hair can grow as long as you want it to. But in the next post I will bust the tough black hair myth by explaining a little more about curly hair structure and why augmenting the structure can cause breakage and stop you from retaining length. 

Mariama xx

References

1.  Khumaloa et al (2000) What is normal black African hair? A light and scanning electron-microscopic study. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, Volume 43, 814-20

Curl Class 2: The Science Behind Hair Growth

Hair growth begins in the follicle and the average person should be able to grow about 4-7 inches¹ a year regardless if it is straight or curly, healthy or unhealthy, coarse or fine. The follicle has several layers each designed to assist and protect the hair strand as it grows out of the skin. Each follicle is also connected to a sebaceous gland secreting sebum (an oily secretion) onto the surface of the skin. The oil from this gland is all our scalp requires to stay moisturised and does NOT need additional help. There is no need to grease your scalp, NO NEED!! (My poor head! All throughout my life I was always told to grease my scalp, my follicles were probably suffocating!). The base of the follicle is also known as the hair bulb and is found in the dermis (the second layer of your skin). Here the follicle obtains nourishment from the blood vessels and nerves in the dermal papilla – the commander of the scalp. The dermal papilla controls the scalp and organizes when, how quickly and how thickly your hair grows. 

Hair growth occurs in three circular phases: anagen, catagen and telogen.

Anagen - the growth period - can last anywhere from 1-10 years² (so the average head of hair can potentially grow 4-70 (!) inches in a given growth period) but the average length is about 3 years. During anagen, keratinocytes in the follicle produce keratin to make the hair shaft. As it is the longest period in the cycle the majority (90%) of your follicles are in the anagen phase right now.

The remaining 10% are in either the catagen phase (the transition period) or the telogen phase (the rest phase). Catagen lasts about three weeks² and in this phase the hair is prevented from growing or producing melanin (which is why the bulb is white). The follicles shrink and the dermal papilla begins to break down in preparation for telogen. Telogen takes about three months, here the hair pretty much just waits there until stimulated to undergo exogen (shedding).

After about ten growth cycles our ability to pigment our hair worsens and we begin to develop grey hairs¹ (this also happens during periods of stress, which is why during or after exams you may find random greys¹), if you have a shorter growth cycle you also may discover yourself going grey earlier! More bad news: less than half of women and 2% (!!!!) of men go through life with a full head of hair³. So the lesson is, if you think your male friend going bald is hilarious right now there’s a 1 in 2 chance that’ll be you in the future (almost 100% if you’re a boy reading this)! :D

Maz xx

References

1     Krause, K; Foitzik, K (2006). Biology of the Hair Follicle: The Basics. Seminars in Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery, Volume 25, Issue 1.

2.    Bernard A. Bruno (2003). Hair Shape of Curly Hair. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, Volume 48, S120-6

3.    Lai-Cheong, J.E; McGrath, J.A (2009). Structure and Function of Skin, Hair and Nails. Medicine, Volume 37, Issue 5

Images taken from The Medical Dictionary & Stylecraze 

PS. Happy Independence Day to Ghana! xx 

Curl Class 1: What is Hair?

Even though we give so much attention to the hair on our heads did you know that only about 1.6- 3% of our hair is located on our scalp¹? Hair is a protein fibre (mainly made of keratin) produced in the follicles (the little pits) found over most of the skin (except for parts of the hands and feet). The thinner hair all over our bodies is called vellus hair, whereas the thicker, coarser type (including the hair on our heads) is named terminal hair. Hair growth originates in the hair bulb and the part that we see is referred to as the hair shaft.

The shaft is made of three parts: the cuticle, the cortex and the medulla.

The scaly outer part of the hair is called the cuticle and is the bodyguard of the inner cortex. The cuticle’s overlapping layers determines how well your hair holds on to moisture (which will spoken about a little later :D) and once damaged the harm to the strand can never be reversed! It’s goodbye to the other layers, an appointment with the scissors will be needed to regain healthy hair.

The second layer is the boss layer: the cortex. If you want shine and vibrant colour, look after your cortex (actually I’m lying, look after the cuticle and the cortex will mostly be taken care of). The cortex is where approximately 90% of your hair is found and it’s where we get our hair colour and structure from². Hair colour depends on how much melanin is produced by the melanocytes (the cells which make melanin, and therefore the colour of our skin and hair). The lighter the hair colour, the less melanin in the cortex (except for redheads who have a different kind of melanin). The cortex is where relaxers, curly perms and colouring treatments attack to change the nature of the hair.

The most inner layer, the medulla, can perform a disappearing act. In fine or blond hair the medulla vanishes, so why have a medulla I hear you ask? Well the only known function of the medulla is its ability to reflect light causing our hair colour to change in various environments³. (I tried to make the function of the medulla sound cool but compared to the other layers the medulla is pretty lame, sorry guys :P).

I bet you’re thinking, ‘Geez, so much info for such a little bit of protein!’ My friends, it’s only the tip of the iceberg! Next time I’ll be talking about hair growth and will be trying to convince you that all hair can grow to any length! (Believe me, please believe me!)

Maz xx 

1.    Krause, K; Foitzik, K (2006). Biology of the Hair Follicle: The Basics. Seminars in Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery, Volume 25, Issue 1.

2.    http://www.texascollaborative.org/hildasustaita/module%20files/topic2.htm

3.    http://www.hairlosshelp.com/hair_loss_research/hair.cfm

 

Introducing the Curl Classes!!

So… hair… It seems pretty simple right? WRONG! When I decided to go properly natural I pretty much went into information overload; there’s so much information on so many sites that sometimes it’s difficult to keep up. But guess what you lucky lucky reader? We’ve decided to spare you the late nights up next to your laptop, trying to absorb reams of information and have collected it all for you! For the next few posts Zainab and I will be teaching you all about the basics of hair! Aren’t we nice to you, eh?

BTW this information is for everybody. It doesn’t matter what hair type you have or if you are natural (you don’t even have to be a girl), I believe it is important for you to know about your hair. You don’t have to go natural to have long healthy hair (I can hear all the ladies who want to stay relaxed breathing a small sigh of relief) but after this series, nobody else (not even your hairstylist!) will know this much information about hair. If you want your hair to grow long, strong and healthy – and stay that way – keep on reading.

Maz & Zee xx