I'm Dola Akinola and I began doing hair as a hobby in the mid 90's. My last relaxer was on 30th June 2002 and since that time I've experimented with different styles including Braidlocs. I shaved my hair bald in April 2020 and I've been documenting my hair journey on www.africancoils.com.
I started making my own hair and skin products in 2009 after my favourite leave in conditioner went out of stock. I would buy raw cosmetic ingredients from various online retailers and make my own products from scratch. I did tons of research and spent countless hours creating different products. I read online articles, blogs and books that taught me about different ingredients and I hired Cosmetic Chemists to verify the safety of the recipes that I created.
I became a member of a natural hair forum in 2010 and I became concerned about the obsession with 'curl definition'. This inspired me to create a bookazine called Afro Embrace to promote 'loving acceptance of Afro Textured Hair'. The bookazine was first published in December 2012 and it was available to read online for free. It featured interviews, hair care tips a style guide and more. Some of the recommended products are no longer available for sale so I took the bookazine offline with a view to publishing a second edition at a later date.
According to research 'African hair is more fragile, has less tensile strength and reaches its breaking point earlier than the hair of other racial groups'. The study also found that 'the water content in African descent hair is slightly lower than in Caucasian hair, and the sebaceous glands often secrete an inadequate amount of sebum'. Thankfully God has provided us with a number of ingredients that can help to increase the water content of our hair whilst providing strength and shine.
