Braids
As the economy continues its downward slide; and inflationary rate in upward trajectory, one would have thought that women would tone down on their expenses on hair, but this seems to be contrary, as different women who spoke to The Guardian noted that regardless of high cost of hair making, a woman’s hair is the highlight of her actual beauty and looking good eventually amounts to good business.
The origin of braids has been traced to African culture for centuries as the women find hairstyle a centrepiece of beauty, although African men also braid their hair, however, not in fascinating styles as the women do.
Beyond the beauty hair braids bestow on women, it is perceived as a form of art crafted on women’s heads, one that tells unspoken stories of the African identity, religion, culture, resistance, freedom, unity, connection, love, and interweaving of diverse ethnicity and human emotions.
As a matter of fact, in time past, the style of a woman’s braid depicts her social status and personality. Perhaps, this is why the hairstyle has remained fashionable after all these years and also adopted by other cultures such as Europe, India, China, Japan, Central Asia, others.
The evergreen hairstyles over the years have evolved in both techniques and perceptions but what has not changed is the crafted perfection.
This is why regardless of the skyrocketing price of making braids, African women, including Nigerians, have remained in love with how the piece of art plaited on their hair can enhance their beauty and make them feel good.
“The first thing that announces my identity outside the shore of Africa is my braid. “Your hair is lovely ‘’ is a constant compliment I get from these people who sometimes don’t really bother about the country in Africa I hail from but just appreciate my African hairstyle. So, of course I love how my braids make me stand out in a crowd of people of different colours in different countries and continents and I don’t think any price is too high to pay for a hairstyle that depicts me as a proudly African woman – a crafted identity style. The truth is having travelled around the world, I have seen that no matter what price we now pay to braid hair here in Nigeria, an attempt to make the same braid outside Africa would make you redefine the term ‘too expensive’ because you can spend over N100,000 in foreign currency just to make a simple braid,” Ifeyinwa Nnaemeka, an international businesswoman revealed.
While acknowledging that the cost of maintaining the woman’s hair has gone high, Chiamaka Obi, a beauty influencer, is not deterred.
She said, “all extensions in the market have seen over 100 per cent increase, especially the most common brand, Xpression, whose biggest size is being sold for N4, 000, while the medium is sold for N3, 000, and at least you have to use two packs of the big size for the trending knotless braids and three packs for the medium size, costing approximately N8,000 – N9000 only for hair extension, then the stylist would charge at least N6,000 to braid your hair making a total of N15,000.
“You probably can’t wear this braid for more than three weeks maximum; otherwise, you would be going about with rumpled hair, which beats the whole idea of good look maintenance culture. So, it means in another three weeks you’re headed to the salon for another hairstyle, which might even be more expensive than the one you had just taken off considering how you wouldn’t want to wear the same braid style over and over.”
Obi continued, “so, every three weeks you spend a minimum amount of N15, 000 on simple braids. If you decide that you want what I call ‘braid luxury’ and you go for French curls hair extension or other luxury hair extensions in the market now, then you know that you would spend at least N25, 000 – N30, 000 to braid your hair, as these extensions and salon service charges are on the high side.”
She said the cost of making hair has increased but from my point of view that “should not stop any woman in this generation from ensuring that their hair is attractively made – and the truth is it isn’t stopping them. Look around you and see the crowd in the salons especially weekends, and during special festive seasons like this, the rush multiplies.
“This is because every woman knows the importance of the beautiful glow that comes with wearing good hair whether it is braids, crotchets, weave on or wigs. Why do you think women spend so much on luxury wigs such as bone straights units and other curly and wavy human hair? A woman’s hair is her first glory. Even those women who wear low cuts for whatever reason go extra miles to pimp it up. Some of them even spend more at special hair cut salons just to make it attractive.”
Obi said, as an influencer, “the first thing that puts me out there is my look, which starts from my hair before anyone gives me any attention to hear or see what I’m selling. They see my look first and if I am not attractively put together enough to be worthy of their brand, then I am out of business. This I believe applies to other women in other industries, even the core intellectual professions, people first see you, before they see what you can offer.
“Have this in reverse and you would discover that nobody is listening, and when no one listens, you’re as good as irrelevant. This may not be the case for men, but in a world where women are first seen as a mere piece of attraction before their potentials are discovered, we have to work twice if not three times harder in all ramifications than men, including how we look before making headway. So it is the natural instinct and subconscious of every woman to do everything you can to stay on the beat of ‘looking good is good business’ in order to keep you afloat.”
