What is 'good' hair?

Lynnerie · Jul 22, 2011

Good hair- doesn't "need" a relaxer (Even tho WE know nobody NEEDS one)
Good hair staightens easily and is considered manageable. Its curly, wavy, and has a silky texture.

You know when people ask how to make their hair stay the way it looks when they're in the shower? Well... good hair stays like that all day long.

DrC · Jul 22, 2011

LadyRaider said:
Google "good hair" and you come up with a picture of my hair. Oh yeah... I got that good hair!

LadyRaider

I typed in Good Hair and got Chris Rock

erplexed

Evolving78 · Jul 22, 2011

tiffers
i mentioned this because the OP already knows what time it is and i believe it's a setup to create drama. it's too early and not even Sunday to kick this type of stuff off. :lachen:

this is a very touchy subject for some folks. she already stated she wasn't trying to be serious. it would be pointless to defend the original post, due to the comments posted by the OP after the post. but hey i could be wrong and just need some orange juice! :lachen:

drink the kool-aid
A reference to the 1978 cult mass-suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. Jim Jones, the leader of the group, convinced his followers to move to Jonestown. Late in the year he then ordered his flock to commit suicide by drinking grape-flavored Kool-Aid laced with potassium cyanide. In what is now commonly called "the Jonestown Massacre", 913 of the 1100 Jonestown residents drank the Kool-Aid and died.

One lasting legacy of the Jonestown tragedy is the saying, “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid.” This has come to mean, "Don’t trust any group you find to be a little on the kooky side." or "Whatever they tell you, don't believe it too strongly".

tiffers said:
shortdub78 What does having the Kool Aid mean? I'm slow and still half sleep.

It's definitely not serious, which is why some of these responses are leaving me flabbergasted.

Ya'll need to quit being serious and let us continue making fun of baby hair bangs.

belldandy · Jul 22, 2011

Its amazing that we black folks even think about such things and give them names...baby hairs...good hair...coolie hair...lol. These things are instilled in us during childhood. I could give two farts now about such things.

LushLox · Jul 22, 2011

belldandy said:
Its amazing that we black folks even think about such things and give them names...baby hairs...good hair...coolie hair...lol. These things are instilled in us during childhood. I could give two farts now about such things.

Absolutely, in hindsight it's such a small minded and antiquated mentality, and I say this as someone who used to use these terms. As long as my hair is healthy, I'm more than happy with that.

AuNaturalMaMa · Jul 22, 2011

I'm about to cause mass confusion in this thread. In my area/family "good hair" was straight hair.....thats why the women in my family got relaxers. Not to turn type 4 hair into type 3, it was to make it like type 1 straight hair/type 2. Even type 3 got relaxers cause if you couldn't run a comb through it without it catching, it was not good hair. I do wan't to add that "good hair" meant this only on a person of color. If a caucasian person came along with type 1 or 2 hair no one would comment that they had good hair. Only if a person of color particualry a "black" person came along with type 1/2 hair people would say they had good hair. This hair would have to have grown out their scalp that way, not from a texturizer or relaxer. Its just something thats unachieveable going by that definition.

Now, good hair is healthy hair. Natural or Relaxed.

Golden75 · Jul 22, 2011

drink the kool-aid
A reference to the 1978 cult mass-suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. Jim Jones, the leader of the group, convinced his followers to move to Jonestown. Late in the year he then ordered his flock to commit suicide by drinking grape-flavored Kool-Aid laced with potassium cyanide. In what is now commonly called "the Jonestown Massacre", 913 of the 1100 Jonestown residents drank the Kool-Aid and died.

