Damn Snoop!

So true! Does Snoop ever have a bad hair day?

So would you actually go here for braids?

So ..... ummm yeah. Raise your hand if you would actually get your braids done here?

Exactly what I thought ... Chile, BYE! Place looks all kinds of sketch. How can I be sure you aren't going to use hair from a Cabbage Patch Doll in my head if there is no sign on the front door? 

Photo credit: Joel Kurth

Now, Oumy might be able to lay my braids down like nobody's business. She might be able to beat these edges down like the Gawds, but I will never find out, I swear

Braids on Eight Mile Road 

Oumy's is on Eight Mile Road near Kelly in Detroit. And as much of a born and raised Detroit homegirl as I am, this ain't happenin'. 

Some places you just don't go.

The only sign on the front of the building looks like it saw the wrong end of a blow torch. The sign on the side of the building isn't much better: Looks like somebody painted it using a Dollar store paint brush and leftover mistake paint from The Home Depot.

I cannot with you today, Oumy!

Now, I'm fully aware of the term 'hole in the wall.' But that does not mean that I would patronize such an establishment and trust it with my crown and glory! You know how much time I spent on this hair? 

No ma'am and no sir! 

Just why?
If it all goes left and you leave me #teamnoedges, I need to know how to ... ahem ... get recourse, if you will. How do I find you? Especially when the front door is boarded up with a piece of plywood and appears to be padlocked?

Curb appeal much? And just who is 'Oumy'? Is this a government name? Is the number even legit? Bye, Oumy, whomever you are! 

E'rybody can't play in your head

I'd rather have a crooked neck sitting at someone's kitchen table while they're doing my braids, with them eating Chinese, watching Judge Greg Mathis and Maury and running after their bad ass kids, than mess around with Oumy. Or have my head dangling under a kitchen faucet while getting my hair scrubbed with Dawn dish soap, than deal with Oumy's foolishness.

Because, you see, I know what to expect from the hood beautician. Hey, a girl's gotta save coins somehow. But Oumy? I am really not so sure about any of this. Braids and taxes are not exactly complimentary. 

Will be edges be snatched and my taxes done?
Can I pay for my Sengelese twists using my tax refund?

Must I give Oumy my W-2s to get some zillions?

IJS. These are all things you must know.

Happy Valentine's Day

What would you do?

I'm just going to leave this one right here.

What would you do?

Flawless!

♡♡♡♡♡

Dopeness

Search for the perfect bun continues

By Tenisha Mercer
Www.HairNista.Blogspot.com

My search for the perfect bun for natural hair ended up a FAIL. I swear my bun -- modeled after Nicole's Natural Hair Top Knot -- was cute on Saturday morning. But by the time my teenagers saw it that afternoon, they said it looked "ratchet."

My thin bun still looked and felt pitiful -- nothing like the lush thick buns I love.

My sickly bun -- look at the gray hair sticking out!

I like the tutorial below, but it's still for straightened hair (I don't have a problem with bunning straightened hair, it's natural hair that I have a problem with).



Front Donut Bun

'Good hair' days

There are some days that your hair miraculously cooperates. This is one of those days.

Natural Hair Pic of the Day

Love this! Source

Froed out

I was in a fro mood after dealing with matted natural hair. Stretched hair into two braids the night before. Added a dab of gel to bangs. Done.

8 months ago, I had to use a blow out to get this length. No blowout, only stretched hair over night. It's growing, but these knots are killing me!

Natural Hair Pic of the Day

How can I get my hair like this? Source

Natural Hair Pic of The Day



Loving the curly fro -- Source



Natural Hair Pic of the Day

Love her curls -- and color -- Source

Natural Hair Pic of the Day

Beautiful jet black natural hair

How Do You Handle Bad Natural Hair Days?

Bad Natural Hair Days?

There are days. And then there are bad natural hair days; we all have them.

Usually, though, they are more "worse" than we think they are: That twistout is a FAIL, you wake up with a damp braidout that is frizzy, or your curls just don't hang right for nothing. You know, those days that leave you thinking, WTF?!

You can usually chalk it up to a lot of things -- product failure, application failure, weather or sometimes a combination of all three.

I deal with my bad hair days by dressing fly, wearing my mandatory earrings and jewelry, make up and perhaps a fly hair accessory (bobby pins for a quick updo, a cute headband or a flower can work wonders).

A bad hair day doesn't have to stop you from feeling your best. Sure, you might be seething about your hair inside, but the whole world doesn't have to know! (Definitely sometimes easier said than done!) Rock your fly self on -- bad hair day and all.

How do you handle bad hair days?

HairCrush Friday

Love these pics, courtesy of blkgirlsrock.tumblr.com

Natural fro



Love it!

Flower power!



Fro

Conquering Hair Demons

Natural hair is a journey that hopefully leads to a destination. I'm just glad that more of us are going along for the ride.

Sometimes, as we take that journey, it means unlearning the things that were ingrained in us about our natural hair -- and learning new hair habits. I'm not just talking products, but hair talk. You know, those nasty hair demons, those ugly, self defeating things you think to yourself when you look at your hair in the mirror.

"My hair is not good enough."


"I look better with permed hair."


"My hair is too thick, coarse, poofy, etc., to be natural."

"I only look pretty with straight hair."

"I'll never get or keep a man with this hair."

"Only girls with curly hair look good natural."

Most of us have them, some worse than others. They may not be bad enough to make you crawling back to the "creamy crack," but they are just enough to make you feel self conscious or doubt your  hair journey.

Hair Habits

Most life coaches will tell you that it takes about a month to start a  new habit. In honor of that, let's change what we tell ourselves about our hair -- not that it's too dry, thick, kinky, fine, won't hold a curl, won't let go of a curl, too quick to curl, curls too much. 

Not concentrate on our hair "challenges," exist as they might.

Let's reprogram the messages that we tell ourselves when we look at our hair in the mirror. So that, 30 days later, hair affirmations will become a well-ingrained, positive habit.

Do you pratice hair affirmations? How do you conquer your hair demons?

Summer Natural Hair

Carefree summer natural hair ... love it!

Vacays, pools, beaches ... all of them with natural hair.

Summer natural hair

How are you wearing your hair this summer?

Be Featured On HairCrush Fridays

I love BOSS natural hair.

Swag for days, no apologies for the kinks, power to the fro, BAD ASS, shut yo' mouth natural hair.

I'm posting some pictures from my go-to natural hair site -- blkgirlsrock.tumblr.com.

But, if your natural hair has mad swag and you're proud of it, send a pic to hairnista.blogspot@gmail.com. Your picture could be posted on HairCrush Fridays!

Source

Source

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This picture is adorable!

Natural Hair In The D

Shout out to my former Detroit News' colleague, Donna Terek, for a wonderful Sunday column about natural hair in Detroit. I've had the pleasure to work with Donna in the past and she's one cool journalist.

Her piece was very thorough and well-researched with comments from local loctitians and natural hair stylists. She accurately captured the growth of natural hair in the Black community, profiling Naturally Flyy Detroit's natural hair meetup -- the brainchild of sisters Charise and Jennifer Thomas.

Our Culture and Natural Hair
Donna's is Caucasian, but she nailed it when it came to the cultural context of having natural hair -- the liberation we feel when wearing our natural hair; how wearing our hair naturally challenges straight hair is right ideology; why some women go natural; and how we scored a coup when Viola Davis rocked natural cropped hair at the Academy Awards.

Detroit is my hometown and is FIERCE in the hair world, so I'm always proud to show some love. I've copied the column below.

What do you think?