You may remember Yaya from ANTM’s Cycle3. Simply Gorgeous, I must say. I wish I was patient enough to let my natural hair grow this long. I’d be so proud to rock her ‘do!!!
Every culture has a right of passage. Some are more drastic than others, but each have a unique value of beauty and adulthood.
For example, a small village above Thailand places brass rings around the womens’ necks, disfiguring them until the neck appears to be elongated. It looks strange to us here in the US, but it’s a fancied vision of beauty to them.
Back in the day, I heard about how women in the far east would bind their young daughters’ feet, halting their growth (in the form of broken bones and possible infection/handicap) in order to achieve what was considered as beautiful to them…small feet.
Here in the US (and in plenty parts of the world), many feel that straight, long, flowing hair (such as what the Europeans naturally have) is the standard of beauty. There are plenty of theories as to why the majority here feels this way, but black women, for the most part do not feel that their natural, curly hair is beautiful/acceptable in our society and decide to get relaxers. If you aren’t familiar, a relaxer is a chemical treatment for hair that permanently straightens the hair by breaking down the composition of the follicles and loosening the natural curl that it has. For plenty of women, this chemical treatment is very effective, but for others, it can cause permanent hair loss and a great deal of damage, yet, we still continue to touch it up every six weeks.
Relaxed hair is such a commonality that women with natural hair styles such as locks, or afros are looked at as unique, or rebels to society even. I went natural for two years because I wanted to show people that I no longer wanted to conform to the standards of beauty here in America. I wanted to prove to people that BLACK (in it’s natural state) IS BEAUTIFUL. Unfortunately, due to a slight mishap, and a profound boredom with my hairstyle, I ended up getting a texturizer back in November of 2006. ….but that’s another story…
My question to you is… Do you feel that perming children’s hair is o.k.?
Considering that relaxers are a permanent change to hair texture and can cause great damage leads me to say no. I personally feel that parents should allow for their child to make the decision of getting a relaxer when they’re in adulthood (or at least their teenage years). I’ve seen many instances where parents perm their young children’s hair and end up having to cut it all off later because their hair was too weak/delicate to take such harsh chemicals. I know that ‘nappy’ hair is hard to handle, but a bit of patience can lead to your son/daughter having long, luscious, healthy hair in the long run.
On another hand, what does this say to our self esteem as a race? Why is our natural hair looked down upon (aka “nappy headed hoes“)? Why do we reject our natural look?
I would love your thoughts on this.
For more on going natural, check out Nappturality.com
I was poking around on roshini.net and found a video by blackhairdvd.com discussing the black hair care market and where our money REALLY goes. The opening lines are as follows….
“African American women spend billions every year on hair products.
Even though they only make up 10% of the American Population, they buy 70% of all wigs and extensions purchased in the United States.”
Many of us use/buy our hair products without taking any consideration as to where they came from, but after watching the videos below, I’ve decided to look closer at how I spend my money, at least when it comes to buying black hair care products.
————– Part Two : Link
————– Part Two : Link
————– Part Three : Link
————– Part Four : Link
Out of all of the millions that are being spent by the black community on hair care products and extensions, only a fraction is coming back in. And where is it going? To the Koreans of all people. Not to say that it’s a bad thing for any group to be successful entrepreneurs, but the methods in which the Koreans are going about it are almost unethical in my eyes. They have an easy time taking our money for many reasons:
With all that’s going on right now, this really isn’t a big deal to the most of us. But to the honest, hard working black entrepreneur who’s trying to get into a market geared towards their people, this is really devastating. The vast amounts of jobs that could be available in lower-income, urban communities are being compromised as well.
Bobsa.org (Black Owned Beauty Supply Association) is a group geared towards gaining some of the control of the black hair care/beauty supply market in the United States. They provide an interesting list of Black Hair care distributors and also have a good list of beauty supply stores that are black-owned.
When making your next purchase of hair extensions, or black hair care products, please be conscious of where you’re purchasing from and where those hard-earned dollars really go.
Women come to me to get extension for many reasons. Sometimes, they come to cover up a mysterious patch of hair that just won’t grow. I’ve seen it on several women where they have a section of coarse, short, brillo-textured hair that just won’t seem to grow. Sometimes, the patch is even BALD. When I ask about it, 100% of them have claimed it was caused by the same thing…STRESS. I didn’t believe it was possible, but boy, was I wrong.
A good friend of mine once said “Stress is poison” and I truly believe it. From reading a few articles, I found out that when your body is under an abnormal level of stress, your hair will become a low priority for receiving the body’s energy and nutrients. Eventually, a section of your hair will become coarse and break off, or even fall out. It sort of goes into a dormant phase until your body’s back to normal.
The hair loss usually tends to show up 3 months after the stressful event has occurred. And the hair might not start to grow back until 3 months after the stressful period has ended. (6 months of baldness!?!?!? Aw HELLS NAW!)
With all of the issues that women deal with day-to-day, it’s hard to find a good release for stress. I suggest to always find a positive outlet like church, reading a book, confiding in a good friend, or exercise. In the meantime, you can always cover up your damaged hair with a wig or some extensions.
