Natural Hair Edition – Ivory Coast

I came across this lovely article below on CNN talking about Ivorian women embracing their natural hair.

Ode to hair: Ivorian women champion afros - By Nosmot Gbadamosi and Earl Nurse, CNN

“Growing up with afro hair can be a harrowing experience, especially if forced to chemically straighten it. "Once you are eight, all hairdressers say, oh you have to relax your hair... we can't manage your hair, you have to relax it, it will be beautiful," says Mariam Diaby, a hairdresser and founder of Nappys de Babi, an online community focused on promoting natural hair. Read more HERE…”

What I found interesting in this article is that it took living in Paris for the subject matter an African woman from Ivory Coast to embrace her natural hair. Interesting because most African women for the longest time had been subjected to unrealistic standards of “neat hair” like having long silky straight hair for it to be considered neat and it took this black African lady living in a European capital where long silky straight hair was the norm to embrace her natural hair. In hindsight the whole long silky straight hair is a product of the 80s and 90s if you ask me because I remember looking at photos of the older women in my family and circle and they all had natural hair back in the 70s, 60s and beyond. Nine out ten photos featured women with large Afros and hair braided in beautiful patterns or threaded (African threading) and woven. The few who did not have Afros or braided hair wore wigs. It is only in photos from the 80s and 90s that the relaxer revolution was seen in full effect.

Hair Events; To Pay or Not To Pay?

I recently stumbled on a flyer for a hair festival to be held in my neck of the woods on social media with what I considered to be a steep cover charge.  I have no problem paying a reasonable amount of money as a cover charge to attend a hair festival but no way will I be willing to pay a ridiculous amount of money to attend one especially when they are not going to be telling me anything I do not already know or that I can find for free on the internet. So I decided to call the number on the flyer to get more information on what I would gain from attending the festival. The lovely lady on the other end told me I would get refreshments and I forgot to ask what kind of refreshments, I will attend workshops and be a participant in the discussions taking place; would get a chance to talk to stylists present and learn more about hair. So for me that translated to other than refreshments I would be paying for information that I would readily get for free on the internet.

Essentially there is nothing wrong with organizers having a cover charge; I guess they have to pay for the venue and stuff. But this one was a little bit on the higher side for what I was told I would get and the information I got from their flyer. Scrolling down their facebook page I discovered that the event, which had been advertised for quite some time had actually been pushed forward by one week and the original cover charge lowered significantly. The original cover charge was even higher and they had an early bird special for those who pre-booked their attendance which was still high. Those who decided not to pre-book but attend on the day would pay double what the early birds paid! I am no expert but this told me that maybe the venue had been double booked hence the change of date but how then would you explain the significantly lowered cover charge? That to me looked like very little or no bookings had come in hence the decision to lower the charges I may be wrong but that is the only reason I could come up with. This festival even had information for vendors who wanted to sell their products so my understanding is that vendors will already be paying for space which can help you cover your costs so why are you charging attendees that much…at least the vendors will be getting value for their money through product sales and advertising their businesses at the event not to mentioning networking.

Dear hair festival organizers if you are going to charge would be attendees ridiculous amounts of money for your event please make sure that;

·         Your event is going to be one of a kind with some new and refreshing information that cannot be found anywhere else or a world/national renowned stylist in attendance that everyone and their mama is dying to meet

·         You provide adequate refreshments and finger food or snacks

·         You provide free product samples and/or a goodie bag to take home

·         You have stylists on hand to provide free hair makeovers, whether it is a trim, cut or styling. In other words make it worth our while.  

Explore the option of partnering with brands to provide the free product samples and stylists for hair makeovers etc this is free advertising for them and any brand that values advertising will most likely want to work with you. And get a cheaper venue while at it because this particular event was being held in a slightly upscale hotel which may explain the steep cover charge. I actually did a mini survey on some friends and told them about the festival and most were happy to attend until I told them how much it would cost and the overwhelming feedback was why should they pay that much to go and get information they can get for free on the internet. Over to you hair festival organizers - well those that have steep cover charges anyway.

A Nostalgic Reader...

