Red Women of Namibia

In a documentary i recently watched called "Babies" the lives of several babies living around the world was recorded.  For me the most intriguing life led in the documentary was the life of the Himba women in Namibia.  These women live in small villages where they tend livestock to survive.  What first caught my attention was the red hue in the skin of all the women.  I discovered it was a mixture of otjize, a paste of butter, fat and red ochre -- sometimes scented with aromatic resin.  I wondered why they put this on themselves each day thinking it protected them from harmful UV rays, but what I discovered was far more enticing.  The Himba say it's an aesthetic practice, a ritual of applying this otjize every morning, and it represents the earth's rich red color, and the blood that symbolizes life. The otjize is also a standard of beauty in Himba culture. This practice exemplifies the strong traditions the Himba hold on to, including the tradition of villages being led by a chief.

The Himba are culturally strong people who have survived many droughts and wars hardly changing their calm way of life.  In their society women are inferior to men who spend the days taking care of the legal trials, political tasks, cattle and other livestock while women will perform more intensive work such as carrying water to the village and constructing the cone-shaped structures they inhabit made of saplings covered in mud and dung.

  Another interesting aspect of their culture is their way of dressing.  It is customary for women to be topless and wear a mini skirt they make out of goat skins themselves.  Often you will see adult women wearing ankle bracelets to protect their ankles from snake bites.  Himba men usually wear loincloths, again made out of an animal's skin, but when modern clothes are available, men are the ones to receive them.
Another aspect of Himba culture is the way they wear their hair.  Hair in Himba culture symbolizes marital status.  Children start off with two plaited braids away from there face, and when girls reach puberty the braids are moved to the front of their face, and can be multiple braids at that time.  When a woman is married she has to wear a headdress with streams of braided hair which are colored and set into shape with otjize. Single men wear a single plaited braid set backwards to their necks and when they are married they wear a turban with many otjize-soaked plaits.
Single Himba boy:

Half braid,and half curled to the side hairstyle

For my first demonstration I will use a picture I found on Pinterest for my inspiration.  I usually find inspiration from the thousands of posts on Pinterest, which to me is like a blog itself, just with pictures instead of words. I am using Jenna, one of my classmates as a model, she has thick red hair,with eighteen-inch long hair. I realize this type of hair is extremely rare :).

First i parted the top layer of hair from the bottom, about 1/4 on the top and 3/4 of the hair on the bottom. I then took a clip and secured the top layer of hair on the top with a black clip, found in practically any drug or grocery store.
Next i took the bottom layer and side braided it (as seen in the picture), just like french braiding except to the side, and I've found that the most important thing is to make sure the bottom of the braid is tight, side braids have a tendency to come loose and fall out.
Next i took the top layer of hair and gathered it like I was putting it in a ponytail, but instead twisted it to the left and bobby pinned it, pulling some hair to cover the pins.

From here it was very easy, i used a Hot Tools, one inch, non-spring Marcel curling iron, which unfortunately is hard to find because it is often only available for professionals and curled the hair by 1/2 inch sections because by this time there isn't too much hair left, so it doesn't take too long.  A trick I've used to create better curls is to secure the curls right after you release the curler (they're hot!) and use your finger to loop them and secure it with a bobby pin.

Then I just had to bobby pin extra spots and used Tresemmé level 3 hairspray. The process took about one hour, so not too long, and Jenna loved it!

Introduction

In my blog I will provide demonstrations for a variety of beauty topics. Most of my blog will probably be centered on hair since I love doing hair styles!  Not only will I do demonstrations, but I will also look into other culture's hair. You'd be surprised at the possibilities of what hair can do and what it can represent. I used to want to be a hair stylist, but decided against it since I loved anatomy and wanted to become a doctor.  I'm only 16 years old now but have big plans for my future, and my blog.