Monday, February 16, 2015

Natural Hair – Is it A New Trend Or ‘Sankofa’


“I am tired of using cream; it burns,” said Jenifer, “having to stay longer hours under the dryer hurts.” “It burns the scalp” another added. These are the reasons some women gave in an interview with CypressGhana.com for maintaining the natural hair.

Many women, young and old, have gone ‘Natural’ with their hair do. It is almost a common scene to see a nicely trimmed hair, an Afro hair carefully combed or a heavy and wild untamed African hair held back with a scarf.

This trend has been endorsed in the media by some female celebrities like Efya, Becca, Caroline, Lydia Forson, and many others. Incidentally, Ghana’s Afro Pop Musician MzVee was flaunting her image and repeating the chorus, “I’m a natural girl, yeah!”


However, the definition of what a “Natural Hair” is remains a tricky word to define as was evident during the interviews. Some defined it as a “hair that is not touched with chemicals” overlooking the fact that the shampoo and other washing agents they normally use are made of chemicals too.

Miss Ruth Adjetey, disclosed that, “Natural hair is the hair given to you by God and Untouched. Once you put a little ‘Relaxer’ in your hair, it is no more natural.” This definition was adopted in 2014 by a group of young women who met to discuss issues that have to do with the choice of hair style.

According to the ladies, it costs less to maintain a natural hair. Also it is comfortable. Some of the items needed to maintain a natural hair includes shampoo, twisting gel and specialized combs.

Jenifer explains that the types of combs depend on the nature of the hair or how coarse it is. Jenifer has been keeping her natural hair for four months now.

Others attach religious importance to keeping a natural hair. Certain religious churches even go a step further to prohibit feminine church members from using cosmetic hair products. Others also argue the purity of maintaining a natural hair. Such concept is common with Rastafarian believes and sympathizers of Rastafarianism.

Meanwhile, some are of a different opinion on keeping a natural hair. The ladies who fancy natural hair explains that it is time consuming; for instance combing the hair for hours every morning before setting out. One young woman said she could not go natural because of the nature of her hair. “My hair is coarse, I won’t be able to comb it” she said.

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