by
Adeola @ The Mane Captain
Jumping for joy @ Tinamen Square, Forbidden City in the Background
Hairstyle: Single Braids
Have you been assigned to oversee a company project in a foreign country? Or been admitted to a graduate program in your dream country? Or maybe you’re more like me and simply seeking a new adventure in another part of the world. Whatever your reason for packing up and going to live in another country, let me first congratulate you for being bold enough to leave your friends and family behind for the an unknown and foreign land.
With last minute language classes, shopping, research and farewell parties, preparing for the expat life can be quite daunting. The good news is that most people who have experienced the expat life (including myself) will tell you that it is very exciting! So keep calm and read the following tips on how to prepare for your new chapter in life, while making sure that you and your hair have the best time of your life.
The Great Wall
Hairstyle: Single Braids
Before You Go
1. Research the black community
Particularly the natural hair community (NHC) in your host country. We all know that the NHC isn’t always welcomed by other blacks in the diaspora, so researching international hair blogs in your host country will provide you with some general views on the perception of Afro hair in that country. Reading such blogs will also provide you with information on the types of hair products available in the country, how accessible they are and how to access them.
2. Research the climate and the environmental condition in your host country.
Find out if the country has all 4 seasons or only 2 extreme seasons. What is the air quality like? Is it windy, dusty, dry or humid? The research gathered will help you to determine the essential tools and products you need. For example, if you’ll be traveling to a cold country you’ll know to pack your satin lined winter hats, satin/silk scarves, thicker conditioners, hair butters and other winter friendly hair items.
3. Find out if your favourite hair care line ships to your host country
And how much they charge for shipping. If the shipping fee is affordable to you, you can choose to pack your must have products and forego the “nice to have” ones.
Chinese Wedding
Hairstyle: Twists
4. The specific products and tools to pack will vary based on your destination country
If you’ll be going to a part of the world such as Asia where Black people are in the minority, it’s best to pack EVERYTHING! However, if you’ll be moving to Africa, the Caribbean or western Europe where Black hair products are readily available due to population, you can bring only those products that are expensive or especially hard to find, and forgo packing up the basics. But don’t be naïve, just because there are a lot of Black people in your destination country, it doesn’t mean there will be a lot of natural hair products easily available. As a natural living in Toronto, I can tell you that the majority of the American natural hair care lines are not available in Canada and the few that are available are pricey. So do your research.
5. If you’re into essential oils, carrier oils, clays and other fancy hair products, please bring them with you
These products might not be easily accessible in your host country.
6. Remember to bring your satin bonnet, wide tooth comb, bobby pins, rollers, hair accessories
Although you can probably find these items in your host country, the quality might not be as high as the ones you’re used to.
7. Practice basic hairstyling skills
Cornrows, flat twists, single strand twists and other natural hairstyles that you enjoy wearing. If you’re into extensions, you should try and get enough practice with single braids, Marley twists, crotchet braids and even fixing a weave. Perfecting these basic skills will help to make sure that you don’t get stuck with that poor hairstylist just because you don’t know how to do your hair yourself and you don’t know anyone else who could handle your natural hair.
The Gobi Desert – Inner Mongolia
Hairstyle: Cornrows
8. Make friends with other expats
Particularly those who go back home often. Some of them might even give you their hair products when they return home or relocate to another country. Expats with natural hair can refer you to their favorite hair braider, should you need a break from doing your hair.
While in your new country;
Chinese Military Guards
Hairstyle: Twistout in a Frohawk
Are you an expat living abroad? What other tips would you add?
22 Responses
Hello I am a cameroonian living in France
and I went in China , Morroco and Korea mainly for vacation. Eastern Europe was more for work
Though I totally agree on the part :
– enjoy your stay, the fact that you will the biggest touristic attraction sometimes (not always unpleasant)
– and be kind with people being curious with your hair.
I do think when travelling we should also accept to let our product junkie habits behind us. Everywhere in the world you will have local natural haircar product that will work like creazy
1) No shea butter in Nigeria? god I am sure coconut oils, palm oil (the red one), peanut olis, mango butter, home made infusion of okra and hibuscus flowers are only waiting for you.
