Want Hip Length Hair? Learn The Hair Length Retention Secret From The Women Of Chad

Contents:

• Length Retention Secret? Ingredients For Chebé
• Traditional Chebé Recipe
• Their Process
• A Substitute Maybe?
• What Are The Key Principles Of Their Phenomenal Length Retention?
• The Takeaway
• Final Considerations

Here we always stress the importance of ensuring health if you want to achieve length. This is a holistic approach of course, inclusive of diet, mental wellness, and a consistent healthy hair care routine. Usually, we say that there is no miracle product or topical treatment that will give you long hair but after seeing the results the women of Chad get from using Chebé, we may have to revise that theory.

These Basara Arab women have hip and thigh length hair, and they credit it to a product that has been passed from generation to generation in their society. Haven’t heard of it? Well, you can watch the video by Miss Sahel below then we can discuss it.

Just an FYI, the video description on youtube states that the texture of the hair does not look kinky* because the weight of the powder “relaxes” their hair and gives it a curly appearance. It is the weight of the powder that causes the hair not to shrink, but their fringes do in fact have a kinky* texture.

When I first saw it I was so intrigued that I set out to find out more (especially because I saw the French version first) my search led me to salwanpetersen.com, a blog which provided the English explanation I wanted and the fact that the writer is also from Chad made it all the more meaningful.

I thought the entire “natural products” theme was very familiar then I realized it was extremely similar to Ayurveda which we have written about here, here, here and here. For ages, women have been using the self-healing practices of Ayurveda and used it’s powders and oils* for body healing and hair growth and retention. I asked myself that in the event that the ingredients to this concoction are hard to get, what could we substitute to create a product that has the same effect?

This caused us to take a deeper look at in the ingredients used.

Length Retention Secret? Ingredients For Chebé

Croton zambesicus (Lavender* Croton) – We found that this is traditionally used to treat inflammation. We know that inflammation is caused when there is some type of bacteria is in the body and the white blood cells go to work to expel it from the body. If that’s the case it means that this has anti-bacterial properties that can fight scalp issues like fungus. (That is why Vagisil, Monistat and all the other anti fungal creams work for hair growth.)

Mahalaba – This has anti-inflammatory as well as vasodilation properties, which means it doesn’t only fight inflammation but causes the widening of the blood cells by relaxing the walls of the blood vessels. When we do scalp massages we are trying to get the blood vessels relaxed to transport blood to the follicles so this is great. This is great because the more blood will get to the follicles to feed them the better (hopefully it’s oxygen and nutrient rich blood or else it really wouldn’t make a great difference).

Samouh (Acacia*) – This plant is used in dishes and sometimes ground out into something akin to flour, so it is a bit starchy and is added to the mixture to thicken it and give it a smooth creamy finish. In essence, it helps add slip. It has 25% more protein than common cereals. Remember how we said protein is the building block of hair? Well just maybe this is what is responsible for the unbreakable hair that these women have.

Cloves – This is perhaps the most familiar one to many of us (Who hasn’t popped some cloves into the Thanksgiving turkey or a salad?). Well, cloves have anthelmintic properties which basically mean they can get rid of parasites without causing damage to the host. This sounds like no lice to me.

Humra Perfume (Frankincense) Interestingly, we could hardly find out enough about this ingredient but found that the women substitute any fragrant oil in space of it when they don’t have the humra.

Misik (resin) – So far we haven’t found very much on this either.

We noticed that the ingredients list was short and most of the ingredients were edible. The women sometimes eat the edible ingredients, so might that also have some bearing on their results? From the little we found out about the ingredients it occurred to us that each ingredient is chosen to perform specific functions; moisturize, condition and strengthen and lock in moisture.

We learned that the strong fragrances of the ingredients may tend to be overwhelming for some persons and that the mixture itself can leave a brown stain so in its traditional state it would be impractical for those of us who lead lives in the western culture. The thing is, the Chad women use Chebé as a leave in, not as a mask that rinses off. To make it work for us we would have to constantly have our heads wrapped to keep from messing up our bed sheets or the collars of that work suit.

While a google search revealed links that we might buy most of the ingredients from (with the exception of Misik which seems to be a scarce commodity) we realized that the price points for some might prove steep for some of us. So a Chebé imitator might actually be something to explore.

