Hairdressers Badge

Last Friday 9 of the Guides passed their Hairdressers Badge.   It was a bit chaotic - 5 plastic basins with two girls each washing each other's hair, 3 hairdryers going at a time and lots of drying, combing and braiding.

I learned a couple of things that I didn't know about our different cultures.

• Black people with natural hair don't use shampoo.   They use sunlight soap.
• Blow-drying in my culture means blowing the hair while holding it over a round brush or comb and turning it under.   Blow-drying for black people means drying the hair while pulling it out with a comb to straighten it.   It seems very painful and I understand those who choose to have short hair and leave it to dry naturally in which case it dries into the peppercorn style.   What women put up with for beauty!

 

• Black people are very strict about hygiene.   You don't use the same basin for washing hair (or yourself) as you do for washing dishes.   Makes sense.   We differentiate between sinks (for dishes) and basins (or baths) for washing people.