I read a lot. A whole lot. My reading has gone down slightly over the years as the pressures of adult life take its toll on me but I still manage to read whenever I can. There was a time I went everywhere with a book in my bag to read on the train or bus, in waiting rooms, during my lunch break, at the park anywhere. Basically if I had some free time I read to keep myself busy. Going by the fact that I was never an outdoorsy child I think I was born with a love for reading I was that child who would rather stay indoors and read a good storybook than go out and jump rope. I read books by African writers, I read Ladybird books Cinderella, The Princess and the Pea etc. I was big on comics as a pre teen name any TinTin comic and I have probably read it, Archie and Sabrina, Asterix and Obelisk I read them all.

 

image source

I grew up in the beautiful multicultural seaside city of Mombasa and my childhood besties mother had this collection of Russian children’s story books translated into English boy oh boy I practically lived in their house it’s a good thing we were next door neighbours I went to Russia and back through those books thank you Aunty Jen! I spent hours at the national library and there was this book exchange guy right outside it where you could exchange two old books for a brand new one I was one of his best customers. British children’s writer Enid Blyton she of the “Famous Five” series among others is one of my favourite authors of all time, Barbara Kimenye she of the “Moses” series if you grew up in East Africa is another all time favourite. I had this encyclopedia that I read cover to cover several times over! I read the kids pull out in the Sunday papers religiously.

image source Famous Five                     image source Moses

I was that child that would read a book under the covers with a torch (flashlight) way past my bedtime so as not to get into trouble. I was that teenager that could wake up at 5am on weekends to finish a Nancy Drew book but found it next to impossible to wake up at 6.30am to get ready for school during the week. I was introduced to books by esteemed African writers like Chinua Achebe in high school and this opened my eyes to the cultures of those writers I “lived” in a Nigerian Igbo village through thanks to “The Concubine” by Elechi Amadi.  I was that young adult who would get off the tube (subway) a stop early just to hang out at the O2 Centre Waterstones bookshop and read, read and read some more.  The O2 Centre Finchley Rd being a stop away from home was also my friends and I entertainment center so each time we had a movie or dinner date I would get there an hour early and browse the rows and rows of books at Waterstones thank God for the seating areas they provided. I used to work on Oxford St, London for many years and one of my alternative bus stops was right outside a…yep you guessed it…book store I can’t count the number of buses I missed because I decided to pop in for just five minutes and ended up spending almost an hour. I was the same girl that missed her tube and bus stop several times because she was reading a book.

 

Nancy Drew image source                                The concubine image source

I had Maya Angelou’s entire autobiography collection that got lost in storage and then got replaced by my dear dear friend words cannot express how grateful I am to her for replacing this collection. I never even asked I just happened to mention that I had lost my collection and she was like oh I will send you a new set I thought she was joking only to receive a package with my replaced collection may God bless her mightily!  Speaking of Maya I learned how to make corn bread thanks to her recipe book “Hallelujah: The Welcome Table”.

 

image source

I am that girl who browses through book stores at airports instead of perfume counters. I was that girl who while working as an international development worker in a village community somewhere in Sierra Leone, with no entertainment spots did nothing but read in her spare time. Yes that is me the reader. I read anything and everything I don’t discriminate if it’s interesting you will be sure to find it in my hands biographies, autobiographies, political writings, business and financial stuff, romance novels, thrillers, historical stuff name it I will read it.  I still prefer physical paperback or hardcover books to e-readers and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. I have this thing that I do with books that I buy I always write my name, the date and city in which I bought it on the first page. I had a good collection of books that got lost while moving and some damaged in storage it pains me to this day. One day I will rebuild my entire collection I have started already. This is me the reader always have always will.

 

My life in books: these are just some of the books that have passed through my hands, eyes and stayed on my mind from childhood  up until now...all images are from Amazon

Wow writing this post brought back so many beautiful memories, memories that I will cherish forever. Have a lovely day/night/morning wherever you are whatever you are doing ladies and remember to pick up a book today and come read with me. XOXO

Locked up!!!

