Fri, 27 Oct 2017 08:07:12 +0000
By Annie Zulu
It is often said that Beauty is Pain but imagine a two-year-old being put under hair dryers after toxic perm creams have been applied to her feeble head.
Back in the days, our mothers and grandmothers equally loved to be attractive just as today’s woman, the difference however is that while their hair choices were chiefly influenced by their natural hair and a need to be distinct African and proud.
Current influences include a need to look westernized and fashionable as well as expensive.
So the question is why won’t African ladies just leave their natural hair alone without adding clicks, weaves, wigs, extensions, glue and others to their hair?
According to Mervis Mwila, a Lusaka-based hair stylist, some women have kinky hair, making it difficult to comb.
Ms Mwila also noted that some go for the extensions to make them look matured while others contend it’s a technique to allow their hair to breathe and grow while they put on the weaves.
For Chiluba Chanda, a wig addict, wigs allow her to visit the salon less hence reduce the level of harm she could be exposed to.
“A wig is the equivalent of a cap guys put on. Its simplicity allows me to wear it and head for work or attend other functions without a hustle,” she said.
Whatever the reasons, putting on weaves, wigs, and extensions is expensive.
Take the United States for instance, the hair business, specially targeted at black women is a US$9 million business with some weaves costing as much as US$5, 000 with the burden of payment often falling on husbands, boyfriends and fathers though some independent women foot their own bills.
In the Zambian case, weaves costing as much as K1, 000 are being worn by some ladies.
It has to be said that advertising has done much to orient African and diaspora women to use relaxers to relax their so-called kinky hair to look modern.
Brands such as Revlon, Ultra sheen, Soft and free, Beautiful Beginnings, are really cashing in and making the most of the situation.
However, a warning on a Revlon relaxer is instructive: Follow directions carefully to avoid skin and scalp irritation, hair breakage and eye injury.
Hair business is big business despite the fact that sodium hydroxide, a key component in perm creams can burn the skin of raw chicken in minutes.
