Summer is in full swing, and so are dope hairstyles for summer. Here are few ways to keep your do preserved.
Work with your texture, not against it. Smooth, sleek styles are great but in the summer heat? Not so much. Braidouts, twist outs are your friends.
Use lighter products. Nothing is worse than running hair products. It's the perfect time to lighten up your routine. You can use thinner and less creamier products to avoid product buildup and product running down your face on a hot day.
Rethink glycerin. Glycerin products work well in lower humidity but may swell your hair when it's warmer. Unless your hair loves glycerine any time of the year, you may want to rethink it during warmer months.
The issue of colorism in the Black community -- specifically, against dark skin -- takes front and center stage tonight when Dark Girls premieres at 10 p.m. on OWN.
This whole thing has me feeling some kinda way.
As much as I would like to think this doesn't exist in 2013, we all know that it does. The same cruel things that were said to me about my skin on the playground are still said today. Sadly, things haven't changed.
It's a process that I wish young girls don't have to go through, like I did. It took me until my late teens to finally begin the process of appreciating my complexion.
Let's Talk about It
Dark Girls is definitely a validation of the pain that I -- and others -- went through and currently go through. You can't heal from something until you recognize it and make a decision to move forward. The same colorism that effects dark-skinned girls also limits our lighter-skinned sisters.
Their hurt is no less painful, and this isn't some sort of competition to see who hurts more; we are all victims, whether you were teased and ridiculed because your skin was supposedly too dark or because it was supposedly too light.
No one wins.
Each of us has a story. Maybe, by watching this documentary, we can all come to grips about the pain and let the healing begin.
From the WTF file, comes a story about a school in Ohio banning natural hairstyles such as afro puffs and small braids in a letter it sent home to parents as part of dress code requirements.
Part of the letter that Horizon Science Academy in Lorain, Ohio, sent to parents last week said:
"Afro-puffs and small twisted braids, with our (sic) without rubber bands, are NOT permitted."
Source: BGLH
Interesting, since this style is a style that little black girls -- and some boys -- have worn for generations.
Naturals rose up and the school backed up. This was their latest response, with a mea culpa:
"In the dress code information packet, a statement was made about not allowing a
certain hairstyle. This information has offended many people and by no means did we have any intention of creating bias towards any of our students. We truly apologize for this mistake and want to thank everyone for their feedback about the information in our handbook.
Furthermore, we are taking the matter seriously and again apologize for any offense it may have caused. We are currently taking the necessary steps to correct the information and to prevent this from ever happening again. We will be sending the final updated version of our dress code as soon as possible."
My Take
The insensitivity is absolutely unbelievable. Seems like most of this stems from not knowing, or caring to know, anything about our natural hair. Ponytails are indeed afro puffs on textured hair. But the "ban" said nothing about other ethnicities who choose to wear their hair in ponytails. Same with small braids. Is that banned on other races, too?
I'm glad that the school changed their policy, but there's got to be more cultural education at this school about natural hairstyles.
The curly we love to love -- Tracee Ellis Ross -- is asking fellow curlies not to covet her curls.
Ross, whom many naturals hold up as a natural role model in Hollywood-- including this blog -- is asking her fellow naturals to love their curls, no matter the texture.
Tracee Ellis Ross curls
Ross is so adamant about everyone loving their curls, that she introduced the Hair Love campaign on YouTube. In her video, she thanks viewers for liking her hair, but asks them to embrace theirs. She even shares that she used to hate her hair but has grown to love it.
“I genuinely am honored and tickled and excited by the fact that people like my hair,” Ross said. “It’s really nice when people like something about you, especially when they like something that you worked so hard on and used to hate.”
Source: YouTube
“I used to hate my hair,“ Ross explained, but accepts it after years of experimenting.
She was event more blunt about hair envy.
“I don’t want you to want my hair," she said. "The reason I don’t want you to want my hair is I’m of the school of love what you got. For me, the reason my hair was such a battle was because I was trying to make it something it wasn’t. I wanted the hair that somebody else had.”
Ross also asked women to share videos about why they love their hair.
My Take
All I can say is that this is quite a statement. Ross' hair is pretty -- and so are those of us with thicker, kinkier, textured hair. The challenge is that many naturals want hair like Ross, who is bi-racial and probably has multi-textures, and are so disappointed that they don't have "Joan" hair.
There is definitely an obsession with curl patterns in the natural hair community. I've been guilty of it, and, so, too, have many other naturals. Hell, look at most curl cream advertising and you know what I mean; the implication is that looser curls are the gold standard.
Curl Envy
And when your hair doesn't quite measure up to that -- and never will?
It's easy to say love your curls. And clearly, hair isn't just hair.
I'm glad Ross put this out. No amount of product is going to make your hair look just like hers, if you don't have similar textures. There isn't a magic potion to give you Joan curls.
I get it. Totally. Tracey wants you to like her hair. But love your own.