One lasting legacy of the Jonestown tragedy is the saying, “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid.” This has come to mean, "Don’t trust any group you find to be a little on the kooky side." or "Whatever they tell you, don't believe it too strongly". [/QUOTE]

Thanks, never knew where the kool aid drink came from. I drank that stuff all the time, with no adverse effects, so the saying made no sense to me. :lachen:

Solitude · Jul 22, 2011

OP, I've always been told that I had good hair, from the time I was a little girl. My hair was thick and full, yet manageable. The last time someone told me I had "good hair" was Saturday. My hair was in a bun. I take it as a compliment. After joining the hair boards, I tried to be coy and say "what do you mean?" when someone said I had good hair. They would just respond that I knew what they meant...and I did.

To others, it may mean wavier/looser textures. I have had a relaxer since I was 12 or so. I got the same comments when I was a little girl (and natural) as I do now with relaxed hair. So, to me, it must be more than texture or even length.

Solitude · Jul 22, 2011

faithVA said:
I've heard this term but honestly never gave it much thought. But before the boards, good hair was hair that was easy to work with. You could shampoo, comb it and then put it up without a whole lot of steps. And it was long enough to hang nice. So for me the term meant hair that you really just didn't have to do a lot to.

My hair would not have been considered good hair, even though it had many qualities people liked (thick, dense, healthy). It would have been considered a lot of work, hard to manage, hard to style and hard to keep styled. It rarely did what was expected or asked of it.

I seem to have grown into my hair. We are now a perfect match

^^^^^ all of this. I always considered "good hair" to be hair that was easy to work with. I do realize that with proper care, most people's hair is easier to "work with" than what may have been previously thought.

ms-gg · Jul 22, 2011

Good hair to the majority of black people who believe in that term is hair that ain't nappy. Plain and simple.

Bad hair=nappy
Good hair=not nappy

Yes, long nappy hair gets a pass, but overall, nappy hair is what is deemed as bad hair.

adf23 · Jul 22, 2011

kbragg said:
"Good hair means curls and waves...bad hair means you look like a slave" - India Aire, I Am Not My Hair

wow....

greenandchic · Jul 22, 2011

My hair is a 4a/3c mix yet people claim I have "good hair" despite the tighter curls. My hair is not easy to work with at all and it takes work to straighten it. I think any visible curl pattern is considered "good" to some people.

ms-gg · Jul 22, 2011

And let me add, I've had white people tell me I have "great hair" (all grammatically correct and everythang). They said my hair is great because of the volume I have and because my hair can hold a style (how do you get your hair to hold?). They don't like the fact that their hair is flat and limp and straight without any natural curl (at least that is what they say to my face, you know how that goes). So great/good hair is really defined differently by each individual.

SmilingElephant · Jul 22, 2011

Shadiyah said:
what she wants to know is when you are out in the world and people say " good hair" what do they mean by that.... my mother just used that term some weeks ago when my brother brought over a new girlfriend and she was trying to tell me about her and she said and she has good hair.... to her and my great grand mother good hair is that hair that don't get perms that is straight or is wavy or big curls don't have any kitchen. their edges lay without doing anything they can do anything they want with their hair.

So this is what so called good hair is.

Exactly. I'm from the South so I grew up hearing that term. Either good hair or "pretty" hair. It all means the same thing in the regular world.

Miss*Tress · Jul 22, 2011

Sheena284 said:
^^^ Lol. No, but seriously.

I never knew the term 'good hair' till the boards. Just wanna discuss what people actually mean or think of when they think of 'good' hair.

I see that you're in London. If by any chance your family is Jamaican, older people might use the expressions 'pretty hair' or 'nice hair'. I think 'good hair' is more of a US expression.

adf23 · Jul 22, 2011

Agreed- I'm also from the south- "pretty hair" means "good hair" from most folks. My best friend says to me often that I have a "good grade of hair", so my going natural wasn't a big deal (in response to me telling her she doesn't "need" a relaxer). I'm like grade? are we talking about hair, or beef?

btw" I can't stand the term "good hair"- its ignorant.

Miss*Tress · Jul 22, 2011

LushLox said:
OP I'm surprised that you haven't heard the 'good hair' label over here, I always used to hear it while growing up and still do now.

