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I am convinced Haitian women have a hair secret....

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^^The one from haiti that I get (my family brings me some when they come visit) is very very thick and dark, like molasses. If you see its still very dark in a clear bottle then that's a good sign they didn't dilute it. Good to know it's available online.
 
I'm half Haitian but I don't know that much about what Haitian women due to their hair considering my father is Haitian and not my mother. What I noticed is that all the Haitian girls I know either have healthy thick long hair or are bald h e a d e d with licorice strips for hair that hang out in haphazard patches around their scalp that they slick back down with oil and gel. The girls with nice hair tell me they tend to eat a lot of fish, lean chicken, rice and beans and vegetables. Most Haitians love their plantains and lambi. I was also told that they tend to lay off their chemicals and heat as well as do hot oil treatments and scalp massages with Haitian Castor Oil or coconut oil.

Now my bald h e a d e d friends and cousins tend to have adopted American hair care practices: relax every two weeks from the age of three, wear glued in weaves, wash your hair once or twice a year, dye, bleach, fry, abuse your hair and only use hair products in the ethnic section.
 
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DirectorChic said:
My Observation:

What is it with American born sisters who think the other sisters from Brazil, and the Caribbean have some kind of "exotic" hair secret? lol. I sometimes have to chuckle.

It is as if American black means stuck with "regular short hair" and bad genetics(bad perception). Born elsewhere means strong genetics and better growth.

One thing to remember ladies, we all come from that same place. Mostly West Africa, some from East. We on the basic level have the close genes and close hair practices (if that information hadn't been removed)

American Ladies: There are no secrets among those nice ladies outside the American continent. They simply did not lose as much information about Afro textures and care of that texture, like Americans have. Hence the better and thicker hair health and lengths.

As many of the Haitian sisters can witness to and well as Brazilian, they like to remain natural and use natural measures. On a basic level... that is it.

Much Love
Click to expand...


This is such a great post, I had to quote it. I 100% agree with the points mentioned above.

This is slightly off topic, but I think its worth mentioning that some of us African - American bw are susceptible to being bamboozled by companies that are aware of our tendencies to exoticize everyone else's hair but our own and then go about creating products that aren't any good for our hair but they know we will buy b/c it has Moroccan/Brazilian/Dominican/etc. in the title.

Isn't there a relaxer out there right now that is being positioned as a Moroccan hair ritual?..Please.
 
While I agree with the basic premise of this post (i.e., we all have the same genetic makeup), I disagree that there are no differences among us. To me, the difference lies in what we have access to for our hair and for how long. Coconut oil has been a staple in the Caribbean community for much longer than it has been in the US. Same with aloe vera. Those used to be "exotic" and found only in the "international" aisles of regular supermarkets. Now, it's on every shelf :lol: The same with shea butter from Africa and all for obvious reasons (to those not obvious, you need a certain climate to grow aloe plants, coconut trees, and shea trees). Many women abroad couldn't afford Pink Oil, bergamot, and Dax from America so they used what was available to them. :look:

When folks were in salons for hours on Saturdays, Black stylists were using curling wax to straighten hair with hot combs. That and maybe some "grease". Dominican products were some of the first to have ceramides, silicone, and protein all in one product to protect and moisturize the hair during any heat process. It wasn't SoftSheen. :nono:

I'm not saying Americans didn't have their own innovative ways (after all Madam CJ invented the pressing comb) but we should appreciate diversity in hair care practices such that today, we can all benefit even if certain trends/products originated elsewhere. :yep:


Disclaimer: I saw someone quote this post and I'm chiming in based on those two posts. I'm not reading this entire thread. :nono:

DirectorChic said:
My Observation:

What is it with American born sisters who think the other sisters from Brazil, and the Caribbean have some kind of "exotic" hair secret? lol. I sometimes have to chuckle.

It is as if American black means stuck with "regular short hair" and bad genetics(bad perception). Born elsewhere means strong genetics and better growth.

One thing to remember ladies, we all come from that same place. Mostly West Africa, some from East. We on the basic level have the close genes and close hair practices (if that information hadn't been removed)

American Ladies: There are no secrets among those nice ladies outside the American continent. They simply did not lose as much information about Afro textures and care of that texture, like Americans have. Hence the better and thicker hair health and lengths.

