Can I Touch Your Hair?

 

Can I Touch Your Hair?

I have always been caught in the middle when it came to the subject of touching my hair.

Now, if it’s another natural asking to touch it then I will gracefully bow down and rub my fro in your face, lol.

But, if it is a non natural then it would really be like Russian roulette to ask me such a question. There would be so many factors to consider before answering that question.

·         First, will allowing you to touch my hair ruin anything that my hair is currently doing?

·         Am I sober? (you have better chances if I’m not)

·         Do you look like you will say something that will piss me off?

·         Do I look like a petting zoo?

I mean really, the list can go on for days.

But, recently, one of my natural hair muses, Taren Guy, stood in Union Square with a group of other natural women holding signs that read "You can touch my hair." This campaign was done with the intentions of starting conversations that would allow them to educate others about natural hair, about the concept of good hair vs. bad hair and about the taboo behind a nice big fro.

This campaign was not met without opposition. There was also a group of naturals with signs that read "You cannot touch my hair" and other more colorful statements. These girls argued that it is not our job to educate others about our hair and we should not degrade ourselves to a petting zoo in order to help others understand us.

I can understand why these women feel this way, but how can we promote change without education.

I think this campaign has had a definite effect on the way that I will handle this question when approached in the future. This is not to say that my fro will become open for business, but I will be less discriminating about whom I allow to cop a feel.

What is your opinion? Should we be more open to the afro illiterate?

Wicked Wednesday

Wicked Wednesday

In honor of Monday’s post about teaching our children to love themselves, this week’s Wicked Wednesday installment will feature the curly kiddies!

Enjoy!

Don't foget you can always submit your photos to be included in Wicked Wednesday by sending them to spokenheart_mf@aol.com!

Keep Your Afros at Home

Keep Your Afros at Home

Recently, a viewer and friend shared an article with me that left me feeling very confused. Natural hair and childhood is a subject that I am very passionate about.

I wasn’t allowed to get my first relaxer until the age of 13 and I was mad about it. But, I am very grateful for this now. I feel like this allowed me to enjoy being a child, I wasn’t allowed to wear weaves or too many elaborate hairdos because I was expected to be, act and appear as a child. This granted me the ability to escape vanity for a little while longer. I also feel like it helped me to learn to love myself without any additives.

I have spoken to many people before about how important it is for our little girls to love themselves as they come. As time passes, we will all be subject to the pressures of vanity but childhood is not the time to start.

We should be teaching our little girls to love their hair as it grows and their skin in its different shades. As oppose to burning the black off their scalp or hiding it beneath weaves. I am not saying that this will prevent them from ever getting a relaxer or even from becoming a high maintenance pinup doll. I can’t even pretend that I have fully escaped my hair prison. I am still sometimes wondering if my hair looks nice or professional enough, I am still getting questioned by friends as to what is a professional enough hairdo to wear to work. I still know naturals that wear weaves to work instead of their hair as to not offend anyone.

But, I do firmly believe it will help them appreciate themselves more and do less searching for that appreciation in others. And it will definitely help with this epidemic of young girls looking like grown women.

Below is a portion of the letter sent to parents highlighting the new dress code changes at Horizon Science Academy in Ohio.

Afro-puffs and small twisted braids, with our [sic] without rubberbands, are NOT permitted.”

But, I digress. This article left me mouth agape and teeth grinding. I understand that the ban has been lifted and this is supposed to reverse the damage. But, the fact that they had the nerve to make this ban in the first place is the very reason that we must allow our little girls to learn to love themselves as they come. Although it may not be an outright hate statement, this is all but a hate crime. This is a blatant example of how people of color are taught to hate themselves. It is a subliminal message to our little girls that their hair as it grows out of their scalp is so unacceptable that it is a violation of dress code to wear it to school.

They banned afro puffs, but they did not ban pig tails. So you can send your daughter to school with her hair in ponytails as long as they lay down and not stand up, like ours naturally does. This is so laugh to me, or should I say all I can do is laugh at this.

