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Natural Hair: Let Black People Just Be Themselves - Patheos
MESS!! Dr Oz Doing Big Chops and Giving Natural Hair Styling Tips ...
“Is That Your Real Hair?” Are Natural Weaves and Wigs Skewing ...
7 Protective Styles for Medium-Length, Kinky Natural Hair | Black ...

Natural Hair: Let Black People Just Be Themselves - Patheos

Posted: 20 Jun 2014 09:34 AM PDT

On our most recent "hair day," after washing, before braiding.

Followers of this blog know that our family has gone through a great deal as it relates to hair and our daughter Naomi, who was adopted four years ago this month.

To be honest, we've been guilty of not "fixing her hair" correctly, causing black women to approach me in public — sometimes kindly, sometimes not-so-kindly. I've had a cashier at Target tell her that "You would be cute if your mom would take better care of you." My family appeared on CSPAN one day during a Republican conference, which resulted in tons of comments on our daughter's hair.

So I learned.

I've had training sessions on braiding, cornrowing, and hair-washing. I've learned through websites, especially this one. I've changed. I've learned awesome styles that have caused black moms to stop me and ask, "Who did that for you?" (I defy you to find a cuter hair style than these bantu knots.)

I've decided to keep Naomi's hair "natural," which is a controversial stance amongst the African American community. Many women believe that black people — including children, perhaps especially children should have "neat" and "tamed" hair through the use of harmful chemicals and relaxers. Of course, that implies that the way God made black women's hair is somehow wrong or in need of tampering down. People — especially black people — operate under the assumption that black hair is the only type of hair that isn't right.

In Elle magazine, the stylist who takes care of Oprah Winfrey's and Halle Berry's hair said:

Fifteen years ago, Halle had shoulder-length hair that was hard to control because of its curly texture. I could straighten it and make it look great for her in the salon, but she couldn't do anything with it at home. She wanted something easy that she could handle, so we came up with the short cut that's now her signature look. I always recommend embracing your natural texture. Kinky hair can have limited styling options; that's the only hair type that I suggest altering with professional relaxing.

Rory over at Chocolate Hair Vanilla Care disagrees. She doesn't believe we should tell black children that their hair is the only type that God didn't quite make right. In other words, the "natural hair" team celebrates the cool diversity that exists on people's heads. (Check out the amazing things that can be done to "kinky hair.")

Celebrities aren't immune to criticism regarding hair. When Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt adopted a child from Ethiopia, so many people complained about the way they fixed her hair that it ended up being the subject of a Newsweek article:

In recent pictures it's clear Angelina Jolie hasn't taken the time to learn or understand the long and painful history of African-American women and hair. If she had I can't imagine she would continue to allow Zahara to look like she has in the past few months. Photos of Zahara show the 4-year-old girl sporting hair that is wild and unstyled, uncombed and dry. Basically: a "hot mess.''

Recently, the child of Beyonce and Jay Z has gotten scrutinized so much for her natural hair that a woman started a petition to make Beyonce "fix" her kid's hair. According to Reniqua Allen over at The Atlantic:

A woman was so frustrated with the hairstyling of Blue Ivy Carter, the child of superstars Sean Carter (Jay Z) and Beyoncé Knowles, that she created a petition on Change.org to urge her parents to "properly care" for their child's hair—or more explicitly—comb her hair.

Even worse, five thousand people signed the petition! I love how Allen finishes her article, summing up the "controversy" in probably the best way possible:

All too often, America has denied blacks the simple practice of just being. We've been told our language is slang; our skin is too dark, our booties too high, and our lips too thick. To become true Americans, we must conform and adapt. Any attempt, particularly by such high-profile figures, to change that narrative, is a step in the right direction.

Real progress and freedom is the ability to choose. Too few black children have it. Blue Ivy looks healthy, well cared for, and happy. Let baby Blue's hair just be. That's nothing to protest. That's real black power there.

Read more on the Patheos Faith and Family Channel and follow Nancy on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

MESS!! Dr Oz Doing Big Chops and Giving Natural Hair Styling Tips ...

Posted: 13 Jun 2014 04:55 AM PDT

Another day, another instance of cultural appropriation folks jumping on the natural hair bandwagon to gain popularity.

On May 28th, the popular daytime doctor Mehmet Oz sprang head first into a two-part show segment called Style Your Natural Hair. Here's a brief rundown of parts 1 and 2:

Part 1

Dr. Oz opens talking about a "hair revolution" that even Oprah has gotten in on (shows infamous O Magazine cover where Oprah is sporting an obviously overstated textured wig).

