Good Hair: Good Hair- The Documentary

A really good friend invited me to Sundance, but unfortunately I was unable to go. In our normal IM chats, he sent me the link to Good Hair, a documentary produced by Chris Rock. I remembered hearing about this on the Oprah show when she casually mentioned that Chris Rock was in India "making a film about where all the weave hair comes from." At that time, I could find nothing about it. I'm really eager to see this film, but I'm also eager to see how Chris Rock handles the touchy subject matter about hair in the Black community.



I started getting involved in hair boards years ago when I was researching information on hair relaxers. My hair, which was long, was responding frustratingly to relaxers and I was searching for some kind of magical solution. I was getting tired of blow outs and flat irons and I started to seek better information.

That journey lasted months upon months upon months as information led to more information which led to more information. I learned so much about the chemical composition of hair relaxers, the damage that can result from their use and so on. I eventually decided that I was going to stop relaxing my hair becuase while I was (am) blessed with a head full of thick hair, I could not take for granted that chemical alopecia would not eventually catch up with me.

In other words, I had hair then but I couldn't bank on the relaxer NOT damaging my hair folicles and causing me to lose hair.

I decided to stop using relaxers, and to pretty much stop straigtening altogether and swiftly and immediately cut all my relaxed hair off and rocked, what most call a TWA (teeny weeny afro). At that point I joined the online communities for natural hair. Prior to that, I waffled back and forth with the long hair care forums, the curly hair care forums, but I eventually found my place at nappturality.com.

There's a lot of why behind zarawigs.com. Some of it is about hair, some of it is about cancer, some of it is about a whole lot of issues women who have curly, coily, kinky, nappy, thin, shedding, damaged hair know all too well.

Personally, I don't preach anything to anyone, though I will tell you what I believe. I believe the issues with hair go so deep that each woman has to make a choice for herself. It's a very personal thing. What we're about is giving women the information and education they need to make those choices and to properly execute whatever choice they make. We're adding general hair care content to the website because that information is hard to get. Internet communities can be a blessing and a curse. You can get some really great information, but misinformation is rampant and spreads like wildfire. Personally, I believe that if you have kinky, coily, nappy, frizzy, fro'd hair, and you are struggling with hair care or even appearance, lace front wigs can be a good, non-permanent option while you figure things out.

If you've lost hair due to medical issues, chemical or traction alopecia, wigs are better than weaves, which tend to put stress on the existing, damaged hair.

I also don't beleive it makes sense to relax your hair then put a wig on, give your hair a break from the chemicals.

But having said all of that, I know how hard it is. The "black hair care" products in the drugstores and chains are often cheap, made with poor quality ingredients such as petroleum and other such derivatives, which we have been using for decades, not knowing it's part of the problem. And then the "general" hair care products don't often address the moisture and detangling needs of textured hair, making us feel like something is wrong with our hair if it is drier than straight hair. You also have a lot of products that are high in butter and oils, but low in nutrients. So knowing the challenges, I think each woman has to make her own choice, but in making that choice, you should know as much as you possibly can, and we are working on assisting with that.

Check out Good Hair when it's released. It looks like it will be great.