But, in some ways, I also find this encouraging. Maybe it means that we are doing a better job at turning our children against themselves, doing a better job at loving ourselves and it is becoming a threat.

Whatever the reason, please remember that this starts at home. We can blame the schools and the society as much as we want. But, if we are doing this to our own children then we have no room to complain.

What are your thoughts on children and relaxers/weaves/appearance?

 

Organix Product Review

Organix Product Review

Anybody that knows me knows that I am an Organix product junkie!

I have even gone so far as to call as to call the Coconut Milk line my hair soul mate.

Today I will be reviewing this amazing product line based on the experiences that I have had with the different products that I have tried.

Coconut Milk

Website description: Coconut milk and ultra whipped egg white proteins along with weightless coconut oil to hydrate and nourish your hair as gentle cleansers wash away impurities.

ShampooI really enjoyed this shampoo. This is definitely my favorite of the different lines that I have tried from Organix. I enjoyed the sudsiness of this shampoo and the amazing smell. It left my hair feeling clean but not stripped.

Conditioner

Once again, this is definitely my favorite conditioner that I have used thus far. It left my hair feeling soft and well moisturized. I honestly do not have any downfalls to using these shampoos and conditioners.

Anti Breakage Serum
 I thoroughly enjoyed the anti breakage serum. It made my hair feel very smooth and look very shiny. The only problem is that it is a little thick so it is not easy to transfer all from your hands to your hair.

Weightless Styling Mousse
This is probably the only product from the Coconut Milk line that I did not enjoy. This left my hair feeling a little stringy.

Brazilian Keratin Therapy

Website description: Transform your hair into silky smooth locks with this exclusive blend of coconut oils, keratin proteins, avocado oil and cocoa butter.

ShampooI did not enjoy this shampoo very much at all. I assumed that with this nice blend of ingredients that this would be to die for, I know I should have known that it wasn’t going to be the best due to it being for Keratin Therapy. But, I do recommend for anyone that does use the Keratin in their hair.

Conditioner
I did find this conditioner to be useful in helping with shrinkage. I do not like to use it alone, but I typically mix it with some of my Coconut Milk conditioner and it really helps with stretching my hair and leaves it feeling great!

Macadamia Oil

Website description: Drench your strands in an ultra-moisturizing luxurious formula infused with nutrient rich macadamia oil to instantly hydrate and smooth parched, dry hair while exotic sugar cane extract and bamboo extract soften and mend split ends for a luscious, vibrant mane with brilliant shine

Sn: You know you natural when you receive hair products in your stocking. (that is how I met Macadamia Oil from Organix)

ShampooI enjoyed this product almost as much as I enjoyed the Coconut Milk line. I definitely found all of the benefits it boasted in the description to be true. It left my hair smelling and feeling great.

Conditioner
The conditioner was just as wonderful, if not better, than the shampoo.

Biotin & Collagen

Website description: A high performance blend of powerful ProVitamin B7 biotin infuses nutrients into every strand, while plumping collagen adds volume and dimension, and hydrolyzed wheat proteins strengthen, for thicker, fuller, healthier looking hair

ShampooThis had to be the most disappointing product that I have tried from this line. I was looking for something to strengthen my hair and after a bad experience with taking biotin pills; I figured that this shampoo would be the perfect alternative. It left my hair feeling stripped and maybe even weaker than before I used it.

ConditionerI also did not enjoy my experience with this conditioner. Although it smells heavenly, it left my hair feeling stringy and tangled. This quickly became shaving cream.

Please note, that depending on your hair type, you may love some of the products that I did not enjoy. I did try the Teatree Mint shampoo and conditioner once, from a friend, but not enough times to write a fair review.

These products are a bit expensive, in my opinion, but typically you can catch them on sale somewhere. Walmart, Walgreens and CVS typically take turns with either buy on get one or 5.99 each. But, since these are pratically the only products that I use in my hair anymore, I think they are defnitely worth it.

