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,

Just when you thought the kinky boom had reached its promotional zenith with being seen everywhere from big screen to small screen and even on Hollywood red carpets, two Chicagoland natural are working to pool their talents and enthusiastic love for textured tresses to provide a tag team new media platform that informs, encourages and inspires.

After a bit of low key promotion via the natural hair Twitter community The Nappturalite Radio Show broadcast its first episode in February of this year and showed promise right out of the gate. Presented on Blogtalk Radio each and every Sunday at 6 PM CST, the original vision of the show was born after natural “newbie” host Dawn Yerger shared her BC story on another Blogtalk show she co-hosted with her friend Jaye Reliford.

“As I shared my experience, I thought about how fun and inspirational it would be to share my new journey with others on a radio show dedicated to natural hair,” Yerger shares with Laquita Thomas-Banks in a Clutch Magazine interview. “Immediately, I asked Jaye, who had been a natural for 10 years, to join me as a co-host.”

Read more HERE.

Healthy Hair Wishes,

Cultivating healthy hair is greatly attributed to diet, water consumption and the type of products used upon the hair. Taking into account the specific chemical makeup of human hair, cosmetic companies use all their scientific know-how to formulate products that clean, fortify and return our keratin strands to their proper pH level. While no beautician worth their weight in styling spritz would advise using anything other than goods sanctioned by the FDA specifically for human use, many natural hair wearers are coming clean about trusting their textured tresses to an equine product line that they say works wonders.

Read more HERE.

Healthy Hair Wishes,

With the days heating up and the sun becoming a more prominent player in the weather forecast, there’s great debate over just what works to keep the various types of ultraviolet rays from spoiling the healthy hair fun. While many products claim to be specially formulated to protect textured tresses from summer sun damage and tout charge hefty prices for the luxury additive, a lot of natural hair wearers are left to question which brand meets their needs best. Of course there is no question that hair needs to be protected, but before you rush off to procure a product claiming to shield your locks from sun damage here are some things you must consider when it comes to hair products containing sunscreen.

Read more HERE.

Healthy Hair Wishes,

Today women and men all over the country are making an effort to make natural hair a trend.  No, no, no.  Not a passing fashion trend, but a trending topic on the popular social networking Website Twitter!

About a month ago and unknown source designated June 1st, 2010 as the day natural hair lovers and wearers would spend the day tweeting about natural hair styles, products and their love of kinks, coils, curls and naps.  Starting at midnight in their respective time zones, Twitters posted 140 character messages to pass on transitioning tips, quotes, declarations about why they’ve chosen to "go natural" and their appreciation for the support they’ve received in the community, all attached to the hashtag #naturalhair.

The signal for participation has also gone on on Facebook, where status messages alerting natural hair wearers of the occasion have been posted throughout the day.  Even Columbus author M. Michelle George put out a call to arm via her Twitter and Facebook accounts.  Although it has been speculated that the call for a Natural Hair Day was an effort to demean or discredit women who choose to chemically straighten their hair, that is not the aim. The mission of the occasion is to help spread the word about and dispel some of the misconceptions surrounding African-American hair in its unaltered state, and to encourage natural hair wearers worldwide while inspiring those who may be on the fence to take up the journey.

Read more HERE.

Healthy Hair Wishes,

We all know how oily hair can get if we go too long past “wash” day. For most, a week is the threshold, although some can go longer while some opt for every day cleansing. Whether you enlist a liquid shampoo, shampoo bar or “no poo” options, cleansing is a vital part in a healthy hair regimen because it clears the hair and scalp of product build up and its natural tendency to retain its own oils. Because hair is porous, it absorbs oil and other substances almost magically, which makes washing a must. Because of this seemingly magnetic phenomenon, husband and wife team Lisa and Patrice Gautier propose our hair can be used to help retard the spread of oil from the most recent spill in the Gulf of Mexico without placing more biochemical stress on the fragile ecosystem of the area.

