Nigerians and Natural Hair

It's been at least 12 years since the natural hair movement kicked off in Nigeria. One would think it's caught on and people have accepted the fact that's okay and in fact, beautiful to wear your hair as it grows from your head, without excessive manipulation but that's not the case.

When I made this post looking for fellow Naturals in Port Harcourt and got the response that I did, I did not think that over 10 years later, I'd still get the side eye for wearing my natural hair. I did not think that I would still get asked why I didn't relax my hair. I did not think that there would still be so few Hairstylists who actually knew how to care for natural hair. I did not know that natural hair would still be referred to as rough and dirty in 2024!

What do Nigerians have against natural African hair? Why do we still think that unless it is manipulated, it's not beautiful? Why do we think that unless it is long and voluminous, it's not commendable?

I wish for a Nigeria where there's more

women wearing their natural hair than those who relax theirs. Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against people who relax their hair. I just want natural hair to be seen as normal as relaxed hair. After all, we had it from birth and it grows from our scalp. How much more normal can it get?

So, how to we get there? What can we do to change how people feel about natural hair? Will it ever change?

Would the Port-Harcourt Naturals Please, Stand Up?

Na wa o! I have been on my natural hair journey for a few years. In 2010, I got geri curls. In 2011, after switching to normal relaxer, I decided I wanted my natural hair back. So, I started to transition. That led me to December 2012, where I cut off the relaxed part of my hair. I just tire for transitioning hair bo :). Although, natural hair comes with a few challenges, I love my hair. Now, I can't imagine it any other way than natural. Ignorant stylists ask me why. I tell them I love natural hair. They just can not understand it. Right now, I've got yarn braids on. However, after what I faced getting them done, it'll be a while before I visit the salon for anything again! Nigerian stylists are clueless with natural hair. Chai! When I take off my yarn braids, I'd have my kinky twists done, myself! Which brings me to my heading. Are there any Port-Harcourt naturals, other than me at all? It'll be nice to know. We could have a meet-up, talk about ways to help our

DIY - Crochet Wig Using Expression Multi

I used Expression crochet braids for a client recently and thought I'd try it out as a crochet wig. I had damaged my Afro/curly wig when I decided to give it a haircut and so needed another one. Expression Multi seemed like a good extension to use. I got a pack of the extension(blame my alaroroism :-)), plus I really thought it would do. I also got a mesh cap. Then work started in earnest. It turned out one was not enough and it was late Saturday evening. The store where they sold weaves close to my house would have been closed already. So, I decided to curl the straight extension I had left from making my braid wig. I do not have perm rods. How was I going to do this? Whatever method I was going to use had to give me curls consistent with the ones in the extension. Well, I curled the extension by wrapping it round my used kinky extensions like I was doing faux locs. My first attempts gave my tighter curls than I wanted so I spaced my wrapping and this gave me almo

DIY - Drawstring Ponytail

Hey guys, how you doing? So I recently made a drawstring ponytail. I've since gotten questions on how I made it. What weave I used? So here I am answering those questions. I had a pack of Miss Rose faux locs weave lying around and didn't know what to do with it. I then decided to make a drawstring ponytail with it. So off to YouTube I went. Well, the video I found was old and only slightly helpful. But I went on with my plan anyway. Here's how I made it. Using that 100 crochet cap as my wig cap, I sewed the weave on it, passed a string round the perimeter of the wig cap and Viola! However, there was one small or big problem. Since I used just one pack, it was pretty scanty and the holes in the cap were visible. I thought to my self, " chai, what have I done? So I've wasted my time and wig cap just like that ". I tried to convince myself I could still wear it. I'm not sure I succeeded sha. I just kept it in a corner. Months later I stumbled on

Scarlet Xianne

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