My hair does not respond well to argan oil so despite how bad I wanted to try their argan products, I declined. But, if you have tried them or any of the other lines that I haven’t gotten my hands on, feel free to share your experience with us. Or if you have tried any of these and gotten a different result, then please share that as well!

Genie Locs

Genie Locs

      I recently made the decision to test out Genie Locs aka Yarn Plaits as a protective style for my trip to New Orleans for Southern Fried 2013. I must say that I loved them but they are no easy feat.

      I watched several Youtube videos before I decided which method would be best to use when embarking upon this journey. According to my research I learned the following:

·         On average it takes about 17-22 hours to install

·         You must keep your hair oiled during the process because the yarn will dry it out

·         They can be a bit heavy

·         You must both knot and burn the ends

·         Do not burn the ends too long or it may cause discoloration of the yarn

Things I learned from my own experience:

·         They are extremely heavy when wet

·         It takes almost the same amount of time to take them out as it takes to put them in

·         It is a very cheap hairdo (one ball of yarn typically can cover the whole head)

·         You will need a nice strong gel to keep the ends of your hair contained (yuck)

Now let’s get to the how to’s.

      Things you will need

·         A ball of yarn of your color choice. (it is best to use acrylic yarn)

·         Scissors

·         A lighter

·         An oil of your choice (I used grapeseed and olive)

·         Gel of your choice (I used Gorilla Snot and Gummy)

·         Lots of patience

*You will most likely want to do a deep conditioning before placing this style in your head, whichever deep conditioning you would typically use before installing a protective style or weave. *

1.)  Decide how big and how long you want your genie locs. I did shorter 2 strands on my edges so that I would not weigh them down too much and longer 3 strands on the rest of my hair.

2.)  Cut the yarn into the length that you would like. (I found that it was easiest to cut up as much yarn as possible in one sitting so that the cutting process wouldn’t slow you down later.)

3.)  Oil the strands of yarn that you plan to use for your plait. This will help keep the yarn from drying out your hair as it is wrapped around it.

4.)  Decide the method that you would like to use. A lot of people use the crisscross method to start their plaits, I prefer to just loop it around my hair and start the plait.

5.)  Continue to plait your hair as normal using your real hair as the third strand until you have reached almost the bottom of your real hair.

a.  If you decided on using the 2 strand method then you will want to take one of the strand of yarn and place it with your real hair. (You will want to use gel to smooth down your ends with the yarn.) Then continue plaiting as normal and knot the end of the plait.

b.  If you decided on using the 3 strand method then you will want to take two strands of the yarn and place it with your real hair. (You will want to use gel to smooth down your ends with the yarn.) Then continue plaiting as normal and knot the end of the plait.

6.)  Repeat until whole head is finished.

7.)  Burn the ends of each plait and roll the ends in your fingertips while still warm to help seal them closed.

This is a very long tiresome process, but I did enjoy the look of it and it is a style that can last for quite a while. You will need to make sure that you keep the hair moisturized while in this style. I hope you enjoy!

And…if you do choose to give it a try, don’t forget to share pics by sending them to spokenheart_mf@aol.com.

A Day in the Curls of Roseiby

A Day in the Curls of Roseiby

Q: To begin with, have you ever had a relaxer?

A: When I was younger my mother would take me to get it done but it’s been a while since I did it; I would say since 2001 when I was 14.

Q: At what age did you start getting relaxers?

A: I don’t remember, I really don’t and I don’t want to be inaccurate.

Q: Why did you make the decision to stop getting relaxers?

A: It was when I was older, and at the time I just did whatever I wanted to my hair. It was always my mom’s idea to get them. At that time I didn’t mind getting them because, honestly, I hated my hair. The kids at school would call me a Chia Pet when I was younger so, I felt so much better having straight hair I remember doing it once after moving to Florida. But, when I was old enough to start doing my own thing, I did.

Q: So, it sound like you did not like getting relaxers. How did you mom feel about your decision to no longer relax your hair?

A: My mom didn’t really care like, she wasn’t mad. I had heard that relaxers were bad for my hair so I didn’t want to do it anymore and people were always telling me I had "good hair" so I didn’t feel like I needed to do it anyway.

