Yes, I know.  We’ve been through this before.  I disappear then come back with promises to be more diligent.  And then I disappear again.  Well that can best be explained by saying that after four years of being natural and three years of running this Blog, the novelty has run out of the whole process.  I mean, I still love my natural tresses with an unadulterated passion but… The over-saturation of the “market” gets to be a bit too much to compete with on a daily, or even weekly basis.  Of course I’ve said this all before so I won’t bore you all with the details but I’m sure those of you who’ve started hair care Blogs and “abandoned” them understand.  I really don’t want to give up on the Blog since 1. I paid for the URL for another year and 2. I enjoy sharing information about natural hair care.  So I guess I’ll keep up appearances with posts about new products (which may come very sparingly since I don’t switch up very often) and maybe a rant or two.  Of course I plan to continue posting articles at the Columbus Natural Hair Examiner page in order to “keep up with the Joneses” (and make a little money in the process), so those posts will appear here too.  Other than that, I probably won’t be as active as I have in past years but at least I’ll stay somewhat current.

So what have I been up to?  Well I’m coming up on my one year anniversary at my day job and there are some very exciting changes coming down the pike that are sure to make our terminal shine.  To say I love my job would be an understatement so any additions that make it fun for me to be there and worthwhile coming back each day are welcome.  I’ve moved into my very own apartment after close to three years of living as a “room mate”, something I consider a major accomplishment (first time renter here… HOLLA!) and will allow my two youngest sons to move down with me.  Hair-wise, my tresses are healthy and abundant.  From root to tip my strands measure in at approximately 9′, unstraightened and my curl pattern seems to gain a bit looser grade with each inch gained:

That’s freshly washed hair in the pic, moisturized with a lil bit of grape seed oil.  My products as of late are water (if you consider that a product) coconut oil and/or grape seed oil, an occasional dab or two of Emmy’s Elixir (instead of the two aforementioned oils), Herbal Essence Totally Twisted shampoo and conditioner  (review coming soon) and Going Natural’s Herbal Styling Gel (second review coming soon as they’ve changed the formula).   I have tried Herbal Essence Tousle Me Softly Finishing Cream but not as an everyday option (review soon to come).   My regimen is wash and condition once a week, water and moisturize daily.  I detangle when I condition and not a minute before.  Nothing complicated or over the top.  I just let my hair do what it wants to do.  I don’t/won’t take any vitamins, do that 100 strokes thing or even experiment with a million and one styles because over the span of four years, my hair has trained me on what it likes, and I listen to it.

So that’s update in a nutshell.  I’m here, my hair is still growing and I’m still very much natural.

Healthy Hair Wishes…

Formerly a beloved fixture at Vinyl Hair Studio here in Columbus, songstress, visual artist and hair stylist Dairdre Scriven has now set up shop at Rendezvous Hair Salon.  Originally named Lotus Hair Salon, Rendezvous is located on the OSU campus, and offers a plethora of styling and maintenance options for all phases of hair.

As the highly recommended personal stylist of the Columbus Women’s Issue Examiner Ife Blout, Dairdre works with both natural and chemically treated tresses.  Working Tuesday through Saturday to provide her clients with modish cuts, breathtaking styles and vibrant color treatments, Dairdre views her work at Rendezvous as an extension of her artistic nature.

“Hair is one of my ART mediums, I get to sculpt and paint everyday [sic] I come into work,” states Scriven via Rendezvous’ Website.

Read more HERE.

Healthy Hair Wishes,

It has been awhile because, again, disenchantment with natural hair took a hold of me.  Not disenchantment with natural hair itself, mind you, just talking about it, posting about it, reading about it, etc.  There’s only so much involvement one can have with their hair while cultivating a full life, unless that life is professionally linked to said subject.

I’ve been keeping up care of my tresses as normal, with weekly washes and conditioning, daily moisturizing treatments and basically letting it do what it do… Grow.  But here lately I’ve desired to do something different with it than go with my traditional WNG’s, especially with the weather turning cold and me not wanting to go out with wet hair every morning.  So  a couple week’s ago I decided to press my coils and wear it in a pony-puff, which surprised me because I had no idea my hair had grown long enough to put in one ponytail yet.  The process took one hour and thirty minutes with my electric pressing comb set at about 400* F or so (close to the highest setting) and I utilized grape seed oil as my heat protectant.  As you can tell from the above photo the results were pleasant enough, and my hair maintained a healthy state and appearance, but I came away with feather light strands that I couldn’t really do anything with except throw them in a ponytail.  Because my hair had very little defined body to it in its wispy pressed state and I desired a smooth look, I decided to run out and add two more tools to my hair styling arsenal:

A set of Jilbere de Paris™ Palladium ceramic flat irons and 1 1/2 barrel curling iron.  Since I’m not very brand savvy when it comes to styling tools, and really don’t plan on using either heat implement very often, I opted for this set because it was simple and affordable (the flat iron was $60 at Sally’s Beauty Supply and the curling iron was free with the purchase of the flat iron… can’t beat that there).  I do know that ceramic irons transfer heat more evenly so that was a must when decided on styling implements.  The Jilbere irons are a decent choice in my opinion, although I’ve heard Maxius’ Maxiglide is a far superior, albeit more expensive, tool to work with.

Since I’d pressed my hair just a few days before purchasing the set of irons I waited to style my hair in order to give it a rest.  In the interim I kept my hair moisturized with Yonnea’s GPS oil, wrapped it every night and kept my hands out of it as much as possible.  Although I have very thick/coarse hair I know it’s weakest when it’s straightened, considering the amount of heat it takes to get it to that point.  So I wanted to make sure it recovered as much as possible from the pressing before applying more heat to it.  Once it was time to flat iron my hair (something I’ve never done before), in addition to an application of grape seed oil, I applied a generous amount of Beyond The Zone Pro Formula Turn Up The Heat flat iron protection spray.  Parting my hair into inch wide by inch thick sections it took me just about as long to flat iron my hair as it did to press it, but the results were breathtaking!