2) No african products in China? Well the country is so wide that tropical products can be found on the market. And if not sesame oils,peanut (again). Atually what is waoh in China is that in traditional durgstore you will have all sort of natural extract for health but also (more superficial) hair care.
=> Basically i think when going aborad for a long time we have to be prepared to let it go and be ready to test out of our usual regimen…
Me particularly, My hair loved being in China…This smoothness and growth i experienced, I only saw in Cameroon before.
I went to Nigeria for a month and was shocked at how impossible it was to find shea butter. Many stores had never heard of it, and even most of their products were for relaxed/straight hair. My mistake assuming anywhere in Africa would have it, when it’s more commonly produced in Ghana.
Single braids are definitely your best friend but even if you find locals that can do it, you need to watch them carefully. The ladies that did my hair took the smallest sections into each braid (eep!) and combed my hair with a fine tooth comb, which was traumatic! lol
I would keep it as simple as possible.
It’s has a native name in Nigeria and not everyone in Nigeria calls it by the English name
Its called ori/women’s gold in Nigeria. You can buy it from the market.
Such great tips!! I’ve lived abroad for almost two years in rural southern and East Africa, and my hair has had its ups and downs. I’ve learnt that decent shampoos and conditioners aren’t major problems to find. However, I stock up on haircare products whenever I visit a large city! What I miss most is EVCO and shea butter though. And my hair is not reacting kindly to the hard water in my current location. Any tips on handling hard water and cheap options for getting quality coconut oil and shea butter in Tanzania?
I can’t help you on the oils and butters in Tanzania, but here in the states, my water is so hard it’s cloudy straight out of the faucet. I found that using traditional, store-bought shampoos in combination with the hard water made my fro super dry, so the only thing that has helped me is substituting shampoo for ACV rinses. I think the lower pH of the ACV helps to neutralize some of the high pH of the hard water. If you don’t want to give up shampoo entirely, I’ve also had some luck diluting store bought shampoo with distilled water, and rinsing with ACV after washing. Hope this helps!
Yes! I have been looking for good tips for traveling abroad. I only found one blog that exclusively talks about this. (http://travelingnatural.com/)
Thanks for posting this BGLH!!
I’m going to Granada, Spain next spring. Does anyone have any tips for traveling there? I figured I should be good on oils because I use EVOO and Coconut Oil, but I’m bringing large amounts of the Shampoo and Conditioner I use.
I love this thread and ALL of the comments. That is all. 🙂
(remembering back to a time not so long ago when the very idea of a black woman living abroad got strange looks followed immediately by “but what about your hair?”)
When I went home to Zambia last year for three months my hair survived on olive oil, avocados(our neighbour had a tree) and shea butter. I used any old shampoo and leave in conditioner as well as a pure glycerine &water mix. My hair thrived with a simplified regiment. Made me give up my product junkie status for good once I got back to Europe!
A good portion of my luggage allowance for my flight to Thailand was hair products. It’s pretty easy to find coconut oil but not Shea Moisture.
I’m a little surprised that a site aimed at teaching sensitivity and cultural awareness has a picture of a tourist jumping for joy at a site where thousands of civilians were slaughtered. Pretty shameful, really.
Anyway, if you are living abroad, as I did in China for some time there are great courier services and sites like Ali express and Taobao are excellent. Bring specialty items like combs etc and be wary of the water.
If you can afford it, definitely try using a mail forwarding service for the must-have items. I cannot find organic extra virgin coconut oil anywhere around these parts (Venezuela, Ecuador) and amazon has been a life saver (although sometimes pricey. Another thing that helped me a lot during my last vacation was the Shea Moisture Curl and Shine Kit. Lucky for me the weather was on the cooler, dryer side and my hair held all day without getting dry using the products in the kit. I wish other product lines would do the same (I think Oyin does, too), but in the meantime I also fill my 4oz bottles and keep a little container of my whipped shea butter mix on hand.
Oh man, so many tips from eight years of living everywhere from villages with no electricity or running water in Africa to living in a town in Eastern Europe where I literally never saw another black person for six months (people would stop me on street and ask to take my photo), I have learned some things.
