Hair Care in West Africa

[punkgirl89]

Hi Everyone! I'm going to be living in Senegal for part of the Summer and I was curious if anyone knew anything about hair care in West Africa.

I'm curius if I can find good hair oils there and I've also heard of a lot of people getting thier hair braided when they go there. I'm curious if there are styles that aren't cornrows (I'm of Swedish ethnicity and that would just look wrong).

I've also been told that you can get really cheap high quality hair extentions in Dakar. As someone growing out a pixie cut that sounds very tempting. But I'm a bit concerned, would extentions damage my real hair?

[Kuchen]

Two words: shea and butter. Not sure if shea is used as a hair product, but it's called "women's gold" and it's definitely used for skin care in parts of West Africa, where it's also grown.

[FlowerHair]

Yes, shea butter is popular in West Africa.
I just wanted to come in and say that I envy you...I want to go to Africa too :D (I'm from Kenya)

[mwedzi]

west Africans are well known for their braiding skills. Many of the braid shops in the US are run by west Africans. Though your hair type might not be the kind they most frequently work with, you should be able to get whatever style you like. What kind of braids were you interested?

Extensions can damage hair if they aren't put it and taken out with care. Find someone whose real hair is healthy and ask them for recommendations. Many times people care more about the final appearance and less about the health of the real hair, so just be careful who you pick to do your hair.

[SylphideNoir]

I just came back from Ghana. There were beauty shops a plenty and they thought my obruni hair was silly. You can find hair extensions in every market but I think the quality available would depend on the area you're in. Customers with more money mean the shops can afford to buy nice imported hair. Everything I saw was plastic.