She added: “However, more importantly is the fact that there is an inherent gene in every girl child to look beautiful from the moment she clocks three-year-old. This makes her conscious of how she looks even at that tender age, and this desire to look beautiful even as a little girl that young starts from her hair.
“She wants her mum to take her to the salon to make her hair and put flashy beads that dangles even though she cries through the process which is painful as her scalp is still fragile, still, she wants her hair made and when it’s done she wouldn’t stop swinging her hair everywhere and grinning bright with every complement that her hair is beautiful!
“The girl child grows like that into a young lady who would insist her parents give her money to make her hair even if they are struggling to make ends meet, her intuition constantly tells her that her hair is as important as having food to eat, and this is one of the major reasons some young girls whose parents can’t afford to provide money for their hair, go out to have male friends (boyfriends) who can at least give them money to make their hair regularly.
“This is the same reason every married woman financially independent or not would smile and be happy whenever their husband gives them money to make their hair. So aside the necessity to look presentable in our professional spaces as women, and even the supposed perception of men that we are a piece of attraction, truth is, being attractive naturally make every woman happy, its boost our confidence, it makes us feel special from the male folks, it gives a feeling of glory and that is the reason you walk into a salon, and you find both young and old women calling the bluff of the declined economy to make their hair at any cost,” Chiamaka said.
Although ladies who find the high cost of hair making financially exhausting to keep up with resort to low cut, according to Doyin Adejumobi, who is currently on low cut ‘for now’, as she noted, said: “People say the low cut suits me but I find myself subconsciously feeling incomplete since I had my hair cut on the realisation that it would cost me almost N10, 000 to make a simple Ghana weaving using one big hair braid extension. N10, 000 to make hair in this economy is not affordable for me, especially since my husband and I have to struggle on a daily basis to provide for our three children. N10, 000 would take care of feeding the family for one week if we manage it well. So there is no way I can spend that much on hair when putting food on the table at this time is difficult for my family.
“This is why I had my haircut six months ago. I paid N1, 000 at the barber salon to have it cut off as low as possible and I go back for trimming after three months – there is no use to long hair I can’t afford to maintain. However, truth be told, I don’t feel as beautiful as I used to feel when I had long hair and braid it to any style of my choice.
“I also don’t get the kind of compliments I get from people when I used to make different braided hairstyles on my hair. Although my husband said the low cut is not bad, I am sensible enough to know that ‘not bad’ is not the same thing as ‘beautiful’.
“I believe he only said that because he knows I had the haircut to save cost, especially as he disapproved of it when I initially told him I wanted to have a low cut, until I told him how much it now cost to make a decent braid. I don’t know if the total cost of hair making would eventually reduce to what it used to be which was about N5, 000 to make a very beautiful braid hairstyle and maybe N3, 000 to make something simple, but we all know that anything that goes up in cost in Nigeria doesn’t come down ever especially not in the beauty industry as the constant competition for creative styles pushes demand higher and automatically raises cost – in fact, our people pin it on dollar, every price inflation in Nigeria is attached to exchange rate.
“However, I am hoping that my financial capacity improves in time so I can grow my hair and return to the salon to look like the beautiful woman I used to see in the mirror when I used to braid my hair. Now when I look at the mirror, I just see someone that looks bare and it doesn’t make me very happy.”
Also speaking, Oladunni Festus, a banker, said, “making my hair is a necessity, something that is non-negotiable regardless of the cost. You don’t want to know how much I have invested in human hair in the last two years, just to be able to look fresh at every given time. I have a lot of expensive hair unit wigs; I also come to the salon to braid my hair when I feel like wearing braids. For one, I prefer the luxury hair extension as their texture and more subtle and beautiful, and of course, that comes with a higher cost but over the years, I have seen and experience how when one combines looking good, brilliance and hard work together in a corporate workplace, the result is an indispensable excellent personality that everyone love to have around.”
