Hair

I was poking around on roshini.net and found a video by blackhairdvd.com discussing the black hair care market and where our money REALLY goes. The opening lines are as follows….

“African American women spend billions every year on hair products.
Even though they only make up 10% of the American Population, they buy 70% of all wigs and extensions purchased in the United States.”

Many of us use/buy our hair products without taking any consideration as to where they came from, but after watching the videos below, I’ve decided to look closer at how I spend my money, at least when it comes to buying black hair care products.

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Out of all of the millions that are being spent by the black community on hair care products and extensions, only a fraction is coming back in. And where is it going? To the Koreans of all people. Not to say that it’s a bad thing for any group to be successful entrepreneurs, but the methods in which the Koreans are going about it are almost unethical in my eyes. They have an easy time taking our money for many reasons:

• Opening a store for them is not hard on their wallets because most of them are located in low-income, cheaper properties of the urban community (The section of town that need economical help the most)
• They have a tight network of wholesalers and distributors and work together to make sure that <i>we</i> do not get any substantial part of this market.
• Although there is a small percentage of black-owned hair supply stores, they are not any type of threat to the Korean-owned stores because of their capability to charge less for their products, and therefore, gain more clients.

With all that’s going on right now, this really isn’t a big deal to the most of us. But to the honest, hard working black entrepreneur who’s trying to get into a market geared towards their people, this is really devastating. The vast amounts of jobs that could be available in lower-income, urban communities are being compromised as well.

Bobsa.org (Black Owned Beauty Supply Association) is a group geared towards gaining some of the control of the black hair care/beauty supply market in the United States. They provide an interesting list of Black Hair care distributors and also have a good list of beauty supply stores that are black-owned.

When making your next purchase of hair extensions, or black hair care products, please be conscious of where you’re purchasing from and where those hard-earned dollars really go.

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What

Women come to me to get extension for many reasons. Sometimes, they come to cover up a mysterious patch of hair that just won’t grow. I’ve seen it on several women where they have a section of coarse, short, brillo-textured hair that just won’t seem to grow. Sometimes, the patch is even BALD. When I ask about it, 100% of them have claimed it was caused by the same thing…STRESS. I didn’t believe it was possible, but boy, was I wrong.

A good friend of mine once said “Stress is poison” and I truly believe it. From reading a few articles, I found out that when your body is under an abnormal level of stress, your hair will become a low priority for receiving the body’s energy and nutrients. Eventually, a section of your hair will become coarse and break off, or even fall out. It sort of goes into a dormant phase until your body’s back to normal.

The hair loss usually tends to show up 3 months after the stressful event has occurred. And the hair might not start to grow back until 3 months after the stressful period has ended. (6 months of baldness!?!?!? Aw HELLS NAW!)

With all of the issues that women deal with day-to-day, it’s hard to find a good release for stress. I suggest to always find a positive outlet like church, reading a book, confiding in a good friend, or exercise. In the meantime, you can always cover up your damaged hair with a wig or some extensions.

There are several other causes for hair loss such as:

1. Over-processing with chemicals or hair colors
2. Pulling of hair w/braids or bands (If your braids are too tight, yes, they can cause you to have PERMENANT hair loss) aka alopecia
3. Rapid Weight Loss (Look out Star Jones!)
4. Physical Stress such as surgery, illness, anemia
5. Hormonal (pregnancy, birth control pills, etc)

Be nice to your hair ladies! You’re too blessed to be stressed, so let some things roll off your shoulders!

References: (ThatsFit.com , HairLossHelp.com, FamilyDoctor.org )

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Feedback

hey nathalie i wanted to write u and tell u that your braiding skills are hott i was on yahoo search to c any ideas i can do for myself i braid 2 and tha work u did on your website is crazy i never seened disigns like dat b for im 18 now and ive been braiding since 12 i wana b a beautitian myself but enuf about me lol just keep it up gurl i dont know u but im proud of u n e way lol hope to hear from u soon

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Feedback

Hey Nathalie,

I am in Jackson, MS. My name is Maylene and I am only 16 years old. I have visited your site looking for designs to do on me clients’ hair only to find out that we have done similar styles. Your braids are wonderful!!! I also feel that the only difference in your braids and my braids is that you have been doing them for 14 years…..me?…only about 5. I believe it is a natural talent and thats why I get so many compliments and so many people wants me to do their hair. I mean from the neighborhood kids, to college students and even older women want their hair did. Besides being cheaper than the Africans, everyone always tells me that I am the best they ever had and that they don’t want anyone else in their head. So….my question to you is should I raise my prices or stay the same? Also, i am only a junior in High School and I was wondering how I should go about making a career in doing hair………….Well…..to bring closure to this letter, my main purpose was to tell you how i admire you work. I wish I could have seen more pictures, but as for now, just write mack as soon as you can……..sincerely and admiring, Maylene.

It’s WONDERFUL to get feedback from people…and to see that someone’s actually looking at my work! I really REALLY appreciate it and I truly wish you the best.

I’m not sure what you are typically charging your clients at the moment, but if you are charging ‘crackhead prices’…my answer to you is…YES, raise your da*n prices! LOL, but don’t rip your clients off. When coming up with your rate, consider the amount of time/difficulty that the style will take. Also take into consideration how long it will last on the client, and what type of income you need in order for your hair styling career to be worthwile instead of just a time-consuming hobby. I typically attempt to make at least $10.00/hour, but it can be more or less than that at times depending on what I’m doing for someone.

If you want to go about making a career out of doing hair, I would say that you should continue doing it through high-schoool (get your name out there and build up your clientelle). Do your best to build up a portfolio by taking photos of your best works. People are very visual when choosing a stylist…and if you have a good amount of photos to show them, it will help a lot. Be as professional with your clients as possible (making appointments on time, being responsive to their calls/requests) Also, try and save $$ in order to go for your license when you’re out of High School. When you have your license, you will learn more tricks/styles/methods, you can charge MUCH more as well. Who knows, your hair braiding may put you through college or make you a self-employed business-owner in the future!

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Get

Below is one of my favorite sistars, Lexi. She’s a brilliant student at UCF and a great friend of mine. The best thing about her is that she lets me experiment on her all the time. Shame on me though, there’s never a camera around when I do her hair, until just recently.

Lexi’s been going natural over the past year and has been trying out braids during her transition phase. She FORCED me to cut off some chunks of permed hair, but there’s still plenty left to go.

She’s very creative in her choice of styles. The cornrows provide a quick and easy solution for a hairstyle while she’s transitioning from permed to natural hair. In between braids, she usually sports the “braid-out” which is cornrowing your hair after a shampoo, and unraveling them (when the hair has dried), leaving a loose, natural-looking style.

Much love to you Lexi, I told you you’d be on the page!

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