Latoya Newman
GOING natural is more than just a fad, but the way of the future!
Experts who recently addressed a conference in Durban believe the growing back-to-natural sentiment among Africans is worth focusing on as a hair innovation.
We asked them about this while they attended the second African Society of Dermatology and Venereology Congress.
The event included workshops on ethnic skin, hair disorders, updates on skin diseases, practical treatments and more.
Alice Laurent, L’Oréal SA’s general manager for research and innovation, and her team presented research they’ve conducted on the natural hair cycle.
“This is where you have your free, natural, Afro-style hair and the phases where you go through different styles. We found that women who move away from relaxers tend to go through a period of rest with protective hairstyles like braids. On the other side, there are periods of time when the hair remains free. So, it was very important for us to understand what this entails. And we looked very simply, in a pragmatic way, at the influences around this,” she said.
There are a number of aspects that are important for those wanting to go natural to know: “We have actually demonstrated that when you just comb your hair in its natural curly state, you actually damage the surface of your hair, which is the entry point for deeper damage. The second aspect is that when you braid, you actually put a very strong mechanical constraint on the hair.
“This has a very strong impact,” said Laurent.
She said their research would help them help African women who are going natural: “We need to help women in this rise of natural hair by getting more expert innovation to help them do the right thing. For example, the kind of braiding they should be doing, how to help nourish their hair throughout the weeks when it’s braided, how to accompany the unbraiding phase, to nourish the hair and help it recover from the in-between phases of the cycle. There is a whole set of actions which we are going to take after digesting this research, in terms of product innovation,” she said.
Laurent used braiding techniques as an example of how to care for natural hair during the natural cycle.
“When you see the damage on the fibres itself, you see that is important to consider the size and weight of the braids and to leave the hair a little loose so there is not too much constraint applied on it. Braids should not be too tight, pulling on the hair.”
Laurent said they believed the natural hair movement was “more than just a trend”.