Afro, curly and kinky natural hair has always had a bad reputation for being too difficult to maintain.
This is mostly because in the past people with such hair had very limited options when it came to products designed specifically for textured hair. It also did not help that there was little to no representation of natural hair in mainstream media.
When the pandemic hit in 2020 and salons closed down it became apparent that we needed to learn how to maintain, manage and style our own natural hair at home.
After watching almost every natural haircare video on the internet I wondered how other people with natural hair were coping during the lockdown. This is when I found an article on Refinery29 that spoke about a digital hair coach website called Carra.
In the article writer, Jessica Morgan, explains how the website helped her manage her hair when salons were closed.
The service was launched by self proclaimed ’hairy god-mother’ Winnie Awa and it is a personalized haircare website that provides styling advice and recommendations to help you create your own haircare routine.
Signing up to the subscription service is easy, you are required to take a quiz to determine your hair concerns, whether that’s slow growth, dryness or thinning edges to name a few.
Then they require some information regarding your scalp and hair texture. “Carra then cleverly calculates your answers and gives your current haircare routine an overview before assigning you an experienced IRL (in real life) hair coach to support you in achieving your best lengths ever,” explained Morgan.
She booked a 20-minute session with a virtual hair coach and they discussed every concern Morgan had with her hair, including what role the products she was using played in those concerns.
They also discussed co-washing which the expert did not recommend. “You should wash your hair with shampoo rather than conditioner, or if you like, use a co-wash cleanser,” the expert told Morgan.
It has been argued that co-washing does not remove build-up properly and can leave the scalp clogged and make hair appear dull as it grows through.
The hair coach also shared some tips with Morgan regarding braiding her hair and how to maintain braids. “Kemi’s top tip is to wash the extensions before use to minimise irritation. Leaving them in apple cider vinegar and water solution for three to five minutes then giving them another wash in diluted shampoo works a treat,” she wrote.
After the informative session Morgan received a report from Carra which explained everything and set out the best techniques for her hair type and concerns.
To get yourself a session with a virtual hair coach you can choose between two packages: the Carra Starter for R830, which includes one 30 minute session, or the Carra Bundle package for R2070, which includes three sessions.
Please email me your thoughts at nosipho.nyide@inl.co.za.