Stereotypes...

You know how they say the way a question is asked will determine the response? Well I follow this Facebook page and a “Help a sis out” question was posed earlier today: “What do people mean when they say don’t go to the Africans to get your hair braided?” The responses my oh my they ranged from

“Not all Africans are like that! Am an African and i can proudly say that i can do some awesome styles and ppl always come to me for their hair so just bc u had an experience with some don't bottle all of us that we are the same they are some black Americans which can cause damage by adding extensions or wigs without be careful and no one says anything about them.”

“All Africans don't braid the same! My daughter got some of the neatest braids and never lost a strand. If you get French braids its always best to have them braid your regular hair for a bit and then add the extensions”

“I go to the africans for quality hair braiding you know what tight pulling does to the hair so you TELL them NOT to braid to tight I''ll also say don't put those teeny weeny braids on the edges nor pull them I just don't allow ANYONE to misuse and abuse my head of hair that's strictly on you to ALLOW that harsh treatment they will NEVER KNOW I once told the young lady that there will BE NO SORRY'S time and time again...PERIOD! If there braiding to tight get up and leave from the start.”

To

“They charge a lot... They stink (sorry)... They have 10 people braidin ya hair at one time... They braids pull ya hair out to the roots... Maybe any of those?!”

“They stink???? Seriously,you stink of delusion. How will you feel when Africans say black women are loud baby mamas with attitude problems and black men are into drugs, self destruction,multiple sex partners and never finish college!!”

“They stay to dang pregnant for me. They say you not suppose to let a pregnant woman play in your hair. That would explain why some ppl I know that has went to them, don't have no edges!!!!”

And finally

“As an African, I understand where the steryotype comes from. It doesn't apply to all but in my experience, sometimes women in these salons talk about you and throw shade for no apparent reason. But I've experienced this in AA businesses as well. There's a long standing feud between Africans from the continent and people of African descent in the diaspora and because I'm somewhere in the middle, I've experienced bad customer svc from both groups. I think the division is pointless because at the end of the day, racists consider ALL black people inferior.”

“You have to find the right people to go to. You can't put ALL African braiders in the same box. That's like saying all black women are angry and have attitudes. I've been going to the same two African ladies who are sisters to get my hair braided for the last 3 yrs. I went to an American to get my hair braided, hair was too tight. It all depends on the people that braid your hair...African or not!!!”

“Well ppl complain abt everythg! Some African woman may braid extremely tight & some may not! The are many black woman who braid extremely tight as well & some who do not! I know many black females (young & old) who walk around with very tight braids (from blacks not the "Africans") with bald headed on each side of there heads & also in there nape arear! But whats crazy is when they do experience balding from tight braiding the still will put those tight braids in their hair & their daughters hair! So, Im not sure why ppl only sat "The Africans braid too tight"! If they braid tighter than from what I have witness with the scalp bulging together & baldheaded on the sides, then thats would be worse than a black woman braiding! Lol!”

*sighs* Why can’t black people just get along??? Looking at some of these comments the black race has a long way to go imagine this is only between “Africans” and “blacks” in the North American/Europe Diaspora imagine what would happen when our “people” in Australasia join in this debate! I have a feeling that if the original question had stated “African Braiding Shops” instead of “Africans” the comments would have been a lot less stereotypical, rude etc maybe I am wrong. I am very opinionated and quite frankly couldn’t be bothered to go on a back and forth session by replying to some of the negative comments on that post so I thought I would just blog about it. There is positive criticism and then there is outright rudeness which was exhibited greatly in the comment section of that post.  

I have had my hair braided by black people from the Caribbean and from Africa, had similar experiences with both bad and good. Some Caribbean stylists I swore never to go back to and some I remained a loyal customer the same with the African stylists. Bottom line is if a hairdresser whether he/she is blue, yellow, green from Mars, Jupiter or Pluto is mishandling your hair say something if it means getting up and leaving halfway through do so. Some “Africans” may braid tightly because that is what they know and are used to, African threading anyone? Instead of sitting there and criticising, judging an entire continent because of a few people why not let the change start with you teach them how you want your hair to be braided it doesn’t matter if just one stylist out of ten heeds your request the fact is that you spoke up the journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step.

Just incase anyone is still in the dark Africa is a continent not a country and last I checked officially there were 54 countries (I stand to be corrected on that blame politics) with different languages, customs and food. We come in all shades dark, darker, darkest, light, lighter, lightest and the in betweens we have all textures of hair represented so please if you are one of those who does stop lumping us in the “Africans” category. I know of other races/nationalities where allegedly  the Diaspora born people look down on people from the mother country but the one thing that sticks out is they all present a united front to the rest of the world or community they live in and look out for each other.  Whoever came up with the divide and rule strategy for black people must be really smiling in his grave right now! 

I purposely left out majority of the rude comments because I am not about that giving space on my blog to ignorant people life you can click on the Facebook link at the top and go down the page's timeline to see the said post and comments.

HOTD: Hair of The Day!

