Head Wraps

By Amore' Thompson

Head wraps have several practical functions such as keeping the hair flat, so it won’t be hard to maintain in the morning.  Professional bicyclist wear head wraps in order to keep their hair from becoming tangled due to all of the sweat from their workout.  Some head wraps are worn through their culture.  For example, Turbans are worn by Sikh men in India and also worn by men in the Middle East, Northern Africa, South Asia, and some parts of Jamaica.  For the Sikh men it is mandatory to wear a turban and in Afghanistan it is widely worn by men in rural parts of the country.  In Africa, the men and women wear head wraps in order to show off their social status or to show their spirituality.  Head wraps have been a part of Africa since the early 1700’s.  The origin of head wraps was also placed into African culture, so the men can look at their colorful head wrap on their head before they look at their body.  It was a sign of respect by looking at the colorful distraction placed upon their head.  The wealthy black men and women were the ones who wore head wraps the most.  It was hard for the lower class to come by these wraps. 

Today, African-American women wrap their hair at night with a silk scarf after they have straightened their hair, so it won’t become coarse again while sleeping.  This helps prevent heat on the hair by flat ironing or hot combing the hair again.  (Woman with the pink scarf, wrapped her hair before going to bed).  The traditional African wraps have been passed along today, but represents a different reason for the African-American women of today.  These scarves can be purchased at any local beauty supply shop in order to suit this need.       

Dread Head

By Amore' Thompson

Dreadlocks are also called locks, a ras, dreads, rasta, and jata.  These are matted coils of hair.  In order to achieve this look, you must comb the hair backwards to create a coarse texture and then twist it and lock it in with dreadlock wax.  Dreadlocks are permanent due to the matted coils that are created from the backcombing.  There are many reasons among various cultures for wearing locks. Locks can be an expression of deep religious or spiritual backgrounds, ethnic pride, a political statement, or simply a fashion preference.

 

A lot of people believe the Jamaicans were the ones who started the dreadlocks, but that is not true.  The look got passed over a long time ago.  Dreadlocks are associated with the Rastafari movement, but people from many ethnic groups in history before them have worn dreadlocks.  This includes many ancient people of Eastern and Northern Africans, Scottish, Indians, New Zealanders, and even Pakistanis. Today, some men in eastern and northern Africa color their dreadlocks, with a tint of red color from the soil.  A lot of African-Americans wear dreadlocks due to their ethnic culture.  Famous celebrities like, Bob Marley, Malcolm Jamal-Warner, and even Whoopi Goldberg wear dreads for the afro-centric look.  Revolutionaries are known for wearing dreads as a political statement.  It seems that they want the world to know that they are doing something different with their hair that is out of the ordinary to the majority.  Others simply get their hair dreaded because they like the way it looks and it is easy to maintain.  When you get your hair dreaded, you do not need to do any grooming in the mornings.  This is why some people choose to get this style because they do not need hair hygiene attention.  Now, all races are participating in the trend by getting dreads for their own personal reasons. 

Baldness targets Race?

Balding is part of the wider topic of "hair thinning" and it most common in males.The most common reason for balding is Androgenic alopecia.More than 95% of hair thinning in men is male pattern baldness or androgenetic alopecia. Male pattern baldness is characterized by hair receding from the lateral sides of the forehead known as a "receding hairline" or a thinning crown balding to the vertex area.

Recent study has shown that European men are more prone to baldness. European dermatology clinics use a five stage classification system developed by Rook and Ebling to classify the type of baldness thats occurring. This is what they saw.

Mediterranean or Latin first sees recession of the frontal hairline and the development of vertex baldness.



The Jewish/Arabian starts with progressive recession of the frontal hairline but there is no associated thinning on the vertex



The Nordic starts with the vertex going bald with a central lock of surviving hair




Most Human Balding acts according to a pattern. They sometimes occur together or separately and in different frequencies. In Europe forehead recession and Monk spot are the most common type of balding while Line-of-march, common in the Mediterranean countries and Single point forehead recession. While race is in no effect over what starts baldness but it is a factor in the pattern of balding you might occur.

The Hot Comb invented by an African American ?

