Black women DO have long hair

[webby]

Maybe I'm in the minority, but it seems that many of us say that black women with long hair/bra strap length is an uncommon occurance.

I am only speaking from my experience, so please don't take this out of context, but I grew up in NYC and I have never seen so many women of color (blacks, dominicans and puerto ricans), with relaxed hair, who also have great length.

Long hair is NOT uncommon on women with ethnic hair to me.

Am I the only one with this experience?

 

[suncypress]

hi webby--i agree with you, though i think it's regional. i have lived in the midwest (ohio) and the south (georgia and north carolina), and now i live in new york (brooklyn), and i definitely can tell a difference--here in nyc there are a LOT of women of color with very long hair. in fact here is where i've seen the most women with long, curly hair as i've ever seen. but i think most of them are latina.

now of course we all know that latin/hispanic people contain the same "mixture" as african-american people, which is to say, african, european, and indian/native. but for some reason you see way more latina women with longer hair. perhaps it is about the way most african-american women are (not) taught to care for their hair, as opposed to latina women? or maybe (this is about to be a controversial thing to say, please don't shoot me) it is at least partially about just how "mixed" a particular black or latina woman is?

i don't know--i'm curious about what other folks think. /images/graemlins/scratchchin.gif

 

[Desert Skye]

hey webby i agree. i am in nyc too and black girls have beautiful long hair just like girls from other races and in many cases it is healthier.

 

[Poohbear]

[ QUOTE ]
suncypress said:
hi webby--i agree with you, though i think it's regional.

[/ QUOTE ]

i agree too. i see more white women with short hair than blacks with short hair. there's only a few black women that Ive seen with short unkempt hair. and when i see a black woman with short hair, its usually nice looking. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[webby]

Sun, I don't think the mixture is as important as the regimine. I am biracial and for most of my younger years I had the big puffy hair thing going on, because my mother aired on the side of health, versus style. My hair was very long, but BIG!

When I started going to black stylists, my hair was never healthy, never long and they always fried my hair. A latina friend of mine, who had the same hair texture, recommended that I go to a Dominican salon. It was then and only then that my hair started to reach the length that I had as a child; my hair was not over processed.

I was shocked to see so many beautiful, healthy heads of African American, relaxed hair coming in and out of the salon. I mean, these women had HAIR and it was LONG and flowing.

 

[Lorraine]

<font color="brown">I agree! Black women can grow long hair. Many of us have never witnessed women with long hair until we joined this board because we either didn't see it growing up or the women in our family never had long hair and we assumed short hair was 'hereditary'. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif It's about knowledge. Most people can grow long hair we just do damaging things to it and prevent it from happening. Unfortunately, it's a myth that many of us believe, especially Black men. /images/graemlins/ohwell.gif</font>

 

[SUPER SWEET]

This may sound strange but all the women I know that live in NY have long hair until they move to Philly. Do you think it could be the water or air that helps with growth?
I look around Philly and dont see many women with past bra-strap hair or even bra strap length.
Most of the hair dressers I've gone to overprocess and overcharge. I'm so happy to have found this site. I can't wait to see my sixth month anniversary!!!

 

[webby]

My, I moved to PA and thought the same thing...maybe the water is hard, or something.

I ended up chopping most of my hair off, then going as short as Halle Berry, but I learned how to do my hair just like my stylist in NY. It was easier to learn on shorter hair. I first had to master the rollerset, which still takes way too much time, but at least the rollers are tight.

Then, I had to master the blowdrying technique. Now, as I recently posted, I only go to a professional to apply my relaxers and my colourshine, but I travel home to NYC for that.

I went to a Dominican stylist out here in PA and she darn near ripped out all my hair from the roots, plus her own hair was looking tow-UP /images/graemlins/barf.gif

 

[sassygirl125]

I think it might be the water, too. I've lived in the South for a long time and I rarely see grown women with healthy hair (relaxed or natural) that is past shoulder length. When I do see it, I'm looking like /images/graemlins/shocked.gif

And when I get the nerve to talk hair with them, they either religiously go to the salon once a week or have "old school" regimens that would never work for me. Shampoo 2x-3x a month, grease it and style it using a million watts of heat. /images/graemlins/ohwell.gif

 

