team natural | #hairbeautybuzz

#TEAMNATURAL IS LIVING NO LYE IN DALLAS FOR INHMD

Posted on May 27, 2015 by A Plus Recommends

DALLAS — In case you didn’t know it, every hashtag has a creator. There isn’t a machine or a committee that decides what particular tag will take hold. Take Twitter User and social activist Reign of April. Her natural reaction to this year’s Oscar nominations were an obvious fact: #OscarsSoWhite. The thing that wasn’t as obvious until it was, is that hashtag went viral and Reign of April appeared on the national scene.

Such was the stroke of luck for Constance Cash, a Dallas native, whose #TeamNatural tag not only went viral, but grew roots. The ubiquitous hashtag is used for every natural hair post across social media platforms and is tagged by 2.5m images on Instagram alone. This weekend, Cash’s Team Natural is celebrating International Natural Hair Meetup Day in Dallas with a weekend chock-full of education, edibles and entertainment.

Oh, wait. You don’t know what INHMD is? Let me be the one to tell you: Kinky-, curly- and coily-textured hair women in cities around the globe converge on one locale to talk tresses and meet other like-minded naturalistas in their area for one day. That one day in 2015 is May 30th. Yes, this is a thing. And, yes, you need to go.

Locally, first up is the Living No Lye Tour stop for the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex. This is a fab expo with hair and beauty experts and bloggers who are keen to share what they know. Say what? Beautiful women are about to spill their secrets? I say again, you need to be there because it’s happening Saturday, May 30th. The lineup is pretty impressive for those in the know: noted author Audrey Davis-Sivasothy, the cosmetic chemist known as Sister Scientist, Erica Douglas, #TeamNatural founder, Constance Cash, and bloggers Sumetra Reed and Tiffany Nichols.

The Living No Lye Tour stops in the DFW on May 30th at 1010 Collins Event Center.

“The mission of Team Natural and the Living No Lye Tour is to educate and empower individuals embarking on natural hair journeys by focusing on natural hair care, beauty and overall health and wellness,” Cash said. “Team Natural aims to inspire women all over the globe to wear their natural hair with confidence.”

After you’ve received your personal edification, it’s time to shine with confidence in an all-white affair with celebrity hosts, the original #HairCrush Chime Edwards (who is coincidentally the very first celebrity guest on the new natural hair #hairbeautybuzz radio show starting June 6th) and Alyssa Forever at the Naturals Night Out All-White Party. This will be your opportunity to show off your natural mane in all its glammed-out glory.

Now, if that wasn’t enough, or you are committed on the 30th, catch the Curlfriends Bloggers Brunch on Sunday, May 31st. #TeamNatural has gone out of its way to corral more of the hottest bloggers from the region for you to sit down and sip with over a midday meal. Join @AskPRoy, @__Lipstickncurls__, @TheKGLifestyle. @JulianAddo, @VeePeeJay, @Alexandriawill, and @HausofSwag. These bonafide beauties are sure to drop beauty nuggets by the barrelful, so be there or forever miss out.

Sponsors and vendors of the event include but are not limited to: Curls, Obia Natural Hair, Cantu Beauty, Kinky, Curly, Yaki and others.

Where is this all going down, you might ask? Get all the deets (locations and start times) and purchase your tickets now on Team Natural’s website. You better hurry because I hear this event will sell-out before Saturday.

Tell us, are you going to an INHMD event on Saturday? If you’re in Dallas, hail me up because I will be there. Roll call. Shout out your city and event in the comments.

Big Chop to Frohawk in Six Months

Posted on May 12, 2015 by A Plus Recommends

Amid the chaos that has been event planning, last week’s Cinco de Mayo was my six-month Big Chop hairversary. In retrospect, the journey hasn’t been that long. After those first few days and weeks of raiding the shelves at Sally’s, Hair and Beauty Mart and Target, I settled into a routine that seems to be working for me. What do you think?

From upper left to right, lower left to right, then center left to right are images of my six-month natural hair journey.

As you can see, those first two pictures don’t show a woman who is completely thrilled with the results of her decision. Slowly but surely I came along, and as my mind did (read about that here), so did my hair. For the first time this weekend, I was able to pin the sides up to sport some frohawk realness! Alas, this juncture in my journey has created a new query: When do I trim?

When I was relaxed, there was no guessing. I trimmed every 6 to 8 weeks without fail. We all know why. Ends become dry and brittle and start to break. With my natural, however, that hasn’t happened. I take extra care and deep condition weekly, but I also only do heavy manipulation once weekly. Neither of which as helped me decide when to trim, so maybe you can.