Q: Would you say that the decision to no longer relax your hair affected your attitude or view towards yourself or others in anyway? Or were you too young then for it to really effect you?

A: I just wanted to have long hair so when I heard that relaxers were "bad" I just stopped. But, after I stopped relaxing my hair I just wore it in a pony and didn’t really take care of it or even wore it in a poof for a long time.

Q: What about now? Do you feel that you have learned to manage your natural hair better as time went on?

A: I’m still learning. I kind of walked into my poofiness by accident. One time I washed it and didn’t do anything to it, just wore it down, and I got so many compliments on my curls! I would say this was around 2005/6ish so ever since then I just been wearing it like I wear it now; pretty much get up & go. It wasn’t until lately after talking to you and other naturalistas that I learned  about hair products that would help my puff become even greater so, I’m still learning and my poof is still a work in progress.

Q: Do you miss relaxers or do you think that you will ever go back to relaxers?

A: Hell to the nah, I will never go back to relaxers again! I don’t even trust keratin treatments, which have been suggested to me so many times.

Q: If you have a daughter, do you think that you will relax her hair?

A: NO, lol.  My friend asked me that the other day, I want my baby to have healthy hair and if it’s not curly like mine, I’ll just find other ways to take care of it. I really just don’t believe in relaxers anymore.

(Roseiby's imaginary daughter, lol)

Q: What is your favorite product to use in your hair?

A: I just recently bought a Shea Moisture Curl Smoothie for my hair which is really awesome and makes my hair smell really good.

Q: What is your signature hair style?

A: I like wearing my hair with a side part and creating like a side bang.

Q: What is your favorite thing about your hair now?

A: I love how it always sticks out, no matter where I go and it’s so soft.

Q: What is your guilty hair pleasure (something you do to your hair even though you know it is not necessarily good fort it)?

A: Sometimes, I flat iron it when I want to take a break from the curl world.

Q: What advice would you give little curlies who are insecure about their curls due to bullying?

A: I would say they’re just jealous. Not everyone is blessed to have crazy beautiful hair so embrace it! It used to hurt my feelings when the kids at school called me a Chia Pet, now I’ll take that and be proud! My big hair is definitely something I’m proud of & I hope to make it even bigger....take that Chia Pet!

Would you like to share your curl journey? Contact me at spokenheart_mf@aol.com and share your natural pride with the world!

 

Summertime Recipes

Summertime Recipes

As previously discussed, with the heat well on its way, we must take extra precautions to help keep our scalps clean, moisturized and hydrated. Below are a number of recipes that you can make in your kitchen to aid in your hair health.


Some naturals prefer to not use shampoo, but how do we remove product build up without using a clarifying shampoo or any shampoo for that matter?

Baking Soda Clarifying Rinse
Mix:
 1 tablespoon baking soda
  3 tablespoons curly-friendly conditioner

Spread combined ingredients on scalp and massage firmly, continue to massage the mixture down to the ends of the hair. Make sure it is thoroughly applied to hair. Rinse completely with warm water and follow immediately with an apple cider vinegar rinse.

Note: Baking soda is alkaline-meaning it will raise your cuticle and open up your hair shaft. The apple cider vinegar is acidic and will close your cuticle back down. If you don't follow the cleanse with an ACV rinse, you'll be leaving your hair shaft open and setting yourself up for more frizz than you'd probably like.


In the previous article it was mentioned that we should always take precautions with our curls before entering the pool, but what if we forget? Or what about the exposure that we cannot prevent? Here is a recipe that will help with any chlorine exposure that our curls suffer.

Chlorine Buster
Mix:
  1 egg (beaten)
  2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup pureed, peeled cucumber

Knead well into hair from roots to ends, and then wrap with a plastic processing cap. Let sit for 30-60 minutes at room temperature, then cleanse hair.

