Beauty Spot

Throw out the flat iron, hot comb, and chemicals, because black women all across America are converting back to their original hair texture.


They are allowing their hair to grow out of their heads into tiny spring-like, corkscrew shapes. Some may wear their hair dreaded, corn-rowed, sister-locked, braids, or even in an afro.

During the civil rights movement and the era of the 60’s and 70’s, African-Americans expressed their political views and self love by wearing their natural locks.

In today’s society, you see minimal African-American women modeling the natural look; most women prefer to straighten their hair with relaxers.

However, in the past decade, the natural look has re-emerged. Celebrities such as India Arie and Jill Scott have been spotted on red carpets and music videos displaying their natural look.

Products such as Out of Africa, Taliah Waajid’s natural herbal products, and Carol’s Daughter have become a commodity to natural women, according to naturalproductsmarketplace.com; overall natural hair care sales are up 4.5 percent since April 18, 2009.

Natural hair products are used to replenish dry hair, moisturize chemically treated and damaged hair, and detangle kinks, according to carolsdaughter.com.

Despite all the products that have been marketed to help control frizz and overly dry hair, some women who make the choice to go natural, pay for it negatively in other areas, such as their jobs.

“Black hair has historically been a controversial issue,” according to Tania Pagett, a writer for Newsday, “especially when worn in its natural state in styles like afros, braids, cornrows and dreadlocks. Glamour magazine is still trying to put to bed an ugly matter that erupted five months ago when a former staffer made racially insensitive comments about the appropriateness of black women's hairstyles in the workplace.”

Hairstyles that are considered distractions are not acceptable in the workplace, according to some employers. But despite what corporate America may think of kinky and un-relaxed hair, natural women such as Jill Herzig, executive editor at Glamour, believe that as long as hair is neat and put together, there is no natural hair texture that is inappropriate for corporate America ."

F.Y.I. I tried it for a two years and couln't take it anymore. But for those women who can, I applaud you all!