Questions and Answers

Robyn wrote: 

I’ve enjoyed reading over your website and have found much useful information. I’m wondering about your opinion of putting in extensions. My daughter is 8 years old and her hair does not grow quickly. She loves the long hair that extensions provides but I’ve also heard that it’s very hard on their hair and should be avoided until they are adults.

Along the same line, what do you think about straightening young girl’s hair with a flat iron? My daughter wishes her hair was straight….if one uses a high quality iron, is it okay for their hair?

Robyn,

There are no absolutes with the questions you asked.  I have friends, AA moms, who both put extensions in their daughter’s hair and straighten it with a flat iron.  I personally, do not do this but…my girls have tons of hair so I can’t say definitively that I would not allow them to have exstensions if our circumstances were different.

If you decide to go for extensions, here are a few things to remember:

1.  Have the extentions put in by someone who has a lot of experience and is good at their job.  It makes all the difference when it comes to African hair.  Period.

2.  If you plan on removing them yourself, have the person who put them in tell you the best way to go about it without damaging the hair.  I can not give instructions on this because I am unfamiliar with the process.

3.  Do not leave the extensions in non-stop.  Try other styles to minimize damage.

 

Now, for the flat iron…

1.   Make sure you only use a high quality flat iron.  I have a ceramic one that I use on my own hair (to make spikes!) and on my daughter’s hair only very, very rarely. 

2.  Never, ever pause with the flat iron on the hair shaft.  This could create what a hair stylist friend of mine called a “pocket curl”.  A “pocket curl” is a curl you stick in your pocket when the iron burns right through it.  That would be traumatic for both you and your daughter so keep that iron moving!

3.  Make sure the hair is well conditioned because the flat iron can really make it dry and brittle.

4.  Last but not least, don’t use the flat iron every single time.  Just as with the extensions, give the hair some time to recover with more natural styles.

Now on a personal note, and this is just opinion.  There is another reason I have shied away from both extensions and flat irons:  I want my daughters to love their hair in all it’s African glory.  There is so much pressure for women and girls of color to conform to the “white/European” standard of beauty. 

I will never forget the very first time my daugher saw her hair straight.  She was at the beauty shop for a trim and the stylist straigtened her hair before she trimmed it so that she could get an even cut.  As soon as the stylist was finished straightening, my little girl looked into the mirror and said “I want my hair like this all the time.”  I told her the hair God gave her was beautiful but she still wanted it straightened.  It did not take much to figure out the reason behind it.

She is the only child with African hair in her class.

So, I have made it a priority to ensure that she has beautiful, traditional African hair styles.  Let me tell you, some elaborate cornrows and cool beads go a looonnngg way!

Whatever you choose, I think your daughter is blessed to have a mom who finds her hair important and is working hard to make sure it is something she can feel good about! 

Thanks for reading!

Sherri

 

Cate said:

AHH! Sherri! You’re making me dizzy. Could you post the pics alone, so I can see how she did this? It looked AWESOME on your grocery store post on your blog. So I popped over here to see if you had more pics. Would love to see it in detail.

Also, are you taking the girls somewhere regularly? or was this a special visit?

Sorry Cate!  I hope I did not send anyone looking for the Dramamine!  Just click on the “View All Images” link at the bottom of the slide show.  It will take you to www.slide.com where you can view each of the shots individually.  I will slow down the display and change the pattern soon.

The answer to the second question is that we were at the beach!  Big fun!

Thanks for stopping by,

Sherri