(click for larger image)

My hair was sleek, frizz-less, supple and the straightest it had been since I stopped relaxing.  I was so amazed at the difference between flat ironing and pressing although the amount of time to achieve both results is roughly the same.  Another difference was the appearance/condition of my ends, which took on a much smoother, more “manageable”, look.  The grape seed oil and protection spray, along with the ceramic plates, infused my hair with a very healthy sheen that I instantly fell in love with.

When it came time to curl my hair I was very careful to just apply the curling iron to the ends of my hair for just long enough to bend them, giving my style body while minimizing heat exposure to the entire strand:

(click for larger image)

In a word, it was strikingly different from what I ‘d grown used to in the past three, almost four, years.  Not a good different or a bad different, since to me styling options are merely an expression and not a definition of what’s natural or not.  It was just different, and I like it just like I have grown to like my WNG’s.  The responses from coworkers and Facebook friends were very complimentary, although they too were surprised to see how much hair I actually had.  Yes, shrinkage can be deceptive, ladies and gentlemen.

Maintaining the style was a breeze.  Every night I’d coat it with Yonnea’s GPS oil, brush it around the circumference of my head to keep the bends “fresh”, then cover it with a satin wrap.  In the morning I ran a wide tooth comb through it and went on my merry way.  No fuss, no muss and no extra heat.  Of course this will not be a style I plan on duplicating with any frequency because of the threat of heat damage, but it was a nice change of pace.

For those of you who are daring to wear your hair straight using heat options, keep these tips in mind to ensure your hair resists heat damage and maintains health:

• MOISTURIZE PROFUSELY!!!  In preparation to heat styling be sure to deep condition your hair intensely with a protein rich conditioner and keep it well “oiled”.  Moisturized hair increases your hair’s heat capacity, allowing you to use less heat when styling and protect the core of the hair strand.
• Utilize a heat protector.  Whether it be a commercial product or my stand by, grape seed oil (of all the oils, grape seed withstands higher temperatures), always apply a “buffer” between your hair and the heat tool.  Although “cones” get a bad rep when it comes to natural hair maintenance, they do wonders with transferring heat quickly so irons do not need to be on the hair long in order to straighten.
• Know your hair’s “heat tolerance”.  Just because your hair is coarse or thick, that does not mean you need to apply the max temperature of the flat or curling iron in order to achieve smooth results.  Coarse hair burns at the same temperature as paper (~451*F) and thin hair can scorch at way lower thresholds.  Also, having the irons on too low of temperature settings can also cause damage since you have to run the tools over the hair multiple times.
• Minimize the number of heat tools used in styling.  For example, banding hair after cleansing and conditioning will allow the hair to dry “straight”, eliminating the use of a blow dryer or pressing comb in addition to a flat iron.  Or, utilize the cool setting when blowing drying and a good brush to distribute the air.  Much damage is done to hair by blow drying hair too fast.
• Utilize non-heat tools to maintain style so heat exposure is limited.  For instance, if you want to keep your heat set curls for extended periods, enlist the help of rollers while you sleep.  Daily heat application puts your tresses at greater risk for heat damage, even at low temperatures.
• Make sure all your heat styling tools, and hair, are clean prior to each styling.  Ideally flat, curling and pressing irons should be cleaned after each use so that build-up does not “harden” on their surfaces and cause damage to the hair shaft or cuticle as the tools are passed along the strands.

As a general rule, heat on natural hair is a no-no in most circles but for those of you who like a straight look every  now and again, know that you can achieve beautiful results without putting your hair at risk.

Healthy Hair Wishes & Happy New Year!

So, earlier in the year I won a full set of Kinky-Curly products courtesy of KC creator Shelley Davis and the Nappturalite Radio Show and I was eager as a beaver to try out the Curling Custard.  Of course, if you’re a regular reader of JB2M you know my first attempt went down like a lead zeppelin…

(click image to see the first review)

Not the results I was looking for, which should have been closer to this:

Not as long, of course, but you get the gist.  Turns out, I didn’t follow the “directions” right so the result I got was par for the course.  As per the container and Website, there’s a technique to using KCCC.  You can’t just “wash and go” with this stuff if you want to achieve the best results, but at the time I wasn’t all that interested in taking the time to employ the techniques.  Then again, my hair wasn’t long enough for to achieve the results I wanted.  So I scrapped the product until a later date.  That later date came and I attempted again, using the instructions to produce results for “loose wavy curls”:

(click for larger image)

Not much different, right?  Right.  I can’t say that I was disappointed, just figured the product wasn’t formulated for my hair type, despite the claims of the product Website.  I never got around to trying the gel for two strand twists or a twist out because honestly the consistency seems too slippery when it’s wet and too tacky when it dries in order to give me the look I was going for.  But I still held on to the curling custard because I was sure I’d be able to use it somehow in the future… Or at least be able to swap it out for a product that worked better for me.

