The Bane of Natural Hair In Ghana

It's quite interesting to see naturals abroad being bombarded with products and services from a large array of manufacturers and natural hair service providers. Can that be said of us in this our dear nation? When one goes to any cosmetic shop, it is easier to obtain products for relaxed hair. But if you need  natural hair products, you might  be lucky to get two or three at Makola Market or at well-known shopping malls.This scarcity can create frustrations in caring for the hair.

Another disturbing factor is that  most sellers are unaware of what goes into nurturing natural hair. Such lack of knowledge ultimately translates to the unavailability of products for our hair.  The common mentality is that naturals do not require products like conditioners and leave-ins; the only thing needed is sheabutter. It is, therefore, surprising to sellers if you request for conditioners, leave-ins and they notice you have natural hair. Even sellers with natural hair are in the darkness with regard to natural hair care and can thus, not provide any support.

Relaxed hair products tend to be cheaper and are in high demand. The opposite can be said of natural hair products which can be on the high side since they are not purchased regularly. To compound this problem is the issue of the existence of few hair product manufacturing companies who focus on the dominant consumers (relaxed hair ladies).

On the other hand, we cannot blame product sellers since they stock up products based on the purchasing rates. If naturals do not buy products to care for their hair, no one would put in the efforts to make the products available. A lot of natural hair ladies have no idea as to the  proper natural hair care. Nothing matters except their sheabutter and monthly salon visits for washing(which is done with cheap diluted products). They battle with dryness, breakage, and no length retention yet do not seek for solutions. But then, how many women spend time on the net? The best they do is use social networks. Some women are incapable of using searching engines and the few that do, may not know the existence of a natural hair online community.

Hair salons can be the most frustrating places for naturals. Ignorant hair dressers who do not know what to do and how to treat natural hair. The few who claim to specialize in natural hair also charge huge sums of money. Even in this case, the hair might not turn out to be what you desire.

How do we solve these problems?
Emprezz