Coily or Afro hair: a bit of history

Hair and hairstyles in general are very important for black women; they are the primary adornment of their beauty. The ancient rituals surrounding Afro hairstyles illustrate this.

© Okhai Ojeikere

According to some historians, the earliest traces of African hairstyles may date back to Homo sapiens. Similarly, some mummies have been found with braided hair, and Afro combs have also been discovered in Egyptian tombs, proving that, contrary to many representations, our ancestors did not have straight hair. The existence of kinky hair would thus be established.
It seems that braiding dates back to Egyptian times and concerned both men and women for reasons of convenience.

The explanation would be genetic: in fact, kinky hair provided physical protection against external and climatic aggressions thanks to specific hygrometry linked to its helical shape. Afro cosmetics, natural Afro cosmetics, Afro beauty

In Africa, in some communities, rituals around hairstyles punctuate different stages of life and have particular significance; many hairstyles represent birth, initiation, marriage, and mourning.

Nowadays, travel, cultural mixing, and openness to the world favor the expansion of African hairstyles, and we have seen the adoption of some of these hairstyles regardless of origin. At the same time, from across the Channel, the natural hair movement seems to have started, first observed in the world of show business. Even if the phenomenon is still marginal, we have seen a renaissance of the Afro, and those who wear it embrace it...

Source RFO, elearn more