Hair growth based on ethnicity

Naphy

Active Member
I do not agree with this article. I think black women hair grow at the same rate than other people. It just that it is more difficult for us to know how to retain lenght, since our hair is more weak (when it is relaxed) and dry.
I read the article and I'm not happy >.< That's why I prefer staying on english hair care board. In france, black women are so fatalists with their hair...
 

carmella25

New Member
Our hair doesnt growing slower. We just have the shrinkage because of our curl pattern which makes it look shorter as our new growth comes in.
 

mahoganee

Active Member
Tinikaw said:
I can't read French, so I can't read the article, but I disagree that Black Women's hair grows slower. How would you explain mixed race women? Do we then go into percentages, such as someone being 25% Black and 75% White, so there hair grows faster because they have more white in them? Since alot of American Blacks and Blacks of other nations are of mixed ancestry, can we really claim that one race defines the hair growth rate? :confused:
Good question!
 

brittanynic16

Well-Known Member
I don't agree with this article. Race is a man made idea. We are one people with different history, traits and characteristics. So, this "study" has no ground to stand on. There is too much mixing of "races" to have a valid study. Even within what we consider races there are so many different variations. If you are White you can be Irish, Polish, Italian, Swedish, etc, and you can't tell me that they don't have very different characteristic. In America for example, Hispanics, Blacks and Whites can have Native American ancestry. Yet, we all seem to have different growth rates. My sister and I, for example, have the same mother and father so we have the same bloodline but my hair is kinkier, thicker and grows a lot faster than her hair. We consider ourselves Black but, I could not tell you if we are more Black than White, Native or whatever else we may be "mixed" with. I probably have the fastest hair growth in my family. I get over 8 inches a year. I work with an Asian girl and our hair grows at the same pace. She is growing her hair out for her wedding and we started with the same length and at one point my hair was longer than her hair. I kept putting the scissors to my hair so it is no longer longer than her hair but I know it would be just as long if not longer.

The only way I would consider this study professional would be if they went to difference regions of the planet and found people who have had a blood line that has not had genetic influence from people from other regions of the plant. Then they could determine how quickly the hair from people in that region grows. That may not work either. These types of studies are so half a**. There are too many questions left for me.
 

MissMarie

***sigh***
brittanynic16 said:
I don't agree with this article. Race is a man made idea. We are one people with different history, traits and characteristics. So, this "study" has no ground to stand on. There is too much mixing of "races" to have a valid study. Even within what we consider races there are so many different variations.
...
The only way I would consider this study professional would be if they went to difference regions of the planet and found people who have had a blood line that has not had genetic influence from people from other regions of the plant. Then they could determine how quickly the hair from people in that region grows. That may not work either. These types of studies are so half a**. There are too many questions left for me.
^ exactly
drier hair, thinner, weaker strands, more tightly coiled hair probably on average grows slower and retains less length then super-moisturized, thick strong stranded, super straight hair
which is probably what is meant when people use 'race' and ethnicity to describe hair diffs, problem is there can be high levels of trait variations within any single grouping
 

RainbowCurls

New Member
Interesting. I'm still on the fence about it. I think a much wider study should be done. That particular article seems slightly dubious to me.

I think a lot of people will automatically dismiss it out of defensiveness though.
What if the article said that black womens' hair grew faster than white or asian womens' hair? Would we be so quick to say "that's rubbish, everyone's hair grows at the same rate" ?

If the trend is seen as a positive thing, it seems like the people shown 'negatively' debate it the most.
Example: rumour/fact regarding a certain part of the male anatomy and different ethnicities.

Even if it is true, I'm sure there are frequent and vastly differing exceptions to the 'trend'.
I'm sure most people on this forum grow more than 3.75" per year for a start.
 

tsiporah

New Member
Tinikaw said:
I can't read French, so I can't read the article, but I disagree that Black Women's hair grows slower. How would you explain mixed race women? Do we then go into percentages, such as someone being 25% Black and 75% White, so there hair grows faster because they have more white in them? Since alot of American Blacks and Blacks of other nations are of mixed ancestry, can we really claim that one race defines the hair growth rate? :confused:

Tinikaw,

This is a great point, most of us of American background are a mix. I think it is in the care. But I am sure they did not figure that in. The whole study could be a lie in itself.

