Guest Lecture: I Love My Hair

Today we have a special guest lecture on the topic of hair from Nicole of Don't Oppress My Ovaries, a woman of color's blog guide for navigating through travel, pop culture, and oppression in its modern forms.  Usually Nicole blogs about intersections of pop culture, media, and race, but I when I asked her to guest lecture, she asked to write about her hair.  As I am a great admirer of Nicole's hair, I insisted that she do so. Without further ado, here is her post!

I love my hair.

But not in that creepy America’s Next Top Model “don’t cut my hair! it’s the only thing that makes me beautiful” kinda way.

Moreso because every now and then I just like to play with hair. 

Sue me!

But even more than I like to play in hair, I really just like to do my hair and not have to think about it for days/weeks at a time.

About 7 years ago I went natural (stopped chemically straightening my hair for those NOT in the know).

When I told people what I was thinking about doing everyone gasped “Ahhhh” and shot me pained looks. “Are you serious!?”

Yes. I was serious. And it was the best hair-decision I ever made!

Granted, the transition was rough.

Some people decide to cut off all of the processed hair and let it grow back.

I am not that brave. (I’m certain that I have an awkward shaped head!)

Instead I let it grow and cut off the straight hair just a few inches at a time.

It took about a year to complete.

And now I’m learning what my hair likes (LOTS of conditioner and moisturizer) and what it doesn’t like (HEAT).

And slowly but surely it’s doing what I want (LOOKING GOOD AND HEALTHY).

As a woman in the classroom I am of the type who plays with my hair. Not in the airhead “lemme twirl my hair around my finger while I talk ‘cause I’m just a lil’ bit dim” sorta way. No I like to think I’m more of a fidgeter and my hands must move when 30 undergrads are staring at met trying to compel me to overlook the fact that they obviously haven’t done the reading.

So, if I’m going to draw so much attention to my hair I might as well make sure that it’s looking right.

For me, the most important decision I make for my hair is products. If I’m not very careful I will end up using a product that dries out my hair and then it will all break off, which is tragic since most Black women have dry hair to begin with. So I, and other Black women I know, usually shop around for a few products that get the job done. At the moment I’m using two lines at two price points.*


At the higher end of my budget, I use handmade, organic products made specifically for Black women’s hair types from Oyin Handmade.

My absolute favorite product by Oyin is their Honey Hemp Conditioner. This conditioner is a little piece of heaven on my head!

The sign of good natural hair products is versatility and the Honey Hemp Conditioner can be used as a traditional conditioner or a leave-in.  It also smells like citrus-y candy!

I would recommend this to anyone with dry or curly hair.

On the lower end of the spectrum I’ve just started using Pantene Pro-V’s new Relaxed and Natural line for women of color. While their Intensive Moisture conditioner was amazing (and my hair was ridiculously soft afterwards) their Daily Oil Cream Moisturizer stole the show.

I use a lot of moisturizer when I style my hair (to prevent breakage) and usually within a day or two my hair has dried out (almost) completely. But I used the Oil Cream Moisturizer about a week ago to twist my hair and it is STILL (STILL!) soft and hydrated. For $3.99 at Target you CANNOT beat that.

Spring is on the way (or here, whatever) and these twists have become my warm weather mainstay.

This hairstyle is cute, versatile and, after the 6-hour session to style, requires almost no maintenance whatsoever. (When it gets dry I spray in some leave-in conditioner and/or throw in some moisturizer and that’s it.)

What’s your spring hair-situation?

Thanks so much to Nicole for guest lecturing today about hair styling and products!

*Fashionable Academics was not compensated in any way for reviewing these products.  Guest Lecturer Nicole uses and recommends them independently.