Hair extensions for braids or weaves are fabulous fashion statements! But mostly made of plastic - now a start-up in Blantyre, Malawi has found a completely sustainable and eco-friendly solution: Sisal hair!
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00:00When you have textured hair, the possibilities are endless.
00:04Ethnic hair can be straight, short, long, kinky, curly, afro, or braided.
00:12But why are there still so few skin and health-friendly hair options?
00:17If you want to braid your hair, you have to resort to synthetic fibers.
00:22But plastic on your head? Forever?
00:25Wouldn't a different material, a natural and very stable one at that,
00:30be much better. And honestly, ropes as braids?
00:34The fact that it degrades whenever it has been discarded
00:37is what catches the attention of a lot of people.
00:42But also, because it's a natural fiber that is locally sourced,
00:46people are very interested because some will be able to farm sisal and sell it to us.
00:53Sisal refers to the fibers from the leaves of some agaves
00:57and is a relatively young natural fiber whose use flourished in the early 20th century.
01:03Nevertheless, it is still one of the world's most important fibers today.
01:09It is traditionally used to make rope and yarn,
01:12which can then be used to make sacks, rugs, and other handicraft due to its high durability.
01:17But hair?
01:19Can hair pieces and extensions made from sisal be a real alternative to synthetic ones?
01:25If you can take a look at this, it doesn't tangle unlike to the synthetic hair.
01:32Some synthetic hair has chemicals which may affect some scabs.
01:39The affected scabs may start etching within three weeks to a month.
01:43Some people remove it the same day because of etching.
01:48The seesaw hair for me is a bit lighter and a bit breathable
01:53because usually by now, if I had synthetic hair, I'd be sweating behind my back
01:59and I would be able to feel the weight.
02:02This hair extension is very versatile.
02:06It can be changed into any style that you wish.
02:10But also, it is anti-fungi and antibacterial,
02:14which means it does not get contaminated when it's wet.
02:18But also, being a natural fiber, it suits well with natural hair.
02:23It grips very well with the client's hair.
02:27A study has forecast that African hair care sales could reach $994 billion by 2026.
02:36Current trends favor products that support natural hair care.
02:40And this includes hair extensions, which are used for support,
02:43protective styles, or extra length.
02:45However, these are often made with single-youth synthetic fibers,
02:50which get discarded and end up in dumps and landfills
02:54and can take 20 to 500 years to fully decompose,
02:59leaching toxins and microplastics into the soil, streams, and groundwater.
03:05Does the average customer and stylist think beyond the hairdo?
03:10Some saloons dispose their hair everywhere.
03:13But at our saloon, once the hair is removed,
03:17we store it in a bin and burn it later.
03:19This way, the used synthetic hair is not discarded everywhere.
03:23Plastic hair is just over in our streets, in the liver banks.
03:28So I thought of coming up with biodegradable hair,
03:32that will repress the plastic hair.
03:34So that whenever it's discarded, it will be able to decompose and not harm our environment.
03:39The sustainable part is what drives it the most.
03:43Texture is a bit, needs a bit of work.
03:46But I think it's cool.
03:47I think also just the fact that once I take it off, it's biodegradable.
03:51Moses and his team have built a production model that focuses on sustainability.
03:56Considering that our main raw material is sisal and it's locally available,
04:02we also have plants that will grow our own sisal
04:05so that we reduce cost on accessing the raw materials.
04:10We have our own and we produce hair from that.
04:13The hair production process involves harvesting the sisal from the fields,
04:17taking them to our lab, extracting the fibres from the sisal.
04:23We use manual extraction, we use sharp tools like knives, and then we wash them.
04:30After washing, we dry them.
04:32After drying, we give them colour.
04:35So we use non-reactive dyes for colouring.
04:39After dyeing, we still dry them.
04:41After drying them, we soften them.
04:44We soften them using natural chemicals.
04:48And then from softening, we proceed to hair conditioning.
04:53And then we proceed to hair packaging.
04:58SISO hair is here now, and we're using it.
05:02We're happy with it.
05:03I'm very happy with the hair quality,
05:10but I'm not very much satisfied
05:12because I'm not yet there where I want to be.
05:16There are some things that we need to improve
05:18as far as the quality of this hair is concerned.
05:21In terms of texture, the feel whenever you touch it,
05:26shining properties of the hair.
05:28In terms of length, we have to improve.
05:31We have to have varieties of ring.
05:33Styling and care of ethnic hair is constantly evolving.
05:37From the eras of the stretching comb and ironed hair
05:40to chemical hair relaxers and perms
05:42that blazed through the 80s and 90s.
05:45As technology around SISO fibres improves,
05:48hopefully this will provide an alternative
05:50that leaves our planet a little healthier.
05:53Vos yep, come on and see a lot of Ditburn's in a little boat.
05:54Thanks again.
05:54See you later.
05:56Thanks a lot.
05:56Thanks again.
05:57See you later.
05:57In the meantime,
05:58for the end of-gameest,
05:59towards the end of the year.
05:59See you later.
06:00There's some cannобialish hair Koop.
06:01See you later.
06:01Bye!
06:02Bye!
06:03Bye!
06:04Bye!