Deep Conditioning Treatment
Too busy to spend a day sitting around waiting for your dc to complete? At bedtime, spread a good deep moisture treatment through your slightly damp curls. Envelop your hair completely with a plastic processing cap drift into dream land; you may want to take extra precautions to avoid your pillow becoming soaked in oil. In the morning, rinse out the treatment, and then scrunch in your styling products, style and go. Presto! An overnight dc for the busy curly!

*This is also known as the baggy method.

Hair Growth Oil Blend

Combine:
  3 drops cedarwood essential oil
 3 drops lavender essential oil
3 drops lemon essential oil
3 drops rosemary essential oil
  3 drops thyme essential oil
 1/8 cup grapeseed oil
1/8 cup jojoba oil

Place several drops of the mixture to areas of hair loss each night, knead gently into the scalp for 3-5 minutes. 

Hair Detangling Spray
This concoction can be stored in a bottle and used in the shower to help with detangling.

Combine:
1 teaspoon aloe vera gel
  1/2 teaspoon grapefruit seed extract
 2 drops grapefruit essential oil
§  2 drops glycerin
§  8 ounces purified water

Mix together in a spray bottle and keep in the shower. Spray lightly to help detangle hair.

Honey Hair Conditioner

Combine:
§  1/2 cup honey, warmed in the microwave
 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Massage well into hair from scalp to ends, and then cover with a plastic processing cap. Process for 30 minutes at room temperature, and then cleanse hair with a non-sulfate cleanser. For added penetration, sit under a warm (not hot) dryer for 20 minutes.

Heating the honey is optional, but if not heated the honey can lighten your hair color due to its natural properties.

Hot (Olive) Oil Treatment

§  1/4 cup olive oil

Spread well into hair from roots to ends, wrap with a plastic cap. Sit for 30 minutes at room temperature, and then cleanse hair. To intensify, sit under a warm dryer for 20 minutes.

Good for over moisturized and colored hair.  
Protein Pack

Mix:
§  1 egg, beaten
§  1 tablespoon full fat mayonnaise
§  2 teaspoons olive oil

Mold well into hair from roots to ends, and then envelop with a plastic cap. Sit for one hour at room temperature, cleanse hair. To intensify, sit under a warm dryer for 30 minutes.

Another protein treatment.
Egg Hair Treatment 

Mix:

§  1 egg
§  1 tablespoon honey
§  1 tablespoon plain yogurt
1. Crack the egg into a bowl. Mix with a fork.
2. Add yogurt and honey to the bowl. Mix well.
3. Pour the mixture onto clean, damp hair.
4. Massage into the hair, and place hair into a plastic shower cap.
5. Let egg mixture sit in hair for 30 minutes.
6. Rinse the egg mixture out of the hair with cool water. Style hair as usual.

 

And another protein treatment!
Mayonnaise Hair Treatment 
§  2 tablespoon mayonnaise
§  Towel
§  Plastic bag
1. Dampen hair with warm water, and envelop your hair in the towel until mixture is ready.
2. Place mayonnaise into a bowl.
3. Spread mayonnaise abundantly on the scalp, rubbing it in with the fingertips until all hair is smothered.
5. Enclose plastic bag around the hair.
6. Let sit on hair for 20 minutes, and then rinse thoroughly.  
Natural Leave In Hair Conditioner Recipe 
Ingredients:
§  2 Ounces Aloe Vera Juice
§  2 - 3 Drops Rosemary Essential Oil

Add Aloe Vera to a small spray bottle.  Add essential oil and shake. 
Apply to hair liberally to prevent frizz and style hair as usual.
Shake before use and regularly to avoid separation.

Natural Hair Conditioning 
For a conditioning treatment for hair, melt about a tablespoon of Shea Butter in the palm of hands and work through hair.  Leave on 20 minutes to 2 hours.  Shampoo as usual. 
  

These recipes and many other can be found at the following websites:
http://livecurlylivefree.com/home%20remedies.htm
http://www.motherearthliving.com/natural-health/repair-chlorine-damaged-hair-in-your-kitchen.aspx
http://www.soapforgoodnesssake.com/22.html

What products or mixtures do you use for your summertime regimen?