No Lye: The African American Woman’s Guide To Natural Hair Care by Tulani Kinard
If you are trying to decide what natural style to wear? Should you loc? How much maintenance natural haircare will be, or just plain confused about natural haircare, this is the book to have. Tulani’s African-American Womens Guide To Natural Hair Care is a wonderful tool.
NO LYE! is probably my favorite book on the topic of natural haircare for Black women. Although I’ve owned it for several years, I still find myself pulling it off the bookshelf when I’m contemplating a new style.
Tulani takes a decidedly “Afrocentric” approach to hair styling so you won’t find any braid styles that “mimic” European hair (for example, there are no weaves or individual braids w/ human hair ends left free flowing).
Sisterlocks, Flat Twist, two-strand twist, palm roll twist, Comb Coiling, and just about every thing on braid extension and hair wrappings can be found in “No Lye”. And those of you looking for the “Root of it all” that’s chapter 1, understanding our hair and the composition of it.
NO LYE! is full of useful information about the various “types” of African hair and how to best care for it in it’s natural state. It also contains information on hair adornment, proper diet, caring for children’s hair, alopecia and dryness/breakage.
In this book I learnt what is the best PH balance for our hair, why my hair might be dry or flaky. Tulani explains how you can make herbal and fruit conditioners from your own kitchen.
The book is full of beautiful black and white pictures of sisters (with and without extensions) sporting braids, naturals and locked styles. Since I’m considering locking my own hair, I found the info in the lock chapter to be inspiring and extremely helpful.
Tulani mentions in the book and I quote” Eventually your status as an “educated consumer” will have an impact upon the product manufacturer’s research and development process. You will move away from products that are popular or familiar, toward products that you know will satisfy your hair’s biochemical needs”
In any case, I would recommend this book to anyone that has recently made the commitment to natural hair.
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