Beauty Shop

A week or so ago, I accompanied a friend to the hair salon here in Côte d’Ivoire. Talk about an interesting experience. Surprisingly, the beauty shop was much like an African-American salon you’d find in the United States. Take a look at the pic. What the most astonishing thing though was the price of a hairstyle or “coiffure” in French. My friend got a perm and up-do for $6 USD! Can you believe that? That means that if I had come here with relaxed hair, for that price, I certainly could have gone to the salon at least once or even twice a week!

Actually, I thought that here in Côte d’Ivoire, natural hair (or unprocessed hair) would be a lot more common than it is in the United States. Once again, I was surprised to learn that African women use weaves, perms, and other hair alterations as much or more than we do in the USA! In fact, school aged girls from ages 9-16 typically have natural hair as they have their hair cut really short for school but grown women most often than not have weaves or wigs. Thus, my natural hair is sometimes perceived here as it is sometimes perceived in the U.S., a bit backwards or not in vogue. I find that really interesting. So, if you think that going natural is African, you’re wrong (at least in Côte d’Ivoire). The natural Black hair trend is an American trend!