Asking Black and White People the Same Questions: Hair

With comedians Finlay Christie and Mamoun Elagab. Filmed in Dalston, Shoreditch and Hyde Park. Special thanks to:

Mitch Fly Barbershop, Dalston
KRL Hair, Dalston
Mizzy

Please share this video if you enjoyed and want us to keep making more. Remember to follow Mamoun on all his socials @mamouns_ting. We came up with this idea together and he's a fantastic comedian so please go support him.

[fortsmostwanted]

"I haven't eaten steak in multiple years" "Are you a vegan or poor?" caught me SO OFF GUARD

[mildlydispleased]

"Whether you're white, black, Puerto Rican"

This is the most American statement ever.

[AoiKyuuketsuki]

that poor non-english native speaker dude who had no idea what he had gotten himself into lmaoo

[AlbertHenriques]

"Would you be insulted if someone laughed at your hairline?" "No I'd be more than complimented if somebody thought I had one!"
Cracked me up hahah

[TwinSteel]

A common piece of wisdom among white communities is to never get your hair cut the day before a big event

[HeisenbergFam]

Gotta respect bro for asking "you are black right" just to be 110% sure

[fats]

“get gyal” done it for me 😂 I was not expecting that answer at all 😂😂😂

[DjurslandsEfterskole]

Since it wasn't mentioned explicitly in the video; This all comes down to different hair textures. Straight, wavy, curly, kinky hair need different treatments. Especially if you have straight hair, you're probably not aware of this

Here's a super quick sum up:

Straight hair gets too oily/greasy quick. For some, after 1-2 days. The straight hair strands makes it easy for the natural oil to travel.
Rule of thumb: Straight hair gets washed to *remove* oil/grease. Shampoo is often considered the most important step

It's the opposite for curly and kinky hair. The more curl, the harder it is for the natural oil to move down the hair strand. That means curly hair is often fighting dryness, not oil or grease.
Rule of thumb: The goal of washing curly/kinky hair is adding oil/moisture to the hair, and reactivating curls. Conditioner is often considered the most important step

Other differences:
--- Wet
Straight hair is straight when it's wet
Curly hair is curly when it's wet

Nb: Water "reactivates" curls. Straight hair does not get reactivated
---- Wash frequency
Straight hair often gets washed every or every other day (though twice a week is recommended)

Curly, and especially kinky hair, dries out if it's washed too often. A week, two weeks, longer is good hair care
--- Wash time
Straight hair takes 5-10 minutes to wash

Curly and kinky hair is a major task to wash. Many talk about wash day. Drying it on top, takes ages.
---- Brushing/detangling
Straight hair is advised to be brushed when dry, as the hair strands are more prone to breakage when wet. A typical routine may be brushing long hair with a brush or a comb every morning before going out. Someone who hasn't brushed their hair might be called messy

Curly hair should NOT be brushed when dry! This will remove all the curls until next wash day and leave the hair frizzy and messy. Rather, it's adviced to always and only brush/detangle your hair in the shower, while the hair is wet and has conditioner in it. The water reactivates the curls and the conditioner aids the detangling, which also helps in avoiding breakage. Often a wide toothed comb or fingers are advised, so help the curls clumb. The goal is not to seperate and straighten every single hairstrand, as it is when brushing straight hair.
--- Hair shedding
Straight hair strands fall off all the time, and only a small amount is removed in the shower

Curly hair, and especially kinky, holds on to the loose hair in the curls, and most is removed in the shower whilst detangling
---- Shampoo
Most shampoo works fine with straight hair
1) Most products are made to apeal to people with straight hair
2) short, straight hair can be washed with, more or less, any type of soap, even sulfat
Basically; straight hair doesn't mind that much about getting ripped completely for it's oil with sulfat. To give the appearance of soft, well moisturized hair, many conditioners apply a thin layer of silicone over the hair strand which isolates the hair strand from actual moisture, but makes it appear soft and moisturized. Again, since straight hair fight oil more than dryness, though it's not the best fit the hair, it's not awful either

Curly hair suffers heavily from silicone and sulfat. The sulfat strips the hair of much needed moisture and oils, and the silicone keeps the moisture and oils out, drying it out further. Since most products are made to appeal to straight hair, few products are made for the needs of curly hair, and it can be hard to find products that are actually helpful rather than hurtful in the for-straight-hair-jungle
--- Protective hairstyles
Protective hairstyles is a foreign concept to straight hair

Kinky hair needs protective hairstyles. Especially in winter, where it might otherwise dry out and the cold might cause increased breakage. Other reasons may be when trying to grow the hair longer, or the hair needing intensive moisture treatments, or just getting a break
----

All of this is just the top of the iceberg. I haven't even dived into how straight hair is centered. How curly hair is often framed as "unkempt" or "unprofessional" and how much discrimination there is against kinky hair - so much so that California has written into law that it's illegal to discriminate based on hair, because work discrimination is wayy common. There's been multiple occasions of school discrimination and kids being sent home for their natural hair. In contrast, straight hair is seen as professional and appropriate in work environments. Considering how much work curly and kinky hair care takes compared to straight hair, it's beyond ludicrous. The hair type chart is very real. Not just in how to treat your hair, but how different people treat *you* based on your hair texture. Again - people with straight hair don't know.

I could talk about this all day. I'll stop for now

Thank you for giving attention to this topic. I find it felt fascinating. Hair is a part of all of our lives, to the degree that it feels universal. And yet, there's this massive rabbit hole right under the surface with so much nuance and history and bigger societal themes. Right there, and so many have no idea

Again. Thanks. Great video

[bortimer]

That guy was about to fight you for thinking you were making fun of his hairline, LOL

[issvemm]

3:30 “Are you a vegan or poor?” 😭😭😭 the cut off

[wonderwalledit]

The guy replying "I don't know" after being asked if he's black right, seems so sweet lol😁💓.

[sannahbouzeghoub]

I'm not even joking this is my favourite series on YouTube

[allangholmi]

This series where you're asking black and white people the same question is absolute gold. You have something here that is truly unique and ridiculously entertaining. Please please PLEASE (!) keep doing more of this!

[topsecret]

I love my country! 😆

Shout out to the US bloke who thought man was making fun of his hairline right off the bat 😂 Bro was almost ready to fight, lol!

[RatzaChewy]

On behalf of all curly haired white people: Thank you for giving over your knowledge of oils and conditioning. THANK YOU.

[Lia_x]

These videos are so interesting to me as a mixed race black girl who has mostly white family because I feel so strange disagreeing and agreeing with both parties
It’s giving me an identity crisis fr 💀

[finlaychristiecomedy]

I have three different haircuts throughout this video.

[MrMighty]

The editing in this is phenomenal 😂. Comedic timing to absolute perfection.

[lasselang]

As a white man who recently grew out his hair, I have to say that coconut oil works like a charm. I have relatively thick hair and it is a bit curly. But I have to admit, that I had no idea people put coconut oil in their hair until my gf suggested me to do so.

[Dragonpuncher]

As a white dude that has his hair cut every 3 months, I felt seen 😂 Also I had no idea there was literally a system for different hair types... 😅