As a teenager she used the press comb, she was one of the first with the Curly Style in Suriname and relaxed her frizzy hair for a year. Since the first Sabi Wiri Dei in 2006, teacher Amy Adams decided to go natural again and started to lock her hair. "From Mireille I learned that frizzy hair could be done with a different comb, different care products and different styles. I got even more self-confidence and I want to show that."
As a teenager she used the press comb, she was one of the first with the Curly Style in Suriname and relaxed her frizzy hair for a year. Since the first Sabi Wiri Dei in 2006, teacher Amy Adams decided to go natural again and started to lock her hair. "From Mireille I learned that frizzy hair could be done with a different comb, different care products and different styles. I got even more self-confidence and I want to show that."
As a little girl, 49-year-old Amy Adams already knew very well what she wanted to be: "School teacher or interior designer. Eventually I became a teacher because of my love for children and because it was within my parents' possibilities. Studying abroad was not an option for them." Now Amy teaches Geography at the VWO and she teaches Competent Leadership at the HBO Economics.
Amy started relaxing because she was tired of the press comb. "My hair regularly burned and after a week it was frizzy again. I felt that relaxing was more sustainable, easier and more modern. And I had to fit in." It's not that Amy wasn't happy with her frizzy hair. "I've always loved my frizzy hair, but I didn't dare to do other hairstyles with it than afro, braids and twists. We also live in a Euro-centric world. The atoledo has taught us that you are only accepted if you look as much like a white westerner as possible. So light skin, straight hair, the same clothes and language. Every woman decides for herself what she does with it. What we can do is show that we are proud of our beautiful frizzy hair and show the world the possibilities that our hair has to offer. That's why Mireille's work is so important and why I go to the Sabi Wiri Dei in Su every time!
The teacher does not want to have to defend the fact that she has frizzy hair. "It is part of me and that is why it is good. I do not care what others think about it." That is why she would never exchange her locks for another style. "In 2006 I had my hair tucked into thick dreadlocks according to the so-called tuck-in style. But in retrospect I was not satisfied with it. The locks were thick and stiff. I then started an experiment myself, in which I split the dreads by always using the same opening when twisting the regrowth. Then I cut off the thick parts and I was left with thinner, nice and flexible dreads with which I can do all kinds of things. I do not want it any other way anymore, but nowadays I tend to cut the dreads shorter."
Amy's two daughters, like their mother, have a long hair history. "They started with braids, then straightened, cut the straight hair off, braids, straightened again, cut that off again and the youngest started dreadlocks a year ago. The oldest started her dreadlock journey two weeks ago." And the dreadlocks of these three women require good care. "I wash my hair weekly, or more often, with water, olive oil and natural shampoo, which I mix into a conditioner. I use a little water with a dash of shea butter every day for shine and every four months the hair gets a wash with baking powder and apple cider vinegar."
If you want to start with dreadlocks yourself, Amy has another important tip for you. "In the beginning, the dreadlock hairstyle looks a bit less, but there are also nice hairstyles to think of for that. If you have trouble with it not being the way you want it right away, tell those around you what you are doing."