A look at the history of Black Hair Care

I have been making my own hair care products for a long time now but I haven’t introduced them to market. I’m currently toying with a few recipes to come of with a perfect blend. I’ll keep you posted on how it’s going.

Recently, I came across an article on the history of black hair care. The article refers to a book is titled “400 years without a Comb: The Untold Story”, by Willie L. Morrow. In it you will find interesting facts like:

In Africa and during slavery:
- Black used grits, corn meal, and powdered charcoal as a dry shampoo.
- Wild Apple leaves and chicken fat were cooked together and used as a hair oil and conditioner.

Post Slavery:

- The Sunday morning haircut was performed on the front porch where the recipient would sit on a stump or box. This was known as the first barbershop.
- To straighten hair, lye was used and often caused hair breakage, scalp burns, hair loss, and baldness

You can find this book at Amazon.com. Though expensive, it proves to be an interesting read!