I have never heard Jamaican people use that expression. They don't say nappy either, more likely to say 'tough head' or 'dry head'. One of my aunts says 'bungo head'. :nono:

Myjourney2009 · Jul 22, 2011

To answer the question
when I was younger up to about my early 20's good hair was considered "coolie" hair. It usually looked like someone had Indian in their family, and I'm not talking a great great grandparent either. I dealt with two guys with this coolie hair and it was a huge deal back then.

I went to junior high school with a half puertorican/black girl that had 3bc hair and no one called her hair good hair. They just called it nice because it was shiny.

Miss*Tress · Jul 22, 2011

Sheena284 said:
Oh, I have my own ideas, I just wanted to hear other people's definitions. I was seriously asking (as in, to get responses) but it's not a serious question as in, I don't have absolutely no idea what it is and honestly wanted to know lol. No, I just wanted to hear what others used to think of when they thought someone had 'good' hair.

I guess I should have read the thread first before responding - I didn't answer your question at all. :drunk:

Bnster · Jul 22, 2011

I think you can look at it the other way around to define good hair by other people standards is hair that they don't want for themselves.

They may not want,
Tangly
Dry (rough)
Oily (constant washing)
Matte finish
Tight coils
Styling challenge (hard to comb and takes time to make presentable)
Kitchen sink
Shrinkage
Growth issues (breakage, splits, grows real slow)
No movement (doesn't blow in the wind, or bounce)
Too straight (Won't hold curls)
Too curly
Too dark
Too light
Fine Strands
etc...

Good hair would be the opposite of some of those items listed above and would have different definition as per an individual background.

Victoria44 · Jul 22, 2011

When i was younger, and before i joined LHCF, I considered good hair, any hair that had a visible curl while dry.

if it was silkier then it was "better" good hair, but cottony curls was still good to me

Almaz · Jul 22, 2011

I see a bit picture of OP humm are you fishing for compliements for YOUR hair Just a question.

Don't act you don't know what Good hair is and it is not because you live in London cause I lived in London for 7 Years and ALL the black folks new what so called good hair in the terms of Racial context is. Girl BYE

Miss*Tress · Jul 22, 2011

mzteaze said:
So...

I had fun last night with this discussion because I realize that Sheena284 was simply asking for a number of definitions based on our understand depending on what we have been told or heard. Sooo, since you are from London, what exactly is "coolie" hair? I've heard the term but never understood what that meant?

In Jamaica, a dark-skinned black person with type 3 curls or straighter is generally said to have 'coolie hair'.

AmyRose92 · Jul 22, 2011

Around these parts (Miami) I hear this term ALL the time. :spinning:

Generally, if I can break it down to three categories, it'll be:

Length/Density
- Long
- Thick
Curl diameter
- Big curls/waves (e.g. types 2-3 and 4a under some circumstances)
- Very defined
Texture
- Silky-soft (which I'm guessing is the cause of sheen/shine)
- Can be laid down with minimum ease (e.g. water or just a small amount of gel)
- No "kitchen"
- No frizz

There are various definitions to this, but if you have hair like mine (4a/b, cottony, coarse, no natural sheen to it, cannot be laid down with minimum effort) then, according to peoples around these parts, you have BAD hair.

Unfortunately this is all hogwash originated from this hierarchy created by our very own :nono:

LushLox · Jul 22, 2011

Miss*Tress said:
I have never heard Jamaican people use that expression. They don't say nappy either, more likely to say 'tough head' or 'dry head'. One of my aunts says 'bungo head'.

Well I'm from London, born and bred....and I heard the good hair term a lot through friends during my school days.

I've heard Jamicans say 'chiny' hair, which is just another word for coolie. Never heard them use nappy either.

cocosweet · Jul 22, 2011

Ignant definition: “I love the pool test. If you can jump in the pool exactly like you are and you don’t come out looking better than you looked before going in the pool – then that’s not a good look. Any woman that uses brown gel to set down her baby hair is not poppin.” -- Young Berg

Personal definition: Any hair that is obviously healthy and well cared for is good hair.