Lisa and Patrice created the Matter of Trust charity in 1998 in order to “link ideas, spark action and materialize sustainable systems”, or in other words, create eco-friendly solutions to tragedies such as the Gulf oil spill. Lisa, a mother of three and an extensive volunteer of the Jersey Wildlife Preservation, and Patrice, Vice President of the iTunes Store & iPhone Apps Store Engineering, conceived the idea for MofT before becoming parents and saw their vision as a way to take care of the planet they would be leaving for their children as well as children worldwide. Through their charity they have facilitated various programs that help reuse manmade materials to cut down on waste, enlist natural resources to provide aid and products vital to our society, and help to provide eco-education for activist organizations and concerned citizens. In 2000, Matter of Trust developed the brilliant idea that mats made from human and animal hair, as well as other naturally absorbent fibers, could be used to help clean up the over 2,600 oil spills that occur each year. These EPA approved mats can be used to safely soak up oil spills from drip pans during your car’s routine oil changes, as well as help to contain threats to human and animal life forms from such occurrences as the Gulf oil spill. The mats themselves are invented and patented by hair stylist Phil McCrory and are manufactured by Ottimat for industrial use.

"You shampoo, because hair collects oil. Hair is very efficient at gathering oil, skin oils off your face, oil pollution out of the air, and water, even petroleum oil spills,” states a quote from McCrory that’s listed on the Matter of Trust Website. “Hair is absorbant (as in ‘clings to’ unlike [absorbent] which is to ‘soak up.’) There are over 370,000 hair salons in the US and each collects about one pound of hair a day. Right now, most of that goes into the waste stream, but it should all be made into hair mats."

So for the past ten years MofT has been collecting hair from donation sources all across the globe and the resulting hair mats are providing amazing demonstrations of just how effective the mats are in “cleaning” oil spills. The hair collected can be of any texture, length, color or state (permed or relaxed) as long as it is clean and free of debris. Many salons and barbershops are now participating in the program, providing hair donations in recycled from product orders. And when it comes to disposal of the oil soaked mats, a study was completed that showed the mat could be detoxified by thermophilic compost, broken down by common earthworms then returned to the Earth as fertilizer in just two years’ time.

Although this seems like a viable solution to help in this moment of national crisis, officials at British Petroleum and state and federal authorities are discounting the effectiveness of the hair mats and hair booms, stating they “won’t work well” in comparison to commercial sorbet booms made of polypropylene.

Read more HERE.

Healthy Hair Wishes,

Textured hair seems to be all the rage and the formulation of products to meet the needs of coily hair consumers has seen an increase in recent years. One look at retail shelves and you’ll notice that every hair care manufacture in the market has worked to create a line that specifically cares for the different textures and types of hair beyond the simple fine, normal and coarse. Garnier Fructis has introduced its Wonder Waves collection and Herbal Essences has its very own Totally Twisted collection, each promising to give curls much needed TLC.  But even as the curly boom demand being met with a generous cosmetic company supply, for ethnic hair a lot of the products that are offered just aren’t cutting the mustard when it comes to proper care. In order to meet the need, company’s like Miss Jessie’s and Carol’s Daughter have been created to help women of color tame and nourish their tresses using products specifically tailored to care for ethnic hair. Unfortunately for many however, the cost and limited availability of these products oftentimes made it difficult for beauties on a budget to get their hands on them. Well discount retailers like Target, Wal-Mart and even Walgreens are bringing these hair care solutions to their commerce concerned customers and adding a little diversity to their health and beauty departments.

First the curly community was rocked by the news that Miss Jessie’s product line was being available at Target, with the introduction of The Jane Carter Solution and CURLS brands following closely on MJ’s heels. Target has even gone the extra mile of creating its own line of shea butter infused products in order to “catch the wave”, offering shampoos, conditioners and other hair care elements under its recently launched SheaMoisture brand. These contemporary garnishes to Target’s inventory are the retail chain’s way to make good on its trademark promise that its customer base can “Expect More. Pay Less” on a wider variety of beauty products. As Senior Vice President of Merchandising Keri Jones states in Target’s press release on the matter:

“By offering an accessible assortment of salon-quality brands and everyday essentials, Target is the destination for guests’ beauty needs. With the introduction of Miss Jessie’s and other new launches, our guests will now find more of the products they want, need and trust.”

Read more HERE.