Tsipy
 

cutebajangirl

New Member
I was at the LOreal conference that that information was first presented (In English) and I do not agree with it either. In my opinion they did not do anything to account for possible breakage. I would have put a marker on the end of the hair strand and then measure growth from there. Hell tightly coiled hair can break off at the ends just from running your hands through it. So their could be breakage in between their measuring points.
 

ShaniKeys

New Member
RainbowCurls said:
Interesting. I'm still on the fence about it. I think a much wider study should be done. That particular article seems slightly dubious to me.

I think a lot of people will automatically dismiss it out of defensiveness though.
What if the article said that black womens' hair grew faster than white or asian womens' hair? Would we be so quick to say "that's rubbish, everyone's hair grows at the same rate" ?

If the trend is seen as a positive thing, it seems like the people shown 'negatively' debate it the most.
Example: rumour/fact regarding a certain part of the male anatomy and different ethnicities.
Even if it is true, I'm sure there are frequent and vastly differing exceptions to the 'trend'.
I'm sure most people on this forum grow more than 3.75" per year for a start.

My personal reason for not believing it is that my own hair has proven me the opposite, and hair from other Black women I know too. It just seems as if it's growing slow(er) or not groing at all, but we here at LHCF know better! Check out all the fotki's of all these women out here:) I think more studies should be conducted about how Black women don't know how to deal/treat their hair.
 

Candiss

New Member
I don't know one way or the other. But I do know that black women don't want to hear that their hair grows slower than other races. many of us feel like that is just one more negative in our attempt to grow our hair. If someone has the research that is sound to back it up then I would lean towards believing it's true. And I'm sure in the end it's all about averages. So just because you and your friends grow hair super quick doesn't mean that ON average black women's hair grows slower than the rest. It is not a knock to our race if it's true. Remember, hair is on our heads for reasons that have nothing to do with vanity. The human race has decided that hair is an adornment, something to be primped and fawned over, especially with women. But hair was given to us for protection. So the fact that ours could grow slower may have something to do with the fact that we are from a really hot place or some other reasons having to do with biology and evolution. I know plenty of white folks and their hair grows like weed. I relaxed my hair in February and I am retaining length and the white people I know are still growing their hair faster than I am. That's just the way it is.
 

sexyaqr

Member
Not to get anyone upset, I believe with the article. That does not mean that our hair is inferior, it just grows a little slower. I can speak from experience. My hair (my father was mixed with East Indian) grows a little faster than my sister's hair. But strength wise hers is much stronger than mine and has such beautiful thickness.
 

ShaniKeys

New Member
Candiss said:
I don't know one way or the other. But I do know that black women don't want to hear that their hair grows slower than other races. many of us feel like that is just one more negative in our attempt to grow our hair. If someone has the research that is sound to back it up then I would lean towards believing it's true. And I'm sure in the end it's all about averages. So just because you and your friends grow hair super quick doesn't mean that ON average black women's hair grows slower than the rest. It is not a knock to our race if it's true. Remember, hair is on our heads for reasons that have nothing to do with vanity. The human race has decided that hair is an adornment, something to be primped and fawned over, especially with women. But hair was given to us for protection. So the fact that ours could grow slower may have something to do with the fact that we are from a really hot place or some other reasons having to do with biology and evolution. I know plenty of white folks and their hair grows like weed. I relaxed my hair in February and I am retaining length and the white people I know are still growing their hair faster than I am. That's just the way it is.
Thanks for giving us another way to look at it
 

carcajada

Well-Known Member
B_Phlyy said:
I agree with the article and this statement. I think sometimes people take certain studies, especially on black women and their hair, too personally.

ITA. I also hope people take the study for what it is and ask themselves wow generalizable is it towards them and american blacks on average.
 