Common definition of those I grew up with: Shiny hair that was either kind of straight or with big loose curls. Not coarse. Easily straightened. I think the definition of good hair has been expanded. Type 4 would not have even been in the running back in the day; but nowadays some would consider 4a as good or at least "pretty".

Miss*Tress · Jul 22, 2011

LushLox said:
Well I'm from London, born and bred....and I heard the good hair term a lot through friends during my school days.

I've heard Jamicans say 'chiny' hair, which is just another word for coolie. Never heard them use nappy either.

Could be a generational thing as I'm probably older than you. When I was growing up in London & JA I never heard "good hair", but that was before satellite TV, cheap airfaire, etc. It was only when I arrived in the US that I heard the expression. Times change and language evolves. I just mentioned it as a possible explanation since the OP had never heard it before LHCF.

I've never heard 'chiny' used interchangeably with 'coolie' either. I would be annoyed if someone told me I had 'chiny' hair. :look:

TaraDyan · Jul 22, 2011

ms-gg said:
And let me add, I've had white people tell me I have "great hair" (all grammatically correct and everythang). They said my hair is great because of the volume I have and because my hair can hold a style (how do you get your hair to hold?). They don't like the fact that their hair is flat and limp and straight without any natural curl (at least that is what they say to my face, you know how that goes). So great/good hair is really defined differently by each individual.

Well of course, ms-gg. Your hair is pure AWESOMENESS!!!!

nikolite · Jul 22, 2011

ms-gg said:
And let me add, I've had white people tell me I have "great hair" (all grammatically correct and everythang). They said my hair is great because of the volume I have and because my hair can hold a style (how do you get your hair to hold?). They don't like the fact that their hair is flat and limp and straight without any natural curl (at least that is what they say to my face, you know how that goes). So great/good hair is really defined differently by each individual.

I've gotten similar comments from other races--that what makes my hair more kinky is what makes it desirable it "great hair" or "beautiful hair." A Japanese friend of mine also told me that I had her dream hair, because it was thick and fluffy and I could do all types of styles with it that she could never do because her hair was too thin and too straight. She has no idea how thin my hair really is, but with our texture it does look to have more volume.

I have personally always thought that thick, coarse hair was "good hair," because I've always felt that even though it may take a bit more work to manage, that's the type of hair that is stronger and grows long regardless of its texture whether 1A or 4B. Of course, I have thin, fine strands so the grass looks much greener on the other side.

Lynnerie · Jul 22, 2011

AuNaturalMaMa said:
I'm about to cause mass confusion in this thread. In my area/family "good hair" was straight hair.....thats why the women in my family got relaxers. Not to turn type 4 hair into type 3, it was to make it like type 1 straight hair/type 2. Even type 3 got relaxers cause if you couldn't run a comb through it without it catching, it was not good hair. I do wan't to add that "good hair" meant this only on a person of color. If a caucasian person came along with type 1 or 2 hair no one would comment that they had good hair. Only if a person of color particualry a "black" person came along with type 1/2 hair people would say they had good hair. This hair would have to have grown out their scalp that way, not from a texturizer or relaxer. Its just something thats unachieveable going by that definition.

Now, good hair is healthy hair. Natural or Relaxed.

You are right tho. Thats why back in the day they had the ruler test and brown paper bag test. Your hair had to be as straight as a ruler and you needed to be lighter than a brown paper bag to get into certain organizations. We got relaxers not to have type 3 hair but to get it as straight as possible. Shoot I remember sitting at the salon just burning so my hair would get as straight as possible. :nono:

But we all know that type 2/3 can straighten easier than type 4 which is why when some people decide to go natural and they have curls people wonder why they even had a relaxer in the first place.

What is 'good' hair?

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