A couple of months pass and my hair gets a little longer.  I begin noticing my hair taking on a different effect when I apply products and my curl pattern becoming a little more “effortlessly” defined than when it was shorter.  So one morning at 2 AM, after I’d woken up for no particular reason I could fathom, I decided to experiment with KCCC again, this time using the instructions for “thick coarse curls”.  Prior to the application of the custard I washed my hair with KC’s Come Clean shampoo and conditioned with KC’s Knot Today as recommended.  While still in the shower with my hair totally drenched, I applied generous portions of KCCC (read: partial handfuls) to quartered sections of my hair and, as per the instructions, raked the product through with my fingers.  Each time I felt my hair drying I rewet the section and continued to rake the product through until each section was well coated.  Much to my delight I began to see my hair transform:

Not that great of a picture, but I’m sure you can get the gist.  This was the look I was going for… Wavy spirals with a springy, bouncy appearance that laid just right.  Still, it didn’t give Shelley’s curls a run for their money but I LOVED it!  So did The Lion! *wink* Unfortunately, I became sleepy before my hair dried enough to set and ended up with a similar look as my first two KCCC attempts even though I tried really hard not to sleep on my hair (picture Regina King’s character in the movie Friday *lol*).  I tried to revive the style twice by spritzing with water and applying KC Spiral Spritz but my hair just wasn’t having it.  Not to be deterred I’d decided for my sixth attempt I’d wake up extra early on a work day and try again.  That way the spirals wouldn’t be pressed down and could air dry and set.  This time I combed the custard through my hair instead of finger combing, and here are the results:

(click for larger images)

YES!!!  This is totally what I was looking for!  Now as you can see, my hair was very wet.  This is key to achieving the look, although I do admit it’s extremely messy and somewhat heavy.  The process itself is also a bit time consuming, totaling maybe a good twenty  minutes on the high end.  So if you are trying this on for size before work, class or a social function you may want to start an hour or so beforehand to ensure your hair begins its setting phase and you have a good idea of what the final result will be.  I was a bit pressed for time after finishing the application techniques necessary to get the product to “work” right so I attempted to quick set my hair by using the cool setting on my blow dryer:

Again, admittedly not a very good picture but the idea is captured.  As you can tell, as the hair dries there is shrinkage involved.  While there are instructions on how to “reduce the poof” by smoothing your hair after applying KCCC, I personally don’t believe there’s anyway to get around shrinkage when it comes to tightly coiled, highly porous hair.  But even with the shrinkage I was pleased with the results.  My hair was frizz-free, even though I had to use a towel to blot excess custard from my tresses after working it down through my ends.  This is another thing you want to be mindful of when it comes to timing your styling with this product.  Because of the amount of custard I had to use to “lengthen my curls” there was more than a little excess of the gel left behind, as you may be able to see in some of the pictures.  These leftover globs can be eliminated by spritzing the hair liberally and combing the excess through.  The product does not “disappear” as it dries so unless you take steps to comb, or even rinse, the excess away it will dry just like that.  Not a good look, to say the least.

So I went to work and received several compliments on my curls and spent most of the day looking cute.  My work day starts at seven-thirty and when I left that morning my hair was still fairly wet although I’d used the blow dryer to dry it a little.  I anticipated my hair would air dry and set on its own as the day progressed and that by lunch time, which is usually 2 PM for me, my style would be good to go.  Well come lunch time my hair was still significantly wet at the roots in more than a few spots, although the ends were dry and my curls were set.  I wasn’t all that thrilled with the wetness but was pleased with the curls.  However, since I have very few chances to look in a mirror while at work I was not sure just how well the “cuteness” of the style held up.  I normally go home for lunch so I knew I’d have the perfect opportunity to see how well KCCC had done my do once mostly dry.

(click for larger images)

The coils were still defined and gorgeous but the shrinkage left a lot to be desired.  I had someone ask me if I’d cut my hair… That’s how big a difference my hair was between being wet and being dry.  I was not pleased with that look at all.  The back remained well shaped and full but the front and the side, in my opinion, were not the look I wanted.  Another drawback was the crunchiness of the coils.  Not quite dry straw crunchy, but not at all soft to the touch.  It was as if my hair was freeze dried, although it wasn’t quite as hard as you might think.  I made an attempt to fluff my hair by spritzing it with water and finger styling it a bit but in the end I only succeeded in making my hair shrink more once it dried again, giving me the appearance of an ungroomed poodle by the day’s end.  One plus to the style is, once it’s set and you sleep on it, your coils are still there in the morning.  But when it came to restyling, unless I wanted to go through the whole method of saturating my hair and reapplying the KCCC I was not going to duplicate the previous day’s results on the fly.  Not even the Spiral Spritz helped.  So in short, at least in my experience, the whole process must be repeated from step one, and honestly, that’s way too much product on my hair for my liking on a daily basis.  I also don’t cotton to the idea of leaving the house every morning with a wet head now that the Midwesterner winter is upon us.

So my sixth attempt with Kicky-Curly’s Curling Custard was not a complete let down since I did partially achieve the style I’d desired on the onset.  Maybe I didn’t allow myself enough “dry” styling time when I enlisted the help of my dryer, or quite possibly a different style or cut would allow the product to dry evenly and resist significant shrinkage.  Maybe I need a day when I don’t have any immediate plans to play with the product and see what garners the best results for my hair length or wait for a few more inches to sprout before trying it again.  While I did not like the dry results I can say that KCCC did define and elongate my curl pattern this time around and, for at least the first three to four hours of my day, give me great coil results.  To my “discredit”, I did not apply KC’s Gloss Pomade to “soften” my hair because I didn’t have the time on my lunch hour.  Maybe the next time I use the product I’ll do so and document the results.

Healthy Hair Wishes,

Any regular followers of JB2M know that I have been a fan of Garnier Fructis’ shampoo line almost since the beginning of my journey.  Even despite claims that L’Oreal Paris is not very appreciative of it’s consumers of colour, I have remained loyal to the cleansing/conditioning products because of how good they were to my hair, especially the Wonder Waves brand.  Well for awhile I’ve been hearing rave reviews from other naturals about Herbal Essences’ Hello Hydration line but never thought to try it because it retailed for almost twice what I was paying for GFWW’s shampoo and conditioner per bottle.  Well one day as I was shopping for home essentials at Family Dollar (sistah be budgeting it out, ya’ll) I happened upon two discounted bottle of HEHH’s shampoo and conditioner and after seeing the words “coconut milk” on the bottles I figured I’d give them a whirl.