There are several other causes for hair loss such as:
Be nice to your hair ladies! You’re too blessed to be stressed, so let some things roll off your shoulders!
References: (ThatsFit.com , HairLossHelp.com, FamilyDoctor.org )
hey nathalie i wanted to write u and tell u that your braiding skills are hott i was on yahoo search to c any ideas i can do for myself i braid 2 and tha work u did on your website is crazy i never seened disigns like dat b for im 18 now and ive been braiding since 12 i wana b a beautitian myself but enuf about me lol just keep it up gurl i dont know u but im proud of u n e way lol hope to hear from u soon
Hey Nathalie,
I am in Jackson, MS. My name is Maylene and I am only 16 years old. I have visited your site looking for designs to do on me clients’ hair only to find out that we have done similar styles. Your braids are wonderful!!! I also feel that the only difference in your braids and my braids is that you have been doing them for 14 years…..me?…only about 5. I believe it is a natural talent and thats why I get so many compliments and so many people wants me to do their hair. I mean from the neighborhood kids, to college students and even older women want their hair did. Besides being cheaper than the Africans, everyone always tells me that I am the best they ever had and that they don’t want anyone else in their head. So….my question to you is should I raise my prices or stay the same? Also, i am only a junior in High School and I was wondering how I should go about making a career in doing hair………….Well…..to bring closure to this letter, my main purpose was to tell you how i admire you work. I wish I could have seen more pictures, but as for now, just write mack as soon as you can……..sincerely and admiring, Maylene.
It’s WONDERFUL to get feedback from people…and to see that someone’s actually looking at my work! I really REALLY appreciate it and I truly wish you the best.
I’m not sure what you are typically charging your clients at the moment, but if you are charging ‘crackhead prices’…my answer to you is…YES, raise your da*n prices! LOL, but don’t rip your clients off. When coming up with your rate, consider the amount of time/difficulty that the style will take. Also take into consideration how long it will last on the client, and what type of income you need in order for your hair styling career to be worthwile instead of just a time-consuming hobby. I typically attempt to make at least $10.00/hour, but it can be more or less than that at times depending on what I’m doing for someone.
If you want to go about making a career out of doing hair, I would say that you should continue doing it through high-schoool (get your name out there and build up your clientelle). Do your best to build up a portfolio by taking photos of your best works. People are very visual when choosing a stylist…and if you have a good amount of photos to show them, it will help a lot. Be as professional with your clients as possible (making appointments on time, being responsive to their calls/requests) Also, try and save $$ in order to go for your license when you’re out of High School. When you have your license, you will learn more tricks/styles/methods, you can charge MUCH more as well. Who knows, your hair braiding may put you through college or make you a self-employed business-owner in the future!
Below is one of my favorite sistars, Lexi. She’s a brilliant student at UCF and a great friend of mine. The best thing about her is that she lets me experiment on her all the time. Shame on me though, there’s never a camera around when I do her hair, until just recently.
Lexi’s been going natural over the past year and has been trying out braids during her transition phase. She FORCED me to cut off some chunks of permed hair, but there’s still plenty left to go.
She’s very creative in her choice of styles. The cornrows provide a quick and easy solution for a hairstyle while she’s transitioning from permed to natural hair. In between braids, she usually sports the “braid-out” which is cornrowing your hair after a shampoo, and unraveling them (when the hair has dried), leaving a loose, natural-looking style.
Much love to you Lexi, I told you you’d be on the page!
My clients come from all over the place. Some are new to Orlando, some have been here forever. Some get their hair done every week, and I ‘break the cherry‘ for a few too. There are so many common questions that people ask, but the first one I wanted to address is:
Where should I get my hair from?
Now, in the future, this site will have a full listing (plus ratings) of hair supply stores all over the place. For now, I’ll just have to spotlight the few that I know of in the Orlando Area.
Answer #1, no, Sally’s is NOT an option, not for the most part. They are overpriced (for example, a $0.99 jumbo pack of hair could cost you $1.99 and up at Sally’s) and they don’t have the greatest selection for ethnic hair either. There’s a wonderful chain of hair supply stores in the Miami/Lauderdale area called Deco Drive which I LOVE, but too bad, they are not here in Orlando. So….
I mainly go to #1 Beauty Supply (Check here for the YellowPages info). It’s located at: 2700 N Orange Blossom Trl, Orlando, FL 32804.
Although it’s not the most beautiful location, the customer service is pretty good and they have a big selection of wigs / tracks / human hair / ponytails…well, just about anything you can think of putting on your head, they’ve got it. I’m very picky on the hair I purchase (especially when buying for micros) and they’ve got some quality brands (Beverly Johnson, Bijoux, Milky Way, etc).
Feel free to post a comment on your favorite hair supply store. I know there are plenty out there, I’m just too lazy to search! LOL
Also, if you’ve had a bad experience at a hair supply store, feel free to blast them at your leisure.
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