4 beautiful styles from Essence.com

Twist Style:

I saw this photo on Essence.com, in one of there hair galleries, and feel in love with this hair-do. I think if I ever had to cut my loc's off (heaven forbid), this is a style I would definitely try to rock!

*The following quote is from Essence.com

"Twist & Shout

To achieve this funky do, twist your lightly damp strands at night for texture and release in the morning. Finger-comb into place, spray with hydrating oil sheen and you’re ready to go. Consider a sheen like Organic Root Stimulator’s Olive Oil Nourishing Sheen Spray for optimum results without weighing down your hair."

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Textured Curls:

*The following quote is from Essence.com

"Free Style

You can replicate this eclectic curly style by braiding your hair at night for length and texture. Stylist Sabine Bellevue (sabineshallway.com) suggests braiding your hair into large plaits at night and then releasing them for a mile-high do."

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Curly Loc's:

*The following quote is from Essence.com

"Lockalicious

This spiral-curled style is far from dreadful and offers diversity to amber-colored locks. Even more diversity can be obtained by pinning up the back for a sleek updo or pulling up into a pretty ponytail with a decorative band. Insider tip: many locked sisters maintain their tresses with fresh aloe vera gel straight from the plant as a natural alternative to harsh, chemically-loaded products."

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A Natural:

*The following quote is from Essence.com

"Natural Wonder

This natural do will stand up to the heat even when you can’t. Brush hair back on one side and secure with large bobby pins or a ponytail holder. A hairdressing like PhytoSpecific Moisturizing Styling Balm will keep sides smooth."

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Kalia's Siserlock's

I have always been very curious about sisterlock's. I have all these questions, like how do you keep them from joining together? Is the maintenance much different then loc's? It is expensive to have a sisterlock specialist maintain your hair? How long does it take to tighten each sisterlock? etc...

I really admire the style, and think its very beautiful. If you also have these or other questions, please check out Kalia's blog Kalia-dewdrop's blog where she has information on her experience with Sisterlocks.

A Creative Week

So I usually don't do very much with my hair, because I don't have much time in the mornings. But this week was a little different. I decided to get up a little early each day and try something new. So here is what I came up with:

Do a little twist for work! I tried this on Wednesday morning. I felt creative and started twisting the top of my hair, and then stuck the twist into a pony tail.

This was my cute and quick bun for Monday! Definitely a great pick-me up for the Monday blues.

On Tuesday, I did a half twisted bun with hair down.


And on Thursday, I went all out and did this huge twisted bun.



For this bun, I got my inspiration from the photo below from - masoesa's photostream. I originally saw this photo on http://blog.franchesca.net. At first, I thought this picture looked kind of wild, but then I got inspired.


So that's it for this week. Today, on friday - I did nothing! Just wore it down. But I think I did enough for the week. It was fun and I look forward to doing it again.

Tip for a quick bun!

Ok, so I was messing around with my locs after getting out of the shower and found the perfect way to keep my hair out of my face while either washing my face or doing my make up. The great thing about this style is that I don't feel the weight of my hair because of the way its all placed on my head. I used a huge scarf, wrapped it around the back of my head and tied it in the front, and wrapped the rest of the scarf in the back. After that I pulled the rest of the hair into a quick bun.

I like it, I think I will do it more often...

Goapele Mohlabane

I have been a big fan of Goapele Mohlabane for years now. When I first started following her, she had the most amazing locs. She would always create these cute styles,  that I would dream of trying on my own. Besides being a singer, she is also a community activist. I’ve had the honor of briefly meeting this very talented lady. It was more of a "Hi" and "Bye" kind of thing at various performances she had done in the Bay Area. But from those few moments, she has impressed me so much with her sincerity and grace.                       

Goapele was born in Oakland, CA, and her name means “to go forward in the South African language Sesotho. Goapele now sports a shorter natural style and she's still rocking it!