As many of the Haitian sisters can witness to and well as Brazilian, they like to remain natural and use natural measures. On a basic level... that is it.

Much Love
Click to expand...
 
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I keep hearing about a leaf called 'lang boeuf' that they would dry, crush and mix with castor oil for growth, does anyone know what tree that leaf is from?
 
Lang de Boeuf

(Picris echioides)

Also known as: Ox-tongue
Available from:
(no sources known)

lang001.jpg


Source

Picris echioides L.
bristly ox tongue, bristly oxtongue
Picris echioides, a dicot, is an annual or perennial herb that is not native to California; it was introduced from elsewhere and naturalized in the wild.
The California Invasive Plant Council (Cal-IPC) classifies the potential impact of Picris echioides on native ecosystems as limited (plant profile).

Communities: weed, species characteristic of disturbed places, wetland-riparian
Habitat: disturbed [Walker]
Wetlands: Equally likely to occur in wetlands or non wetlands [U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.]
Elevation: between 0 and 1476 feet
Family: ASTERACEAE

0179.jpeg


Source
 
MileHighDiva said:
Lang de Boeuf

(Picris echioides)

Also known as: Ox-tongue
Available from:
(no sources known)

Source

Picris echioides L.
bristly ox tongue, bristly oxtongue
Picris echioides, a dicot, is an annual or perennial herb that is not native to California; it was introduced from elsewhere and naturalized in the wild.
The California Invasive Plant Council (Cal-IPC) classifies the potential impact of Picris echioides on native ecosystems as limited (plant profile).

Communities: weed, species characteristic of disturbed places, wetland-riparian
Habitat: disturbed [Walker]
Wetlands: Equally likely to occur in wetlands or non wetlands [U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.]
Elevation: between 0 and 1476 feet
Family: ASTERACEAE

Source
Click to expand...

Is that a dandelion?
 
Royalty8790 said:
I finally got some l'huile masketi but I don't know how to use it. Can somebody help me out?
Click to expand...

I just saw your question, I use it undiluted to grease my scalp. Some people mix it with another oil both to cover the scent and to dilute it. I used to mix it with aloe gel, that combo worked wonders for me when I had a bald spot.
 
Royalty8790 said:
I finally got some l'huile masketi but I don't know how to use it. Can somebody help me out?
Click to expand...


So many ways to use it!

For hair:
You can add it to a prepoo or to a condish to DC after cleansing.

As it was already mentioned, you can use it on your scalp a few times a week.

You can use it to spot treat your scalp. Apply the l'huile in areas where there is less hair.

You can coat your hair with it (use very little bc it's very heavy) before washing with a shampoo.

There are many other non hair uses. Just last week, my mom washed the oil and I drank it to cleanse out my system (mistine). We also massage achy joints with it or add it to a lotion or body creme for extra moisterization. Many many uses but I will stop here.
 
DirectorChic said:
My Observation:

What is it with American born sisters who think the other sisters from Brazil, and the Caribbean have some kind of "exotic" hair secret? lol. I sometimes have to chuckle.

It is as if American black means stuck with "regular short hair" and bad genetics(bad perception). Born elsewhere means strong genetics and better growth.

One thing to remember ladies, we all come from that same place. Mostly West Africa, some from East. We on the basic level have the close genes and close hair practices (if that information hadn't been removed)

American Ladies: There are no secrets among those nice ladies outside the American continent. They simply did not lose as much information about Afro textures and care of that texture, like Americans have. Hence the better and thicker hair health and lengths.

As many of the Haitian sisters can witness to and well as Brazilian, they like to remain natural and use natural measures. On a basic level... that is it.