Well not literally:) Gorgeous Silvia Njoki is a freelance fashion stylist, fashion and entertainment journalist with the Standard Newspaper in Kenya and creative director for her personal style blog over at www.silvianjoki.com. An interesting fact about Silvia is that she is also a DIY seamstress!!! Yes this girl makes clothes. She showcases her skills on her blog and that is how I first found out about her from a link that someone left on another blog. I envy anyone who can make their own clothes God knows if I could my closet would be a house entirely on its own! DIY seamstresses’ amaze me; they really do that is such an amazing talent to have. I put them up there right next to the self braiders and self sew in weave installers. Like do you people come from a different planet or what? They make the rest of us button sewers and hole menders feel so talentless Lol! Anyway Silvia was gracious enough to grant me an interview about her lovely locs on my blog. So here goes…enjoy!

How long have you had your locs?

Almost celebrating 5 years!!

Why did you decide to loc your hair?

I always loved how locs looked on others and silently hoped that I would have my own, but I was having so much fun trying out different styles at the time. It was while on a trip to South Africa that I got to see so many women with locked hair in different styles and how easy it was to maintain....I was sold. I came back to Kenya, chopped off my relaxed hair and locked it! Also, I am very keen on most of the Rastafari beliefs and principles that are all about women embracing their nappy hair.

Yes ladies you can rock your locs on the red carpet fabulously!

What was the reaction of family and friends when you did?

When I first locked my hair, I had wigs and weaves on for a while, only close friends and family saw the locs at the very early stages, so it was a very slow transition. They knew I was going to do it; I had talked to them about it. My family and friends are very liberal as well as supportive. To them it’s just another hairstyle, as long as I am happy, they are happy. I had done almost everything to my hair before locking it, this was really not a big deal. I think it was easier for my dad to see me in locs than a Mohawk in a red weave! Luckily, in my profession, nobody really criticizes my choice of hairstyle; I could even dye my hair red for a job interview! lol

What is your locs regimen?

I wash my hair at least once a week. I condition more than I treat. Treating (deep conditioning) locked hair slows down the locking process.  I sometimes like the rough undone look and sometimes I like the neat and tidy look. So depending on what I feel like, I will re-twist it. When I need a fancy up-do, I get it done at Black Butterfly Salon at Viking house Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya. 

Up dos!

What products do you use to maintain your locs?

I use argan oil shampoo to wash it. Organic root stimulator – Loc and twist gel to re-twist. But for every other day, I will have a tiny spray bottle, in it I put about 50ml of water, a spoonful of almond oil, a spoonful of aloe vera juice and a few drops of either lavender or tea tree oil. I use this on my scalp when I feel it's getting dry.

Do you miss combing out your hair or any other styles like braids, cornrows, weaves etc?

NO. Especially weaves, I do not miss weaves at all! Not paying for them, not maintaining them. 

What is the best and worst thing if any about having locs?

The best thing is they are very very cheap to maintain. What I spend in a year on my hair, Is what I’d spend at one go to get a quality weave installed. The worst thing would be when I and my daughter go to play in the beach and have to rinse our hair every-time when we get sand in it. Beach sand doesn’t just fall off; it has to be rinsed off.  I can protect my hair from the sand. But she wants to play and she doesn’t like that we always have to rinse her hair after the beach.

Do you plan to loc forever or will you unravel or cut them off one day?

Currently I plan on keeping them forever; I may/will trim them because I don’t want a ridiculous length. But who knows… I may want to cut them someday! Never say never.

Mama and me! Silvia made both outfits!

I noticed your little girl has locs too any special reason as to why you locked her hair so young?

First of all I locked her hair just before she turned one, I made sure she was not at a risk of developing cradle cap, and all the products were safe and the locking method, gentle.  I love how locs look on little children. And for me, locking her hair means that I let it grow naturally. Maybe when people’s perception of locked hair changes they will see it’s not a big deal. Her hair is already locked and these days I barely use any products on her hair apart from a bit of shampoo and almond oil. And if she ever wants to cut it, I will do it myself in a heartbeat! It’s her hair anyway and I will be the first to support her in her hair journey. But I would want to make sure she did it for the right reasons, and not because society bullied her into it.  (Go here to see how Silvia locked her little girl’s hair.)

This baby is way too cute! So adorable!!!

Any advice for people contemplating getting locs?

You need to be a very, very patient person and enjoy every step of the process.

Where can we find you on the web?

www.silvianjoki.com

@silvianjoki on both twitter and Instagram

Facebook : Style By Silvia

Thank you so much Sylvia!

All photos are courtesy of Silvia’s blog and Facebook page.