Black Hair Creates Unique Challenges

Many women will spend a good deal of time in the salon battling a ‘bad hair day’. Maintaining those dark tresses is big business in the hair care industry and stylists are enjoying the challenges black hair brings through the door. Trends may come and go but are mostly cyclic according to owner of Expressions II Salon, Charlotte Golden. She’s been braiding hair since she was 10 years old.

Charlotte notes that back in 1978 afros were all the rage, and then cornrows, shifting to jheri curls and then around to perms, and eventually into weaves. This desire of black women to change styles and remain versatile is what keeps fashion always on the move. In the black hair industry, Sam Ennon, founder of Black Owned Beauty Supply Association in San Francisco, California, sees hair style change every 15 to 20 years.

“We are very creative in terms of the way we look.” Sam notes. “A black woman for decades has been able to give you a different look six times and can change her hair any time she wants to.”

Though celebrities often make black hair styling transformations look easy, in the real world of the working woman, it isn’t so cut and dry. Charlotte Golden explains that black women tend to struggle to grow hair and the women coming into the salon are quick to mention it is a challenge, though the TV may deem otherwise.

In the past, both men and women often tried to follow European fashion trends by straightening hair. This required chemical relaxers which led to chemical burns and hair damage. As more women of African descent began to embrace their cultural heritage, natural hair styles that allowed the freedom of free-flowing, chemical free cuts have been a welcome trend.

Source: Press of Atlantic City