'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.





Stay tuned for part 2!



TARGET HAUL!!!

Even Halle Berry Shops at Target!

Yesterday I went to Target with one goal in mind. Buy detergent! As my vacation winds down to a close, I thought doing some laundry might be an excellent use of these last few days. Allow me to pause here and applaud the people who are responsible for Target’s layout and merchandising! They do an excellent job to lure (although “sucker” is a better adjective) me in every time. Let’s just say I picked up a couple extra “much needed” items.

This could have been my shopping cart...

I am not sure how your local Target is configured, but  my local store situates the women’s clothing and the health & beauty aisle before necessities such as food, the pharmacy, and cleaning products. I made it past the make-up section unscathed as there were no new products I wanted to try and the nail polish section (my new guilty pleasure) looked sparse. Then I passed the endcap that was loaded with hair goodies from Miss Jessie's, Curls, Shea Moisture, Kinky Curly, and Jane Carter. The shelves were stocked, which is rare for these products. It seemed as if they had every product that I could possibly have wanted in stock. I’m pretty sure I was touching my hair (which is in need of some TLC at the moment) and practically drooling at the same time. 

A Natural's Dream...

I quickly picked up a jar of Shea Moisture Organic Raw Shea Butter Deep Treatment Masque because it is a rare find at any Target that I’ve visited. I plan on using this next week as my deep conditioner for comparison to my new favorite Yes To Carrots conditioner. As quickly as I placed the jar in my cart my eyes caught a glimpse of Kinky Curly ‘s Knot Today. At this point, I had convinced myself that this would be the product that was going to make finger detangling my hair a breeze.  As I continued perusing the aisle I reached another endcap loaded this time with Herbal Essence’s shampoos and conditioners and adjacent to a big sign that read 2 for$5.  I scanned the shelves ever so carefully; however, to my dismay, there was no sign of the Herbal Essences Hello Hydration that was being advertised on the sign. As I made my way down the aisle to find some more products I did manage to find some Hello Hydration, but they did not have the 2 in 1 shampoo plus conditioner sadly. However, I did find a few bottles of the Long Term Relationship Leave –In Conditioner which I use every other day and so I quickly snapped up two of them. Once again I was all set to leave the aisle when my eyes zeroed in on a new product by Garnier Fructis called Pure Clean Finishing Paste. the label made several claims that peaked my interest: “99% Naturally Derived”, “24hr Definition”, “Zero Stickiness”, “Strong [hold]”. I imagined perfectly slicked puffs and pompadours in my hair. Needless to say I couldn’t resist and picked it up a bottle. I have been using Garnier Fructis Water Based Shine Wax for creating my flat twists and slicking my puffs back. My feeling is that this would constitute a “naturally derived” alternative. I didn’t even look at the price as I gingerly placed in my hand basket!  Not even five minutes in Target and I already had a basket full of hair goodies totaling about 32 dollars and still no detergent.

The Aftermath...

After I picked up the detergent I had originally come for I made my way home with the aforementioned hair products, some tank tops, candles, oh and one glittery nail polish to boot. The Garnier Fructis Pure Clean Finishing Paste was not what I expected at all. The product has a very clean almost citrus smell to it that I like, but it is a white paste totally unlike the clear shine wax. 

As for hold, I have not tried it on a puff yet; however, I do not anticipate getting the best results. I did use it to redo a flat twist, but it’s hard to tell if it made a difference on my hair (due in part to my hair already having a lot of product on still in it from my attempts of stretching my hairstyle to last for two weeks). I will give it a full review in the near future. 

As for Target, it’s a consumer blessing and a financial curse.I'm pretty sure I'll be in there again before the end of the week! ; )