Are my braids doing more harm than good?

Braids are one of the crucial standard hairstyles for black girls, worn by celebrities and aunties alike – however questions are being raised about its results on our well being.

The method can last as long as 5 hours as stylists deftly half small, evenly-spaced sections of hair, and progressively add in extensions.

Regardless of the lengthy salon visits, braids have all the time been carefully linked to comfort for me.

Rising up, they had been for holidays, because the model meant that as a substitute of fretting over how frizzy my hair would get, I may leap within the pool with no worries.

Braids are nonetheless what I flip to now after I need a number of months break from all of the detangling – or I need to strive a brand new color with out the potential injury of hair dye.

However a brand new examine means that the artificial hair many black girls use to realize this model may very well be unhealthy for his or her well being.

The US non-profit organisation Shopper Stories examined samples from ten of the most well-liked manufacturers of artificial braiding hair, and located that every one of them contained carcinogens, and in some instances, lead.

The analysis made an affect, as my Instagram feed and WhatsApp teams had been flooded with hyperlinks to the examine, warning of the alleged dangers hidden in our hair.

One of many messages was from my cousin, Rochelle, who does her braids herself each different month.

“Braids, famously, are referred to as a protecting model,” she later instructed me.

It is a time period usually used to explain a number of Afro hairstyles, together with braids, locs and wigs, that cut back how a lot your hair is uncovered to the weather and in the reduction of on fixed styling.

“The truth that this model is doing the whole lot however shield us – it is truly harming us – is definitely fairly wild to me.”

It’s the lack of information amongst black girls that’s most regarding, she provides.

“Individuals which might be consuming unhealthy meals or smoking, they know that what they’re doing may hurt their physique, whereas for those who’re placing braids in your hair, you are not considering that it is harming you.”

James Rogers, the pinnacle of product security testing at Shopper Stories, says that the outcomes are a trigger for concern as a result of girls have “fixed contact” with dangerous chemical substances if their hair is in braids, typically for months at a time.

“We imagine that everytime you’re uncovered to dangerous chemical substances, that it is cumulative – all of it provides up.”

However he additionally emphasised that extra analysis was wanted, saying: “We’re hoping that this begins the dialog, not solely on the regulatory stage, but in addition amongst our personal communities, about sharing correct data.”

Right here at Josée’s Skilled Braiding Studio in north London, the examine definitely is not placing shoppers off.

Josée and her daughters Abigail and Naomi, who work together with her within the salon, have seen curiosity from new prospects, particularly after they helped to create the wig worn by Elphaba in Depraved, one in every of highest-grossing motion pictures of 2024.

“Individuals had been shocked by how versatile we will be with our braiding,” Abigail tells me, including that her mum acquired a number of messages from shoppers telling them how proud they had been.

Josée says that whereas the findings are “worrying”, it has been enterprise as traditional on the salon.

A few of her prospects, nonetheless, have been rattled by the analysis.

It is Kellie-Ann’s first time getting her braids carried out at Josée’s salon, however she has been sporting the model since she was a toddler.

She tells me she felt betrayed after studying the examine: “I believe it is terrible that corporations have been doing this for years to black girls and I believe we deserve higher.”

She’s now searching for out manufacturers free from dangerous chemical substances and plastic – and says lots of her mates are doing the identical.

“A whole lot of girls I’ve spoken to about it have agreed that biogradable could be higher – it is good for the planet as properly.”

Ifeanyi has additionally worn braids since childhood, and says they’re the simplest and most handy model to deal with whereas she’s busy finding out at college.

She argues that the examine shouldn’t be alarming, declaring that folks could come into contact with carcinogens on daily basis, in sure processed meals, alcohol and tobacco.

“Clearly you need be cautious – I simply assume that it isn’t essentially one thing to utterly abandon the model or the hair for.”

She’s involved that the social media posts she has seen will “scare individuals out of wanting to interact”, to the detriment of a crucial supply of earnings for black entrepreneurs working within the hair business.

In 2021 Treasure Tress, a UK-based magnificence subscription for black hair, discovered that black British girls spent £168m a 12 months on hair merchandise. Earlier analysis by L’Oreal advised that black girls within the UK spend six occasions extra on their hair than white girls.

“I might wish to see extra of a dedication to creating certain that issues are safer for us, somewhat than telling us that a few of our historic, conventional practices as black girls are fallacious,” Ifeanyi says.

For some, altering attitudes in direction of artificial hair are opening up enterprise alternatives.

Tendai Moyo co-founded Ruka Hair in 2021, which specialises in extensions constructed from pure hair sourced from South East Asia, in addition to biodegradable artificial hair, constructed from collagen fibre.

She tells me they’ve seen a “large uptick in demand”, particularly within the US, the place the examine was revealed.

However she sees this as a part of a wider development, which stretches past considerations raised by the brand new analysis.

“We launched within the pandemic, and other people had been like, ‘Oh, however salons are closed’, however we had been promoting out as a result of individuals do not cease doing their hair.”

She tells me that black girls “bought to experiment” extra with their hair throughout lockdown and had been extra keen to check out new merchandise.

One of many largest attracts of conventional artificial hair manufacturers, nonetheless, is their low value, which has made experimenting with totally different kinds and colors reasonably priced for years.

However newer manufacturers are likely to have a better value level – Tendai tells me that Ruka’s hottest artificial hair kind prices round 2.5 occasions greater than a number of excessive avenue manufacturers.

Ifeanyi says that, as a scholar, manufacturers like Ruka are out of attain for her: “To buy the hair is equal to the quantity it will value you to get the coiffure carried out, so that you’re basically doubling the worth.”

Tendai defends this by evaluating it to selecting between “quick meals and wholesome meals”.

She provides: “You may truly reuse our merchandise if you would like, and due to this fact you are saving cash in that method.”

Again at Josée’s salon, Naomi tells me that braiding is not only an necessary supply of earnings, however a valued cultural follow that brings her household collectively.

“I name myself a braid child as a result of I have been braiding since I used to be 6 years outdated,” she says, telling me how her household would bond over the talent as her mum proudly seems on.

“It is an empowering service to supply,” she provides, saying that it is gratifying to do a job that leaves different girls feeling uplifted.

Regardless of rising considerations concerning the impact it may have on our well being, braiding is a treasured heirloom for this household – and for a lot of different black girls – handed down from era to era.

As Ifeanyi tells me: “The type of extensions would possibly change, however I do not assume the follow of getting braids goes wherever.”