Much Love
Click to expand...
Wow, I found the post I had made to this thread two years ago, and let's just say you can learn a lot in a couple of years. Knowing what I know now, with the progress I have made (I am now MBL), I would have to agree with this poster here, as others have. Most of the Caribbean ladies I know who have long, healthy hair simply do not mess with it. Be it natural or relaxed, they stay away from the heat, dye, gel, grease and other harmful stuff, moisturize with natural products and basically leave their hair alone. Once I got my regimen close to that (no way I'm using stinky castor oil, Haitian or Jamaican, in my hair!), it began to thrive and grow. So yeah, I would say now that it's much more about how we treat our hair than who we inherit it from that is the secret here. :yep:
 
brownhaired_bonanza said:
Maybe the Hatian women's hair secret is: they have no secret. If they don't excessively style and put all kinds of products in their hair perhaps it works all the better for them. One of my closest friends is always on the latest faster-hair-growing-product bandwagon. She's got tons of that stuff and, although her hair looks nice, it doesn't seem to be benefitting from half the things she uses in it. Less is more, perhaps?
Click to expand...

This!!!!!! :)
 
I think their secret is that most have a good grade of hair. Not saying that kinky hair can't grow (I have it), but it certainly makes things easier when you don't have to fight with your hair to groom it.
 
CenteredGirl said:
I think their secret is that most have a good grade of hair. Not saying that kinky hair can't grow (I have it), but it certainly makes things easier when you don't have to fight with your hair to groom it.
Click to expand...

Hair will grow if its treated properly.

We need to get out of this mind set of good hair/bad hair
 
What is a 'good' grade of hair?

My best friend who is Haitian has thick hair and not high porosity so she gets relaxers and her hair is APL and swinging. But true she has a very basic and simple hair regiment.

I have met other Haitian women with fine high po hair that is extremely short and hair looks like what they call 'tete grain?' (not spelling it correctly).

I think high po and fine hair is the challenge not necessarily the 'grade' or curl pattern.

Best,
Almond Eye
 
Adiatasha said:
Hair will grow if its treated properly.

We need to get out of this mind set of good hair/bad hair
Click to expand...

I'm not saying kinky is bad, but it IS a big challenge to care for. It's so much Easier to have 4A or less hair type. I live KINKY everyday, and yes it's getting better, but good Lawd I've had to climb Mt. Everest to get my hair is groomable shape:ohwell: It's a HARD, LONG road and not many of us kinky heads can get length (4C+)
 
CenteredGirl said:
I'm not saying kinky is bad, but it IS a big challenge to care for. It's so much Easier to have 4A or less hair type. I live KINKY everyday, and yes it's getting better, but good Lawd I've had to climb Mt. Everest to get my hair is groomable shape:ohwell: It's a HARD, LONG road and not many of us kinky heads can get length (4C+)
Click to expand...


Again, I keep saying we need to stop this 4A or less hair is better to take care of. It is porosity and hair width that tends to be a problem especially with dryness and retention.

My cousin is multi-ethnic. Her mum my aunty is West African and her father is European. She has okay what is called 3b/3c hair. When her hair is short and cannot be protectively styled and when she doesn't wash it often, because her hair is high porosity it looks dry and grows in the shape of an afro and you can't see any curls and her hair is fine.

Since, she began washing her hair more often and her hair is longer since her hair cut five years ago, you can now see the curl definition and her hair is no longer an 'afro' shape it hangs.

But she still has high porosity hair the only difference is that she now knows how to care for it without it getting damaged. High porosity hair either does well kept short or very long. It is medium length that it becomes a challenge in terms of styling and many women seem to get stuck.

I have friends who are this so called 4A and have low to normal porosity hair and their hair doesn't encounter the same problems that I may have as a high porosity chick.

When my hair is short again because I cannot get it into protective styles, the air immediately dries out my hair and it looks very shrunken and even dry when it is not necessarily dry. Once, my hair grows past a certain length the same hair that looked this so called 4C-4Z hair looks a completely different hair type and by the way when people see my hair now at more than two inches and call is 4C it doesn't bother me at all. I am now transitioning again and it amazes me each time, when my hair is short you can barely see any curls unless I use any products but once it gets longer and the hair starts to hang it looks like a completely different head of hair. I really love the versatility of our hair from shrunken to stretched.

We need to stop worrying about hair types and focus on issues like hair retention and moisture. Many women hi po women that are stuck at the TWA or short medium stage unless they are slow growers need to either learn to co wash more often, or do more DC treatments and stop over manipulating their hair and stop blaming hair type. Long hair doesn't grow over night. Once I figured this out my hair is thriving since I shaved it in May, it is almost three inches and I venture to say it is probably three inches already it is just that my curls are tight and fine.