First and foremost: forget those products unless you are in a place where there are black or afro hispanic populations. In the year that I lived in London I saw an explosion of availability of UK based black hair products and US based imports. However, during my year in Cambodia, I never saw a single black hair product. People told me that it was available in China, but that wasn’t really a feasibly jaunt for me.
Here it goes:
In Europe you can either buy it in the shops or order it on Amazon. Look around because there are many local people selling natural hair products that are equal to any of the stuff that we’re using here. If you can’t find it on the ground, you can definitely get it delivered from Paris and London.
In Africa you can get all your natural shea butter and many oils in the markets and shops. Depending on the country you will find natural shops that stock non SLS shampoos and super slippy conditioners. If not, you can generally find some bottles of HH (hell, I found Honey I’m Strong in a grocery store in Khartoum!).
In Asia look for those Korean beauty products. No SLS in the shampoos, super protein and moisturizing conditioners, great heat protectants.
I just returned to the less than a month ago and I’m now getting to try so many products that weren’t available to me in Asia. However, knowing that I will be here for only two years, I am worried about getting used to something that I won’t bring with me when I go…dilemmas!
cute article. I love the pictures even more. One of the things I learned going abroad in the military was I would ask the local ladies what do you use for thick hair. A lot of them would just show you stuff and when I was in Dubai I don’t know the name of it, but it was a thick cream that smelt like lavender. I was like, “I don’t know” the lady said, “Trust me it will work. I have thick hair too it works so well. I wanted to say yours is thick, but its not curly kinky like mine”. Thank god I didn’t cause then I would be eating a BIG ASS piece of eat shit pie! That stuff worked so good! it left my hair so soft and moist. Which really I shouldn’t have been surprised because it gets to 119 degrees in the shade, so clearly they need moisture in their hair. I was surprised though. So biggest lesson, try it you may like it.
Great tips! I’ve never lived abroad but when I would travel I remember when the TSA would go nuts over any of my products. I once had something thrown away and it about broke my heart because it was full and from Qhemet. I even called my boyfriend (now husband) to see if he would drive back (he was maybe 5-10 minutes away driving back home) and take it but his lame sister convinced him not to (lets just say she’s not of the natural hair persuasion and doesn’t understand the struggle). Anyway, I always have empty 4 oz bottles to fill with my products when I travel.
THANK GOD the AFRICAN community has BELGIUM on lock you need it they got it!!! LOL … I am so ANTI-braid… the tension … the tension that I love this site and once abroad you will truly find that LESS is more… drugstore.com has excellent shipping rates also check the amazon.fr,be.de whatever country you are in trust me you will be surprised… you can find a “perm” almost every corner of this Earth though .. go figure 🙂
EGYPT was THE worst for natural hair for me !!!!
Really?! I liked Egypt for hair care stuff, but it wasn’t easily found. Is that what you meant? I found a great “rinse ; I guess you can call it. It had oil blend in water and some flowers for the sent. It was great for when your hair and scalp are really sweaty.
As some one who is planning to do a ton of traveling to a variety of countries (backpacking style!) space (and weight) is precious. Lugging around hair products & tools isn’t going to work for me. I’m going to put my hair in single braids and just use plain water & whatever oil I can find in the country I am in and call it a day…
Wow Back packing style. After the movie Hostle I didn’t want to do that anymore. lol
My sister, I flung myself to Peru for six months some years back. Single braids were my best friend! I didn’t even know how to put single braid extensions in when I left home, but I learned when I was out there (there was no one to help, although Peru does have a small, black population) . The Peruvians were fascinated by my hair! Be prepared for questions and random strangers’ hands making for your tresses.
I must agree with you about the Peruvian fascination with us/our hair. Last year, I was there for a mere 5 weeks as part of a mandatory study abroad language (Spanish) requirement. I brought enough products with me, but made sure that my local grocery store, Tottus, had at least olive oil and some gels to get me through.
I must agree with you about the Peruvian fascination with us/our hair. Last year, I was there for a mere 5 weeks as part of a mandatory study abroad language (Spanish) requirement. I brought enough products with me, but made sure that my local grocery store, Tottus, had at least olive oil and some gels to get me through. Wash & gos and twists with a brush and a scarf were my standards that got me through.