[suncypress]

mysweetevie, maybe it is about the salons available in philly? the BF and i have talked a lot about moving to philly but i am sure i would be traveling back to NYC to go to curve if i want to keep texturizing. maybe there are fewer salons that take good care of black hair in philly?

webby i'm not biracial but i always had "big" hair as a child too, b/c my mother was also a stickler for hair health. it's funny, when i read about people "stretching" relaxers on this site, i have to laugh--my mom would NEVER let me get a touchup any sooner than 12 weeks. the idea that 12 weeks is a stretch just shows you how little experience i have with the usual haircare practices.

one other thing i think that's different about latina women's hair care is that (judging from my observation) there seem to be a lot of latina women who choose to get texturizers and wear their hair curly as there are those who go the bone-straight route. [now that i have a texturizer it is easier for me to spot texturized curly hair, and i realize that a lot of women i would have assumed had "naturally curly hair" whn i was younger, actually have texturizers to keep the curls more tame.]

apart from the ladies on this board, and others who are educated about hair health, i think a lot of black women who go the chemical route go "all the way," so to speak, even over-processing and overlapping to keep their hair as straight as possible. this means unhealthy hair that "won't grow" b/c it breaks off.

 

[ms_kenesha]

CO-SIGNING /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[ QUOTE ]
suncypress said:
apart from the ladies on this board, and others who are educated about hair health, i think a lot of black women who go the chemical route go "all the way," so to speak, even over-processing and overlapping to keep their hair as straight as possible. this means unhealthy hair that "won't grow" b/c it breaks off.

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[kombov_dymond]

It's a rarity in the South. I think it has something to do with hair care moreso than the blending of cultures. We are all mixed to hell here as well as everyplace else.

The ladies in my family GO THRU hair. It grows, but they constantly color, cut, weave and braid. We have one cousin with hair past BS and it's a big thing. They say it's her genes, but I know most of it is prolly her hairdresser and the way she cares for her hair.

I think I have seen one girl this year that was waist-length and you know we all were GAWKING....

I could look at her hair and tell what she does to it without asking, thanks to this board /images/graemlins/spinning.gif.

 

[missvi]

My mother had very long hair and so did great-grandma and I. But we were the only one in the family.
In the Caribbean I see woman with long hair but its not healthy.

 

[Dreamn]

[ QUOTE ]
mysweetevie said:
This may sound strange but all the women I know that live in NY have long hair until they move to Philly. Do you think it could be the water or air that helps with growth?
I look around Philly and dont see many women with past bra-strap hair or even bra strap length.
Most of the hair dressers I've gone to overprocess and overcharge. I'm so happy to have found this site. I can't wait to see my sixth month anniversary!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

yup...almost every chick in philly is wearing a phony pony or a weave. every now and then i see a blk girl with long hair. and when i was in DC i didnt see that many women with long hair either. im in jacksonville, florida right now, and i have yet to see one nice head of hair that would make my head swerve. blk women may have bra strap hair, but its not as common as seeing a non blk woman with bra strap hair.

 

[sengschick]

I think it's based on the area. I've noticed the women in NYC for some reason do have long beautiful hair. But when I do go to other places along the coast I see 80% weaves, 15% shoulder length or shorter and only 5% of women I think have real hair below shoulder length. The percentages of armpit to bra-strap are minute at best. But they are also places where ppl remain confinded to circles and women don't help ppl they don't know. When I visit the South the women have nice thick healthy longer hair. But they're are lots of transplants their too from other regions. I'm thinking of Atl in particular. But again the percentages of below armpit to brastrap are higher but not over 30%.

Here in Michigan it's something I'm seeing more and more. The norm here is 'overly done' professional styled hair. It's almost a status symbol but it leaves you w/less hair and more weave to flaunt. I was in CVS the other week and this girl had orange hair, not reddish orange, but like crayon color orange weave pony w/fake hair that made the bangs. Mess. But professional women have really done, not ghetto hair, but definitely coiffed hair as well. So it's rarely brastrap, but I do see it more and more. I've noticed more and more armpit length sisters which is freshing. Sunday I was in Whole Foods and saw this older black woman who had her hair over shoulder. When I walked around the front of her I was excited b/c she had a pretty braid hanging to the middle of her torso. /images/graemlins/clap.gif She was a 4 and maybe even natural or texturized b/c her hair wasn't str8. And I also must claim the lovely Kenya Moore, from Detroit, my original hair idol. I remember when she was doing runway in nightclubs in Detroit and I was like 14 and totally facinated by her. /images/graemlins/smile.gif I had to get up close and personal be4 I really believed it was hers b/c it was so amazing to me that type 4 hair could grow that long. And I almost forgot the lovely Ms. Sara Stokes /images/graemlins/up.gif.