It took me about a week after purchasing the combo to use them since when I bought them I was in the middle of my hair routine (I try to keep shampoo’ing to a once a week minimum during the fall/winter), but when time came I dove right into the products with very high expectations.  From the onset, the shampoo is cream based, which is a plus, and smells absosmurfly divine!  The coconut fragrance hits you with both barrels and arrests your senses with a very calming effect.  There also seems to be a citrusy aroma blended in as well (smells like lime to me) that compliments the coconut splendidly.  I applied a half dollar sized dollop to my saturated strands while in the shower and found the shampoo very easy to apply and it reacted to the water almost instantly, providing a plethora of suds.  When it was time to rinse, the product rinsed clean away without hint of buildup but without that “squeaky clean” feeling I despise so much.  While I hardly ever do a second lathering when I was my hair I indulged myself in a second wash cycle just to be sure I wasn’t “leaving anything behind”.  The second shampoo’ing result in another easy to rinse effect without that “squeaky clean” feeling, and without any shampoo/product residue.  After squeezing the excess water from my strand I found my hair to be very soft and spongy feeling and partially detangled without me having to use a comb.  Very pleasant experience all the way around which gave my GFWW shampoo a run for it’s money.

Next came the conditioning.  The fragrance is similar to the shampoo but not as “light”, if you can understand that.  It’s still pleasant but seems more concentrated, almost “thicker”, if that makes any sense.  I applied the same half dollar portion as with the shampoo, making sure to coat my hair thoroughly, but found that I’d need more in order to sufficiently coat my thick strands.  Surprisingly, the conditioner is “light” and did not weigh my hair down.  I also discovered that the detangling factor of this product is almost instantaneous, allowing me to simply finger comb the tangles out with very  little effort.  Definite plus since I don’t like using combs on my hair unless it’s necessary.  When it came time to rinse this conditioner did so easily leaving virtually no trace of residue.  My hair felt very soft and supple and light after using, meaning I didn’ t have to use my regular ACV rinse in order to cut down on what might be left behind.  Another plus is this conditioner did not impair the effects of any of the styling products I use.  I’ve tried it with my KCCC, Emmy’s Elixir, Going-Natural’s Herbal Hair Gel and Silky Shea-Aloe, Yonnea’s GPS Oil… Each and every one of the products I use (which aren’t very many) worked excellently after using HE’s Hello Hydration conditioner, even on The Lion‘s hair!

Now, for those of you who are strict ingredient-phobes be warned… HEHH shampoo does contain sulfates and a couple of “cones” and the conditioner contains a couple of alcohol additives, so if you steer clear of those elements then you want to steer clear of this product duo.   According to the Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database both the shampoo and conditioner carry a 5 (moderate) overall hazard score (the highest “threat” being fragrance), but since I only wash my hair once a week — at the most, twice a week — and for no longer than two or three minutes at a time, so those ingredients don’t worry me.

The regular retail price for HEHH is a bit “steep” for my budget for the 23 oz. sizes (anywhere from $5.99 to $6.99 depending on where you shop) but considering I don’t use that much in a month’s time, and the products work so well on my hair, I consider it a worthy sacrifice.  The 12 oz. sizes are available at a slightly lower price ($2.99 to $3.99 depending on where you shop), and both pairings can be purchased at your neighbourhood Wal-mart, Walgreens and Target, as well as through various online stores.

So what’s the JB2M rating?

Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Moisturizing Shampoo 

Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Moisturizing Conditioner

No brainer there, right?  Both products do what they claim, leaving me with clean, soft hair and moderately defined curls.  I don’t suffer from “the frizzes” or dryness even if I choose not to add a moisturizer to my tresses, and they remain styable all the way up to my  next washing.  Suffice it to say, I think I’ve found a new cleansing/conditioning team!

Healthy Hair Wishes!

I’ve never much been a fan of Essence magazine, primarily because I have never really been a member of their target demographic.  Sure I’m a contemporary, “young” Black American woman, which is supposedly their market but… Well, I’ve never been “trendy” and that’s who this publication caters to mainly.  I could give a care less about the products their paid advertisers push and I’m not trying to duplicate whichever flavour of the month celebrity’s lifestyle they’re trying to push so, in short, I’m just not that into them.

SIDENOTE: I’m really not into any pop-culture style magazines so this is nothing personal on my part.

I remember back in the day when my  mother had an active subscription to Essence and there were actual articles that spoke directly to the average Black American woman’s lifestyle platform.  As a young girl I would flip through and read said features and formulate opinions or educate myself on what was considered important to my particular subset of society because it was an honour, in my opinion, that a publication would dedicate itself to broadcasting the Black American woman’s agenda to the world.  I think this was back when Susan Taylor was the E-I-C back in the early eighties.  I can’t exactly remember at what point in time it was that Essence took a wrong turn at Albuquerque and began pushing the focus on convincing women that lives should echo that of pop stars and actresses instead of building wholeness by learning to accept and nurture themselves, but I do remember refusing to have any part of the magazine around the age of fourteen.  Over the years I’ve picked up a few issues here and there when I was bored at a doctor’s appointment or waiting my turn to get my hair fried but never returned to placing any real stock in Essence because I ceased seeing me within the pages.

