Does Black hair grow?
“Is that all your hair?!” For as long as I can remember, this is a question I have always gotten. And after I answer “Yes”, 9 times out of 10 the following question is “What are you mixed with?!”. In which I almost always reply, “Black and Blacker”. Insert awkward laughter followed by some stereotypical response.
Now where does this belief come from that if you have relatively long hair, it MUST be a result of some non-Black race? It must come from the same shallow place where the belief that “Black hair doesn’t grow” comes from. Can Black hair grow long? Yes it absolutely can. There are plenty of Black men and women who prove this. So if this is the case, why is this myth still so widely believed? I have a theory, but since it has not been scientifically proven (yet)… it is just a theory. If you are interested in my theory, first of all I love you but second of all stay with me a bit.
Lately, Black women have turned to wigs and weaves as protective styles. And for some reason, people automatically equate that with baldness. Probably because their grandmas wore it for that reason, who knows. But times have changed and wigs/weaves are now used as a way to switch up a look or to protect your natural hair from manipulation. As Black women dominate the lace front wig industry, weaves/extensions are worn widely by all races. We love to diversify our look and wigs are a safer way of protecting our hair than weaves/extensions. Of course there’s the caveat that wigs, if installed incorrectly, can be damaging to your hair and especially your edges. But that goes for any style your hair is in if it is done incorrectly. Since wigs have a negative connotation to them and they are mainly worn by Black women, my theory is that this is what contributes to the narrative above. Is this the only thing that contributes to that narrative? No, heck no, but it’s one of the larger things for this generation. The myth of Black hair not being able to grow runs much deeper into European Beauty Standards and lack of Black haircare products but we’ll save that for another time. Just know social media has tainted what reality actually is, so don’t believe every thing you see on the internet…. except for THHK blogs, you can believe us!
Now for the science! Many Black women struggle with length retention and many have for most of their lives. Others still blame it on the perm their mother gave them in 1st grade…. at the age of 35 * Insert side-eye *. Now there is some scientific explanation as to why it is harder for Black hair to retain length so I’ll shed some light on that now. Black hair tends to be curlier and kinkier than non-Black hair. Due to this, the natural oils our scalps produce has a harder time traveling down the hair shaft to provide it with much needed moisture. That moisture helps defend hair against brittleness and breakage which keeps hair from retaining length or “growing”. So for this reason, it is important for us to have a good moisture system in place for our Black hair.
The amount of moisture your hair needs depends on the porosity of your hair. What is hair porosity? The easy answer is the rate at which your hair absorbs and releases moisture. There are low, medium (normal) and high porosity hair types. If you imagine your hair shaft as overlapping scales or roof shingles, low porosity hair has tightly overlapped scales/shingles which make it harder for moisture to get in or out. For this reason, low porosity hair takes forever (I’m being dramatic) to soak in hair products. But once it finallllyyy does, it retains the moisture and doesn’t dry out as fast. Medium or Normal porosity hair has scales/shingles that overlap regularly which allows for moisture to enter and exit with little effort. High porosity hair has scales/shingles that overlap with gaps in between which allows moisture to enter and exit like it has the spare key and never calls ahead of time. For this reason, high porosity hair takes little to no time for products to absorb but also drys quickly. This is the type of hair that needs heavier products that take longer to dry.
I just gave you a ton of information which basically means that for us with Black hair, our haircare routine is what is most important. As moisture is important for length retention, so is protein. Our hair is made of keratin which is a protein. So incorporating protein treatments into your routine not only helps strengthen your hair, but also help prevent moisture overload. Yes, moisture overload is a real thing. So make sure to have a good moisture to protein balance as well as good daily habits. Do this and you’ll be on your way to better length retention and longer, healthier hair. If you are overwhelmed or need help coming up with the right haircare routine and regimen for you, book a Virtual Hair Consultation with me ASAP. If you have any other tips, leave a comment for your fellow Klub members.
XO,
Kat