Crissi

New Member
I disagree, i think its all about retaining legnth and most the black folks i know that do retain legnth get the average 6 inches a year give or take
 
i agree that for the most part, our hair grows a tad bit slower. But it really doesn't bother me. At the end of the day, we age slower as well. So I guess it all balances out!
 

tsiporah

New Member
I am still wondering though.

There was a discussion some years ago about how African women who take care of their hair grows very fast.

Also from my understanding, there have also been previous discussions on how ones hair grows fastest in warmer climates. There are some who have gone on vacation for a while in the islands or down south somewhere for example and found that their hair has excelerated.

I still think there are alot of factors involved. Before making an assumption about out hair.

I still think---on average--that most hair grows .5 inches per month. With some exceptions. Back in the old slavery days our hair was much longer believe it or not. My grandmothers hair on both sides grew to extreme lengths (sitting on it.)

But because of certain "advancements" our hair does not thrive like it used too.

It would be good to do a comparision on this level.

Not just out right say: Our hairs grows slower (on what grounds?). It may certainly 'appear' so. But I think a bigger picture is needed.

Tsipy- :look:
 

Crissi

New Member
tsiporah said:
I am still wondering though.

There was a discussion some years ago about how African women who take care of their hair grows very fast.

Also from my understanding, there have also been previous discussions on how ones hair grows fastest in warmer climates. There are some who have gone on vacation for a while in the islands or down south somewhere for example and found that their hair has excelerated.

I still think there are alot of factors involved. Before making an assumption about out hair.

I still think---on average--that most hair grows .5 inches per month. With some exceptions. Back in the old slavery days our hair was much longer believe it or not. My grandmothers hair on both sides grew to extreme lengths (sitting on it.)

But because of certain "advancements" our hair does not thrive like it used too.

It would be good to do a comparision on this level.

Not just out right say: Our hairs grows slower (on what grounds?). It may certainly 'appear' so. But I think a bigger picture is needed.

Tsipy- :look:

Yes ITA. When i was in Florida last april my hair got noticeably longer, even my auntie and uncle commented on it before i noticed, and i was only there 3 weeks!
 

Crissi

New Member
redRiot said:
i agree that for the most part, our hair grows a tad bit slower. But it really doesn't bother me. At the end of the day, we age slower as well. So I guess it all balances out!

Hey!! when ya look at it like that, since black don't crack who cares whether it grows slower? :grin:
 

chestnutblonde

Well-Known Member
From what I understand, the reason for a higher/faster growth rate for Caucasian and Asian hair is due to the texture (ppl whose hair grows straight rather than curly/kinky). They claim that straighter hair grows faster than curly/textured hair (be it a Black or White person) :ohwell:
 

Crackers Phinn

Either A Blessing Or A Lesson.
Mestiza said:
Here's the English translation of the article:


Crisp, curly hair…, the style afro is posted or, a contrario, is smoothed!
African, West-Indian, Maghrebian, Latino-Américaines has hair larger than the Asian ones and the Caucasians. They push very slowly, 0,8 cm per month (1,1 cm for the Caucasians and 1,3 cm for the Asian ones).


It occurred to me that maybe something else was lost in the translation when it comes to the numbers so I did a conversion

African .8 cm = .3 inches x 12 months = 3.6 inches/year
Caucasian 1.3 cm = .4 inches x 12 months = 4.8 inches/year
Asian 1.3 = .5 inches x 12 months = 6 inches/year

I think it's a low estimate across the board. If average hair growth rate is 6 inches then one group should work out to that number.
 

Serenity_Peace

Genius never dies!
I think there may be slight truth to this. Everyone's hair is different, but by and large, afro-textured hair tends to grow a bit slower because of the delicate, dry strands. Afro hair is inately fragile and must be handled with care, regardless if one is relaxed or natural. That's not the same as saying that afro hair doesn't grow, which I think is hogwash. Afro hair can and does grow, but there is undoubtedly a difference.