Since I transitioned and natural hair has once again become a national “trend” I’ve noticed Essence taking a stab or two at covering the phenomenon.  Not surprisingly, each and every time they tried they failed at going any deeper than the surface.  They’d rehash old politics or do a spread on the latest singer/actress/cover model who took the plunge.  In their pages and on their Website they’d post picture upon picture of “must have” styles (usually those only achievable by a stylist) or advertise the latest product formulated for “nappy hair” (usually only those high end brands celebrities swear by) and create the illusion that they were really taking an interest in supporting women’s decisions to forgo chemical processing and return to their roots.  But of course it was all for show.  Typically the only “nappy hair” represented was on the heads of women with loose curl patterns, the products were way out of economical reach for the average consumer, or the articles published were lightweight op-ed pieces that never got to the heart of the matter.  They really don’t care, especially when you consider the large amount of money they receive from Black hair companies that push perms on every other page in the magazine.  So with all that being said, when I saw the cover of the November 2010 issue of Essence and my eyes took in the big, bold “Love Your Natural Hair” near the top, can someone tell me why I felt compelled to shell out $3.99 or my hard earned money for it?  Quite possibly I assumed that this time they were going to actually break past the surface of talking to celebs or celeb stylists and hit on some points that are worthy of note.  Maybe this time I thought they would have taken the wave of disappointed virtual groans from readers after each failed attempt to treat natural hair as more than just a passing fad, and were finally going to present some meat with the pop-culture instant potatoes.  Perhaps I was hoping they’d give me reason, even a small one, to feel good about this publication that purports to be a voice of the Black community.  Maybe I just wanted something to rant about since I haven’t done so in awhile. *lol*  Whatever the reason, I picked it up, handed my cash to the cashier and dove into the pages searching furiously for the feature.  I seriously deserve to be bitch slapped for that.

For those who have not had an opportunity to see the issue, or have not been graced with it via your subscription plan yet, I would like for you to prepare yourself for extreme disappointment.  Not even is there no meat present here for you to sink your teeth into, they didn’t use enough water in the instant potatoes!  For as large as the font was on the cover you would expect at least a full article or three to four pages of features, right?  Well aside from pictures, what has been published there would not have even filled a quarter of a newspaper page, and it was nothing more than regurgitated style spotlights that you could find on any of today’s natural hair Blogs FOR FREE!!!  Not only am I pissed because I’m out of four dollars for the equivalent of someone copy and pasting something I, Curly Nikki, Afrobella, the forums at Nappturality.com or any other hair/beauty/style Blogger have probably already covered years ago… I’m pissed because I was sucked in by them using a hot button, personal topic to get me to do it!  Strike one for their marketing execs because it’s so they’re getting to the point that they know if they slap the term “natural hair” on any issue, or place enough pictures of “natural hair styles” anywhere close to the magazine’s name and it’s guaranteed views.  Remember when they jumped on the bandwagon on Twitter Natural Hair Day only after the day was half gone and we every day ordinary people had spent the whole day tweeting about it?  And even still the “feature” was scant and full of links back to their half-baked “natural hair” articles.  They don’t get the point that for many this is not just a fad or a trend or a way to get attention, and we deserve better than smoke and mirror articles or a flash in the pan “spotlight” if they want to use our lifestyle choice to sell issues.  So ladies, and gentlemen if you happen to be reading, Essence has gotten it wrong yet again when it comes to giving us Napturals a fair shake when it comes to putting our unaltered tresses in the spotlight.  And while many are thinking we should be happy any mainstream media  source is even taken the time to mention the topic, what they fail to realize is the topic has been mentioned repeatedly for the past decade or so, if not longer.  It’s past time for the mentions to become more than just blurbs to sell magazines which only tell the “glamourized” part of the journey.  Or maybe I’m expecting way too much. *Kanye shrug* Hasn’t been the first time.

Just my buck fiddy… since I would be able to get my three ninety-nine back.

Healthy Hair Wishes…

The best thing so far about running this Blog, aside from sharing what I consider vital information with the natural community, is all the “free” stuff I’m offered!  Okay so, it hasn’t been much free stuff but… Well… Ya know. *lol*  At any rate, a couple of months ago I was contacted by author Lori Johnson to review her sophomore novel titled “A Natural Woman”.  While she admitted the book wasn’t about natural hair as much as it was about the life of her central character who has natural hair, she was interested in my take on whether that aspect of the book was authentically encompassed that theme.  Although I am not a fan of “urban lit” because all the books I’ve come across seem to follow a predictable, cookie cutter format that’s about as realistic as Sarah Palin as a competent president, I agreed to the review because I am a fan of free books.  I also agreed because as a writer myself, I know how vital reviews can be to the success of one’s work and I admired Lori’s courage to reach out to a relative stranger for an honest assessment of her book.  It says a lot to me if an author is willing to break out of his or her comfort circle of “yes readers” in order to give their efforts a fresh set of eyes.  So I passed on my address and waited for the goodies.  Much to my delight Lori not only sent “A Natural Woman“, she also sent a copy of her debut novel, “After The Dance”! *insert Tiger Woods fist pump here*  Another aspect that tickled my fancy was along with the books, Lori included a “full” press kit that included promotional information about both books and a personalized letter thanking me for agreeing to the review.  Anybody who’s anybody in the publishing industry knows that that is the proper way to deliver your product to a reviewer and so I was impressed with Lori’s professionalism in that aspect.  It shows she is more than just some fly-by-night “writer” who’s out to “get rich” by putting anything on a page.  Ms. Johnson believes in what she does and her presentation shows it!

I received the package from Lori in a very short amount of time and as is my routine I scanned the back of the cover for a “preview” of coming attractions.  Honestly, I was disappointed in what I initially read of the blurb presented there which made “A Natural Woman” seem typically formatted: Beautiful, well educated church going and successful black woman meets the under-educated,  neighbourhood “homeboy” barber who has emotional hang ups but is not quite what he seems, and against the odds they fall in love. *yawn*  Not only have I read that story a million times, I’ve lived it in my own day to day.  And throwing in the “natural hair angle” seemed bandwagoningly cheesy, to say the least. But, as I have learned time and time again, first impressions (or second impressions, in this case) are not always the end all, be all to a thing, and so since I’d committed to the review I was going to stick it out and see the book to its end.  For the most part, I’m glad I did.