Best,
Almond Eyes
 
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^^^ Why negate other people's personal experience with their own hair?!!! I have my own hair problems with my kinky hair and while working through it, those are my experiences…same with that poster.

There are millions of people in India, Peru, etc. who have no clue about porosity, no access to fresh water on a daily basis, no conditioner, no nada and their hair is swinging down their back. Them and their long haired kids. If length is the goal, then yes - some people with kinky hair have more challenges (all else being equal). Some people with kinky hair don't have curls whether it is one inch or ten inches long..their hair will not change simply because it is longer. Same with some Asian folks who have 1a hair. Their hair is the same regardless of length.
 
Holla said:
^^^ Why negate other people's personal experience with their own hair?!!! I have my own hair problems with my kinky hair and while working through it, those are my experiences…same with that poster.

There are millions of people in India, Peru, etc. who have no clue about porosity, no access to fresh water on a daily basis, no conditioner, no nada and their hair is swinging down their back. Them and their long haired kids. If length is the goal, then yes - some people with kinky hair have more challenges (all else being equal). Some people with kinky hair don't have curls whether it is one inch or ten inches long..their hair will not change simply because it is longer. Same with some Asian folks who have 1a hair. Their hair is the same regardless of length.
Click to expand...

I think you have a very limited view of hair. Porosity is not about whether hair is straight or curly. I have seen some women with straight hair with high porosity hair and their hair is like straw. True, that many Afro haired women have high porosity hair but this is a big generalisation and also a big generalisation that all Asian women have this butt length hair. Some have curly hi po hair and I have seen it during my travels to my surprise and some have fine hair that is wispy and not that long at all.

You can have long kinky hair and it does not have to curl. My grandmother and great grand mother were some of those women. And check out kimmay on youtube she has high porosity hair and her hair is almost tail length and she doesn't have curls.

If you keep limiting yourself and calling negativity upon your hair that is what you will get. When women ask me for advice on how to manage their high po hair and I ask them how many times a week do they moisturise or wash their hair and they wear extension braids back to back and if they comb their hair dry all the time and then keep quiet they wonder why all I can do is shake my head.

As you said it is your experience!!!!!!!!!!!Kinky hair that won't grow so if you know that why bother to listen to any advice.

You know what I just can't discuss this issue again. It's back to the drawing board very elementary.

Best,
Almond Eyes
 
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My point is that regardless of whether some people have high/low porosity, high/low density, hi/low whatever, some hair types will reach floor length before kinky hair does (on average) even in a straightened state. Millions of women in India, Peru, China, etc. don't know squat about porosity and I doubt they all have the same porosity levels. Yet, they all have long hair with extremely minimal effort. Thus having long hair is simply not a matter of finding out the porosity of your hair….for them it's not even a factor.

One can recommend techniques, products, discoveries, etc. but at the end of the day, if people want to say that based on their experience kinky hair is hella hard to deal with, then they are entitled to do so.
 
Well how about we get scientific with this debate

Hair goes through growing stages right?
Anagen is specifically the growing stage
That varies amongst peoples in even the same families
Maybe theses supposed women from other places (long haired supposed capitals of the world )
have a longer Anagen phase 7 years
African descendents have a shorter phase possibly 5 years

Reason being?
Back to basics, because of the heat in Kemet (Africa)
(our continent of origin) we needed less hair
Maybe biologically that results in shorter Anagen phases
to keep the body from becoming overheated.

There are many holes to my argument I'm sure
but this takes the color ethnicity good hair porosity width curl pattern anything superficial and vulnerable to a subjective view, out of the mix.
Now you're left with 2 factors, Anagen phase & Climate.

Also as someone else said earlier, the ability to take care of our own hair was taken away from us the minute our ancestors were put into chains.
*If they were caught with combs or any other hair ornaments they whipped.
*After months on the ships the hair was shaved off, being caked with feces, vomit, blood, and bugs
*We were moved from a hot tropical 365/24/7 place, to a temperate cold half the time place
no longer was the heat stimulating our scalp producing sebum (WHich goes a long way)
*We were not allowed to keep our hair in intricate styles(that goes along with our culture being completely taken away from us)

In general out beauty, black beauty, african kemetian beauty, pure beauty, was kept from us.
 
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