Natural Hair in Scotland? - Part II

Hello and welcome to part II of Holly's post about the state of natural hair in Scotland...See part I here.

Current State of Black Hair in Scotland

The Black women in Scotland relax and straighten their hair and the men have their hair cut short! Normally, my partner has his hair in 2 strand twists or braids.  My partner has very long afro hair and after years of him struggling to find a good afro hair stylist, I started doing it myself.  I am a qualified afro hair stylist but I was working as a Personal Assistant in the City, so I gave up my job to go full time in hairdressing as that’s where my true passion lies.

 For example, there are 3 afro hair salons in Edinburgh in total.  A majority of my clients did not even know there are any afro hair salons in Edinburgh! I have heard bad reviews about each and every one – from pulling the hair too tight to bad attitude and terrible customer service! One salon even insists on relaxing a client’s hair before braiding or styling as they claim that they cannot control the hair!

The Black community strives by word of mouth and the sad fact in Scotland is that the Black community is weak. There is a growing number of mixed race children and I worry about the next generation as the options are so poor.  The parents in mixed race families don’t know what to do with their kids hair so they either grow the afro and tie it back (many afro’s have never seen a comb through them let alone cream!), and the boys have their hair cut very short to avoid any maintenance and upkeep. 

Hope for the Future

I have recently started my own business, Afrodisiac Hair and after speaking to many white parents with mixed race children they find it a Godsend as they are continually battling with their kids’ hair.  They don’t know what products to use, how to do a protective style, or even how to comb the hair!  It is difficult as a Hair Stylist to recommend products to use to maintain the style and the hair when the products I recommend are not available in Scotland!

I struggle to understand how the Black community have settled in Scotland without laying the foundations for our community.  Going to a salon and getting your hair done should be a treat not a punishment! I find myself feeling very homesick a majority of the times. I crave the strong community feeling, the food and the vibrancy for life.  

However, natural hair is making a comeback and we need to have more natural hair products to maintain a healthy 'fro.  After years of relaxing, perming, straightening, weaving and abusing afro hair, it is never too late to go back to our roots and embrace what God gave us.  Now I just need to convince the shops to stock the right products! I would hope that in 5 years time I will have my own hair salon, that there will be natural afro hair products readily available and that there are plenty of African food shops and restaurants.  

Do you have any ideas or suggestions for Holly? Do you have a story about natural hair overseas? Again you can find Holly on Twitter by clicking here. 

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Write by: Unknown - Monday, September 3, 2012