African-American hair care is unique and needs a special maintenance regimen. It is also more flexible in times of hairstyle – it can adapt to various creative looks – it can sustain the stretches of braids and the dreadlocks. This type of hair is considered one of the most durable and strongest of all hair types.
African-American Hair Care
These characteristics require a special African-American hair care regimen to prevent abuse and breakage, which is often the by-product of sporting various hairstyle.
African-American hair is naturally thin, curly and full. While for women this is a great advantage in terms of freedom for various style and creativity, African-American men want their hair mostly short, although a large segment of braids and dreadlocks and even afro looks are still prevalent.
The variety of styles that suit African-American hair is as broad as the diversity of the people and their culture.
Because of its diversity and flexibility to design and changes, African-American hair care is often faced with one big problem – split ends. This breakage at the end of hair strands occurs as a result of overstretching hair to combs and styles and overexposing hair to chemicals and to grooming equipment like irons, curlers, and stretchers among others.
If split ends are not cured, hair would start to break more and make it brittle. This could lead to hair loss or even dry, crabby hair.
One best way to prevent split ends is to avoid the use of uneven brushes and those made of nylon.
African American hair care for men
African American hair care for men is not that complicated with most men sporting their hair short and most men not needing to brush, iron, curl or stretch their hair.
The short hair, however, needs a frequent visit to the barber and hairstylist. African-American hair care regimen also needs constant moisturizing and treatments because thin curly hair easily dries up, which could lead to split ends and even breakage. Dry hair could also damage the scalp and hair roots which could lead to more trouble for men – particularly hair loss – in the future.
Given this flexibility to style and to cut allows African-American people to choose their hair according to their personal preference, fashion style, and practicality. This flexibility, however, requires stringent African-American hair care to protect the hair.
Just like maintenance regimen for blonde or black hairs, African-American hair care centers on treating the hair as fragile and sensitive. This can be achieved by not overexposing, not brushing too harshly and stretching too much the hair.
