Fashion: Black is Beautiful or the care and feeding of big Natural Hair by Odilia Rivera-Santos

Black, Biracial and Multiracial women do a lot of strange things to their hair and scalps in order to get straight, flat smooth hair. Big hair is wrestled into a straight flat 'socially acceptable' imitation of White women's hair. 

But, Black is beautiful . . . remember?

There are many potent chemicals used in everyday hair straightening products. 

Many of the products used are carcinogenic or are caustic enough to damage the scalp, cause dermatitis and breakage in skin and hair.

Some active ingredients can circulate throughout your body through transdermal transmission -- (travel through skin to your bloodstream). 

Excessive use of chemicals and blowdrying will lead to hair loss, especially around the hairline. 

GOING NATURAL. ONCE YOU ACCEPT YOU'RE BLACK . . . 

You may want to consider natural hair instead of forcing your hair to be something it isn't.

Avoid overly astringent natural products because they will dry out hair and scalp. Rosemary is a good example of an astringent natural product, which can be a good occasional scalp rinse, but not great for regular use. 

SHAPING YOUR HAIR WHILE IT'S WET

Comb your hair with a detangler comb and avoid using brushes; brushes really tear away at curly kinky hair and give you more split ends. 

Avoid blowdrying your hair.

Shape your hair while it's wet with the help of a good hair goop. 

CURLY: While your hair is wet, add your hair goop and scrunch hair tightly at the ends to make it curl. 

STRAIGHT: While your hair is wet, add your hair goop and comb your hair into a bun at the very top of your head -- this will make your hair straighter. Keep it like this until it dries. 

WAVES: While hair is wet, add goop and comb hair into one tight French braid. When you undo it, you will have hair with big waves. 

I love the Kuza Hemp goop sold in most drug stores. Although some of the ingredients are not great, it really works well to waterproof hair in humid weather and curls hold better. It does contain petroleum, which is not good for the environment, so if I find something better, I'll let you know.

OVERPRICED PRODUCTS FOR WOMEN WITH NATURAL HAIR:

A lot of the expensive products for women with big natural hair have the same exact ingredients as the inexpensive products, but the expensive product has a trendy label. If you buy an overpriced product to support a small business, that's cool. But don't buy overpriced products thinking they are superior. 

Read ingredients. 

HAIR LOSS

The use of chemicals, hormonal imbalances and stress can cause hair loss in a lot of women. It is important  to monitor nutrition if you experience changes in skin and hair - hair loss and unhealthy skin signal a problem. 

If you do not have enough healthy fats in the diet or if you consume a lot of unhealthy fats, you will experience problems with hair and skin. 

BIG NATURAL HAIR IS A POLITICAL STATEMENT BUT IT IS ALSO A BEAUTY STATEMENT

Instead of wrestling with your hair, work with it and surround yourself with enlightened people who realize beauty is not just one thing. 

DATING 

Sadly, some Black men see natural hair as 'unprofessional' or not stylish. I consider this a form of internalized racism, but it's not your job to educate people. Keep it moving and find a man who likes a natural woman. They exist and they tend to be smarter than the non-accepting type.

What is ideal beauty and who defines ideal beauty?