Marie Simone Smith is introduced as someone "leading the charge" in the natural hair movement (stick a pin riiiiight there) and owner of one of the first natural hair salons in the country.

Sonya, a studio guest comes on stage, and explains her decision to want to big chop — among other things citing being tired of the cultural stigma that "nappy is tacky and straight is great".

Stylist Marie Simone Smith (with the assistance of Dr. Oz) places Sonya's hair in a high ponytail and chops it, to much fanfare and applauses.

Sonya emerges with an almost instant, beautiful stretched fro. Dr. Oz revels in the difference between her thin, relaxed ends and the thicker, more dense natural hair (comparing the densely packed strands to that of a paintbrush).

Part 1 ends with an introduction to Lisa, who has been dying her hair blonde for nearly 30 years and is concerned about damage (side eye). Dr. Oz drums up interest for the next section of the segment by introducing "the perfect test" for checking hair damage.

Part 2

Part 2 opens with Dr. Oz, Lisa, and Marie Simone Smith. With a sense of urgency, Dr. Oz introduces something that we all must do — called the "10 Second Healthy Hair Test".

Marie Simone Smith proceeds with plucking one of Lisa's blonde, straight hairs and placing in a cup to perform a porosity test (stick another pin there, please).

Smith concludes that Lisa's hair is damaged and recommends a simple fix — when you buy your "mainest" products (another side eye) aka shampoo and conditioner, look for labels that say "deep moisturizing", "deep penetrating moisturizing", or "porosity control" (you guessed it, stick another pin right there).

Lisa leaves the stage and on walks Cicely, who appears to be rocking a gorgeous twistout. She gives a moving statement about being liberated and finding herself in natural hair.

When Dr. Oz asks Marie Simone Smith about styling natural hair differently, Smith simply draws up Cicely's hair into a half pompadour with bobby pins (one last pin right there, please).

I don't know about you all, but I almost keeled over like five times watching both clips. For the record, I don't have a problem with mainstream publications and programs joining in on the natural hair narrative. However, there is a fine line between inclusion and co-optation. This show segment is dangerously close to becoming the later, in the same vein of other habitual line steppers.

The fact that a daytime show like Dr. Oz is willing to yet again talk about natural hair (they did it in 2013 with Curly Nikki), is a demonstration in the viability and power of the topic itself. However, there are so many components of this segment that are problematic and reek of ill-preparedness and ignorance on behalf of the show's producers. So let's run through those pins (I'm not even going to touch the Oprah wig thing, that magazine cover got run into the ground) while I share with you where and why I took issue with several components of this segment:

Who the heck is Marie Simone Smith?

I don't know about you all, but when someone is tasked or attributed to "leading the charge" of something, most people to a degree know who they are. I'm sure Ms. Smith is a stylist somewhere, and quite possibly one of the first in natural hair. But a leader in the natural hair community or revolution? Leaders in natural hair aren't hard to find. Ms. Smith on the other hand, is.

I couldn't find a website, StyleSeat, Facebook, blog mention or anything. Most popular stylists have some sort of online presence, if for no other reason than to draw customers. I'm not trying to shade or discredit her, but there are a lot more trusted names that could have been called on — and some of the names in this article (like Diane C. Bailey, Anu Prestonia, or Felicia Leatherwood) are just a start. A natural hair professional from a Devachan, Ouidad or heck, even Miss Jessie's salon would have made a huge difference in lending some credibility to the segment.

TV sensationalism doesn't tell the full story.

In part 1, it is obvious that Sonya has transitioned (for an undisclosed amount of time) from relaxed hair. There was no mention of it, other than Sonya saying she had been waiting for a while to big chop. Additionally, her hair was obviously stretched or blown out in preparation for the show. Once the ponytail was set and chopped, Sonya emerged with a picturesque afro stretched to the gawds.

I find this problematic for a few reasons:

1. It creates an unrealistic expectation for women big chopping. There are enough insecurities surrounding cutting off most of one's hair, and showcasing an aesthetic that is only achieved after transitioning for at least 6-8 months without any mention of transitioning or gradually growing hair out is misleading.

2. What about the shrinkage? Because the hair is blown out, Sonya has no clue what her hair will look like come wash day — which brings me to my next point.

3. The cut itself. Although there's more than one way to chop the hair, as someone who transitioned then cut, I couldn't help but cringe at the chop Sonya was given. I'm a firm believer in the DevaCut method, or at minimum, the idea of cutting hair in its most natural state. Our hair has all sorts of tricks up it's sleeves — shrinkage, multiple textures, and varying patterns all on one head. Cutting hair that is completely dry and stretched does nothing to accurately capture how the hair will look during regular styling — unless it will remain perpetually stretched.