As an aside, a good friend of mine who is Caucasian is a breast cancer survivor. This time last year, she was bald. Now her hair is my length--about 2 inches past shoulder. My hair has grown, but the fact that she caught up with me in a year says something despite how well I care for my hair. She doesn't use heat and neither do I. Her hair is naturally curly, and even with that, she still has grown her hair beautifully and it looks healthy and beautiful.
 

Mestiza

New Member
JCoily said:
It occurred to me that maybe something else was lost in the translation when it comes to the numbers so I did a conversion

African .8 cm = .3 inches x 12 months = 3.6 inches/year
Caucasian 1.3 cm = .4 inches x 12 months = 4.8 inches/year
Asian 1.3 = .5 inches x 12 months = 6 inches/year

I think it's a low estimate across the board. If average hair growth rate is 6 inches then one group should work out to that number.
That's an excellent point!
You're right! Those are some low estimates. I wonder how they derived at them?
 

Eiano

Well-Known Member
I believe it's true. Added to the fact that a lot of black women don't really know how to take care of their texture, then yeah. There's going to be a huge difference.:ohwell:
 

BlkOnyx488

Well-Known Member
ShaniKeys said:
I just read a French article (http://www.aufeminin.com/mag/beaute/d1259/c34374.html) that stated that it has been scientifically proven (they gave numbers) that Black women's hair grows slower than Asian's and Caucasian's hair

"...Ils poussent très lentement, 0,8 cm par mois (1,1 cm pour les Caucasiens et 1,3 cm pour les Asiatiques)."

I personally DO NOT believe this, what y'all think?
Well to be honest before finding LHCF. I would have believed this based on my own personal dealings with my hair. And the sister's around me.

However what most people have to realize is that black women tend to keep their hair styled. So most often we chose to cut out hair to be a certain style, so you can never really get an accurate picture of black hair growth. I personally cut my off every 1 to two years once it gets close to shoulder length. And the white women I know let their hair grow for years without cutting it or maintaining a long style.

I started using a hair growth recipe March 29th and i already have over .5 inches of growth. I am confident I will get to 1 inch of new growth before the month is out. So take that "French Study". Now that I know what to do with my hair, it is responding and growing.
 

Lucia

Well-Known Member
Balony, they can't generalize like that cause there are tribes in Africa that have knee length hair, they don't do antyhing to it but wear it in loose braids.
I think they just eyeballed it, and if you look at a straight haired person and a curly/kinky haired person and check for growth based on what you see, no stretching, no straightening then the straight hairs look like they've gotten more growth ever time.
The comparisons are unfair, were the African decent women natural or relaxed, did they even have good haircare habits. I think it's genetic from family and each person.
Indians and a good majority of whites don't use chemicals in their hair that cuts down on alot of damage/breakage0 if your ahir is natural it can take some color or some heat and still be OK.
Indians don't even style their hair they just braid it all the time, think about it, no blowdryers, no bleach, no perms, no cutting, no products, finger styling, oil, scalp massages, and henna.
 

CurlyMoo

Well-Known Member
I just read a French article (http://www.aufeminin.com/mag/beaute/d1259/c34374.html) that stated that it has been scientifically proven (they gave numbers) that Black women's hair grows slower than Asian's and Caucasian's hair

"...Ils poussent très lentement, 0,8 cm par mois (1,1 cm pour les Caucasiens et 1,3 cm pour les Asiatiques)."

I personally DO NOT believe this, what y'all think?

:rolleyes: I'm sure these same people would also agree that statisics show Africa contributed absolutely nothing to history! I think many factors come into play with regards to fast growth rates. I also think people tend to over-exaggerate Asian hair growth rates and intellectual abilities. Whateva!

Is there a study that compared Asian, Black, White on the same diets and lifestyle i.e. exercise, stress?
 

CurlyMoo

Well-Known Member
From what I understand, the reason for a higher/faster growth rate for Caucasian and Asian hair is due to the texture (ppl whose hair grows straight rather than curly/kinky). They claim that straighter hair grows faster than curly/textured hair (be it a Black or White person) :ohwell:

So was shrinkage taken into account or where they just measuring afros? :spinning:
 
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