She said: “As a woman when you look good and get that ‘wow o, your hair is lovely’ expression from people especially in your workplace, you just feel very happy to not just be cordial with colleagues and superiors, but it motivates you to prove to yourself and everyone else that you’re not just beautiful in appearance but you’re a hardworking go getter woman – a perfect combination for a woman of excellence. This is the kind of person every corporate organisation out there wants to employ beyond gender, as every staff member is supposed to be the face of the brand both in appearance and productivity. I stand to be corrected but let’s face it, appearance sells and hair is the highlight of every woman’s appearance.”
Omolara Abdulahi, a beautician, who own a luxury salon in Surulere, Lagos, said: “I have been in the business of hair making for over 30 years, and one of the reasons I have stayed on the job despite how demanding it can be is the fact that you never go out of business come rain or sunshine, inflation, recession, lockdown name it. Women would go extra miles to get a beautiful hair done even during the COVID-19 lockdown when everyone stayed indoors; women relentlessly booked home services and went all out to create breathable spaces in their homes with the safety precautions in place for both themselves and our stylists.
“So, one day I decided to ask some of my clients why they still feel the need to do their hair even when they are not going out due to the national lockdown directives from the government, some said they have zoom meetings and didn’t want to look unkempt.
“Some said their husbands are now home with them 24/7 and can’t afford to look unattractive. Others said wearing untidy hair makes them unkempt and helpless. All of these women had either or all of these reasons for insisting on home services which didn’t come cheap during the COVID-19 lockdown. So permit me to say that increment in the cost of hair extensions and service charge is a no brainer when it comes to the passion of women to make their hair.
“Sincerely, it amazes me, especially, at this time as a lot of these women especially the younger ones still go ahead to tip stylists that make their hair as well as they desire after making the actual hair cost payment which as we all know had doubled from what it used to be. So over the years I come to realise that any attempt to take away the ability of a woman to wear a choice hairstyle is as good as making her feel less of who she believes she is meant to be, a beautiful woman!”
She further said: “Wealthy Nigerian women buy human hair worth over N1 million, even the average ones buy hair worth N400, 000 – N500, 000, even if they have to save the money for a long time or get it as a gift paid for by someone else. This is why the hair industry would continue to thrive even though these human hairs are imported and in a way boost the economy of the importing countries more as a lot of new human hair factories are being set up globally, only because of Nigerians and other African countries whose women are into foreign hair texture and styles as opposed to the natural afro texture hair.”
Responding to whether it is appropriate for African women to continue to spend so much on human hair rather than wearing their natural hair, Omolara said, “there is no right or wrong approach for a lot of women when it comes to being happy and comfortable with their look. Whatever makes them look in the mirror and feel good is all that counts and in this case beautiful hairstyles top the list.”
On how the Nigerian economy benefits from this hair making as a looking good factor for women, Omolara said, “a lot of the synthetic hair extensions for braids even the luxury ones are made here in Nigeria. There is Xpression, Darling, Lush, even some French curly extensions are made in Nigeria, so regardless of the imported human hair, the Nigeria GDP still stands tall through the industry.”
In his view, Ken (surname withheld), a husband who came to drop off his wife at a salon in Ajao Estate Isolo Lagos during the festive season said; “nothing makes me happy as much as seeing my wife in a beautiful long braid. Although she likes to pack the hair closely together, when we have to go out together I insist that she drops the hair, it makes her look not only attractive but also sophisticated. It suits her so well that even my friends tell their wives who prefer to wear wigs all the time to braid their hair like my wife’s.
“I don’t like wigs, although my wife wears them sometimes, but neatly braided hair effortlessly looks perfect on African women. This is why I do not understand the obsession with bone straights and other human hairs. My wife recently bought a short curly hair worth about N600, 000 and I would never understand why she had to spend so much on one hair, but it’s her money and not mine.
“But for this braid she is making, I was happy to give her the money and even left everything I needed to do just to drop her here at the salon this early due to the season’s rush because I know when they are done with her braids she is going to look adorable as my queen. So of course, seeing my wife look beautiful makes me very happy – I also love the feeling within me when a lot of people admire her beauty which mostly happens when she wears neatly braided hair.”
When asked how much he actually gave his wife to braid her hair, Ken said she asked for N35,000 for French curly extension braid “but I gave her N30,000, although I know she would still lament that the money I gave her was not enough but women sometimes know how to inflate prices (he smiles and continues), however I am aware that cost of making hair is now on the rise but N30, 000 should be enough to make a braid she might not even keep for a month.”
