question for the internet brain

[kaigou]

someone on my flist has got to know this one: what's the average amount/type of care if you've got thick, v. coarse, curly-to-kinky hair and want it to look like this or this? (Pam Spalding is the first; Rep. Cynthia McKinney is the second.) I know that thick, v. coarse, and straight is the usual for Asian hair, and I've been told that historically Asian women used an oil (kind of like a pomade, I'm guessing) to condition their hair, sometimes nightly, to keep it healthy. Would something similar be done for thick, coarse, kinky African hair?

Not requiring anyone to give me a dissertation (though I wouldn't complain if you can/would), but even a website that has basic facts about how to get the look(s), how to take care of them, what kind of upkeep is required -- that would be really awesome. There's got to be something out there, I'm sure, but my google-fu seems to be lacking on this. (Mostly because the top 300 hits on any search are all blog posts about Michelle Obama. Not that I'm complaining, but I know her style requires chemical processing, and I'd like to find info on styles that do not require processing.)

Any ideas, advice, sites with reliable info?

Comments

[white_aster]

Heh, I've always heard "perm" as in "permanent wave", and no, I've never heard it called that...just...perm! Probably a function of only hearing it being used by folks that are looking to put the curls IN rather than take them out. :P

Yeah, the no-shampoo approach is gaining ground among the natural haircare set. I don't believe a lot of the "SLS IS EVIL AND WILL GIVE YOU CANCER OMG" extremism, but I've found that my hair IS happier when I don't strip out all the oils quite so often. It's sad that it took me this long to figure out that my frizzy, curly hair needs to be WEIGHTED DOWN to behave. ;P