qu'ality - "na-tu-ral"

riley elle's cutest twist out tutorial ever

Saw this on Clutch, and promptly melted...

See? Melted.

the coiffure project

Ladies and gentlemen, The Coiffure Project by Mr. Glenford Nunez.  

You ready?

 

more here...

judge her relaxer? you don't get to do that.

photo: getty images

This one goes out specifically to all those natural sisters who look down their noses at those who rock relaxers, to the extent of trying to shame and judge them.  Over at Clutch, Mame Kwayie breaks it down in a searingly honest piece on her experience as a black woman with a relaxer living in the midst of natural hair movement, that seems to have gone to some folks' heads...

 "As much as I want to say it’s just hair, it’s not. It’s never been. It’s political around company. We ignore that it’s even more political among ourselves. That you think your hair elevates you says so. That I feel guilty for not partaking in the natural hair revolution says so. Perhaps this revolution all dressed in self-love needs to wear different, more inclusive clothes." (Clutch)

I love the wide open honest way in which the whole essay, "Stop Staring, My Eyes Are Down Here", flows.  Had to share.  Read the entire piece here.  Thoughts?

zina saro-wiwa - transition

via The New York Times:

viola davis natural - l.a. times magazine

photo:  Ruven Afanador

Do you know that I passed by these images several times, at news stands, and in magazine ads, thinking this was some gorgeous new model about to take the world by storm before realizing? 

photo:  Ruven Afanador

See more photos and continue reading:  Viola - LA Times Magazine

jorian on ubb & abercrombie natural hair madness

photo: urbanbushbabes

Thoroughly enjoyed meeting Jorian on Urban Bush Babes, one of my daily blog fixes.  Absolutely needed to share.  A feast for the eyes, style oozes off this woman.

photo: urbanbushbabes

What caused my brow to twitch was what she had to say about Abercrombie & Fitch and the way they dealt with her as an employee with natural hair:

"What do you do? Is there a resistance or compatibility with your hair in your field of work?

Well, I recently worked at American Apparel and Abercrombie and Fitch.  American Apparel is very open and was completely fine with my hair and I never had any complaints, just compliments. Abercrombie is a different story.  They have a very strict “look policy” which includes no braids, no dreads, no nail polish, eye make up etc. I was almost sent home during a shift when the district manager came in to check on things.  Instead of coming to me, He went to my floor manager and told her that my hair was not “look policy”.  She pulled me to back and asked me if i had a hair band or a brush so I could comb my hair. My hair was in a twist- out done on dry hair and I pinned up the sides into a fro-hawk.  It had a lot of volume, so it was quite big.  My manager explained to me that she was sorry and she loved my hair, and it was the district manager who wanted me to change it.  When I told her I had no brush and I wasn’t going to change my hair for a 4 hour shift, she told me she would talk to district….and I just continued on with my evening.  As of September 6th, I will have no more Abercrombie worries because I will be going back to school to start my 4 year program for a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Photography.  My goal is to become a fashion/editorial photographer." (UrbanBushBabes)

"Look policy?"  Hmmmm.

Way to keep your mind right Jorian, and your eyes on your goals despite the crazy.  One day enough people will understand, accept and respect that not all hair is supposed to be straight, or lie just so.  Until then, the struggle the natural beauty continues.  Not that I was running to shop at Abercrombie anytime soon anyway.  It's just good to know it's a place I definitely don't want to contribute one red cent to.

photo: urbanbushbabes

Gorgeous!
 See the whole story here.  Thanks UBB!!

yours truly, on natural hair salons @ the atlanta post

Hello Beauties!

An article I wrote for The Atlanta Post on natural hair salons and the booming business they're becoming nationwide in the African-American community went live today.  Thought I'd share.   Enjoy! (and do feel free to share thoughts and comments).

via The Atlanta Post:

Top Natural Hair Salon Owners Discuss Industry’s Explosive Growth

September 13, 2011 08:13 AM

By Yassira Diggs
One doesn’t have to look far for evidence that wearing natural hair is still unacceptable to many in the mainstream. Only four short years ago, a Glamour magazine editor presented a slide show on proper corporate fashion during which she declared the afro “a real no-no” and dreadlocks “truly dreadful.” Despite such negative feedback, more and more African-Americans are falling in love with their natural hair and seeking salons that cater to this interest. Leaders of natural hair care salons nationwide have shared some of their insights into this growing market with us — and their favorite products — highlighting the exciting expansion of this beauty revolution. As more black women (and men) explore their natural hair options in droves, this new aesthetic will become more common in the workplace. Corporate America might have to adjust to our new standard of beauty, as the growth described by these natural hair care salon owners is certain to continue. 

Read more and see the entire slideshow here.

the coil review dot com

thecoilreview.com

hairstory: pitstops on the road to the glorious coil

Even though it’s completely opposite to my natural texture, straight hair is where my story begins. In childhood memories around hair, first came the hot comb, and then later, the no-lye relaxer. There were times when I wore my hair in African braids, beautiful intricate styles that lasted for months at a time. Even so, soon after the braids would come out, in would go the relaxer. The idea that hair needed to be straightened was such a given, it was like a fundamental part of the way I was wired. I was born into that world, knew nothing else, and didn’t find my way to questioning any of it until decades later.

When I first started experimenting with changing my hairstyle, my ideas were variations on it in its relaxed state. Like the period in high school when I decided I didn’t want my hair tightly curled with a hot iron and stacked into an impossible looking asymmetrical sculpture (It was the eighties). I stopped curling my hair. I would part it on the side, and let it fall, which I will admit, in retrospect, left it looking more like an interruption on the way to a hairstyle than an actual hairstyle.

Another phase in my hairstory was the summer of the weave, in the middle of college. The only evidence I have of that now is a set of photo negatives, and the vague memory of how quickly the excitement of having that new hairstyle faded. Once I got the weave, and lived with it for a bit, I didn’t get it anymore. The maintenance was too involved for my taste and I had answered my wonder about what it would feel like. It felt exactly like what it was: someone else’s hair sewn in strips to mine. Not for me. Now when I see those negatives, I can’t help but laugh and think, Damn it looks like I was trying to give Chaka Khan a run for her money on the hair tip.

In my 20s I got curious and courageous enough to cut all my hair off. By that point I had done all I was going to with a relaxer, and I started to notice Black girls with amazing natural hairstyles. I wanted to experience the ease of a wash and go style. At the same time, I was becoming more aware of societal beauty norms, how little they coincided with how I felt and thought, and how automatically, often frantically, people subscribed to them. It all seemed a tad on the bizarre side to me because my hair changes felt in a sense like I was trying on selves for fit. And when the fit wasn’t right, I didn’t linger.

Nowadays, I wear my hair in long dreadlocks and I absolutely love it. I love my hair in its natural, coarse, texture. I love the myriad styling options available to me. I love the strength of it, the coil of it, and yes, the feel of it. I know I’m not supposed to, if I want to fit in with my land-of-the-free society. Every day, several times a day, I encounter billboards and all kinds of ads that basically say, as if it’s a given fact, that what my hair does naturally is not what hair is supposed to do, not what I should want it to do. I get the message. I just disagree. Highly.

It wasn’t some mystical, magical, beyond-us force that came down and decided that a European beauty ideal would be the law. Those kinds of ideas came out of human minds, like mine. Like yours. Like the ones it will take to eventually get mainstream media to reflect our society’s beauty in its gloriously diverse actuality. Once I got conscious of this, it became impossible for me to blindly ingest beauty ideals served up by mainstream media, or anyone else.