The hot comb is a way for people with many different kind of textures of hair to get it straight. Whether the texture of hair is kinky, curly, wavy, or tangled. The use of the hot comb can change the way the hair looks.
A lot of people in the world may believe that the invention of the hot comb (pressing comb) was by an African American woman name Madam C.J Walker, which really isn't the case.

It is said that the hot comb was used by French woman in Europe many years before Madam C.J Walker came to use it. Marcel Grateau was one of the first people to use a hot comb in his Paris salon. Though the hot comb may have not been invented or first used by an African American, African Americans today are the biggest race group to still use the hot comb.
Madam C.J Walker did receive a patent for changing and improving the invention of the hot comb in the end though. She changed the way the hot comb was used and after many years became a millionaire because of all the hair products that she created during her time.
http://www.ehow.com/about_5526769_history-hot-comb.html

Hair Extensions

Ever wondered how one day you see a person and their hair is one length and the next time you see them their hair is a lot longer? Either their hair grows really fast or they just might have extensions in their hair. There are many different types of ways to extend your hair and it differs from person to person, which one is actually better. The different ways that you can extend your hair is sew in, glue in, & clip on extensions. Extensions can even be put into the hair strand by strand.
Clip in extensions seems to be the easiest way to extend your hair because just like the name says you just clip it in. With it just being clipped in, you can take it out whenever you want to take it out and put it in whenever you want to put it in.
Sew in extensions (also called sew in weaves) is another good way to get the length of hair that you want. There are different ways to sew in extensions, some can be damaging to the hair and some are better for the hair. A one that is common in African Americans is sewing in the weave after first braiding up the real hair into a circle. This method can be damaging to the hair because the stylist may do the braiding too tight or even sew the tracks in too tight to the natural hair.

Gluing in extensions can be damaging to the hair as well because when you are taking the extensions out the glue on the back of the extensions are pulling up the natural hair. The glue that is put on the back of the extensions is also very thick because it needs to hold the hair down.
Strand by Strand extensions is another way to get length added to your hair but it just takes longer. By doing this method you can also still sew it , glue it etc. just in smaller portions.
There are many ways for people of any and all races to get their hair the length that they want it, you just have to decide which one is best for you.
http://www.hairextensionguide.com/hairextensions.htm

Indian Hair

Weaves and extensions are popular in the United States. You can see a weave or extensions worn on many different kind of people whether it be celebrities or just regular everyday people. Weaves are popular in the Black communities and people might not think of other races wearing weaves. There is also many different types of hair that people buy. The most popular hair worn by people is Indian hair.
In India, it is very common for women, men, and children to shave all the hair off and donate it to be sold and bought. They do this because of their religion. When they willing get their hair shaved off, it is because its like they are sacrificing their hair to the gods of their Hindu religion. Once their hair is shaved off, it can't be said that it is all sold and shipped over to the United States but a lot of it is.
Indian hair is very popular versus the other types of hair that can be bought because it last longer and you can do more with it. Indian hair comes in different textures also, it can be straight, wavy, or curly. It all depends on what you want. With Indian hair, it is also said to look more natural than other hair. For example, synthetic hair. While synthetic hair may be cheaper, you get your money worth more because you can style it many ways and even take it out, wash it and put it back in. Indians donate their hair as a sacrifice to their gods and we people in America buy it and use it as our own.

Afrocentric Hairstyles

Before African Americans were into pressing their hair and relaxing their hair, they just wore it natural. For many African Americans wearing their hair natural meant that it would be worn in an afro. An afro is a hairstyle in which the hair is shaped into a wide frizzy bush.
Before the slave trade, African Americans wore their hairs in many different styles and ways. Some were twist, locks, and braids. after African Americans were brought to America and separated from each other they started wearing their hair in natural afros. After afros were introduced, you can see all different types of afros on African Americans from many years ago and even still today.

People may be able to connect people wearing afros to the Black Panther Party because that is the hairstyle that many of them wore. the Black Panthers wore their hair in afros as a political statement, and to show that they loved being black and they have pride in their race. The afro is also said to be a way for Blacks to reject European customs back in the 60s. In the 1960s, afros were worn by the youth, activist, and others. In the 1970s, even performers started wearing afros. For example, the Jackson 5. When the afro was introduced it became very popular within the Black communities all over the United States.