Traditional Chebé Recipe

To make 3 tablespoons of Chebé/Chewé powder:

• 1 tablespoon of Mahalaba
• ½ teaspoon of cloves
• ½ teaspoon of incense resin (Misik)
• 1 teaspoon Humra perfume (Frankincense)
• 3 tablespoons of your favorite natural oil or hair butter

Their Process

• Ingredients are roasted ground out, then passed through a sieve to produce a powder
• Each woman chooses her favorite butter to add to the powder to complete the mixture.
• The hair is wet or moisturized using water.
• The powder and fat/butter mixture is added alternately from root to tip until entire head is saturated.
• Next, comes the protective styling. No intricate braids and twists, the women just install jumbo plaits and wrap the hair into a huge bun at the back of their heads to protect the ends. This style is kept for five days until it’s time to repeat the routine.

Now let’s try to fake the recipe with the ingredients that we have to hand.

A Substitute Maybe?

So as stated earlier, we got to thinking about how one might produce something similar with a few ingredients substituted. If we were to attempt a spin-off of the Chebé, ours would look like this:

Disclaimer: We mean no disrespect to the originators of the Chebé recipe and only wish to open the discussion for experimentation that might enhance our hair care routines. The following is based purely on theory.

Amla, Cassia, Neem or Hibiscus Powder – These are great for strengthening the hair. The Cassia works like henna, like a protein, attaches its molecules to fill gaps in the cuticle, thus helping in retention of moisture.

Castor Oil* mixed with jojoba and drops of lavender oil* and rosemary oil* – for a milder fragrance but also because of the capacity of jojoba to mimic our sebum and penetrate the hair and the castor oil*’s antibacterial and thickening capacity. The rosemary stimulates the follicles to enhance growth.

Cloves – chosen because of the same properties in the original mix.

Acacia/ Shikakai powder – We chose Shikakai because of its capacity to delay the appearance of gray hairs, moisturize, keep dandruff at bay and wards of fungal infections. The acacia can also help wounds heal fast, which may be good for those who are prone to rashes or soreness on the scalp.

Shea butter* or Cocoa butter* – to make it spreadable and easy to smooth onto the hair while locking in moisture.

These ingredients were chosen because of their availability on the market, the roles we expect their properties to play as well as to cut down the strong aromas of the original recipe.

An example recipe for our knock off Chebé/Chewé would look like this:

• 1 tablespoon of Neem powder (antibacterial properties)
• ½ teaspoon of cloves (same as original recipe)
• ½ teaspoon of Cassia (for the protein properties)
• ½ teaspoon of Shikakai (antifungal properties)
• A few drops Frankincense essential oil mixed with other fragrant oils like lavender (similar to original recipe)
• 3 tablespoons of your favorite natural oil or hair butter (Castor oil or shea butter* would work great)

We realize that it would no longer be Chebé/Chewé, but does it look like a knock-off with some potential? (Maybe we should patent this just in case). Can you imagine if this turns out to be just a fraction as good as Chebé? We believe our best and brightest scientists should get on this right away.

We think our process would be very similar to this, except we could install about 10 braids or twists and pin them down, put them in a top knot or side bun, then don a scarf or head wrap and tie it in some type of style to make it look chic.

What Are The Key Principles Of Their Phenomenal Length Retention?

Simplicity and Consistency

They use the things in their environment available to them. They don’t get caught up in product junkie-ism because all they need comes from nature, there are no harsh unnatural chemicals that they can’t pronounce because they do everything themselves, from sourcing the ingredients to making the powder. There are no expensive styling tools, just their hands, and an afro pick or comb occasionally. Interestingly, they only wash their hair once per month, but it works because the routine is done every five days and they use it as a leave in to protect their hair from the effects of the scorching sun and the heat in the desert. They do not style throughout the week so it cuts down on manipulation and the breakage that could result from it.

The Takeaway

To even begin to emulate their results you should look to:

• Have a consistent routine – have a “strand ceremony” every 5 days to coat your hair from root to tip in your concoction
• Practice a version of the LCO method to retain moisture but in place of cream you use the powder
• Simplify your regimen
• Protective style – a lot

Final Considerations

The biggest realization I had while watching the video and scouring the net to find out the slightest morsel of information on Chebé and its benefits, is that we will always be intrigued by any product that promises long unbreakable hair. The anticipation goes up several notches when such a product comes from the motherland, for we know that the best things are often hidden.

But at the end of the day, if we should analyze our findings, we will recognize that the real secret to their success is in the simplicity of the product and the routine. They use what they have and make it work for them. It just goes to show that sometimes it is best to revisit our roots and go back to basics.

BTW show of hands, who’s gonna try our little experiment here?