▁the ▁United ▁States , ▁South ▁Africa ▁and ▁western ▁Europe . ▁An ▁individual ' s ▁hair ▁gro omer ▁was ▁usually ▁someone ▁whom ▁they ▁knew ▁closely . ▁S essions ▁can ▁include ▁sh am po o ing , ▁o iling , ▁comb ing , ▁bra iding ▁and ▁tw isting , ▁plus ▁adding ▁access ories . ▁ ▁For ▁sh am po o ing , ▁black ▁soap ▁was ▁widely ▁used ▁in ▁nations ▁in ▁West ▁and ▁Central ▁Africa . ▁Additionally , ▁pal m ▁oil ▁and ▁pal m ▁kernel ▁oil ▁were ▁popular ly ▁used ▁for ▁o iling ▁the ▁scal p . ▁She a ▁but ter ▁has ▁tradition ally ▁been ▁used ▁to ▁mo ist ur ize ▁and ▁dress ▁the ▁hair . ▁ ▁United ▁States ▁ ▁Trans - At l antic ▁slave ▁trade ▁ ▁D ias por ic ▁Afr icans ▁in ▁the ▁Amer icas ▁have ▁been ▁experiment ing ▁with ▁ways ▁to ▁style ▁their ▁hair ▁since ▁their ▁arrival ▁in ▁the ▁Western ▁Hem is phere ▁well ▁before ▁the ▁ 1 9 th ▁century . ▁During ▁the ▁approximately ▁ 4 0 0   year s ▁of ▁the ▁Trans - At l antic ▁slave ▁trade , ▁which ▁extracted ▁over ▁ 2 0   mill ion ▁people ▁from ▁West ▁and ▁Central ▁Africa , ▁their ▁beauty ▁ide als ▁have ▁under g one ▁numerous ▁changes . ▁ ▁Afr icans ▁captured ▁as ▁slaves ▁no ▁longer ▁had ▁the ▁sort ▁of ▁resources ▁to ▁practice ▁hair ▁gro oming ▁that ▁they ▁had ▁had ▁when ▁home . ▁The ▁ens la ved ▁Afr icans ▁adapted ▁as ▁best ▁they ▁could ▁under ▁the ▁circumstances , ▁finding ▁sheep -