This will be one of my last posts on my natural hair. As I type this, my hair is back in braids. I couldn’t deal with how time-consuming having my hair natural was. If we said I wore my hair natural for 100 days then for 75 days I had my hair in a headwrap. I just didn’t have time to style my hair before I went out. My default was to throw on a headscarf and call it a day!
Headwraps are a big deal. In West African cultures (especially for Nigerians) headwraps are worn for special events like weddings, funerals, naming ceremonies, etc. The bigger the headwrap the better. Head coverings can be a non-verbal communication of a person’s marital status, religion, or social standing.
I mainly wore headwraps for significant events. I wore a large, green head wrap for my graduation and I got a few awesome headwraps (plus custom kente) when I got engaged.
Africans in the diaspora tend to wear headwraps as a fashion statement rather than for traditional or cultural significance. Not to say that wearing a headwrap isn’t a cultural statement on its own, but for the most part, it is all fashion.
I personally didn’t wear my headwraps for fashion during my quest to go natural. I did it to cover up the fact that I didn’t have time to style my hair.
At one point, I was seriously considering buying many scarves and cloth to support my constant need to wear a headwrap. Then, I figured it would just be better to stick to what I know and wear my hair in braids again.
I talked about the natural hair struggle with my friend Rebecca over coffee, so stay tuned for that post. I would love to know what your default hair style is with natural hair.