By Angela Pender
Staff Writer

On Monday Feb. 12, the ladies of Zeta Phi Beta presented a lecture called “Don’t Touch My Hair, “ in Beers Lecture Hall.

They discussed what having “natural” hair means and they type of products to use to maintain healthy hair with tight curl patterns.

They described the natural hair definition as hair with texture that hasn’t been altered by chemical straighteners, including relaxers and texturizers.

The discussion continued with the different the textures of hair, and how to take care softer or thicker hair.

It also described the different types of curl patterns.

The presenter also explained how straight hair shows no type of curl pattern, wavy hair is between straight and curly or a loose form of curl pattern, forms the letter “S.”

Curly hair forms a spiral shape and is generally has tighter curls whereas kinky hair is wiry and usually has a zig zag pattern.

As you can see, there are a lot of different varieties of curl patterns, but there are also a lot of products to help keep up with hair care.

The ladies mentioned how Shea Moisture, Cantu, Carol’s Daughter, As I Am, Eco Styler and Curls Unleashed are all excellent products to use when going natural because they help with damaged hair, and add nutrients to hair while still giving the best curls for end results.

Also, the ladies suggest using a silk pillow at night to avoid hair breakage and using a cotton towel or shirt instead of a regular towel can be beneficial, because regular terry cloth towels absorb too much moisture, which curly hair needs.

They also explained how the more you spend on your hair products, the better the results.

Also, with the use of products you will have growing, healthy, curly, hair in no time.

The types of styles that most hair naturalists use to obtain curly hair are twist, flat twist (which gives more volume), braid outs, the big chop (which is the process of cutting off all the damaged hair), and protective hairstyles such as wearing weave extensions, braids and crochet.

Some of these styles include protective styles,which protect the naturally curly hair from drying out and breaking.

Additionally, low manipulation styles allow naturals to get cute styles with no efforts.

These styles are an essential part of natural hair upkeep and styling.

The ladies even gave men hair tips on how to grow out their beards by using Shea Moisture Men and washing it regularly.

This was a great event to learn all about hair care and the steps you need to take to maintain a healthy, full set of hair.

“Don’t touch my hair” is only a saying that black women have used for years to protect the delicate culture of their hair.

Email Angela at:
apender1@live.esu.edu