“A Natural Woman” centers around the life of Dr. Aliesha Eaton, an anthropology professor who has returned to her southern family’s hometown from Chicago and is in need of a caretaker for her natural tresses.  The book opens with Aliesha’s first visit to Wally’s Cool Cuts, a nondescript barbershop that’s not unlike any other neighbourhood barbershop, where her professional demeanor catches the shop’s staff and a bit off guard.  All she wants is a simple shape up for her Afro but what she receives at first is a battle of wits with an unarmed gentlemen with designs on setting her “straight” about Chicago.  But before she has to let the Chi come out on this cat full force, Dante – one of the barbers who’d been “on break” just a few moments before – steps in to diffuse the situation and offers Aliesha not just a cut, but a shampoo as well using his “Big Mama’s” homemade shampoo.  The two hit it off and break into easy conversation about their backgrounds, but what they don’t speak on is the almost instant attraction that seems to be building between them as Dante handles Aliesha’s strands.  They also don’t speak about the elements that keep them both from throwing caution to the wind and giving in to their desires: Aliesha’s boyfriend, adoring but boring Javiel, and Dante’s on again/off again romance with the tempting yet unattainable Laylah.  As with all thunderbolt type loves, after a bit of personal back and forth for both Aliesha and Dante, they give in and embark on what seems to be a romance for the record books.  Unfortunately, fate in the form of Kenneth, Aliesha’s violent ex-lover, and the death Dante’s “Big Mama” threaten to stall the relationship before it gets a chance to really start…

Now, I stopped the synopsis here because you pretty much know the formula for books like this.  In the end, love prevails.  However there is much more to the story than I have time to detail, which grated my nerves.  There were waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too many characters, most of which could have been left on the cutting room floor because they were not important to the plot nor did they move the story along.  Also there was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much back story for those characters that, again, was not important to the story or move it along.  While back story is needed to give your readers a good understanding of the central characters and what has led them up to the point they find themselves in, the readers do not need this type of kitchen sink formula.  It weighs the story down and can throw the reader off track or even cause them to put the book down.  It seemed as if the author was trying to tell several different stories when she should have kept focus on Aliesha and Dante’s.  Also, there was waaaaaaaaaaaay too much action going on from Aliesha’s perspective.  First she has to fight her feelings for Dante in the interest of keeping her relationship with Javiel alive, only to succumb to the realization that she really didn’t want Javiel in the first place.  Then there comes a subplot about Javiel’s mental stability and the suspicion that he possibly killed an ex-girlfriend… Theeeeen comes the subplot of his mother Julia giving the impression that she doesn’t like Aliesha on some “protective mother” trip… Theeeeeeeeeeen comes the crazy ex who tried to choke Aliesha in Las Vegas… Theeeeeeeeeeeeeeen… I’m sure you get the point.  While in real life we each juggle a number of inter-related situations, when it comes to fiction my preference is to keep the story straight forward, with maybe one or two curveballs thrown in to keep me on my toes.  With all the intertwined subplots I found myself ducking balls left and right.  Not my idea of a funky good time.  I will say that each deviation would have made wonderful installments in a series of “Dr. Aliesha Eaton” books, but cramming everything the author tried to pack into “A Natural Woman” was just too much in one timeline.  Another aspect of the book that I didn’t care for was it seemed overly “cliché-y”.  From the no-nonsense, professional Black woman who has everything going for her but a stable love life, the average Joe Black man who has the smarts but missed the opportunity to make it big, the “home girl” best friend sidekick who is fierce and took no shit and on into er’body having a Big Momma (maybe it’s a southern thing, but even that’s clique-y as well), this story seemed to involve every “cookie cutter” element that turns me off of “urban lit”.  It was, in a sense, just like every other case of contemporary Black fiction I’ve ever read and disliked.

However… “A Natural Woman” was penned by a phenomenal writer who, despite the above elements that made me want to close the book and put it high on the bookshelf, kept me engaged with each chapter.  Her saving grace and ultimate talent is her dialogue, which is a part of the story making process that a lot of writers get wrong.  The conversations between the myriad of characters, from the initial verbal rumble in Wally’s Cool Cuts to Aliesha’s drunken and emotional confrontation with Dante at a neighbourhood eatery, smacked with realism and conveyed the character’s thoughts and feelings flawlessly.  It’s through this dialogue that readers can actually get to know the cast of the book and become intimately involved with them.  I found myself actually visualizing each of the characters as they interacted with one another, which is a high point for me.  I love books that give me the opportunity to use my own imagination to flesh out scenarios and the people in them.  Lori is also excellent when it comes to setting the physical scene that surrounds the characters, placing the reader smack dab in the middle of the barbershop, or Aliesha’s church or Big Mama’s expansive property.  I found it easy to bypass all of the parts about the story that irritated me because of how well written the story actually is.  The writing is real and down to earth, relatable and fluid, unlike some books that try to “wow” the reader with poetic license that should not have been issued.  It is these points that greatly endeared me to “A Natural Woman” and kept me reading, along with the fact that the central plot – the tug-o-war between Aliesha and Dante – seemed to be penned from the pen of universal experience.  Although, as Lori admitted, the natural hair aspects have very little to do with the story, the parts about Aliesha’s hair, why she chose to wear it natural and how it relates to her personality are priceless.  It shows that the main character is indeed a natural woman, from the tips of her hair to the soles of her feet.  Suffice it to say, I like the book a lot.  I could have done without the “extras” but Lori Johnson is a great writer who made it work for me in spite of all that.