Do I wait for my hair to have issues before I trim, or do I conduct a preemptive strike in my fight for healthy hair and trim now? What’s your natural hair trim schedule?

Let Me Clarify

Posted on May 11, 2015 by A Plus Recommends

After my last wash session, I knew I had gone too long without clarifying. My hair was curly, but something was just off. It felt dull, lifeless. To clarify, I don’t use anything fancy, but I still don’t use shampoo, which I feel, strips my hair beyond a quick repair. I had an event yesterday and had no room for a hair mishap.

Although, my clarifying routine consists of 2 oz. of my As I Am Coconut Cowash Cleansing Conditioner, two teaspoons of baking soda and water and aloe vera juice, I had been wanting to experiment with bentonite clay since I read about the Maximum Hydration Method. The MHM is not for everyone, me included. It consists of several steps repeated daily for a week. I don’t have that kind of time, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t try bentonite clay at all. The trouble was getting my hands on it. I had been to countless beauty supply stores in Dallas, including my favorite, Hair and Beauty Supply in Uptown, but no one carried it. Of course, I could get it online, but I didn’t want to pay for shipping since I knew the clay was heavy.

Then I heard the Vitamin Shoppe carried it. On Friday, I excitedly drove over to the one on Lover’s Lane to pick up my first container. Alas, I was met with an empty shelf. The clerk said ever since it was mentioned on Dr. Oz, they can’t keep it in stock. Thanks, Doc! For those unfamiliar with the area, there is a health food store called, Central Market right across the street. CM is a local Texas version of Whole Foods, only slightly better by my standards.

Lo and behold! Central Market got the gold star on this one. Not only did they have the bentonite clay, but they had the 2-lb. jar for $10! After declaring lifelong loyalty to the chain and wondering why I didn’t start there, I ran home to begin my two-day clarifying process that starts with a prepoo. Take a look at my steps:

Prepoo overnight. This saturates my hair and scalp with emollients, protecting it from being stripped during the clarifying process.
Rinse out prepoo until water is clear. This is easy because I use cocoa powder in my prepoo, which is easy to see once it’s all out because the water runs clear.
Apply clarifying mixture that is described above using an applicator bottle. Bag and seal for 45 minutes to an hour.
Rinse, apply rinse-out conditioner, comb through and rinse.
Step out of the shower and apply bentonite clay. I mixed mine with apple cider vinegar, coconut milk and aloe vera juice, again purchased at Central Market. Application of the clay is similar to your styling process. You shingle and rake the clay through your hair. I found that the coconut milk gave the clay more slip, which I found incredibly helpful. In case it’s unclear, I used coconut milk because both the clay and the aloe have clarifying properties (aloe vera is an astringent), so the coconut milk adds moisture to prevent overdrying.
Bentonite Clay application before and after.
Let the clay sit in your hair for about an hour without drying. If your hair starts to dry, then wash it out despite the time. You can bag and seal if you want to keep it in for an extended period. I didn’t do that this time. After the alotted time, rinse out. Do not cleanse.
Apply deep conditioner. I bagged and sealed mine for an overnight intense deep conditioning with SheaMoisture’s Intense Hydration Hair Masque. This was my first time using the product and I was happy with the results.
Rinse out. Apply rinse-out conditioner and do the final cold rinse.
LOC or LCO, whichever is your preference and style as usual.

I am very happy with my final results. My hair was clumped after the rinsing out of the bentonite clay. It was soft, fluffy and well conditioned.

After the entire process, but pre-product. My hair clumped without product!

I didn’t experience any of the dryness that some have said was a problem for them after the clay application. Here is what I used:

I used everything in this picture except for the VO5.

My final result: My curls are back to feeling soft, fluffy but are also elongated and very defined. I was able to style my hair for the first time without using pins in the front. Yay for the small victories! Here’s how I looked for the event with first-day hair!

First-day hair after clarifying with baking soda and bentonite clay in a two-day process.

What is your clarifying process? What products do you use?

Product Review: I Can’t Believe It’s Hair Butter!

Posted on May 3, 2015 by A Plus Recommends

Last week was a whirlwind of activities, most of which was putting out fires. I’m in the planning mode of a new natural hair project that I will share here first when it moves into the marketing phase. So stay tuned for that in the next few weeks. Despite how tired, frazzled and frustrated I may get, it’s a relief to know my hair doesn’t reflect how I feel. If you’ve been keeping up with #hairbeautybuzz, you know that I’m trying out Nyambi Naturals from this blog I wrote not too long ago.

