by
BGLH
Not too long ago, we mentioned the use of butter or ghee in 8 African Traditional Secrets for Long Healthy Hair. Recently, we came across these amazing photos of beautiful Ethiopian tribes incorporating butter in their traditional hair regimens.
Afar
The men of the Afar tribe wear traditional styles known as Dayta (similar to shingled curls) and Asdago (similar to a freshly washed fro)
The Women of the Hamer tribe
Hamer women use a mixture of butter and red ochre to keep their dreadlocks neatly in place. They cut the locks using a knife and a stone.
Karrayyu
Karrayyu man with his Gunfura traditional hairstyle and red headband at the Gada ceremony, Metehara, Ethiopia.
Have you heard of any of the aforementioned tribes? Have you ever incorporated butter into your own regimen?
17 Responses
I love when you guys feature tribes. All these are beautiful
I’m Ethiopian, and this information is very MISLEADING.
This is not how butter is used.Butter is used as a deep conditioner NOT a styler. People use FRESH butter: you should NOT be using clarified butter (ghee) in your hair. Ghee is for cooking, freshly made butter (not store bought butter) is for deep conditioning hair and skin. The reason that people are walking around with it in their hair is because most people leave the deep conditioning treatment in their hair for 1-2 days and then wash it out. If you leave this in your hair for a style, it will smell very bad and possibly cause fungus to grow.
Lastly, ALL of the Ethiopians you showed are small minority groups. These pictures do not represent how most Ethiopians look. Imagine showing how typical americans look and only showing asians who make up 2% of the population.
Beautiful pics but bad article.
Your attitude about minorities in your country is not how most Americans would view them. Just a quick reminder Black people are also a minority in America. Seriously, check your privilege.
Ethiopia and Africa at large are constantly misrepresented. Not having to care about that misrepresentation is a privilege. So please check yours!
I also never said to exclude pictures of minorities; in fact, I said the pics are beautiful. But, as an African, it is annoying when westerners only showcase minority groups and the country side rather than showing pictures that represent the full diversity of the county. Because, yes, “Tribespeople” live in cities too, and no we don’t walk around with butter as a damn styler. That doesn’t even make sense.
Typical thing someone of the majority will say. I can delve further into the hypocrisy of your statement but alas it will serve no purpose. These groups of people are minorities and have absolutely beautiful cultures. You complaining about the misreprensenttion of the people is ridic considering there are over 80 languages and yet most people only know Amharic as a language. Plus people do use clarified butter as a deep conditioner and the spices in the butter actually stimulate hair growth.
If anyone is insterested look up the Gadaa system to learn more about a purely African democratic system that the one gentleman in the picture is a part of. It will blow your mind on the advancement of African societies that is never discussed.
Lol They don’t. Clarified butter is used for cooking, and we add berbere to it which would not be added to the hair lol. We clarify it so we can have it for a long period of time. The butter used for the hair is a special butter, and it does not need to be clarified because it’s used right away. It’s not the same thing. And, butter is most definitely not used as a styling product, which is what the article stated.
Lmao I’m not even from the majority, and my family are not Amharic speakers.
As many language groups there are, most Ethiopians have a similar “look”. Full representation is not needed. But if most people including the minority groups have a certain look, and that look is not represented at all, then that’s a problem.
Thanks for the information about the butter, however, I’m confused as what you classify as a “typical” American look. I’ve never heard of such a thing unless you just mean white people because most Americans are white. Also seems to me that if you leave something in your hair for two days then it could be reasonable someone would consider it a styler. The longest I go between washing my hair is three days. The longest I’ve ever left a deep conditioner in my hair is 45 minutes.
For the butter, you have to remember that people outside of the US don’t have the luxury to wash that frequently. Most people wash their hair every 1-2 months but will clean tier scalps etc in between washes. It’s not considered a styler because people put the butter in their hair with the goal of washing it out. And it’s called a deep conditioner. Other products are used to style hair like oils and flax seed gel. In general, when you use at home deep conditioners ( even here in the us) rather than store bought you leave it in for much longer. Naptural85 talks about leaving in an avacado mask all night but we wouldn’t Call that a styler.
As for the example, thT was a poor example. There isn’t an American look. But in east Africa despite the cultural diversity there are homogenous looks. I can tell when someone is Somali for ex or ethiopian. It’s rare that someone doesn’t fit into that look. It’s perfectly fine that these tribes have their own looks but I was surprised that not one of them fit into the look that 98% of the population have. Except for maybe one of the guys.
ok. Thanks. That makes sense.
I agree. I lived in Ethiopia for a short time. There’s a butter that is sold in markets that has a very strong smell and is used as a deep conditioner. In fact, trying to track down that butter is what led me to this blog post.
I’m Ethiopian. When visiting once i started to complain of a headache so my aunt called me over and massaged some butter to my scalp and hair. My headache went away and my hair was soft and moisturizer from it. But I will say, it took foooreeever to wash out!
oh…the man in that second pic is foine
Nah. Number 5.
Number 3 is my fave.
They look like they belong in some national hair advertisement.
Black people are beautiful.