Wedding Hair

Before I got married, I was searching like crazy for a loctician in the Bay Area that could do my hair, for my wedding. But I did not have much luck. I knew of a lot of locticians that maintain hair, but not a lot that did fancy styles. Most of the locticians that I have seen, that do really beautiful updo's and styles are in New York or other states not close to California (if you know of any, please let me know).

So since I didn't have many options,  I decided to do my own hair. I ended up using perm rod rollers to curl my hair; and knew that when the big day came, I would just wear a big curly bun. 

On the big day, I was so out of it, that hair was the last thing on my mind. So thank goodness for my make-up artist Shonna Hall, because if it wasn't for her, I would have forgotten all about my hair! Shonna save the day for me, after she did my make up, she helped me pin up my hair. So out of all the expenses I had for our wedding, my hair was not one of the major ones. 

Unique!

Here a few pictures of some women that have very cool and different styles... definitely not following in any ones else foot prints.

(I love this one - I wish I had the courage to rock this)

(Yes, one of her locs is actually going through her ear lob)

Eye Candy!

So I know that in the overall grand scheme of things - you can not judge a person by their hair. But OMG! ....there is just something really hot about a man with dreads.

So here is a little bit of eye candy for the day!

I look forward to finding and share more.. he he

Time for creativity

I was asked recently how do I find time to create & maintain my website (and blog) while working a full time job; and while also being a full time Wife and Mom. The answer is simple - I really don't have much time at all.

But I learned the hard way that if you don't do something you love, that is an extension of who you are - you can feel like are you are starting to lose your identity. So for quite a while, I was on auto pilot and really doing all I could to make everyone in my life happy. But I realized - with the help of love ones, that I wasn't doing the things I love.

So even though I don't have much free time - I try to make time for the things I love the most. Art, blogging, creating websites, reading and creating something new. That's my thing! So I am happy to be able to do something that feels good and important to me. And one day soon - I hope to be able to go back to school and take up Graphic Design (with a minor in Marketing). Because its never to late to reconnect and to learn more about what you like to do and what makes you happy.

Thankful To You

I wanted to send a big thank you to anyone and everyone that has an open mind to what beauty really is. There is more than one type of beauty. For those of you who embrace it, encourage it and spread the word - you are appreciated.


Peace, love and blessings...

Karen

Disney's Princess Tiana

Princess Tiana is Disney’s latest princess, and their first African American character in this type of a role. There is a lot of hype around the creation of this story line and the character. Unfortunately it's not all positive. The biggest complaint seems to be because the prince, who plays her love interest, is not African American.

I for one, think that multicultural couples & families are beautiful! My own family is made up of different cultures and races. But it does worry me that Disney may be sending out mixed signals that an African American male image is not good enough to play the role of a Prince Charming. Although some of the arguments being made have some good points, I am still very happy that Disney is stepping out of their box by creating their first black female princess character. I hope that when the film finally comes out, that it will be just as magical as our past fairy tale favorites.

From People.com:

"Rounding out Disney's multicultural royalty (see below) are Mulan, from China; Pocahontas, who is Native American; and, from the Middle East, Jasmine."

Natural Beauty Tamara Floyd

I just started following blogspot Natural Hair Rules!!! by Tamara Floyd. She has a lot of great advice and information how to acheive naturally curly hair. Check her out at: Natural Hair Rules!!!

Interview with Franchesca Ramsey

"People don't realize how versatile locs are..."

Check out my interview with Comedian, Singer & Designer Franchesca Ramsey, on my NBH website. I have been a big fan of her ability to create all kinds of cool styles with her locs. So check her out and read more on how she gets her inspirations: NHB Interviews

Headbands for all hair types...

Headbands are international. No matter what nationality you are,  or what hair type you have, you can rock a headband. I love headbands and I am always on the search for something new. The best type of headbands to wear for locs are ones that are tie-able or ones made with fabric, because it will fit not matter how think your locs or curls are. Check out some cool styles by Mandizzle's on Etsy.com: 

Mandizzle's

Value and Treasure it!

