The other day, I woke up from my nap thinking about the women who made my hair when I was a little girl. I remember my hair to be stubborn, it didn’t want to grow probably as a result of too much relaxer. Not only was it short, it wasn’t as full and thick as a natural afro hair. I wanted to blame it on hereditary but my mum and sisters had full long hair. My dad’s hair was thick too, and my brothers were not left out. And nature, scratch that, relaxers, might have done me bad but I have bodily hairs that I inherited from my dad.
Because I wanted my hair to be fuller and thicker, I’d thread it. This was mostly done by a grandma in my street who we used to call Nwunye Pastor. But one time, my mum threaded my hair and it caused me so much pain, I had to take it out. I hated threading, I still do. Maybe there’s a way to make it not to be painful but I haven’t met any hairdresser who thread hair without causing pain. I think it’s meant to be painful but then the style pulls and hurts the scalp, so how is hair supposed to grow in such an environment? But still, it does — at least, everyone believed so. It didn’t work for me though. Maybe a bit?
To grow full hair, I’d make didi. Most times, aunty Tayo down the street would make it for me. She used to charge me fifty naira. But she wasn’t a good hairdresser because the didi would get rough after a day or two. On rare occasions, when I know I can wake up early or when I have enough strength to sit in line with ten to fifteen other girls before me, waiting for my turn to do my hair, I would go to Iya Sule. Iya Sule was very skilled at hairdressing, especially at making didi. She’s still very good and the last time I went to get tiny cornrows, one of her daughters took after her and was as good at hairdressing too.
Iya Sule would charge seventy naira which was fair because she was good. She pick every strand of hair on your head, how she does this without your scalp being on fire, needs to be studied. I like didi and will choose it over threading. When I cut my hair and started growing it back — this time without relaxers — it really helped with the fullness and length of my hair.
I was a hairdresser whore when I was little. I used to change hairdressers because it was hard to find a good one. The ones that were good, always had lots of customers; I don’t have that time to waste. Similar to Iya Sule, there was a woman in a street before mine. I can’t remember what her name was because I rarely went there. There were always a lot of customers including those who had booked an appointment with her but were not physically present. Her shop was small and tight, it was always suffocating. She used to charge a hundred naira, a hot babe. There was also aunty Sade. She was my mum’s customer because she did adult hair too. I can’t remember how much she charged but I think it should be around seventy naira to a hundred naira.
Occasionally, when it’s too late and I need to make my hair for school, I’d go to meet Loveth. She was around 17–18 years old then but she appeared like a full grown adult. I’d go to her to get a simple weaving. She wasn’t that good, so I had to make sure not to go to her for a complicated hairstyle. She used to charge me fifty naira.
During festive periods or say there was an upcoming event like the end of the year party in school, aunty Denike was my hairdresser. My mum would tell her what to make for me. Now that I am writing this, my mum was really invested in my beauty. Aunty Ade — as we fondly call her because she’s a family friend — would make telephone wire, water melon (we now call it goddess braids), sew-in, bob marley, or packing gel. Packing gel and telephone wire used to be for festive periods while watermelon and bob marley were for school events. I don’t know how much she charges my mum but when I became a big girl and started being responsible for making my hair, her braids used to cost between 800 naira to 1000 naira.
My big sister started being responsible for making my festive hairs and so she would take me to do my hair at Aunty Kafaya’s, the same place she makes her hair. Aunty Kafaya made my first lace wig, the same lace wig that chopped my front hair. Aunty Kafaya was good, everyone knew her in Eleyele and Ologuneru. She was that popular. But aunty Kafaya had iron hands. You are definitely not going to sleep on the first night you make your hair with her. One time, my second sister went to make sew-in at her place and she had to loosen it that night because it was so painful she couldn’t sleep. Another time, in 2020, my friends made the mistake of going to her to make faux locs and for two weeks, the hair still hurts. But I love aunty Kafaya because she was always kind to me and for my 18th birthday, she fixed faux lashes that were so bad, I had to pull them out when I got home. Some years back, when my friends and I were confused on the colours of attachment to mix, she helped us with it and the hair colors turned out fine. For her sew-ins, she used to charge between five hundred naira to seven hundred naira. Aunty Kafaya now makes really nice wigs.
Way before I met the hairdresser who made my last braids before cutting my hair, there was aunty Ayo. I had a toxic relationship with her. Toxic as in, aunty Ayo was capable of using two days and if you allow her, three days, to make braids. Why? you might ask; Aunty Ayo has a lot of places to go and people to meet. She’d leave you in the middle of making your hair to visit a friend who just put to birth. Aunty Ayo is sweet, so she would sweet talk you into letting her go, into forgiving her delay. The first time a hairdresser charged me two hundred naira for cornrows, it was Aunty Ayo. A hot cake, two hundred naira was deserving. Sweet, funny and talkative aunty Ayo, I love her so much.
As a hairdresser whore, I didn’t mention some hair dressers like my elder brother’s girlfriend who used to make my hair for free because I can’t remember them again. But this is also a shout out to them for beautifying my short, thin hair.
(In 2019, I cut my hair because it had become really bad. When I started growing it again, I let it grow without feeding it with relaxers. My hair grew and it was full and thick. It was with the help of aloe vera, cantù’s live-in conditioner and Iya Sule’s didi. Two years later, I decided I wanted to be on low cut, so I cut my hair again. Two years later again, I decided I want to loc my hair.So now, I’m waiting for my hair to grow. First, I will make braids for my 23rd birthday then loc it after).
