HELP...My Headwrap Is Causing Problems!

Our visionary has answered another question from "Ask Our Visionary"! Check out her recommends to a fellow natural that's experiencing problems with her headwrap. 

Too often hair accessories get a bad rap and are accused of causing hair damage and pain. As a hair accessory designer and a natural, I embrace opportunities to educate other fellow naturals on what to look for in hair accessories. So for the record, it's not the hair accessory per se that's the problem, but the misuse of it, bad fit, and materials used to create it is the culprit. As naturals, we must be mindful of protecting our hair and avoiding pain when choosing hair accessories.

When styling with hair accessories, the first thing I recommend is making sure your hair is properly moisturized before applying accessories. I know, I know headwraps are our go to for bad hair days! I get that but, that doesn't give you a pass on caring for your hair. Moisturizing your hair protects it from dryness and breakage. It also acts as a safeguard against fabric of headwraps.

So, how do we know if our hair accessory is a proper fit? It doesn’t hurt; our headwraps should not cause pain or headaches. Many people experience headaches, because their hair accessory is too tight. Headaches caused by accessories are known as external compression headaches that are the result of continuous pressure on forehead, scalp, or behind the ears. To relieve the pressure I recommend loosening the headwrap; find that line between snug and comfortable. Also, lessening the amount of tension from headwraps protects the hairline from stress. If you're concerned about your headwrap slipping, you can secure it with bobby pins.

Naturals need to also avoid headwraps created with fabrics that will cause friction with textured hair and dry out hair. Often times naturals use scarves as headwraps. Most scarves are designed for warmth and are created with coarse tight woven fabrics. Course fabrics such as tweed and wool can cause friction and lead to breakage. Some cotton fabrics has a tendency to dry out hair. Many naturals already struggle with dry hair and there is no need to further contribute to the dryness. Softer lighter fabrics like linen or cotton gauze (a "good" cotton) are better suited for naturals because they don't cause friction or dryness. They are also open weave fabrics which allows airflow and the scalp to breathe under headwrap.

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​We should always moisturizer our hair before wearing any hair accessories; this minimize damage to textured hair. You control the tension of your headwrap so, lessening the tension avoids pain and also protects your hairline. Be mindful of the fabrics you use to wrap your hair with; all scarves and headwraps are not created equal. To sum it up, your bad hair day don't have to mean bad news for your beautiful natural tresses!

Tonya - Accented Glory Visionary

You can shop for "natural hair friendly" headwraps here!