About that porosity test….

Time and time again, the wonderful scientist Jc of The Natural Haven has debunked and offered sound scientific reasoning behind why the porosity test is junk science.

Knowing and learning hair porosity is important, but a 10 second float test in a cup of water won't tell you any more about your hair than a chart with numbers and letters and hair types will. There is no magic bullet to learning and understanding your hair, and no magic potion to correct years of damage and inappropriate care. Both require patience, and trial and error — but I guess that doesn't make for good daytime TV.

The "Mainest" Products

In addition to mainest not being a word, I found the product recommendations to be completely unhelpful. If someone were truly looking to Dr. Oz for help with natural hair, vague suggestions about deep penetrating and porosity control products would have put them on a fast track to nowhere. Beyond that, shampoos and conditioners related to porosity control are often only found at beauty supply and salon stores, not Target and CVS. For color care specifically, a number of drugstore (Pantene, Tresemme, Dove, L'Oreal) and readily accessible salon brands could have been mentioned — because color care products automatically attempt to address the porosity issues caused by dying hair. Also, mentions of sulfate-free products, deep conditioning, and reconstructive treatments would have been helpful, but went un-discussed. Good thing we have blogs and vlogs for this kind of stuff.

And the pompadour!

First things first. I don't know about you all, but I found Cicely's twist or braid out (I can't tell which one it is) to be absolutely stunning. The mix of frizz, volume, and definition looks like something that could only be achieved with day 2 or 3 hair. And then….the stylist Marie Simone Smith goes and rolls all that natural gorgeousness into an updo.

If that was my hair, the show would have had to go off the air for a few minutes. When the segment approached styling, a better idea perhaps would have been taking the first guest who big chopped, Sonya, and styling her hair. A twistout demo, an updo demo, or even a wash and go demo. Not pinning up someone else's style that had at least 2 good days left!

To sum it up, the segment had potential, but got lost in the shuffle of sensationalizing, gross misrepresentation and misinformation. The final product showed just how uneducated the producers were on the topic of natural hair. Dr. Oz himself was actually the singular ray of hope in this segment. For me at least, he maintained a respectful distance from the topic, asking questions, with what seemed to be genuine interest in understanding. I appreciate his willingness to stay in his own lane, and not commandeer a topic he knows little to nothing about. He successfully avoided coming across as a museum curator, circus ringmaster or in any form that would give viewers the impression that women with natural hair are a spectacle to behold.

But the show producers? Get your cultural competency weight up — at least as it pertains to natural hair.

Would you let Dr. Oz big chop your hair, or nah? What do you think of mainstream media outlets talking more and more about natural hair?

Christina Patrice

Born, raised, and living in Los Angeles, Christina is BGLH's resident transitioning expert and product junkie. In addition to loving all things hair, she is a fitness novice and advocate of wearing sandals year-round. For more information on transitioning, natural hair, and her own hair journey, visit maneobjective.com. Or, if you like pictures follow Christina on Instagram @maneobjective.

“Is That Your Real Hair?” Are Natural Weaves and Wigs Skewing ...

Posted: 20 Jun 2014 05:44 AM PDT

by Portia of huneybflyy.com

Heat-free Hair Founder Ngozi Opara

It's no secret that the natural hair community is probably the largest it has ever been right now. Social media sites such as Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest are overflowing with natural sistas and their manes. Inspirational hair photos are everywhere. There are women who are pulling in thousands of followers on social media sites because of their hair. Natural hair amongst black women has really become a movement that could possibly end up in history books someday.

However, natural hair alone isn't the only phenomenon that seems to have everyone's attention. The "natural hair weave" is leaving a pretty big impression on the natural hair community as well. The debate on hair weaves has been around for as long as hair weaves have been around. Some women hate them, some women love them. Some use hair weaves as a means of protective styling. While others simply like to change up their look without having to manipulate their own precious strands. On the other hand, natural hair weaves are different. These weaves look like the natural hair that's growing out of your scalp before you relax, flat iron, curl etc.

We've all seen curly weaves but sometimes, the hair that's used doesn't blend well with African American hair. You have to do so much manipulation to your leave out hair that you end up damaging it in the process. The hair that's used for natural looking hair weaves is like nothing we've ever seen before.

There have probably been times when you've been scrolling through social media admiring someone's hair, not knowing that they're actually wearing a half wig or weave that looks like it's 100% theirs. Women who are looking for natural hair inspiration also can't tell the difference between the natural looking hair weave and real natural hair. There was even a comment under a photograph that read "Her hair is beautiful, but who knows if it's real with all these natural weaves these days."

