Natural Hair Event Reviews

Friday, May 4, 2012

Darker Than Brown and Random Thoughts

I never intended to become a weekly blogger. There once was a time (last year to be exact) that I blogged on a nightly basis consistently. Right now if I have more than 5 posts a month I am lucky!My life is hectic (I use that word way too often and it is such an understatement)! I have taken on a lot of responsibilities which leaves me little time to do this, blog. What makes things even worse is that I have so much that I want to blog about. I make notes to myself all the time on new topics, ideas, and thoughts. Sadly, oftentimes those notes go no further than the sheet of paper that I write them on until the idea is no longer relevant. Tonight I decided to do something different. I decided to carve time out of my day to do something that is important to ME. This is taking a little sacrifice on my part. It is about 1am and I need to be up in a few hours...but I have some help:



Before: Good old five hour energy!




After: Goodbye long blinks, hello bright eyed and bushytailedness!!!

Yes, it is that serious. I also decided this past weekend to take some time to attend the meetup group, Darker Than Brown's, monthly dinner meetup. This was another sacrifice for me because my to do list was a lengthy one. Ok, I'll be honest, one of the biggest reasons I attended was because I had not been to a natural hair related event since Atlanta's 'Fro Fashion Week, and I felt out of the loop. Despite this I was apprehensive about attending. I am not a fan of "meetups". Especially huge meetup's with no real agenda or purpose because they typically turn into a "who's who" ,photo op spectacle. Days later (and most of my tasks still incomplete) I am glad that I went. The women that I met were down to earth and friendly which exceeded my expectations. As a newcomer to this monthly event I felt not only welcomed but that people were interested in getting to know me. In addition to this the organizer , Nneka introduced herself to me as well. With 90 other people in attendance I was not expecting a personal greeting.

The one pic I took: Cutiekinks and Nneka (co-organizers) along with rep from Carol's Daughter

In addition to this I talked about more than just hair, in fact we all did. There is something empowering about sitting and simply speaking to a group of women of color about their careers and lifestyles. I left the meetup feeling like I made a connection with all of the people I spoke to that was far deeper than learning their hair type and favorite products.

My tablemates, Ahsiek (Vlogger), and I. Pic courtesy of Darker Than Brown

And of course there were goodies (who doesn't love goodies). Samples of a few products were available upon entrance, raffle tickets were given to the first 40 or so guests, and others received an opportunity to purchase tickets for a dollar. Raffle prizes were provided by Carol's Daughter, the Curl Kit company, and a few other sponsors (Amazing Botanicals, I Love My Fro, and Curly Hair solutions to name a few.



The goodies I picked up ....






I Love My Fro Shea Whip, Amazing Botanicals Black Soap and Hibiscus Gel, and Curly Hair Solutions Extenzz

If you live in NYC and are interested in attending a meetup group I would recommend Darker Than Brown as a place to start. Set up a www.meetup.com account and sign up. Hope to see you there!

Do you attend natural hair meetups? If so, what do you think? Waste of time or essential?

 

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

'Fro Fashion Week--Suites, Lounges, and Polynesian Dancers

I have soooo much that I want to say about my weekend in Atlanta and I am not sure where to start! I'll start with the basics, what set 'Fro Fashion Week apart from the other natural hair events I have attended was the diversity and the organization of the whole weekend.

Planning my day of events. There were so many interesting events on the schedule!

Yes, this was an event geared towards naturals but attendees were treated to discussions about more than just hair! In addition to this there was a variety of other choices if you did not want to attend one of the featured workshops. The companies Kynx, Shea Moisture, Beautiful Textures and Curls Unleashed each had their own suite to treat and pamper guests during their downtime. Each suite had its own personality and unique vibe. The best part was that there was no pressure to buy products in these rooms, it was solely about product promotion via samples and demonstrations

SHEA MOISTURE TOTAL BODY SUITE:

Dim lights, earthy smells, and mellow music were the basic elements of Shea Moisture's suite. Guest were either given a hand scrub and manicure or a 30 minute massage while they enjoyed the ambiance of the suite. The only disappointment in this room was that there were no Shea Moisture hair products which was quite surprising. They did have plenty of items from their body line:

CURLS UNLEASHED: THE LAVISH SUITE

Across the hall from Shea Moisture was Curls Unleashed by Organic Root Stimulator's suite. This was by far one of my favorite rooms because of the variety in the room. There were hairstylists giving willing naturals new looks, a mock-tini bar, a popcorn machine, a table set up for discussions on what it was like to be a natural in different areas of you life, and (wait for it) a complimentary bag complete with one full size item from their line as well as two sample products. Curls Unleashed also was using this event to create a video, for what, I have no clue. I guess we will find out soon enough.

BEAUTIFUL TEXTURES: MY HEAD. MY HAIR. MY CHOICE. LOUNGE

The Beautiful Textures My Head, My Hair, My Choice. Lounge was one that you could hang out in all day and not notice the time pass. There was an OMG Photo booth where you could have your photo taken and sent to your twitter account, music, a message board where people were encouraged to write how their hair made them feel, a stage that was always full with hair dressers styling hair, natural hair guru Felicia Leatherwood giving hair tips, etc. If that wasn't enough for liking Beautiful Textures Face Book page you got a Beautifully Textures t-shirt (pictured above) complete with a product sample and a CD of R&B hits. All participants were also asked to take a picture of the event and tweet about it in exchange for the full line of Beautiful Texture products!

Two of the hair models. These girls were great and they put up with my antics! ; )

The ladies of Tres Talk sharing hair care tips...



What I took home! Everything from deep conditioner to hair oil.





