For many women, wigs, braids and other hair extensions have become an easy way to change hairstyles, protect their hair or conceal areas where hair has begun to thin. But natural hair requires proper scalp care, regular moisturisation and gentle handling to prevent dryness, breakage and hair loss.
Agbeni Adeola, an instructor with Nature’s Gentle Touch, said during a natural hair workshop organised by Nature’s Gentle Touch recently, that the tightly curled structure of natural hair makes it difficult for natural oils from the scalp to travel along the hair shaft, leaving it prone to dryness, while improper handling can further expose it to breakage.
‘People that do back-to-back, they braid, they remove it, they put another one,’ Adeola said. ‘At the end of the day, their hair is already damaged.’
She explained that many women struggle with their natural hair because they have not been taught how to properly manage it, leading to common complaints like natural hair being too thick, difficult to manage, inability to retain length and limited styling options.
These challenges, she said, have contributed to some women losing confidence in wearing their natural hair.
The preference for extensions has also become a way for some women to avoid confronting underlying hair problems.
Adeola cited women with receding hairlines who use extensions to cover the affected areas. But when the extensions are repeatedly installed and removed, the additional strain can further damage the hair, creating a cycle in which women become increasingly dependent on extensions to conceal the damage.
She said the answer is not necessarily to abandon extensions but to first understand how to maintain healthy natural hair.
‘When it’s healthy and all that, definitely you want to flaunt it,’ Adeola said, noting that women are more likely to show off their hair when they are confident about its health and appearance.
Adeola said natural hair has a tightly curled structure and high density, which gives it the thick and full appearance associated with the texture.
She explained that natural hair can have different curl patterns, including 4A, 4B and 4C, depending on how tightly curled the strands are.
However, the same curl pattern that gives natural hair its texture also makes it more susceptible to dryness.
Adeola explained that natural oils produced by the scalp do not move easily along tightly curled hair strands. As a result, natural hair can become dry and dull and requires regular moisturising to maintain its condition.
She also explained that shrinkage can make natural hair appear much shorter than its actual length.
Because of its tight curls, natural hair contracts when dry and appears shorter. Stretching it reveals its actual length, meaning that what may appear to be poor length retention may sometimes be a result of shrinkage.
Adeola stressed that the thickness and fullness of natural hair also require gentle handling to reduce the risk of breakage and shedding.
But the condition of the hair itself is only part of the equation. Adeola said scalp health is the foundation of healthy hair growth.
She explained that hair grows from follicles in the scalp and that clogging or inflammation can affect how the follicles function, potentially resulting in weak growth, breakage and shedding.
Dandruff and other forms of scalp build-up can also interfere with healthy hair growth, she said.
Adeola said the broader objective should be to give women the knowledge and confidence to manage their natural hair themselves.
She said once women understand how to care for their hair and keep it healthy, they are more likely to wear it confidently instead of automatically turning to wigs and extensions.
The instructor also argued that professional hair treatment should be viewed as part of maintaining healthy hair rather than an unnecessary expense.
She said women who desire healthy, well-maintained hair should be willing to invest in its care, while noting that professional services can be affordable.
For women who repeatedly rely on extensions, the warning is that covering damaged hair does not address the underlying problem. Proper moisturisation, gentle handling and attention to the scalp remain central to maintaining healthy natural hair.