FearlessFriday: Jaznea

This Friday’s #fearless moment comes from college student and blogger, Jaznea. She give a personal look at how her hair change, changed her world.

Fearless. I racked my memory trying to figure out my most fearless moment. Was it when I moved to NYC right after high school, learning how to drive, or maybe even when I tried to start my own blog.

Then it hit me as I was washing my hair.

Two years ago for no reason and with no goal at the end, I cut all my hair off. Family and friends disagreed and still some disagree today. I was ignoring the negative feedback because despite their opinions, I felt beautiful and strangers were attracted to my hair more than ever before. They loved my natural curl as much as I did.

When my hair started to form into an Afro, the looks I received from the closest people to me said it all. They still hated my hair. I come from a family were your hair is your temple and they didn’t quite understand mines, yet.

It did hurt a bit that my family disliked my hair and that they all thought I was a lesbian because I had short hair. Then a very close friend of mines told me she thought my hair was ugly. She did not try to sugarcoat her feelings at all.

After that, I started to reflect on my hair progress for the last two years and the effects it had on my life. Besides the fact I have been single since the haircut and the amount of men that has been attracted to me has dropped. It’s also been harder for me to get a job since the haircut. But could I blame all of that on my hair? I started to believe that my hair was out control and it was slowly ruining my life.

Was straight long hair the only option for me? Why does Solange look so beautiful but I am being told I look ugly? And my biggest question was am I the only natural girl that get this much slack for their hair?

I was afraid that life wouldn’t get better for me until my hair grew back out because it all was still going downhill. I couldn’t believe all of this was happening because of my hair choice. What got me out this funk of mines was a very long look in the mirror.

I realized that I was beautiful and so was my hair. What did it matter if nobody else liked it, I have to live with myself every day. And for jobs I was just applying to the wrong places or coming off wrong since I was already insecure about my hair.

Nobody close to me understands why I cut my hair. It was not for a statement but out of pure laziness. I didn’t want to maintain long hair anymore. Some may call me crazy for my reasoning but I believe, therefore I know, I was FEARLESS for cutting my hair off.

It changed how people looked at me (good and bad), altered my personality, and I’m glad to be a part of the natural movement. It takes a lot of guts to chop off your hair because women base their beauty on their hair length. Women still have short hair but if it’s not the Rihanna cut then they probably have long hair. I have run into so many girls who want to go natural but don’t want to do the “big chop”. I myself have yet to understand why because it’s liberating and a different experience. I mean it will grow back.

Be fearless and shameless. I learned from my haircut to do what makes you happy even if others look at you like your crazy!

Want to share you #fearless moments? Contact david@hairrules.com

 

Check out past #FEARLESSFRIDAYS

#tbt

Fashion Model, Shaun Ross and Hair Rules Co-Founder, Anthony Dickey

Back to School Do’s & Don’t’s

This weeks #workitwednesday features tips from  Mother,  Wife, Blogger, and Service Management/Data Support Administrator, Kamilah Thomas.

Well, summer break is officially over and it’s back to school for our Lil’ Naturalistas/Naturalistos. It’s important that we stick to a realistic healthy regimen to ensure optimum health throughout these busy winter months. Here are some do’s and don’ts for you to consider when styling your child’s hair throughout the school year.

Do’s:

1. Be sure to keep the hair and scalp clean of any product build up that may cause blockage to the pores. The recommendation would be to wash, deep condition and style the hair once every 1-2 weeks depending what your schedule permits.

2. Keep the hair moisturized throughout the week as needed by re-applying water/oil/cream to moisturize and seal and lock the moisture into the hair.

3. Be sure to protect the tresses by covering the hair with a silk/satin bonnet or sleeping on a silk/satin pillow case. This will also help to minimize the frizz and help your style to stay looking fresh longer.

4. Low manipulation is a must. Minimize the use of combs, brushes and heat styling as much as possible. This will limit the amount of damage and breakage that is sometimes cause by frequent use of these styling tools.

Don’ts

1. Don’t assume that because your child’s hair is in a protective style that it doesn’t need to be attended to. You should still moisturize the hair while utilizing protective styles.

2. Don’t be a product junkie. Find a shampoo, deep conditioner, leave-in conditioner, and moisturizer that work for your child’s hair and stick to using those products. You don’t need to use too many products, it’s just not necessary. I can assure you that your pocketbook will thank you for obeying this tip.

3. Don’t allow your child to sleep without protecting his/her tresses. The friction from sleeping on cotton sheets/pillow cases can cause dryness and damage to one’s hair. It’s important to ensure that your child is sleeping with a silk/satin cap or pillow case.

4. Don’t style your child’s hair in ways that may cause damage to the hair/scalp. Ensure that if you are styling your child’s hair in braids or ponytails that it’s not pulling to tightly as this could cause permanent damage to the child’s hair line or cause traction alopecia. If you notice bumps on the scalp or breakage to the edges of the hair, you should remove the style immediately to limit any further damage.

I hope these few tips will help you to keep your child’s hair healthy during these busy winter months and make it easier for you to achieve your growth goals as well.

Check out her blog- FromNapeToWaist.blogspot.com

Check out previous #workitwednesdays or if you want to share your stories/photos with us, send to david@hairrules.com

FearlessFriday: Yannique

This week’s fearless feature features Freelance Fashion Stylist, Yannique.

I’ve always been pretty determined and pro active towards my goals and knowing what I want. But there is no feeling like being at peace with yourself and who you are as individual and REALLY achieving your dreams.