KYNX:SECRET GARDEN

Kynx was a hair company I had not heard of before going to Atlanta. This hairline is made with Monoi de Tahiti oil which they stated "is clinically proven to significantly improve the condition of dry and damaged hair as well as improve the shine and overall luster of hair". Has anybody heard of the benefits of Monoi de Tahiti oil? This suite although a nice theme (guests were given a lei when they stepped in the room and at certain times there were Polynesian dancers) left much to be desired in comparison to the other hair companies. I did receive a sample of the I am Free Miracle Kink Cream which I plan on using soon.



The samples were in the basket.



 

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Curly Girl Collective-Curl Crush : My Thoughts

When I started wearing my hair naturally in 2003 the natural hair community was NOTHING like it is today. Any natural hair advice I sought out came from stalking people's Fotki web pages and reading the forums on Nappturality.com. Today we Naturalista's have it so much easier. Information about being a natural is at your fingertips via YouTube and Blogs making the natural hair community so much larger yet so much smaller. I love it! The "meet-up" however is by far one of my favorite additions to the natural hair world. Nothing beats being able to talk to a fellow natural one on one, face to face, about all things HAIR! Curly Girl Collective however has taken the meet-up to a whole new level with their last event, "Curl Crush". This event was designed like speed dating but for Naturalista's. For 1 minute and 30 seconds participants sat face to face and asked each other questions about hair.For example, how long have you been natural? Or, what hair products do you recommend for chronically dry hair (that was my question)? When time was up everyone switched partners and repeated, by the end of the allotted 20 minutes you would have received (or given) hair advice from about 10 fellow naturals. In the 20 minutes that I participated I received advice regarding retaining moisture, advised people on my current hair regimen, and shared tears with a new natural who was overwhelmed by the amount of natural hair love that was in the room. How powerful! Curly Girl Collective, I am a HUGE fan of the innovative work you are doing in the natural hair world and look forward to your next events! You all also inspire me! How often do you see a team of women of color running a business together. I'll speak to myself when I say not often! Keep up the great work.

Sponsor Camarena Tequila created signature drinks for the event. How CUTE! I had the Curly Girl and it was DELISH.

These pictures were placed all throughout the venue. I loved the constant reminder of why we were all there: to celebrate natural hair!

The product swap table! I couldn't find anything I wanted to pick up. : (

Speed Dating!

More Speed Dating!

One of the product vendors at the event.

A sea of Naturals. : D

These are the few pictures I took. If you are looking for more pictures check out Essence.com's Street Style, they took a few pictures that night. They even captured a picture of me. : D

 

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Chic and Kinky Meet Up--The Recap

For the last 24 hours I have wondered exactly what I would write about the Chic and Kinky Natural Hair Meet-Up that I attended last night and still as I sit here right now and begin typing I am stumped! I guess the best place to start is quite simply with the facts. But first lets back up a bit. One day last week I decided to attend the Chic and Kinky Natural's Night Out event although it has been on my calendar for months. Why the hesitation? The events date and location had been changed and the ticket cost $30. Up until now I have NEVER paid to attend a hair event but I respect everyone's hustle and understand that it cost money to deliver a fabulous event. So I bit the bullet and purchased the ticket. A few days later I had the ticket in my email inbox and I was ready to go!
<><><><><><><>

Me...omw to the meet-up.

I arrived at the Openhouse Gallery around 5pm or so and was excited to find no line or wait to get inside the venue. Once I gave in my ticket I received an arm band and a gift bag, after which I was on my own. I checked out the vendors in about 10 minutes. This included companies selling hair products, liquid hair vitamins, shower caps, spa services, hair tutorial dvds, and jewelry. In addition to the main section, there was another section of the venue which was exclusively for patrons who purchased VIP tickets (these tickets cost $50 and were sold out when I purchased my tickets).

The Main Space

<><><><><><><><><><><>

The Main Space

While walking around I noticed a large piece of paper where people had begun to write why they were natural and other messages on and I decided to write my own small message. Afterwards a photographer took my picture in front of the sign. As the evening went on some of the vendors had an opportunity to address the crowd including Jane Carter, hair stylist Nedjetti Harvey , and Vlogger Taren916.

The ladies of chicandkinky.com

<><><><><><><><><><><>

Youtube Vlogger --Taren916


The highlight of the evening for me was Jane Carter. I think she is a charming, down to earth, and beautiful person. When I went to her table she not only waited patiently for me to make a decision she gave me a brief hair consultation and asked me put one of her products back because as she said, "you don't need that". When you add to this wonderful experience that her products were on SALE (major discount) and that I took a picture with her I was in heaven.

Jane Carter and I! Yes, I'm cheesing kind of hard in this picture! LOL!

Score! I bought these for Rachel. Total $20 (The curl defining cream is a sample)!

For me! Total $20.

<><><><><><><><><><><>

I also scored these earings from Fabiola of Younikness! She made them while I waited.

In addition to this I got to hang out and exchange contact info with some beautiful like-minded natural ladies. What I love about all natural hair meet-ups is the common thread and solidarity amongst us women who decided to go against the grain and wear our hair naturally! I love the opportunity to share hair stories, hair recipes, and hair goals. I thank the women of Chic and Kinky for putting this event together because when I hear about meet-ups across the U.S. (especially in Atlanta) I get jealous. However, this event left something to be desired. The goody bag had about three goodies and contained mainly advertisements from the sponsors.

The contents of the goody bag....

<><><><><><><><><><><>

Close up of the actual "goodies"--Curls Gel-LeS'c, Milkshake, and Quneched Curls

I'm not sure what I paid $30 dollars for except the beautiful space and the good dj. I didn't hear much more from the ladies I met who purchased the VIP tickets either. This left me wondering what exactly is the goal of a meet-up? Thoughts?