The textured crown: Navigating the daily battles of natural hair

‎There is a childhood memory that some Kenyan women share, the dread of going to the salon with natural hair.

Seated in the salon as a young girl, you most likely wailed uncontrollably when the salonist tried to comb out your tangled natural hair before washing. 

‎The delicate massages while washing your hair tried to calm your nerves in preparation for the storm to come afterwards.

The sound of the blow dryer turning on might have caused you to suddenly recoil in your seat, the trauma to come already playing in your head.

‎In your scared state, you may have missed noticing the silent communication between your mother and the salonist. With whatever means necessary, your hair was going to be straightened. 

‎Your loud shrieks of pain fell on deaf ears, and any attempts to escape from the seat were quickly halted before fruition. 

‎If you made the salonist’s work ‘unnecessarily difficult’, a stern look from your mother was enough for you to withstand the hair straightening for a few more minutes. 

‎After the hairstyle was complete, your mother would try to console you by buying chips from a food vendor beside the road. However, the treat, though savory, did little to erase the painful experience you just endured. 

‎The insistent pressure to straighten natural hair follows most Kenyan women into their adulthood.

More often than not, society projects insecurities on Kenyan women by viewing women with natural hair as unpresentable. 

‎Speaking to The Star, John Muli states, “As men, we claim nowadays to love natural women. However, the situation on the ground is very different. Men only love natural hair women when their hair is at its best, the curls bouncing and the hair looking moisturised."

"‎When humidity strikes and the hair begins shrinking, men no longer want any part of it. I know it makes me look like a bad person, but have you ever woken up beside a natural hair woman after a long night of sleep? I have and her disheveled hair gave me an ick,” Muli says.

‎Folding under the society’s pressure to look ‘perfect’, a lot of Kenyan women opt to abandon the natural hair positivity mantra.

Instead, options like perming, weaves and wigs become a no-brainer for them.

“Being tender-headed, my mother made a unilateral decision to perm my hair when I was in class six. According to her, she was tired of me embarrassing her at the salon with my sensitivity," ‎Leah Wanjiru says.

Wanjiru says‎, unbeknownst to her mother, the news that she was going to start perming her hair was the best she had heard.

Aside from no longer struggling with her tangled hair, she could now rise to the highest status in school. 

"‎The popular girls in my school were the ones who had permed hair. They would flaunt their hair at anyone who cared to give them an ounce of attention.” Wanjiru says.

‎When Wanjiru got to campus, she did an introspection of the relationship she had with her hair. 

‎There was also a sudden wave of natural hair hype at the time and she concluded that it was the most optimal time to try embracing her natural hair.

 “My journey of embracing my natural hair was both short-lived and dissatisfying. I remember a time when I tried to do natural twists with my hair," ‎Wanjiru continues.

"‎With arms tired from struggling to twist my hair for three hours, conditioner running down my face that made my eyes water and the few twists I had done looking flimsy, I almost had a mental breakdown on my bathroom floor."

She vowed to herself in that very moment, she would stick to her lane and keep perming.

‎For Martha Nelima, wigs have always shown up for her in the nick of time to salvage the status of her hair. Her wig journey began when she was working at her first employment. 

‎Green and out of campus, Nelima was buzzing with excitement when she got a corporate job four months after her graduation.

However, her excitement simmered down when she was called to the Human Resource office three weeks after starting.

“Can you imagine the whiplash I experienced when the HR told me that my natural hair was a point of concern in the company," ‎Nelima says.

"‎Maliciously, she asked me why I thought I could maintain my natural hair that at that moment, could barely be tied in a ponytail,

"Following this, she firmly told me that natural hair in an official setting was unprofessional and therefore unacceptable. She made it seem like my natural hair would scare away the high-end clients who came daily for meetings in our office,” Nelima says.

‎Completely thrown off, Nelima did her best to bite her tongue.

After thinking long and hard about her next course of action, she decided that the salary she got from work was more important than her natural hair.

‎Nelima says that saving some coins from her first salary, she bought a bob synthetic wig at River Road one evening when she was coming from work. 

‎As she continued to climb the ladder career-wise, her wigs obviously got better in quality.

"Right now, I can’t imagine waking up one hour earlier every morning just to do my natural hair. As a corporate girlie, I only have time to throw on a wig and carry on with my day without a care in the world about my hair.” Nelima says.

‎Despite the struggles of maintaining natural hair, there are some Kenyan women who are defying the odds by intentionally choosing to go down the ‘natural hair’ road that few have the courage to walk. 

‎One such woman is Salome Mukami, who, after years of neglecting her natural hair, finally decided to start her natural hair journey.

“I had done everything under the sun as a woman who hated her natural hair. However, my hair health was at its ultimate low and looking at myself in the mirror, I barely recognized myself," ‎Mukami describes. 

‎She began researching on YouTube to get the full picture of what maintaining natural hair involved.

By the time she was done with her research, the web of confusion that she experienced almost made her throw in the towel before she even started her journey.

"However, having nothing to lose, I decided to bullet and stay the course,” Mukami says.

‎After months of trial and error and epic fails, Mukami finally got her groove on. 

‎The thing that was the catalyst to expediting her successful natural hair journey was simple but primal. She finally understood her hair type.

“I always knew that I had 4C hair, but understanding what that actually meant was the tricky part. Truly understanding my hair type and what it needs helped me in picking the hair products that would achieve the best results for me," ‎Mukami says.

‎The three-in-one shampoo was replaced by a sulfate-free shampoo, the consistency of her conditioner became thicker and the green plastic comb was swapped for a de-tangling brush. 

"‎Right now, people can now admire my healthy, bouncy natural twists and personally, that is a testament to how far I’ve come.”

‎According to Steve Masila, a hair stylist in Nairobi, there are various ways Kenyan women can make their natural hair journey easier.

“The days when women had to struggle to maintain their natural hair are long gone. Before rushing to cosmetic shops to buy every product your money will allow, take time to research and understand your hair type," ‎Masila assures.

Masila says hair products like moisturising shampoos and conditioners, leave-in conditioners, curl defining creams and hair oils preferably castor oil can improve the health of your natural hair.

"When you have healthy natural hair, maintenance will be easier and quickly become your second nature."

‎Masila says wearing a satin bonnet every night when you sleep is also key. At the end of the day, your hair is your crown, wear it like a queen.