“I love that you love my hair,” she said,. "But I only love that you love my hair if it’s an inspiration for you to love your hair.”
It's summertime --- prime pool season. If you're like most with natural hair, you don't want the chlorine and salt water to wreak havoc on your strands.
Chlorine and salt water can severely damage the hair. They weaken the hair over time by stripping away hair's natural oils.
Here's a fool-proof guide to protecting your natural hair while you're swimming at the beach or at the pool.
1. Wet your hair before your go into the water. I know it seems counter intuitive: My hair is already going to get wet anyway, right? This is true, but wetting it before hand creates a barrier between your hair and the chlorine. Your hair absorbs the good stuff -- the water -- and not the bad stuff.
2. Use conditioner and oil to coat your strands. I'd rather leave a cloudy mess in the pool than to dip my hair unprotected into chlorine. Use a rinse out conditioner and coat your stands with conditioner after wetting it. Follow it with a light coat of oil (coconut, olive, grapeseed) for extra protection.
3. Immediately after you finish in the pool, rinse your hair with water. Follow up with a Swimmers' shampoo. This will strip the chlorine from your hair, protecting your strands.
4. Detangle and follow up with a deep conditioner. Make sure you add protein to your regimen, if your hair isn't protein sensitive.
I think certain people look utterly beautiful with short hairstyles ... Toni Braxton, Nia Long, Fantasia are among them. Add Amber Rose to that list. She is stunner; her bone structure is absolutely beautiful and her faded short haircut favors her. With long hair? While beautiful, she looks just like any other chic. Nothing special, unrecognizable even, though not so with her short hairstyle.
After watching the story of the 6-year old who cut her hair off -- and some of the backlash that was later directed at her mom -- I wondered: Would you let your daughter cut her hair off? Dye it? Shave it one-sided?
Sure, hair grows back. But when it comes to black hair and little girls, that's as sacred as a cow as you are gonna get. You will get crucified when it comes to those topics; just look at Willow Smith and some of the comments she gets about her hair.
Without a doubt, we absolutely do project our hair perceptions onto our daughters. And often times, that means, telling them what to do with their hair -- whether that's slapping a relaxer in or not putting a relaxer in.
But, as easy as this may sound, hair does grow back. And, while this is definitely an age-old debate, what better time to experiment with hair than when they are young? It's not like they have a job where they can't wear purple hair. What's the worst that can happen?
Would you allow your daughter to cut her hair or do a "controversial" style?
After watching the story of the 6-year old who cut her hair off in a fauxhawk-- and some of the backlash that was later directed at her mom -- I wondered: Would you let your daughter cut her hair off? Dye it? Shave it one-sided?
Sure, hair grows back. But when it comes to black hair and little girls, that's as sacred as a cow as you are gonna get. You will get crucified when it comes to those topics; just look at Willow Smith and some of the comments she gets about her hair.
Without a doubt, we absolutely do project our hair perceptions onto our daughters. And often times, that means, telling them what to do with their hair -- whether that's slapping a relaxer in or not putting a relaxer in.
But, as easy as this may sound, hair does grow back. And, while this is definitely an age-old debate, what better time to experiment with hair than when they are young? It's not like they have a job where they can't wear purple hair. What's the worst that can happen?
Would you allow your daughter to cut her hair or do a "controversial" style?
You know those times when you get so busy that you can't think straight? Yeah, been going through that for a minute now. And you just don't have an entire day to dedicate to washing your hair, you don't have hours to deep condition, apply product and then set your hair.
Even little things seem to be too much. Forget twisting and bantuing. You want something quick, because you don't have time to dry it! Too many other things to do. For those with natural hair, though, you can't totally neglect our hair or you may end up with a tangled, matted mess.
But there are somethings that you can do to shave precious minutes from your routine.
Here are three ways to cut down your routine time:
Modify your routine. Yes, modify, modify, modify. New babies, new jobs, new responsibilities. All of those things take time away from our hair. You simply don't have 3 hours to twist your hair and THEN take it down a few weeks later. So take a good, hard look at your hair routine and see what you can cut out. Do you REALLY need to have that deep conditioner in your hair for four hours or will 30 minutes be enough? Do you need to wash your hair eveyr week when every 2-3 weeks will do? Look for ways that you can cut time out of of your regimen and then only do what's absolutely necessary.
Reexamine your products. Many wash and go girls -- and yes, product junkies, too -- put on layers and layers of products. And all that takes time. What product or products can you cut out off your routine? Do you really need a creamy leave in, a finishing spray and an oil? Will just two or three products be OK?
Simplify your style. This is an obvious one, but what style can you to that you can shorten your routine. For me, a straight style takes less time overall. Others prefer braided styles that they can just leave and go. Figure out which styles you can live with and then rank them according to how much time they take. Or , get an extra day or two out of the styles that you already have.
How do you make your natural hair routine work with limited time?