One of the first things I tried out of my goodie box was the Hair and Body Butter. Now, I will tell you from the outset, I’m skeptical of products that have dual purposes in such vastly different applications, so while I expected it to be great for the heels of my feet and my elbows, I didn’t expect that it would be great for my hair.

This is what my hair looked like after that first use:

My first attempt using Nyambi Naturals’ Hair Butter.

I took a gamble because I was in a natural hair photo shoot the same day I used it for the first time, which you are never supposed to do, but I was happy with the results. In the picture, my hair is still wet. I used too much product because I realized it clumped my hair. It clumped my hair! I will say it again: IT. CLUMPED. MY. HAIR. Did you get that? OK. I’m not one of those naturals whose hair clumps with water. I have to use Ms. Kendra K’s “Shingle, Rake & Shake” after applying my favorite gel, Ecostyler by Ecoco Beauty, which I buy from Hair and Beauty Mart in Dallas by the 5-lb. bucket.<— More on that later. I could have used just Nyambi Naturals’ Hair Butter for a softer set, and if I did, I would still have curls. Alas, I’m addicted to high curl definition, so I layered my Olive Oil Ecostyler over it. To my glee, the products worked well together. After getting over my obsession with clumping, for my next experiment with the product, I just used Nyambi Naturals’ Hair Butter to seal. Here are my results from that session, which was last Sunday:

I used Nyambi Naturals’ Hair Butter to seal in my LOC method.

As you can see, my high definition is in full curl effect! My hair was much lighter too since I didn’t use much. Today, I used it in the same way with similar results. See below:

My results from my third use of Nyambi Naturals’ Hair Butter.

So here’s my assessment of the Nyambi Naturals’ Hair Butter: It smells fabulous and it will make your hair smell fabulous too. It clumps even my 4a patch of hair, which is something previously only Ecostyler gel could claim to do on my hair. It has multiple applications, such as styling aid, sealer and as a possible additive to your conditioning treatments. It’s economical. A little goes a long way. So, I love it and give it 5 out of 5 Stars! Really terrific hair product.

The one thing I would like to see, and am told will be added to the line soon, is a whipped version of this awesome product. In the Dallas heat, I can see the thicker consistency being an issue in the summer months, but a lighter version would work beautifully. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on that because it would be great to use a whipped version in the summer, and the original in the winter to protect my strands during the colder weather.

Perhaps, I’ll get to try it at this month’s Mix, Match and Massage at the Brooklyn Nights Bar in Brooklyn, NY on May 17th. This event looks like a lot of fun where you get to choose two of your favorite products for one low price, get a free chair massage, make-up retouch and studio pics with Summer Wayans all for no extra charge! By the way, we are all invited!

Nyambi Naturals Mix, Match & Massage at Brooklyn Nights Bar, 497 Dekalb Ave., on May 17th.

Want to try Nyambi Naturals? Click here.

What products have you tried recently? Share in the comments, you might help another reader.

Gotta Have Curlfriends

Posted on April 24, 2015 by A Plus Recommends

Terresa Harris gathered six different women, and two girls, for a photo shoot of different types of natural hair. Click image to enlarge. Photo Credit: Pink Images

Last week I forayed into the Dallas suburb of Irving, something I don’t do often as I find the suburbs to be not my metropolis-centric cup of tea. This adventure off my well-beaten Uptown track was for a good reason and well worth it. A fellow Instagrammer, @ProjectNaptural, had invited me to take part in a photo shoot that would be part of a socio-cultural project that may result in an application for members of Team Natural everywhere. This project is part of her Master’s thesis at the University of North Texas, a different location from the campus where the shoot took place. I have modeled before and still jump at the chance when the opportunity presents itself as it tends to do every now and again. The difference this time was my hair was no longer straight and its curliness would be the focal point of the shoot. Was I ready?

I’m proud to report, the hardest part of the shoot was the required attire. A few months ago, you couldn’t pay me to take a picture for public consumption. Now, I was confident, free and ready to show off my kinks, curls, and coils. I didn’t know any of the women before arriving, not even the organizer, Terresa, who invited me. We exchanged emails and thoughts prior to the shoot and liked each other’s pictures on Instagram, but that was about the extent of it. When I arrived, all the ladies glowed in their all-white attire, which I believe, is written somewhere as a Texas residency requirement.

