Hair: Reflecting on styles popular in the 60’s by Eva Githina
Hair Care: Cornrows and Afros were popular in the 60’s. Most African tribes dressed their hair in plaits wrapped in thread, tight to the scalp, either in straight rows (hence the name) or intricate patterns and the ends were secured with thread and/
or decorated with beads. An ancient and traditional way of styling hair in Africa and for African-descended people worldwide, cornrows became fashionable again in the ’60s and ’70s due to the black pride and Pan-African movements. Products were limited to natural oils found in plants like Shea, coconut, aloe, tea-tree, jojoba, hibiscus or by-products remaining from separating things like milk from animals. As manufacturing spread so did the use of processed petroleum, aloe, coconut made into pomades.
Credits:
Photographer J.D. Okhai Ojeikere spent the Sixties and Seventies documenting the hairstyles of the women he encountered in his native Nigeria. He snapped over 1,000 photos of these complex coiffures, from subjects he found on the streets, in offices, and at wedding celebrations.