HAIR TYPES & ETHNICITY (3)- Afro hair

The characteristics of Afro hair

One tends to associate Africans with tightly curled hair. However, some Caribbean people and aboriginal tribes in South East Asia and Australia also have this hair type. It tends to be woolly and dry with a flat cross section. The combination of black and red pigments in the hair result in hair color that is almost black to brown. About 10 percent of people have auburn hair.

Afro  hair shape and twisted structure is very vulnerable. It is extremely easily damaged by heat or chemicals. The hair bulb may lie to the side of the follicle, and so the hair shaft grows out of the follicle at an acute angle. Intermittent variation in diameter as the hair strand twists causes weak points along its length. Due to their curliness, the strands weave among each other and become entangled easily. Another reason for entanglement is some scales have loosened and broken off from the hair strands.  The disjointed scales along the hair strands become caught up with the scales on neighboring hairs. The result is tangles, producing knots that in turn become tightened during combing. Even vigorous combing can cause breakage in afro hair.

Hair become wavy when there is Irregular growth in the hair bulb     (the bulb varies slightly to one side or the other). Another factor is the shape of the hair follicle, whether it is straight or curved.  All hair twists as it grows. In Asian hair, the twists are far apart. Therefore, the curvature of straight hair is not pronounced. Some Afro hair has 12 times as many twists per centimeter as Caucasian hair. The number of twists of wavy hair is between that of straight and curly hair.

The thin cuticle of Afro hair is often in an open position. This allows moisture to escape from the cortex, leading to dryness.  Moisture contributes to the strength of hair. The open cuticles make the cortex vulnerable. Since the cortex provides hair its resilience, Afro hair is the most fragile among the three hair types. It breaks under a strain of 60 grams after an elongation of 40%. At the other end of the scale, Asian hair is the strongest, withstanding a weight of 100 grams and an elongation of 55%. The strength of Caucasoid hair is between the other two hair types.

* Photo from Wikipedia