I think that overtime it will be a more common occurance. Just think of how many attitude, beliefs and practices are changed here daily. And in term we educate others and we'll educate our children. So I think in time we will see an even greater increase and we'll know we were part of the movement. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[skegeesmb]

When I went down south for school a lot of ladies on my campus had long hair.

I had two friends from Texas who had brastrap length hair. I had a friend from Birmingham who had midback length hair. I know that most of the greek ladies had longish hair. My hair was shoulderlength to a few inches past shoulderlength at that time. I really didn't start trying to grow my hair out until I was about to graduate from undergrad.

In NYC I see plenty of girls with long hair. I also see quite a few where I am in Connecticut. A lot of girls here to go Dominican Salons, and we have some old school hairstylists that try to grow out your hair. We do have the salons that overcharge and over relax, but you have the choice to go there.

But then again I see a lot of girls in CT mostly young teenage girls with some chewed up overelaxed hair. It's not until they get a little older before they start taking care of their hair.

 

[atlien]

I know you ladies don't think so but I believe genes are an important factor in hair length. My sister and I have different moms and she does all the protective styling in the world and her hair will not grow past her ears it never has. /images/graemlins/ohwell.gif Oh yeah black women can have long hair if they have the right gene poole. Just my opinion /images/graemlins/look.gif

 

[Mariaat40]

I recently went to a salon (for the first time in a loooong time) in Minneapolis. I very easily had the longest hair in the salon. I see so few women with long healthy hair here. I want to take some of these teenage girls with chewed up ends aside and mentor them in hair care techniques. /images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[webby]

Ok...I'm going to crawl back under my rock.

Maybe it is a NY thang. Perhaps it's because we have access to Dominican salons (I attribute my hair success to them) /images/graemlins/ohwell.gif

 

[cutebajangirl]

I agree with you Webby. Up the block from my housing is a catholic school. Almost all the girls have below bra strap hair. It is odd to me when I see one that doesn't. In general I do think black women do have long hair up here. I think it is due to the Dominican salons. Our hair "thing" is go get a wash and doobie every week. To us that is coiffed. So since that is a healthy option, you're gonna see alot of girls with long hair.

 

[MonaLisa]

[ QUOTE ]
webby said:
Ok...I'm going to crawl back under my rock.

Maybe it is a NY thang. Perhaps it's because we have access to Dominican salons (I attribute my hair success to them) /images/graemlins/ohwell.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL@Webby. I am never leaving my Dominican salon again unless I am forced to geographically. I always achieve length and better health from going I realized. That and better hair care on my part...I should be good to go from this point onward. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[sengschick]

I understand that the doobie is a regular process used in the DC area as well. It's foreign in these parts, heat, heat, heat, chop, chop, chop... that's our norm /images/graemlins/ohwell.gif.

 

[dreemssold]

[ QUOTE ]
suncypress said:
hi webby--i agree with you, though i think it's regional. i have lived in the midwest (ohio) and the south (georgia and north carolina), and now i live in new york (brooklyn), and i definitely can tell a difference--here in nyc there are a LOT of women of color with very long hair. in fact here is where i've seen the most women with long, curly hair as i've ever seen. but i think most of them are latina.

now of course we all know that latin/hispanic people contain the same "mixture" as african-american people, which is to say, african, european, and indian/native. but for some reason you see way more latina women with longer hair. perhaps it is about the way most african-american women are (not) taught to care for their hair, as opposed to latina women? or maybe (this is about to be a controversial thing to say, please don't shoot me) it is at least partially about just how "mixed" a particular black or latina woman is?

i don't know--i'm curious about what other folks
think. /images/graemlins/scratchchin.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

ITA 100%. For those who have mentioned Philly, I was born and raised in Philly. Not until I moved away did I have access to so many stylists that truly cared about the health of my hair. They do exist in Philly, but you have to find them...half the stylists just want to weave you up (weave being the most expensive styling option, of course) Luckily, when I was younger, my mother was on her j-o-b /images/graemlins/grin.gif.

