Salon International Africa asked Taryn Ellis from StyleDiva to provide input on the ‘dry hair’ category.
You may well ask what ‘dry hair’ is, as opposed to ‘wet hair’. Well, ‘dry hair’ products comprise wigs, weaves and braids, while ‘wet hair’ refers to aftercare products.
Before the advent of ‘dry hair’ retailers such as StyleDiva, black ladies would travel to city centres to buy their hair, where there was no customer service to guide them as to which style or type of hair to choose, nor advice on how to care for the hair or which products to use.
In addition, there is a large misconception in South Africa that wigs and weaves do not need to be maintained or brushed. What seems to have been ingrained in the ‘dry hair’ customer culture is to use silicon serum. However, this really is not the one and only solution, in fact, adding too much serum actually causes tangling. This is because the serum acts like a dust magnet and causes the hair to become a dull, matted, tangled mess.
Previously, many of our customers were using Sta Soft to wash their weaves and wigs, or just not washing them at all, and the hair would tangle terribly and not last long. Just like natural hair, all wigs and weaves need to be brushed, washed and conditioned, etc.
Furthermore, if the wrong aftercare is used on human hair wigs or weaves, it can actually damage them further, as shampoo that contains sulphate (foaming agent) actually strips the hair of all natural oils, leaving the hair dry, dull, damaged and brittle. This in turn will cause tangling. So it is essential to use shampoo which is either low in sulphate or sulphate-free.