Every woman would like to fully love their hair without having to sweat the small stuff. For the African woman, we have been forced to admire and even envy long, smooth, and straight hair from as early as when we are girls. We always ask ourselves, why is my hair not straight? Why is my hair hard to manage? Why can I not get a comb though my head? Even going to swim with our own curly hair is a very stressful situation. Unlike the American, European, Indian or Asian who will comfortably get in water and their hair still remains straight, the African hair on the other hand will leave you looking like a wrinkled and overdone mop once out of water.
We all hate to love our hair, but due to the high demand and an interest to maintain our natural hair as natural as possible, it has become a trend the hair and beauty industry want to tap into. As the African woman seeks to make her hair more manageable, this leads to trying out all methods possible to have ‘good hair’. However, this always comes at a costs and a lot of time, sometimes wasted, to get the perfect hair product. From making ‘Do It Yourself’ products at home to shopping for expensive hair products, many women can attest to trying everything just to maintain their hair.
The natural hair community in Kenya has been a buzz setting trends and providing easier and locally available alternatives to manager the kink in our curls. A while back, this was a headache and many women would have preferred to straighten their hair with harsh chemicals or endure the long process of straightening the hair with heat and unqualified stylists who did not understand the structure of our natural hair. Many women will attest to been told, “Hii nywele yako ni ngumu sana wacha tuweke chem” (Your hair is too had let us make it soft with a relaxer).
The African Natural hair is structured to be able to with stand the harshness that comes with the African sun and unpredictable weather. Therefore, it is important to implement proper science in manufacturing good hair products meant for the African Hair. Understanding what kind of curl the African Hair is structured with will make it much easier to understand how to take care of it and manufacture products meant for the hair.
The first mistake when women always make when looking for products that will help manage their natural hair is using too many products. This always result in a built up of products weighing the hair down and making it look greasy. To offset this, we end up washing our hair too many times and in the end our hair becomes too dry. Dry hair always leads to brittle ends signifying damaged hair. We forget the Natural hair thrives on being moist almost all day and night. But this does not entail over greasing and using an excess of too many products.
Hair is composed of the bulb, root and the shaft. The bulb and the root are found under the scalp. The part that we see is the shaft. The shaft is not a living structure. In reality, the shaft is a dead material just us our nails are. For manufacturers in the hair and beauty industry, they will need to focus on maintaining a healthy bulb and roots while helping the shaft to store water. The hair shaft is made up of three layers; the cuticle, the cortex and the medulla. The cuticle is the first layer and a colourless structure which helps to locks in water and keep our hair moistened and shiny. We can easily damage this layer by use of excessive heat or using harsh chemicals. The cortex is the middle layer which makes up most of the hair mass. It gives hair its colour, strength, elasticity and shape/texture. The medulla is a soft, spongy mass of cells in the most central part of the hair shaft. It is not always present throughout the hair shaft; it can be continuous, fragmented or not there at all.
Hair also has a pH which is a logarithmic scale used to specify the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. The pH of natural hair is between 4.5 and 5.5. This pH is based on the natural oil we secrete from our scalp. This acidic pH helps to close our cuticles, hence holding moisture in our hair. When manufacturers are able to understand the science of hair, then they will be able to make products that properly balance the pH and promote good hair care.
Bond pHorce by Mizani is one such product geared towards innovation promoting worthy hair management. The Bond pHorce kit caters for all hair types. Whether your hair is kinky, relaxed, braided or texturized, this product will ensure your hair is shiny, bouncy and grows to new lengths. With Mizani salon experts who understand your hair type, you no longer have to be worried about your hair being damaged by products or the stylists themselves as the experts have already gone through a thorough course to understand hair from the root to the cuticle of the shaft. When you love your hair in whatever texture, you want to treat it with all the care that it needs. If the recommended hair pH of between 4.5 – 5.5 is off balance, Mizani Bond Phorce will help to bring your hair pH to balance. Mizani products will stop breakage, seal in all the needed moisture stopping dryness even before it starts. No need to be envious of another woman’s beautiful head of hair.