The other thing is, while I do not think it's a rarity to see a Black women with bra strap or longer hair, it's not something I see all day everyday, either. For those who see BLACK women with that length often, I'd be curious about a percentage. I think a generous estimate for how many I see would be 1 in 10 (10%), and honestly, half of them I probably see in the Dominican salon /images/graemlins/ohwell.gif.

 

[Britt]

[ QUOTE ]
dreemssold said:
The other thing is, while I do not think it's a rarity to see a Black women with bra strap or longer hair, it's not something I see all day everyday, either. For those who see BLACK women with that length often, I'd be curious about a percentage. I think a generous estimate for how many I see would be 1 in 10 (10%), and honestly, half of them I probably see in the Dominican salon /images/graemlins/ohwell.gif.

[/ QUOTE ]

Exactly! Yes I do see plenty of blk. women with long hair. However, on a day to day basis, long hair is NOT the majority that I see. I don't think anyone is saying that blk. women can't grow hair but when your walking on the street or in your classroom, the majority of blk. women do not have bra strap length. I live in NYC in the middle of tons of Dom. salons and it is there that I mostly see heads of long flowing hair /images/graemlins/smile.gif Or those that I see with long hair, when I question them, they proudly give props to the Dom. salon they go to.

 

[Whisper]

Speaking of the water.... I SWARE when I used to visit California, before joining the board, and I get my hair done, my hair would be amazingly soft and in great condition. I used to blame it on the water then, for the glamour of my hair, not so much style... so I believe for some it could be the water /images/graemlins/ohwell.gif

 

[atlien]

When I use to live in NY I use to go to Maribel's every 2 weeks my hair was a lot longer but it was "super thin"! /images/graemlins/frown.gif. I hated the thinness I contributed this to excessive wrapping and that darn brush they used. Now my hair isn't as long but much thicker so I guess the dominican salon can be the culprit for lengthy hair but if you want thickness don't wrap to much /images/graemlins/ohwell.gif

 

[webby]

Atlien, I wrap my hair faithfully and have never experienced any problems (not to diminish your experience), but I discovered that the key, for me, was to allow them to blow only my roots. I think that longer hair, plus the required tension from pulling the brush, tends to lead to breakage.

 

[Britt]

[ QUOTE ]
atlien said:
When I use to live in NY I use to go to Maribel's every 2 weeks my hair was a lot longer but it was "super thin"! /images/graemlins/frown.gif. I hated the thinness I contributed this to excessive wrapping and that darn brush they used. Now my hair isn't as long but much thicker so I guess the dominican salon can be the culprit for lengthy hair but if you want thickness don't wrap to much /images/graemlins/ohwell.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah i think too much wrapping and blowing will def. thin your hair. I rarely wrap my hair as oppossed to when I was in HS I would wrap nightly. Instead, if I want to wear a wrap sometimes I wrap it at night, or I will sleep with 1-4 rollers and as soon as I get up I wrap my hair. When I come out the shower and ready to go out the door I comb out my wrap. I also think its not only about going only to Dom. salons cause a lot of them will pull your hair and rough it up /images/graemlins/wallbash.gif its best if u have a particular person that you go to that way u develop a rapport with them and they treat your hair with care instead of any other client waiting to get a wash n set. For this reason I primarily do my hair myself eventhough there are tons of cheap Dom. salons available to me.

 

[buffalosoldier]

In Arkansas it was rare to see a blk woman with long hair but I think that all the elaborate styling doesnt help.
In Denver it was rare as well but in Los Angeles I see a lot of black women with long hair. Maybe it's the weather plus they wear their hair more simple here..a lot of ponytails.

 

[GodMadeMePretty]

Hmmm, I grew up in Arkansas and just about everybody in my family had long hair. It was unusual to have short hair. With other people, I do know that the girls whose parents put in a gazillion rubber bands and barrettes had the shortest hair. More ponytails = shorter hair. Other than that, where I went to school, you couldn't really tell whose hair was long unless they did nothing to it. Everybody was soooo into the latest cuts. Everybody had a style. Wearing your hair long was not fashionable. Then I wanted to cut my hair and my mother hated it.