Colourful Colombian Hair Dressing Contest Pays Tribute To Slavery Styles

They were hairstyles that carried with them a poignant history, but the brightly coloured fabrics and beads being woven into the Colombian women and girls' hair as part of the ninth Afro-hairdressers' competition in Cali betrayed no hint of the horrors of slavery. Instead, the intricate designs paid tribute to a time when slavery was still the norm in Columbia, and Afro-Columbian women would comb their children's hair after an exhausting day's work.

This tradition is one of the ways that Afro-Columbians kept their practices alive, despite the efforts of the Columbian state attempting to 'whiten' the population after the abolition of slavery in 1851. In order to protect their culture, many Afro-Columbians moved deep into the Columbian jungle, with many remaining there to this day.

A Colourful Tradition

The imaginative hairstyles that featured in the competition will no doubt inspire women the world over, and in the modern day braiding and weaving are techniques used by women of all hair types, from Caucasian to Afro and the various types of Asian hair.

It is also important to remember that if used continually and over an extended period of time, braiding the hair, or using hair extensions and weaves, can put too much pressure on the hair follicles, potentially resulting in hair loss due to traction alopecia.

If you frequently employ any of the above techniques, you may have noticed that the hair along your hairline has been replaced with short, weaker strands that cannot be used to attach extensions to on account of how easily they break. A vicious circle can then begin whereby hair further back on the scalp is put under more pressure, resulting in the same damage. Model Naomi Campbell's hair is a good example of the effect that traction alopecia can have on the hair.

Avoiding Hair Loss

Because Campbell has used weaves and hair extensions over a prolonged period of time, even if she should cease to use these styling techniques, her hair may not be able to grow back to its previous condition by itself. However, there is a means to treat this kind of hair loss providing that hair has not ceased to grow altogether.

A hair loss treatment programme that contains the MHRA licensed and FDA approved medication minoxidil is an extremely effective way of halting hair loss and regrowing hair. Even stubborn cases of loss can be treated with a unique high strength minoxidil cream; and our range of minoxidil formulations can also contain a variety of other ingredients that appear to block the hormone that causes genetic hair loss, DHT.

DHT causes follicular miniaturisation atop the scalp, which leads to weaker, thinner hairs being produced. Often, women can experience hair loss as a result of a genetic predisposition to DHT sensitivity simultaneously with traction alopecia, and although female pattern hair loss onset often begins around the same time as the menopause, this is not always the case, and much younger girls can be affected.

Alongside the proven medication, women can use a variety of hair growth boosters that will improve the condition of existing hair and ensure that hair regrowth is also of a high standard. These boosters range from the nutritional supplement Hair Vitalics, to the FDA cleared LaserComb (which can potentially speed up regrowth), and shampoos and conditioners tailored to your hair and scalp type.