The Challenges of Afro American Hair

Hair texture is something that can make a hairdresser take 1 hour to finish a hairstyle or “6 hours to finish a hairstyle.” With so many different textures of hair in the world, (after some on the job experience) hairdressers begin to get a feel for which hair, and textures, and hairstyles will take about an hour to finish, and which ones may take their entire daily shift to finish. When it comes to different races, with Caucasians, their hair tends to be smooth, and silky (although there are exceptions to this rule, with some having very think hair). When it comes to Latins, their hair tends to be a mixture of every texture; from smooth and silky, to rough, to thick, to kinky, to nappy. When it comes to Asians, the texture of their hair tends to fall within the lines of silky smooth, and thick. But the texture of hair, (that many hairdressers agree on) that gives hairdressers the biggest challenges, is the hair of African Americans; with their hair texture ranging from thick to kinky, to nappy. Depending on the type of hairstyle that is requested, for these types of textures of hair, hair professionals say that they know that it may take “quite a few hours” to finish them. But how do hair professionals overcome such obstacles, let’s take a further look.

How experienced hair professions overcome some of the challenges of working with African American hair

Experienced hairdressers have come up with various solutions when working with African American hair. They say that first and foremost, they listen to their client’s concerns, and what they’re clients are looking to achieve for their hairstyle, and then they say that they make a few suggestions to the clients, to cut some time off of that particular hairstyling session. For instance, if the client wants braids, the hairstylist may suggest slightly bigger braids, instead of tiny braids. If the client would like a hairstyle where their hair needs to be straightened, instead of a perm, the hair professional may suggest going with a hot comb. For some clients though, such suggestions do not work, and they may hard-pressed on getting micro-braids, or they may be firm. in their request for a perm to straighten out their hair. For these clients, it would be wise to set up appointments prior to them coming to you to get their hair done – this way, you will not have to cancel any appointment with other clients, because this particular appointment ran hours longer than you expected.

How inexperienced hair professionals overcome some of the challenges of working with African American hair.

If you are an inexperienced hair professional, a great way of gaining experience (with how to work with the different textures of African American hair), would be to offer up free hairstyles to some of your African American friends, neighbors, family members, or even clients. By giving out free hairstyling sessions, you will gain some “extremely” valuable lessons. It will be a win, win situation for you. If you perform well and give them great hairstyles, then they got an amazing hairstyle for free (and you may have a future “paying” client looking at you), if you were to mess up, or just do a horrible job, they would complain, “yes,” but you would not have to worry about anyone asking for their money back, because it was a favor for both of you, and you would be able to simply learn from the lessons (this would be a great opportunity to ask this particular client for pointers/advice on what you could do differently/better-going forward).

The texture of African American hair is very different from the hair textures of other groups of people. Nicole Hudson, being a hair professional, knows that this is something that you should get accustomed to (and learn) early on in your career, how to overcome these challenges with this particular issue, that may arise later on. To gain such experience, you may want to offer free hairstyles to African Americans that live (or work) in your area, so that you can gain experience – This will be a win, win situation, no matter how you look at it. Once you have gained some experience, you will know, later on, different ways on which you can take short cuts, and cut corners, and where you simply won’t be able to. This will save you valuable time, energy, and money in your future as a hair professional.

If you are looking for a hairdresser that can handle afro american hair visit Nicole Hudson hair professional at her hair and beauty salon at Shop 2, 14 Gerrale St, Cronulla NSW 2230.

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