How about I only found out what FOTD in the beauty blog/vlog world meant a few months ago! For the longest time I thought it meant Foto Of The Day only to find out it was Face Of The Day Lol! I can’t keep up with all these social media acronyms and terms. At least I knew what HOTD in the hair blog/vlog world meant! After wearing my hair out for four weeks I got these feeding/Ghanaian/whateveryoucallthem cornrows/braids done the other day and hope to keep them until mid December making it three weeks and then get something else done. To prep for the braiding process I did a henna, eucalyptus oil and natural yoghurt treatment for strength, shampooed, used Aloe Vera Juice as a leave in, air dried some, moisturised and then blow dried on cool to stretch my new growth. My current homemade braid spray consists of Aloe Vera Juice, Sofn’free’n’Pretty Carrot oil Crème moisturiser, castor oil, avocado oil, olive oil, tea tree oil, eucalyptus oil and glycerine shaken not stirred:)

And this is the hair of the day;

 

Held them in a loose bun today; I had them done pretty long when the tails are let down they reach my waist

In other hair news I had the bright idea to do an overnight onion juice treatment; BIG MISTAKE! I don’t like sleeping with treatments of any kind on my hair and I think I have even mentioned it on the blog before so I don’t know why I keep doing these “experiments”. At first I could hardly smell the onion then I guess once my hair got heated up from all the body heat I was emitting the smell became stronger I had a good mind to get up and wash it off but my eyes refused to cooperate, thank God I am a heavy sleeper so once I fell deeply asleep it was all good until I woke up and the first thing I smelled was onions! It’s a good thing I am the only current occupant of my room right now otherwise I am sure I would have been relocated to the couch or something I kid you not it was that strong. I had on a shower cap and scarf but the onion smell still came through. Oh well I guess I learned my lesson.

Kitchen Korner: Smoothie Edition!

So you have prepared your homemade all natural deep conditioner and it appears there's more than you anticipated well at least it looks like the blender is almost overflowing…worry not just turn the extra into a smoothie on its own depending on what you used and the quantity leftover or add some extra ingredients. Because I have been mixing it up at home for so long I know the exact quantity of deep conditioner needed for my current length of hair but every now and then I usually have excess so I just end up with a smoothie afterwards. Quick tip: always prepare your homemade all natural deep conditioners like you would food that you would eat that is the only way to ensure that it is hygienically prepared and any extras can go into your stomach. I even add the pulp that is left over from my onion juice preparation into whatever food I am preparing that day I hate wastage of any kind and especially food wastage. Here is a simple recipe for a smoothie that I made today:
Ingredients 

1 small ripe mango peeled and diced

½ ripe banana peeled and diced

½ very small avocado peeled and diced

1 cup natural plain yoghurt

1 carrot peeled and chopped or grated

½ teaspoon dried mint leaves

½ cup water (to dilute the mixture since the other ingredients tend to be quite thick already)

Directions

Pour everything into a blender and blend until smooth

Pour into your glass and enjoy!

 

I like my smoothies and homemade juices in these plastic disposable cups for some reason:) I even rinse and re-use the cups sometimes #dontjudge lol:)

This smoothie was the business the avocado made it extra creamy just the way I like it! This serving can very well make up 2 portions of my 5 a day fruit and vegetables intake. The mango and banana provided the sweetness but if you like your smoothies extra sweet you can add some honey. The yoghurt can be omitted for lactose intolerant people and more water used instead.

Kitchen Korner is a series on the blog that showcases food and drinks prepared using ingredients that can also be used on the hair as well; double food hair products I like to call them. Today’s ingredients were ALL double food hair products! Just incase you were wondering the carrot represented carrot oil and the mint leaves represented peppermint oil but can also be infused into other oils. Please see my “DC Recipes” page at the top to see how you can incorporate these ingredients and others into your all natural homemade deep conditioners.

It's my one year blog anniversary today!!!!

Hair update!

So the training braids did not end up training at all I only managed to fix back one loose braid. I had to take them out on the fourth week as I had a couple of events that required my presence and I really wanted my hair to look presentable. Those braids as much as they didn’t look too bad at that point didn’t cut it for me even if I had redone the perimeter they wouldn’t have done me any justice so I had to take them down. I have had my hair out for about three weeks now and currently bunning as I make up my mind on the next long term protective style. I have made several changes to my regimen as at October 2013. Some of these changes are;

• Deep condition weekly when my hair is out. I previously deep conditioned twice a month and the rest of the time was as needed.
• Upped my castor oil scalp massage to thrice a week from twice so it’s now every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday
• Only using 100% homemade Aloe Vera Juice in my homemade braid spray from now on. I previously mixed about 60% distilled water and 40% Aloe Vera Juice to make up the “watery liquid” portion.
• Onion juice hair treatment before every wash. Go here to find out why.

That’s about it for now nothing much going on with the hair still on the fence about trimming, I know I am stubborn lol even though I last trimmed my hair last year November I have examined my ends and honestly I don’t think I need a trim just yet maybe a little dusting. Till next time ladies xoxo.

Oh if you are on twitter please follow me on@Simplylidija (that’s my first name spelled in  Serbo-Croatian) I will follow back I rarely tweet about hair but hey it’s a great way to keep in touch out of blogsville:)