In Kenya, salons are filled with women who spend hours to have their hair done. It’s also expensive in a country where half of the population lives on less than a dollar a day. For some women, that has come at too high a cost and now they are embracing their natural hair.
Monica Wamaitha, 22, works in a salon in downtown Nairobi. Despite specializing in creating weaves and wigs for her clients, she keeps her natural hair.
“I decided to go natural because I want to be myself. I don’t want to perm my hair or put weaves because I want to be myself with my natural hair,” she said.
She said she finds it pretty easy to maintain and cost-effective.
“Maintaining natural hair is cheap as compared to putting chemicals or weaves or anything that’s not natural on my hair,” said Wamaitha.
Simple look
After years of complicated styles being in fashion, many Kenyan women are embracing a simpler look. Alice Nannatte, 25, said she wants to feel appreciated in her own skin and for her natural look. “Natural hair is very easy to maintain because you don’t really think so much about ‘if my hair looks bad’ cause you can maintain it [yourself]. I don’t like weaves because I find them just being too plastic. So natural for me is the way to go,” she said.
Healthy trend
Muli Musyoka is a trichologist dealing with hair treatment and scalp problems. He said one reason why women are disillusioned with in vogue hair products is they find them hard to use properly.
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