Hair Matters

I can be mischievous sometimes. Don’t mind me.

The other day, a dear friend strolled in to my space feeling so fly with her new hairdo which I really admired. Long and very neat looking braids she had but then her hairline had travelled very far away from her fore head.

I did not let it go through my mind alone; for the love and fun of it, I said ‘Iya eko’. Iya eko is a yoruba term often used to qualify women with obvious receding hairlines. We laughed so hard as she gave me several reasons for it.

She quickly told me about her mother’s advice to stop taking her oily hands to rub her own hair after oiling her children’s hair as it will continue to make her loose her hair. In other words, her children will take all of her hair if she does not stop.

I had heard that before and so I was like wow! People actually believe this? It was a funny time with my friend and while she rushed off, I continued to ponder about the connection of children and their mum’s hair.

Ghana weaving as it is popularly called almost made me ‘iya eko’ if not that I stopped going for it completely. I now choose styles that will not stress my front hair because it takes forever to get it back once it’s pulled out.

My hair story is rather long and I would rather leave it be but I know that the advice my friend got is nothing but a myth. Like our bodies need several nutrients to function properly, our hair is not left out. It needs nurturing too; oiling, watering, iron, vitamin c, beta carotene, vitamin D, magnesium and a host of other things.

Hormones however are the major players. After childbirth, the body of a woman is busy trying to find its balance of which hair fall out is also in the mix  for a good number of women plus the body has lost so many nutrients that the hair also needs.

Eating balanced diet can improve our hair from inside out, choosing hairstyles that are not too hard on the scalp can also improve and make the hair journey easier after childbirth.

 

The middle name so many mothers bear is stress. Research has also shown that stress can and often result in hair loss. When we are stressed, apart from the increase in hormone levels that has huge implications, we often do not look after ourselves and soon develop flaky and itchy scalps which worsen and ultimately lead to hair loss.

I am trying to take my own advise too because eating right is hard work for me; well groomed hair is the antonym of my hair.

Let us try really hard to look good at all times or at least decent because our hair has a way of defining us to the world.

Cheers.