So here's the big question: Should natural hair gurus, on social media sites, tell their followers that they are wearing a weave or wig?

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Founder, Ngozi Opara, of the popular natural hair extension brand Heat Free Hair has been in the hair care business for 11 years. She started her company in 2012 after she was tired of having her clients come to her studio with heat damaged hair because they were trying to blend their own hair with their weaves or wigs. Opara wanted transitioning women to have an option that allowed them to wear a protective style without having to compromise the health of their hair. Women needed hair that looked like their own.

Heat Free Hair comes in a variety of beautiful hair textures. Textures range from 3B-4C in wefted hair, closures, clip-ins and wigs. Their "For Kurls" Collection is their most requested texture and it ranges from 3c-4a. The different textures alone are great for women who are transitioning, need a protective style, or just want to change up their hair but still have it blend with their own. Heat Free Hair acts just as your natural hair does. You can set it with curlers, bantu knots, twists, braids and rods. You can even blow it out. Finally, a hair extension line that caters to black women and has their best interest at heart.

As for the big question, Opara does not feel that it's necessary for women to declare that they're wearing extensions.

"I think it's important to look at the intent behind the person," said Opara.

"I don't think anyone should be obligated to disclose what they do with their hair. One of the great things about the natural hair community is the willingness to share this type of information to encourage and inspire others, but sharing is optional and not an obligation. I think a lot of times people put a lot of emphasis on someone else's journey that they don't focus enough on their own. If something is beautiful let it be beautiful, but to belittle it because it "could be fake" makes no sense to me. Now, if someone is lying and saying its real when it's not then that's different because their intent is to mislead."

Most will probably agree with Opara. Weaves, wigs and extensions are fun, versatile, and protective. No one should ever have to share anything about their hair if they don't desire, because it really is no one's concern. But what happens when women wear the "natural looking" extensions, purposefully deceive others into believing that it's their hair and gain notoriety for their natural hair even though it isn't their own?

Opara believes that you have every right not to mention that you are wearing a weave or wig.

"If people ask, then it is my hope that you would tell the truth, but there is no unspoken hair obligation for you to disclose whenever you are wearing a weave," she said.

What are your thoughts on this movement? Should women who intentionally deceive their audience confess? Or is it really no one's business?

Portia is a wife and mother who enjoys making things and people look pretty! As a graduate of Rowan University, Portia has an insatiable craving for natural hair, beauty, and fashion, but she also enjoys traveling and home decor. If you'd like to know more about her, visit her blog at huneybflyy.com

7 Protective Styles for Medium-Length, Kinky Natural Hair | Black ...

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 08:00 AM PDT

toyaboo

By Chinwe of Hair and Health

A couple months ago, I wrote this post for my short-haired ladies. Since I do not want to leave you medium-length naturals hanging, this post is for you all:

1. Jumbo Twist Updo

Now this gorgeous style is one you can rock almost anywhere, be it a party, a date, the office, … almost anywhere. Toyaboo starts on partially stretched natural hair, and within fifteen minutes, creates this masterpiece. Watch the video for step-by-step instructions!

2. Two Cornrows Updo with a Side Part

Nyla is one my favorite YouTubers when it comes to styling her 4B/4C hair. In this video, she transforms a simple updo with two big cornrows into pure elegance. Check out her tutorial!

3. Banana Clip Updo

Chrissy uses a banana clip to create this beautiful yet simple updo. Oh, the creativity! Check the video for a detailed demonstration.

4. Two Cornrows Updo with a Middle Part

In this tutorial, Koku demonstrates two cornrows with a middle part, which is a variation of the above side-part version. If you prefer a middle part, then you might want to check out this look.

5. Funky Three-Sided Puffs

Simplycre8eve is simply creative! Who would've ever thought to turn three puffs into a cute hairstyle? For this look, she starts out on blown-out hair. Check out the video for details.

6. Repost! – Chunky Twists Updo

You might have seen this tutorial in my last styles post, but I just had to include it here as well. Starting on stretched hair, lydvina turns a combination of chunky twists and small twists into this gorgeous updo you see.

7. Textured Updo with a Scarf

VeePeeJay turns a chunky twist-out into a chic updo in this tutorial. I think it is a great style to fall back on if you're having a bad hair day or if you simply do not know what to do with your hair for the day. Check it out!

Ladies, would you wear any of these styles?

Chinwe

Hails from a great city in the Midwest and will forever be a Bears fan.

Black Hair Styles

Saturday, 21 June 2014