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!
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| Me...omw to the meet-up. |
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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).
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| The Main Space |
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| The Main Space |
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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.
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| The ladies of chicandkinky.com |
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| Youtube Vlogger --Taren916 |
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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.
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| Jane Carter and I! Yes, I'm cheesing kind of hard in this picture! LOL! |
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| Score! I bought these for Rachel. Total $20 (The curl defining cream is a sample)! |
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| For me! Total $20. |
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| I also scored these earings from Fabiola of Younikness! She made them while I waited. |
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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.
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| The contents of the goody bag.... |
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| Close up of the actual "goodies"--Curls Gel-LeS'c, Milkshake, and Quneched Curls |
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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?
