Hey Natural Hair Enthusiasts!



My blog is about to be officially post heavy for awhile, the ink is flowing (yeah I'm old school because I like to write my thoughts down first and create lists).


So, getting on with the typing,


I am wondering why there are not more men Sisterlocks Consultants. In my loose hair life, I had a male braider and a male hairstylist for heat styles. Is this a novelty of Atlanta, GA?


Photo of Calla Johnson (SL Consultant) and her beautiful client at 08 Hair Show



Male hairstylists always seemed to make my hair look better, grow more, and with less of a fuss to get in their chair (usually).


Don't get me wrong, I love my consultant. I would not trade her super fast retightenings for anyone in the world. If you are local and like quick retightenings and don't need a salon environment, I'd say check her out (Julia Stewart-Stackhaus).






Anyway, wouldn't it be nice to have some male consultants as an option?

Bonjour Belles!

Are you going? I am thinking of being a vendor. I am curious about who I might see there or if any one was sharing rooms/splitting car costs kinda thing.

I have never been, and each year I have been told I am missing out on great people, sites, and gorgeous locks.

Have you been in a previous year? What was your experience like?

Is natural hair a fad? Naturally Sophia thinks YES! Hell yes! I can remember just a few short years ago maybe 2 at the most when natural hair was a niche. There were more attitudes of that looks good on you but not me. There was more an emphasis on weave too. But my how things have changed?

Now, there are so many natural blogs and products and etc. I can't even keep up with all of them. In a way this can't be good, natural hair= mass consumerism. Unlike the afros and natural hair of the 70's, which often just meant a curly head went without heat styling to reveal a beautiful afro, there are magic puddings, wet look conditioners, texturizers, etc.
It's more about a Natural Look than BEING Natural.
Looking natural is easier I think than being natural. It's easier to change a look than your way of being. What place does a blog have about being natural in a sea of blogs about looking natural?


Then, there's the trendiness. There are afros on the runways for even White models. Most of the images I see with Black models in popular magazines or on commercials have some type of natural weave, wig, or look. I used to have to look at only Black channels or Black media for those images. They are abundant now.





I think natural hair has become a movement, and I hope it's not a temporary one. I have locked in my natural hair so it's not a fad for me. Is it for you? Thoughts?





Furthermore, I think locs or locks, dreads, whatever you call them are less trendy and hence more permanent for those who wear them. It is easier to go from permed hair to natural and back than to go from perm to natural to locks and back to perm. You follow? So, when I see locks I always assume (sometimes wrongly) that its less of a trend for them and more a staple. What do you think? Please discuss.

Remember when I said I had been being inspired? Well of course you do it was last week, LOL!
Well that was true.

This lady has really inspired me especially as of late.

"I'm not more daring. I'm more deliberate." (Erykah Badu in this month's (June 2010) Upscale).

Why? Because by viewing her "controversial" video, she called my attention to some artistic things in myself that I had been wanting to do but had not done because of how she terms it "group think".

It's amazing how we really are and what we can really do when we are not constantly thinking of how others perceive us or our body or our minds & hearts (our greatest assets).

Just for a second, I want to point out the fact that her "Window Seat" video controversy was over-rated. On regular TV (not cable) I just saw Scarlett Johansen and Sandra Bullock engaged in an open mouth kiss. Family Guy comes on 2 hours a day and features a known child predator and gay baby. Why in the hell is Erykah's video so shocking? It's because she was nude in a way that did not make her sexually suggestive. She wasn't gyrating or performing for an audience in the video. She seemed to be in control of her actions. No one pulled her clothes off her. To me, this made a statement and was artistically beautiful at the same time.

The song "Window Seat" itself was nice to: for me it was about balance in life and wanting to escape while still wanting to be missed.

If you have not seen the video, please check it out, and also tell me what you think:




I love this song too. It's called "20 Feet Tall". Isn't it a revelation? Who hasn't forgotten their own "height" at some point? It reminds me that we have everything we need already besides I really like the music.

Lyrics & Song below:

"My love what did I do

to make you fall

so far from me

And now I can recall

Cause of the fall

selective memory

Then you you built a wall

a 20 foot wall

so I couldn't see

But if I get off my off my knees

then I might recall I'm 20 feet tall"

I also like Erykah because she is willing to both challenge our perceptions of her and that of Black women at large. Remember when she came out with her first album? Lil Kim and Foxy Brown were at the top of the charts all naked and all erotic. Destiny's Child had just come out with an album. Erykah was a striking contrast to me because as I was a teenager she had locks which I wanted badly and was completely covered. This challenged my thoughts of how I could be viewed in my own little microcosm of high school.

Then, when she responded to her critics about having 3 babies outside of wedlock with 3 different fathers. Again, I was challenged by her response. She said that why wouldn't she give birth to 3 beautiful vessels that she is perfectly capable of taking care of in her own right. I couldn't think of a reason why not after reading her response.

Yay Baduism! on and on...