Healthy Hair Wishes,

Therapeutically speaking, a support group is one of the key components to making a healthy transition from one state of being to another. From a social point of view, support groups can provide its members outlets to express their creativity to their peers and share informational resources in a casual setting. Women across the global have recognized the benefits of support groups for centuries and have relied on the power of numbers to help them cope, grow and learn. On a general level, church, school and even work environments are where many women band together in support of one another on such universal themes as motherhood, marriage and vocational advancement. But when it comes to natural hair, because the movement is still pretty much in its social toddlerhood stages with no set protocol for interaction among naturals, many women feel alienated when it comes to finding a face-to-face support network. Fortunately for natural newbies, Meetup.com provides a medium for social and supportive interaction to help make the transition from relaxed to natural a breeze.

Meetup.com is a Website that allows people from all walks of life to form collaborative networks with others based on a shared interest. In many ways it’s set up like any other social networking site, like Facebook or the Ning networks, by providing Webpages for local organizations to share information ideas. But where Meetup differs from its counterparts is in its emphasis on facilitating face-to-face interaction between its 6.1 million group members in lieu of simply posting one-dimensional text. In that aspect, it serves as an organizational hub for groups to coordinate events that are of value to its member base and its surrounding community as well. This is a great service for natural hair collectives because it allows women (and men too) to personally learn how to care for their natural hair and receive hands-on support that would otherwise be unavailable to them.

Read more HERE.

Healthy Hair Wishes,

With the wedding season upon us many brides are scrambling frantically to make sure all the arrangements are just right.  There’s the dress, the flowers, the cake, favors for the reception, the decorations… With a seemingly never ending list of  vital elements to think about, finding the perfect natural hair style to set your special day off spectacularly may prove to be the straw that can turn any potentially blushing bride into Bridezilla. 

Although some may think being natural limits your styling possibilities, there’s a host of gorgeous creations that bride-to-be can create themselves or trust to a professional stylist, from gorgeous braid and loc upsweeps to a beautifully chunky TWA.  But the beauty doesn’t just stop there.  Topping your tresses with a splendid headpiece can accent your chosen style spectacularly, whether it’s an intricate tulle veil, a rhinestone tiara, a delicately carved ivory and pearl comb or a single fresh or silk flower placed within your strands.  The possibilities are indeed endless when it comes to creating wedding day hair you, or your groom and guests, will never forever.

If you’ve already picked out your coif and are simply looking for hair accessory, a trip to a local bridal show, like Columbus’ Perfect Wedding Guide Summer Bridal Spectacular hosted June 6th at OSU’s Football Stadium, make be the perfect place to find one or gain ideas for creating your own.  Flower accent pieces can be found at any florist, or if you’d like the longer lasting variety, craft stores like Michaels on West Dublin Granville Rd offer and endless array of floral pieces that are sure to suit your fancy.

If you haven’t chosen a style yet, here is a brief slideshow of a few natural hair creations that can help spark your imagination or provide a guide for your stylist to go from.

Read more HERE.

Healthy Hair Wishes,

The word “politics” often gets to thinking about long, drawn out campaigns, exhaustive speeches filled with auspicious promises, mudslinging between candidates as they fight to prove why they are more worthy of your vote than their opposition and hope for new city, state or national policy that will make living a bit easier for its citizens. Roughly translated from the Greek politka, which means “affairs of state”, it’s easy to see why these images are one of the first to come to mind when the word politic is used because it is a system of rules or opinions which govern a given organization in order to make operations within it fair and balanced. At least that is the intent anyway. But when it comes to applying this term to hair, Black hair in particular, the standard meaning for the word becomes a bit harder to comprehend.

For a very long time Black hair has been pegged as being political and for almost as long women of color have been trying to define the exact reason why this is so. Many books such as “Hair Matters” by Ingrid Banks have taken the definition to task by looking at the history of Black hair through slavery, antebellum, the straightening revolution and on into the Black Power movement, but only touched on the fringes of what it means to have “political” hair. Is it because of the texture which is so different from the standard by which hair is judged as normative, or the versatility it possesses when it comes to styling? Is it because of what Black hair stands for or because it makes us stand out? As Noliwe M. Rooks states in her book “Hair Raising”:

“Hair in 1976 spoke of racial identity politics as well as bonding between African American women. Its styling could lead to acceptance or rejection from certain groups and social classes, and its styling to provide the possibility of a career.”

Read more HERE.

Healthy Hair Wishes,