There’s a lot of pent up frustration around Afro Curly Hair. Our mindset around our hair has been stamped as unacceptable and not beautiful enough for society. This results in a lot of us disliking our hair, barely tolerating it, whilst others hate it so much they do everything they can to turn it into something else. It is up to us to change our mindset around our Afro Curly Hair if we want to see a positive change in its health.
The subconscious is so powerful, with its quiet dominance, it takes everything in, assimilates it then decides what is worth doing or being and what isn’t. It takes strong willpower to overcome the subconscious mind. Humour me, imagine it’s raining outside, then tell yourself you’re going for a walk and see what happens.
The point I’m trying to get to is, throughout most of our living history, our Afro hair has always had to be something other than what it was designed to be. It is either a sign of pride or a sign of inferiority. Never just hair. Every other race has had the opportunity to not have their hair be just that, hair, not us. In order to tow a line of acceptance, we’ve done massive damage to our health, our well-being and our hair.
Many of us have transcended the towing of this invisible line, however, there is still this niggling doubt in the back of our minds when we step out, is this hairstyle ok, will it be accepted? We have yet to step over the threshold of acceptance; of our hair in its natural state being normal for us.
It is up to us who are moving through this phase to take the odd stares, questions and the comments because by doing this, we normalise our hair being in its natural state in public. When Afro Curly Hair becomes normalised and not fetishised, we will see more of our Afro haired sisters and brothers who may be more reserved or sceptical, step forward and wear theirs as a matter of course.
This will lead to curbing some of the harmful practises we’ve been doing in ode to acceptance, such as perms, tight braids because it’s neat and gluing wigs onto our very delicate edges.
This is not judgement, I used to do all these things, but when I realised how damaging they were to my hair health, I stopped. Each person has the right to wear their hair however they like, but, when someone knowingly and continuously does harm to themselves, there is a subconscious issue of self acceptance at play.
Change Your Mindset Around Your Afro Curly Hair
Changing your mindset takes small changes everyday. Small increments add up to large successes.
1. Start with telling your hair it’s beautiful, and seeing it as such. You don’t have to believe it at first, but do it anyway. Eventually you will, because it’s not a lie. Does the Creator/God/Universe make mistakes? Have you ever seen an ugly flower or Bee? Stop judging yourself so harshly.
2. When you care about your hair, you become more mindful of what you use in it. Whether you choose to go with more natural products or synthetic choices, pay attention to what your hair does when you use them. Due to the nature of our hair, we tend to layer products, but when we do this, how do we know what is working for us and what isn’t?
I suggest testing products in your hair on their own before layering them. This way if there is a problem, you know the potential cause.
3. Your Afro Curly Hair will do what it wants; at times, let it. One of the first steps to happiness is acceptance, accept your hair as it is, then work with it to bring out the best it has to offer.
Most hair damage is caused because we want our hair to do something it doesn’t want to. In a way, we treat our hair as we do our children. We mould them into something we want them to become, they do turn out to be that thing, but very unhappy and stuck people.
Due to its versatility, your hair will mould into whatever shape you want it to be, but it will tell you it’s unhappy when hair starts falling out, breaking or becoming dry and looking dull. Yes, style it gently, but sometimes, just let it be.
Wearing our natural hair in its natural state, whether as an afro, a pineapple, loose puff, goddess braids or twists, remember, this is not a movement, it is a lifestyle, it is our choice, it is our right.
At Holpura we hope to support you as you empower yourself in taking care of your hair and body. We offer plant based hair and body care products because we feel you deserve to have the best. You are worth it.
Talk to us in the comments, or on our Facebook and Instagram pages. As a growing business, your feedback is very welcome, we want to provide the best for you so we want to hear from you.
Until next time,
Be Great x