Love yourself for who you are, no matter what.  I often struggle with my own images of beauty. Working in a corporate world some times makes me question myself and the choices I make. My kind of natural beauty (loc's) is not valued, acknowledged or treasured in the corporate society. 

Sometimes I feel relieved once I have left the office, so that I can finally re-connect with myself and feel good about who I am. This is an on going battle for me. I think its harder when you are the only one in large business environment that looks a certain way. That's why having a forum such as this helps me daily to realized that beauty is what you make it. 

So please love yourself and be proud of the choices you make. I know that is something that I definitely want for myself.  Love Locs! Love Dreads! Love Naps! Love Curls!

Head Wraps & Hats

Head Wraps from All Things Rasta

I have heard a lot of good reviews from these folks - about their headwraps. That the material they use is great because its not to heavy & it breaths (which helps to keep your head from over heating and or keeps your head warm from the cold). And that the color chooses are great. I plan to purchase from them in the future.

If you have order from them before, let us know what you think. You can find them at 

Rastaheadwraps.com

Hats and Headwraps from Jah Roots Hats

Jah Roots Hats is online myspace store. I have not order from them, but I like some of their styles. Check them out at 

Jah Roots Hats

I was featured on C.T.S.S. !

Check me out on the Cotton Textured Silky Smooth Blog:

Read the post!

Sweat!

I have been working out for a while now... and for some reason, I have not been taking the time to protect my hair from all the sweat! Not that sweating causes any harm to our hair, but after one workout - a beautiful head of loc's, can turn into an afro.

I have seen plenty of woman wearing scarves wrapped around their hair. But I was just to busy trying to be cute. But I am starting to get annoyed with trying to keep my hair neat to only see all my efforts sweat-ed away after one work out.

So from now on, I am going to wrap my hair every time I work out. Cute or not, I am tired of leaving the gym with a mini-sweaty-afro at the base of my hair.

*Tips:

Fabric: A fabric that has worked for me is a scarf made of acrylic and nylon. It's comfortable and it absorbs most of my sweat.

Also, after working out, try to leave your scarf on until you hair has completely air dried. That will also help to keep your style in tact.

Omar Mornan

I really admire the energy & style of Fashion Designer / Poet Omar Mornan. Check out his interview on my NBH Website.

Natural Beauty spotlight - "Lioness" from NY!

"Lioness" on myspace.com is a Fashion Designer & Stylist. And this picture speaks volumes to how talented she is in portraying her own style. 

Naturally Beautiful Hair webstite

Please check out the Naturally Beautiful Hair website. I just created it a few days ago, so I have lots of information to add:

http://www.naturalbeautifulhair.com

I would love to add your inspiration story or advice. Contact me for more information.

A touch of Ignorance

I was walking to Bart from work a few days ago, I nice man yelled out to me “You have beautiful hair!”  So I smiled and said thank you.  Not so far from him was a group of 3 young non-ethnic women.  As soon as the man gave me the compliment, the three girls looked up at me and immediately begin to snicker and then laughed out loud at me.

In the past, something like this would have hurt me. But (even though I still have my insecurities) I am older and wiser now. A little part of me wished that I had walked up to them and asked: Are you racist? Or are you just being a bunch of b*thces? But I am beyond that. They were obviously young and immature. Still living with the mentality that their beauty is the only beauty. But life has evolved for me. I am will never go back to that reality. So I feel sorry for these three young ladies that could not step outside of their box long enough to see that beauty comes in all shades, shapes and forms. 

More from Thierry Baptiste

I am a big fan of loctician Thierry Baptiste. If I lived any where near his home town (INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana), I would definitley go to him for some cool styles. Check out a few hair designs from this great artist:

Check out my previous post on Theirry Baptist to learn more where to find him online and his contact information.