You can find “A Natural Woman” in paperback for $11.70 (22% less than the list price) and MP3 audio format for $23.62 via Amazon.com.  It’s available in paperback for $12.82 and MP3 audio format for $24.89 at Barnes&Noble.com.

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Dafina; 1 Original edition (November 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0758222394
• ISBN-13: 978-0758222398
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8
• JB2M Review: and a half

FYI: Lori operates a Blog called “Lori’s Old School Mix” that regularly features women with natural hair and their stories along with updates on book signings and writer’s tips.  Be sure to check it out!

Healthy Hair Wishes!

A couple of weeks ago I was approached by a member of my beloved Twitter/Facebook natural hair Fam, Emerald Shaw, with a request to test drive a product she was working on.  Of course I agreed since I love trying out new products on my tresses since I discovered that with it gaining so much length certain products that did wonders on short curls don’t work so well now.  Em wasn’t specific on the type of product she was sending, but I knew it had to be something that helped keep hair moisturized since we both have thick grades which take loads and loads of hydration to keep soft and manageable.

The product arrived within a week’s time with a handwritten note from Em which I thought was a cute and personal touch.  I was sure the product was shea butter based, but not quite sure what else was in it.  The smell has somewhat of a tropical aroma to it, as if there was papaya or pineapple in it, but at the time I didn’t think to ask about the ingredient makeup (bad practice for a natural hair veteran, right?).  The consistency of the product is like shea butter but fluffier…  Not quite whipped but well blended and smooth.  I could tell she’d used a far amount of oils to blend it, olive I thought I knew for sure because of the distinct smell. *lol*  Being that I know how serious Em is about her hair I knew there was nothing to fear component wise so even without know exactly what was in it, once I washed and conditioned my hair with Herbal Essence’s Hello Hydration shampoo and conditioner and detangled with a wide tooth comb, I treated my hair to an ample amount (half dollar sized portion) of what I call Emmy’s Elixir (she doesn’t have a name for the product yet, that I know of) and styled in my normal WNG (wash ‘n go) fashion.

First off, on moderately damp, towel squeezed hair my curl pattern immediately responded to the product and became defined:

(click image to enlarge)

In addition to that, my hair felt very soft and pliable, making it very easy to finger style into a WNG ‘Fro.  Throughout the first day my hair resisted shrinkage, which was a plus, and remained soft to the touch and fluffy.  While I didn’t have to add very much the next morning in order to revive my hair, after spritzing my hair with water I did find that the “high” oil content in the product caused me to have to use more water, since we all know oil “seals” the hair cuticles and makes the water “sit” on top instead of penetrating the shaft.  I figured using less would prevent this, which I kept in mind for the second application the next week.

The product worked great on its own, but I was curious to see how well it played with the other products I used regularly, such as Kinky-Curly’s Knot Today Leave In Conditioner, Going Natural’s Herbal Styling Gel and Yonnea’s GPS Oil.  With the Knot Today and about a quarter sized portion of Emmy’s Elixir my hair initially responded well.  It styled easily and shaped nicely.  But as my hair dried the day wore on my curl pattern seemed less defined and there was a tackiness to my hair that I didn’t like.  Not a good duet, to say the least.  With the Herbal Styling Gel, my edges remained smooth and “in place” throughout the day so the two worked very well together. With the GPS Oil as a “warm oil treatment” on my scalp and a “second day booster”, the two products complimented each other very well without leaving a heavily oiled presence as one might suspect.  With products that I use every blue moon, like Kinky-Curly’s Spiral Spritz or Curling Custard and Long Aid’s Curl Activator, the results were less than desired and left the same tacky feel as when used with the KC Knot Today.  Might be merely an incompatibility of the product’s ingredients, the amounts I used or the reactions of my particular hair texture/type to the combinations. *shrug*

As for the ingredients used in Emmy’s Elixir: shea butter, coconut oil, Jamaican Black Castor Oil, vitamin E oil, grape seed oil, tea tree oil, fragrance and honey.

The only component that might raise a red flag is the one labeled “fragrance” since there’s a great debate about what actually composes this nondescript and generic ingredient.  But for the most part I am in love with the ingredient list as it is.

The one and only drawback with Emmy’s Elixir is that with the “high” oil content combined with the shea butter, by day three of the week it had the tendency to bulk my already thick strands up.  This resulted in a longer than expected style time to get my sleep-packed hair workday ready.  What usually takes me five minutes to “perfect” took upwards of ten to fifteen minutes by day three.  Even with adjusting the amount used my hair seemed to swell by the third day of use, and I found myself having to turn my weekly wash regimen into a twice weekly wash regimen.  I won’t say these are major complaints since the product works so well with my hair, but if you have thick hair this may be something you’d want to prepare for if you ever get a chance to use the product yourself.  Quite possibly Em may want to consider working out the measurements and ingredients for effective long term use on different hair types, which I’m sure she did since she let me know she’d taken climate into consideration when sending out her samples.

So what’s the official JB2M rating:

Emmy’s Elixir:

Overall, the product works as it should, does not have an overpowering fragrance, does not produce an excessive amount of buildup on the hair and keeps the hair from drying out.  Another thing that I considered in respect to the one drawback I experienced, simply testing the product out on one style can not predict how the product will react with other styles and so with that in mind I used Emmy’s Elixir, along with Going Natural’s Herbal Gel, to twist The Lion’s hair and the results were wonderful!!!

NOTE: Don’t you just love a man who let’s you experiment with his hair? *lol*

For a first attempt at concocting a natural hair product, I have to say Emerald has hit a grand slam her first time up to bat!  Keep it up, girl!

Healthy Hair Wishes!