Growing up I had an amazing childhood in a loving household, went to college, obtained a business degree but never felt that I knew exactly what I was good at. Though fashion was in my “blood” since a kid, I could never seem to know what direction to go in or what exact field. I also never considered myself creative especially looking up to some amazing talented people in fashion, music and art. It wasn’t until after the end of my first job after college that I realized I wanted to get into fashion styling. I did what I had to do to learn as much as I could. Interned, assisted, studied, researched, started a very rookie portfolio and just kept going. I even started to get booked for small gigs, until I received the “dream” job of working on a celebrity styling team. Red carpets, music videos, performances, even a tour. Through all this however I still had self-doubt. The thoughts of not being talented enough, or good enough would resurface, especially once that gig ended after a year. Unbeknownst to me, however that was one of the best things that happened to me. When that gig ended, I took some much needed “me time”, got into a deeper relationship and spiritual walk with God and really just began to figure myself out.  I drowned out the negative thoughts and followed my heart and my passion.  I took on a fairly easygoing part time job that allowed me to maintain fashion styling gigs and clients. Earlier this year, I even took a leap of faith and began a book project that had been in my heart for a few years now. The best part was the peace that came over me. My attitude changed, the way I talked changed, just me in general. It was that moment that I realized I was comfortable in my own skin. I was OK with not having every little thing together yet knowing exactly what I want in life. I was ok with continuing to pursue my dreams in my late 20s. I was ok with being Yannique whether people have heard of her or not. The moment I became FEARLESS.

Yannique

Twitter:@itsyannij

Instagram: @yannij

Want to share you #fearless moments? Contact david@hairrules.com

The Cut That Changed the World…Maybe

When I awoke on August 8, 2013, it felt like the day before. How was I to know that the information that would spark some of the most intense debates on standards of beauty that the world had seen since the Black issue of Italian Vogue was happening a few clicks of the computer away. BEYONCÉ HAD CUT HER hair and the world was literally sent into frenzy! Though far from being the first celebrity to do a “big chop”, this was KING BEY and therefore the stakes were higher.  Whether you loved it, hated, thought she should have gone natural, wished she dyed it a darker color, or wondered if weave sales would plummet , one thing was certain, you couldn’t go anywhere and find anyone that wasn’t talking about it. “Do you know what this could mean for women everywhere? Women could actually live in the hair they have”, a friend of mine said. Although I wasn’t sure how long the masses would be transfixed on Beyoncé’s hair, I allowed myself a moment to imagine what life would look like if women everywhere were simply HAPPY with what they had.

Having lived in a world of “If you don’t like it, pay to change it “for my entire existence, simply and wholly loving what you have isn’t something that I had ever even considered and if honest about it, most people haven’t. Be it hair, skin, teeth, nose, lips, height, body, at some point in life we’ve all picked at or on something about ourselves that we would have gladly changed or “fixed” given the right financial situation. But what if, by shedding a physical expectation, a standard of beauty she had become synonymous with and simply living and exhibiting beauty in the way SHE saw fit, Beyoncé had freed up the masses to do the same. What would that world look like?

In the weeks to come the conversations would continue until one day it happened, Beyoncé appeared in a weave, far different then the long tresses that had been known for. This was a bob cut and once again, the world was sent into a tailspin and the internet went wild. Where some people felt vindicated, other felt betrayed. Unfortunately, I think most folks missed the point.

The truth is, every day when you rise, you have a choice in exactly the way you are going to be present in the world. The decision to comfortably live in your own skin is a power that you have and guess what? You don’t need ANYONE to tell you how to be. There is nothing wrong with changing up your look as it suits you. The damage is done in changing because you’ve been made to feel as though your natural self is WRONG.

As we transition from Summer to Fall, finding a new look is not uncommon (In fact most of us has it programmed into our minds from grade school). If you are deciding to shake things up a bit, remember as long as you like it, that’s all that matters.

Words by KarynRose Bruyning is a Florida born, New York City based writer. She is the writer/director of the web series, SMOKE AND MIRRORS, and co-owner of Christmas in July 1982. Follow her on Twitter @thekarynrose.

“The offerings …

“The offerings that have historically been available are shifting because the consumer is getting more information, little by little.”-Anthony Dickey from NYT’s article, “As the Curl Turns…”

Huff Post x Hair Rules

http://vimeo.com/71768746#

Julee Wilson, style & beauty editor for the Huffington Post’s Black Voices, stepped into the Hair Rules Salon to get a first hand experience from the texture guru, Hair Rules Co-Founder, Anthony Dickey.

After you check out the video, jump over to read the full “Style in the Wild” feature on Huff Post.

#tbt

Wash-N-Go!

Sashé’s Ambrosia Malbrough shares a quick tutorial on how to get the best out of you Hair Rules Aloe Grapefruit Shampoo, Kinky Curly Cream, & Hydrating Finishing Cream.

#WorkItWednesday: LaShina Thomas

Occupation: Hospital Pharmacist

 

I use to be one of those girls that needed the creamy crack (relaxer). Every 8 weeks or so, I would go to have my hair fried.  In 2009, I made the decision to no longer relax my hair and switched to Keratin treatments.  That only lasted for so long and was a bit pricey.  In 2012, I went cold turkey.  It was a battle because I was so use to straight hair I did not know what to do.  I needed to find something that would look nice and hold up from working out.  I signed up for CurlBox because sampling various products started to add up.  I used Hair Rules Nourishment Leave In Conditioner from August’s CurlBox.  My co-workers must have been tired of my pony tail (I just recently cut about 3 inches of my hair).  So I have received several compliments about curl pattern, my hair feeling soft, and it looking healthy.