It really didn’t matter that I knew no one because the reason why we were there is what bonded us together. I was immediately part of this exclusive club of women who have gone through the trials and tribulations of finding the right pre-poo, failed twist-outs and wash and gos that take hours to actually wash and go before getting the hang of it. Through our shared experiences of navigating the natural hair landscape, without words, without meeting, we bonded in the knowledge that we have all traveled a similar path that led us to that day even with vastly different natural hairstyles.

We are all #TeamNatural, but we don’t look the same. Click image to enlarge. Photo Credits: Pink Images & Project Naptural

What being around my new community of local curlfriends showed me is that unlike straight hairstyles, our natural hair has its own identity. No two heads of hair is exactly the same. I don’t have to do anything to my natural hair to make it stand out from theirs because my combination of kinks, coils and curls is as unique to me as theirs is to them. That’s the beauty of it. While straight hair was a weekly, or even daily, attempt to fit in and conform, which I’ve talked about before, now I’m part of a growing group of women who understand and embrace acceptance and self-love. That’s a pretty cool group of which to be a part.

My very first editor once told me, “You can’t be successful writing in a vacuum.” What he meant was that while writing is a solitary exercise, good writing takes the critique and perspectives of others. This idea holds true when it comes to appreciating your natural hair too. You will not be able to clearly see how special it is until you join others in the celebration of it. Through the knowledge of others, many of us find better solutions, better products, and better routines. Whether it’s a meetup group, a private online community, a picture with a familiar hashtag on The Gram or this here blog, you gotta have curlfriends.

Click image to enlarge. The entire Project Naptural Photo Shoot crew. Photo Credit: Pink Images

Tag your curlfriends in the comments. If you need a curlfriend, connect with me on Instagram.

Introducing Nyambi Naturals: The Unboxing

Posted on April 17, 2015 by A Plus Recommends

I’ve been busy this past week, and while there haven’t been any breakthroughs — or breakdowns — with my hair, I’ve decided to give some space on this here #hairbeautybuzz blog to, er, beauty.

Last week, I received a box that was relatively normal until I opened it. Immediately, upon peeling the cardboard flaps back, I knew I had something special. Here’s something you should know about me: I’m all about ambiance and presentation. Whether it’s food, lounges, music, whatever. In order to get my attention, you have to start with the right look and feel. After folding those brown flaps back, an aroma comprised of honey, vanilla, grapefruit and other scents wafted up and enveloped me, inviting me to dig further. Mind you, I hadn’t opened anything but the box. Staring back at me was this:

The presentation lets you know you’re in for a treat.

This beautiful burlap bag from Nyambi Naturals held all kinds of goods and treats that I’m always in the mood to enjoy. After seizing the moment and snapping that picture, I quickly cut the tag off and opened it to inspect my goodies: Chamomile Soap, Honey Vanilla Souffle, Spring Garden Sugar Scrub and more. So. Much. More.

Soaps, Sugar Scrubs, Body Butter and Souffles

Soaps, Sugar Scrubs, Body Butters, and Souffles

There was so much in the $50.00 bag of treats that I’m going to share some of it. I won’t give my review now because it would be based on merely the superb delivery and presentation, but for those categories, Nyambi Naturals gets 5-stars from me. Plus the value is never-ending. At first, I thought the products were delivered in a bag, but no. It’s a planter! See the philosophy that Nyambi Naturals is built on is about sustainable, all-natural, organic ingredients. Nyambi actually grows some of the ingredients herself, but all are gleaned from healthy, non-chemical sources. As an added feature, with this purchase, she encourages her customers to grow something of their own.

You can expect to hear more from me about Nyambi Naturals as I experience the products in all their luxuriating glory. Here’s a quick look at some of my treats in this delivery.

I already have 30—yes, THIRTY—basil plants growing on my balcony, which is a story for another day and a different blog. So, I think I’m going to try and grow some lavender in my planter, but I’m open to suggestions.

What do you think I should grow in my Nyambi Naturals’ planter?

Follow Nyambi Naturals on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Growth that Matters

Posted on April 9, 2015 by A Plus Recommends

Earlier this week, I mentioned my natural hair journey’s 5-month anniversary, when writing about how much my hair has changed. That got me thinking: What else has changed?

Clockwise from top, months 1 through 5 in the middle.

When I looked at this picture, I was fascinated about how far my hair has come in a very short period of time. But then, I couldn’t stop staring at it. I mean really staring at it. At first, I was admiring the growth, which is what’s most noticeable. I stared and stared until it dawned on me.

