An interactive session that focused on helping women to understand common hair problems, manage natural hair, and build confidence in their hair choices held recently courtesy Natures Gentle Touch, a natural hair care brand.
At the workshop, which took place at Natures Gentle Touch Institute in Ikeja, Lagos, the CEO, Chijioke Anaele, highlighted rising cases of lice infestation and offered practical guidance for treatment, stating that lice are easily communicable and not necessarily caused by poor hygiene.
“Once you stay with somebody that has lice, it’s easily communicable,” he said, adding that treatment remains the best management option, and recommending products containing mint, which helps to kill lice.
Anaele further explained that for those with relaxed hair, the chemical application often eliminates the parasites, while those with natural hair can rely on mint-based dandruff products from the brand.
On hair breakage, the CEO warned against hair practices that lead to breakage, which include ageing, long-term braids, and the wrong application of chemical relaxers. He equally explained that hair break can be caused by over-processing, that is, when chemicals stay too long on the hair.
Anaele then advised that relaxers should be washed off within 15 to 20 minutes, or at most 25 minutes for coarse hair. He also noted that overlapping relaxers from root to tip weakens the hair, while rubber bands used in ponytails can cause breakage. Rather, hair ruffle should be used.
The CEO addressed hair loss caused by postpartum alopecia, describing it as common among women after childbirth, but treatable with proper care.
On dandruff, Anaele called for consistent treatment for about six weeks with a full range of dandruff products. “Everybody wants to go on extensions and wigs. We want them to embrace their natural hair as the true African women that we are,” he noted.
Some of the participants including Adeyeye Ibukun Oluwa and Jennifer Marshal expressed gratitude for the workshop. They also shared their testimonies.