Hey hey, fellow nappies!  What’s good?  Yes I know it’s been awhile but my life outside of hair has picked up tremendously and I haven’t had much time (or inclination) to keep my head in the natural hair game much.  I took a temporary position in July that turned into a full-time, hired in job opportunity as the Front Desk Administrative Assistant at Crete Carrier Corporation (yaaaaaaaaaaay me!) which has taken up a lot of my time, and since I haven’t been experimenting with very many products or styles lately there really wasn’t much to talk about.  But then I realized that I still have reviews on the docket that have been lingering in the recesses of my mind and so this week I’ll work on getting them from gray matter to page.

Hair wise, my tresses are continuing to grow which pleases me to no end.  I’ve been playing with different accents such as the flower in the above picture (I got it for $1 at Family Dollar, along with a pink one) and changed my cleansing/conditioning products from Garnier Frutis’ Wonder Waves line to Herbal Essence’s Hello Hydration line (review to come sometime this week).  For styling and moisturizing I was given the opportunity to test drive a homemade product by Emerald Shaw who’s testing her mettle in the field of kitchen chemistry (review to come sometime this week as well).  I’ve stayed faithful to my WNG’s but have been itching to try some other styling techniques like flat twists whenever time permits.  So my routine has changed just a little but I’ve always been the type who sticks with what works as long as it works.  I will probably be switching products soon because I have noticed that the longer my hair gets the harder it is to achieve “curlitude” without using products that make my hair feel/look crunchy and dry.  So the search may be on for new styling products that work with tightly coiled hair that has “length”.

Beyond that, life has been extremely good.  Aside from landing the job I’ve started my second semester at CSCC and I’m looking to move into my own apartment soon.  So yeah, life is finally going as planned although all my hair reporting has had to take a backseat for the time being because of it.  I’ve been in the loop as much as I can.  Still trying to keep up with “Natural Hair Sundays” by tuning in to The Nappturalite Radio Show and The Nappy Muse Video Chat Show but I’m not as visible for the Twitter Chat or Columbus Meetups.  I hope to be able to post more frequently once I get my work schedule and school schedule down to an organized science.  I also hope to be getting back to my Examiner column as soon as they work the bugs out of the publishing tool, which is taking about as long as it did to launch Examiner 2.0 (which really is lackluster, despite all the hype).

But enough about me… How has your journey been lately?  Any  new techniques for styles?  New recipes, regimens or products?  I’d love to hear about them all, so drop them in the comments section!

Healthy Hair Wishes!

There’s been a bit of a movement over the summer to boycott Six Flags Amusement Park in Maryland because they “refused” to hire a woman due to her hair style choice.  The hair style choice in question was Dreadlocks.  This decision set off waves of protest throughout the African-American natural hair community who saw it as a civil rights infringement and an act of racial discrimination.  I have been on the fence concerning this primarily because from a personal point of view, Six Flags would not be a place I’d personally apply for employment whether I was natural or relaxed.  But being that I can’t assess a national movement based on my personal perspective, I held off on my opinion, and/or support, because I know it’s bigger than me and my hair per se.  However as the months rolled on and more naturals began to join the campaign I felt drawn to speak on it via comments on certain forums and posts.  I could not understand how this could be tagged as a racial issue, which I expressed at some length on this entry on Change.org’s Race in America Blog:

I am wondering, considering dreadlocks can be worn via more than just African-American hair types, is the rule strictly related to African-American women with locks or locks period?  While I understand there are a lot more African-Americans who wear the style than whites or other races, since other races are capable of wearing the style isn’t it somewhat pretentious to make this strictly about race?  It would only be considered racist if a person of another race was hired for the position while wearing locks and the African-American woman was not due to wearing them.  Honestly, locks are a style choice, not how African-American hair grows naturally.  Had the woman been denied employment for wearing an Afro that would be another argument altogether because that is how African-American hair grows and it’s not a style that can be authentically duplicated by other races. 

Quite honestly, we need to look at this for what it really is.  Six Flag and other corporate entities have a standard for the employees they wish to hire, and according to that standard they have a specific "grooming" preference for representatives of their enterprise.  This is not discriminatory, this is business, and while it may leave a select subset of society out of consideration when it comes to hiring, it is that companies right (especially if they are a private corporation) to hire who they feel looks the part.  This is no different than a physical dress code issue from my perspective.  I don’t understand how we can look at this as an infringement on the civil rights of an individual without also seeing it as an infringement on the right of the company to hire (or not hire) whoever they choose based on their standards.  Just as we have a choice to wear our hair however we want, companies have a choice to not hire us if our choice is outside of what they deem acceptable. *shrug*  This is not to say I side with the company but if I were in there position I know I definitely have a certain ideal of how I want my employees to represent me.

I say all this as a proud natural hair wearer who sports a blossoming TWA to my workplace ever single day and have never heard a peep from supervisors.  As a matter of fact, I interviewed with the exact style I wear every day and made sure more emphasis was place on the skill sets displayed on my resume than the follicles that sprouted from my head.  Quite personally, if I were faced with the same exact situation I’d take the denial as proof that I didn’t need to be employed by such a closed minded corporation in the first place because if the are petty enough not to hire me simply because of how I wear my hair then there is sure to be more drama than a little bit on the other side of the employment divide.

Call me a “race traitor”, revoke the Black card I already gave away many years ago and stop following me on all my social media mediums but, all I’m saying is, Mohawks are also forbidden at Six Flags… I don’t see anyone boycotting that as racist agenda.  Or maybe it’s just me. 

I don’t mean to belittle anyone’s feeling for this plight or to say fighting for it is a lost cause, but in my opinion the premise is a bit skewed.  I think we use the R-card a little bit too loosely.  Quite realistically the Six Flags policy is a bit antiquated but to call it racially discriminative is a bit unfair.

What say you?

Healthy Hair Wishes!