My face.

My face tells the story here, not my hair. Sure, my hair goes from undefined to defined. My hair goes from short to less short, but as they say in the news business, that’s not the story. My face and its expression, which isn’t fit for a friendly game of poker, tells the undeniable truth that big chopping wasn’t easy for me. I have worn my hair short before, but I was in my 20s the last time I did that, and I wasn’t natural.

When I big chopped, I honestly can say now, my hair was not what I expected. It didn’t curl when wet. It didn’t curl when gelled. It didn’t curl, at all. I had cut inches and inches of straightened hair that while, not perfect, was familiar. I was ready to rock a curly TWA because it had some edge. But my TWA was in fact just a teeny weenie Afro.

I hunkered down for two weeks, TWO WEEKS, in my flat trying to figure out how I was ever going out in public again. The Month One pic was taken around the two-week mark, when I absolutely, unequivocally had to go outside, which I did after taking the image. In the days since that one where the misery splayed across my face, I notice that my expression changed.

By the Month 3 image, I’m slightly amused by all this natural hair talk. I remember it well. That picture became my “outed” avatar on Facebook. That’s right. I only told two people about my big chop. No one else knew. By then, I was slowly coming into my own and thought how silly I had been for ever being ashamed of my hair. By Month’s 4 & 5, you can see my confidence is back. I feel pretty, I feel like me but improved. I’m not hiding, I’m not covering up. As a friend likes to describe it, I feel free.

Not only free from the crippling weekly appointments that emptied my pockets at $65 per visit for a wash and set, ruined many Saturdays or subjected many to stylists who don’t know what they were doing, but free from the mental constraints that come along with the burden of altering your natural look in order to assimilate to society’s standards of beauty.

The middle picture is the only one where my hair is straightened without using a relaxer.

That’s what relaxers are. They are assimilation. The nonconformist in me is stunned that I hadn’t realized it sooner. My straightened hair was nothing but an outwardly desire to fit in to an Anglo culture’s definition of what I should be. But I forgive myself of this, since I received my first relaxer at five because my hair was too much for my mother, who didn’t know how to cornbraid. Now, when I look at my pictures that I’ve taken along my natural hair journey, I don’t just see longer locks. I see a change in my perspective about self love and acceptance. I see how my thought process has evolved. I see the growth that really matters.

How has your perspective changed since you big chopped? Tell me in the comments.

So it Grows, I Ching, Adapt

Posted on April 5, 2015 by A Plus Recommends

If you’ve been natural for any length of time, you know that wash day is the most unpredictable in your routine. Since I big chopped on Nov. 5, 2014, I had established a routine that was working for me — until it wasn’t.

What to do when you’re hair changes up on you without cause? If you’re like me, you consult your hair buddy in the natural hair community that you’ve built around yourself since the shock of cutting of inches upon inches of relaxed and otherwise healthy hair. After backtracking through my routine with my hair buddy, who happens to be my cousin and the person who planted the transitioning seed in the back of my mind, we figured out which step had caused the hiccup.

I have suffered from dry scalp since childhood (I wonder if getting my first relaxer at five-years-old had anything to do with that, but I digress), so early in my natural hair journey, I discovered oil rinsing and incorporated it into my routine. In one session, it transformed my hair from hard and excessively dry to moisturized and pillowy. Alas, its days had come to an end for it worked too well. My hair is now normal, as opposed to dry, and thus, the extra oil was leaving my hair, well, oily to the touch. Oil trickling down your forehead and neck just isn’t cute. Yuck.

Just when I thought I had it figured out, my hair was like: “Girl, naw.”

After identifying the cause, I quickly omitted the culprit, and my hair is back to what I would describe as fabulously fly. In the five months that I’ve been on the long and winding road, my biggest lesson is: I ching, adapt because your hair will change whether you want it to or not.

I may have to return to oil rinsing when the temperatures drop again, and that’s ok too. My hair reserves its right to do what the hell it wants, and I respect that. So, if you’ve big chopped, and you’re trying to find your footing, just know every (wash) day is a learning one. If I can get this far, so can you.

If you’re curious, here’s some pics showing you my growth stages from BC to today (Five months post BC):

I was not happy during those first two weeks. Uh, no.

Five-month Hairversary:

I’m feeling it, are you?

Natural Hair Tip: I ching, adapt.

What are your natural hair tips that you’ve learned along the way? Comment with your response and help a newbie, or even a vet.

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