Why Numéro‘s Apology for Its Controversial ‘African Queen’ Spread Rings Hollow | Fashionista

Fashionista did a great post on why Numero’s apology for their African Queen Story isn’t quite enough.

If you truly want to show the “melting pot and mix of cultures”, why not use a model that truly reflects just that?

We appreciate the beauty of art and fashion.  We just fail to understand that the best way to express the photographers point of view was the bronzed equivalent of Al Jolson.

We received comments that perhaps the model was African, pointing out that not all African’s are black.  Which of course is true.  However, the model used is not of African descent.  You could argue that it would have made more sense to have Charlize Theron in this spread, as she is South African.  Or any other  model that was actually born in Africa, regardless of their skin color.

Yes, fashion is fantasy.  But the reality still stands that there is an inherent failure in the fashion industry to truly reflect the changing face of diversity both here and abroad.

16-Year-Old White Girl Poses in ‘African Queen’ Editorial

16 Year Old White Girl Poses in “African Queen” editorial

This story from Jezebel is making the rounds this morning and rightly so.  There is no shortage of beautiful women of color that could have been used in place of a painted white girl.  Given the experiences of our founding partner Kara Young as a model, we can’t help but wonder if this had something to do with hair.  Kara was routinely asked to show up to her shoots with her hair already done, many times the stylist never knew how to work with her thick, course, and often unruly hair.

While booking a white model for this shoot may have made the hair stylists work a little easier, this certainly wasn’t an easy task for the makeup artist.  You can bet that the clothes were stained with makeup and more than likely ruined after.

We remember the stunning regal beauty of Alec Wek with short cropped hair and skin so dark it had iridescent hues.  All the makeup artists had to do was apply baby oil to her skin to make it reflect light in the most beautiful ways.

It’s time for the fashion industry to truly start appreciating women of color for their natural beauty.  Shame on Numero for failing to do just that in this story.

16-Year-Old White Girl Poses in ‘African Queen’ Editorial.

Up Close and Personal With Taren Guy

Thanks to Miss Merli for a nice post event wrap up on her blog.  She has some great images from the night and a  one on one talk with Taren Guy.

Up Close and Personal With Taren Guy.

 

Where you at the event?  Let us know what you thought of it.

Curly Commentary: A Natural Hair Journey in Pictures: Onto the Ombre: Page 7 : Essence.com

We always love hearing from Cassidy at Natural Selection Blog.  She has been a big supporter of ours and we can’t thank her enough!  She was kind enough to share  this link with us highlighting her natural journey. We are proud to have had a hand in it (well Dickey’s hands!).  Hope her story provides some hair inspiration to you all.

While on a visit to New York, Dickey of Hair Rules wrangled me into his seat for a haircut (and let’s be honest, I’ve always wanted him to do my hair). Using a method where he first straightens the hair, he gave me an awesomely exaggerated shape that kept my length in the front and cropped my hair short on the sides. Because my roots were grown out, the color faded in this reverse ombre that inspired me to call this cut “The Flame.”

 

Check out Cassidy’s hair journey in full here:

Curly Commentary: My Natural Hair Journey in Pictures: Onto the Ombre: Page 7 : Essence.com.

The Lovely Beauty Box

Are you a Lovely Beauty Box subscriber?  Let us know what you thought of the latest offerings.

The Lovely Beauty Box ~ January unveiling…. | Lovely Beauty Tips.

#QA – What Can I Do To Get My Curls Back?

Question:  I have been without a relaxer since 2006, but I have been blow drying, pressing and flat ironing my hair from then until 4 weeks ago. I want to go back to curly and natural. When wet, my curls and hair look great, but when it air dries it looks like straw. It is still curly at the roots but half way down it is totally straight. What can I do to get my curls back?

Dickey’s Answer:  What’s happening is that the majority of styles that you are wearing are straight, and at some point you are going to have to depart from the damage that is occurring from your straight  styling.  Your hair does have a lot of versatility it’s just your primary styling is straight and if you style natural hair too much away from what it is, which is curly, you get heat damage.  Being curly or being natural is, you’re actually living in a moisturizing world, because the idea of being natural is that you’re incorporating your whole haircare and styling routine into your shower routine.  I suspect that your hair in its natural state as it is now is not getting styled in that manner and probably doesn’t see water until the end of the week or two weeks when you shampoo probably with a shampoo that strips your hair.  Then you go in and use a full on country press that hard press where the only objective is to get it straight and wear it straight.   At this point you have heat damage.  The only way to get back to your natural curl is to depart from the straight stuff.   I’m not sure you really want to do that today or you want to do that in the summertime.  It’s entirely up to you, but at some point  you are going to have to refrain from using so much heat on it.  Please stop using shampoos that have suds they were never designed for your hair.  Use the Daily Cleansing Cream Non Sudsing Shampoo that we have at Hair Rules .  It’s a cream non sudsing shampoo that has incredible moisturizing properties which gently cleans your scalp, it’s like skin care for your hair and it doesn’t strip your hair.  The idea is that if the hair is left softer then it’s going to be more pliable.  That should help to stop the damage that’s occurring by your heat styling.  I don’t know if you want to do straw sets but it sounds like you really want to get back to your natural curl pattern.  The only way to do that is is get off the fence and depart  from that straight stuff that is on the ends of your beautiful curly hair and start to wear your hair curly three to four days a week and then you can do straight styling on the other days.  There’s no way to get curl back on a texture that has been permanently straightened via heat damage.  The only thing I can tell you is to avoid shampoos that have suds, use the daily cleansing cream, and a comb attachment.  You’re in a cold season you won’t have to deal with humidity and negative effects of trying to wear a straight style in the humidity.  You shouldn’t have to use so much heat on your hair.  Only use a flat iron once a week when you do your blow dry and press if you don’t feel like departing with the straight stuff on the end maybe you should just do it in the spring or the summer so that you can continue to wear it straight.  Avoid excessive heat on the new hair that is not permanently straight.  I hope this helps.  If you have anymore questions I’m here to answer them.

#QA I have a really nice curl pattern when it is still wet. How do I keep this look once dry?

This is a good one because I find that a lot of women once you go natural I think the challenge has been that is difficult to find out methods that have been suitable to your texture, so you end up doing alternative things like twist outs, or other styles that are not necessarily the easiest ones.  The great thing about being natural and having a curl pattern when it’s wet is that those are just small indicators.  Whenever you have conditioner in your hair and it’s wet, or you have shampoo in your hair, you see curls.  The problem is that you can never capture those curls or know what to do, so that’s kind of the missing link in going natural.  How do I capture this great curl pattern that I see when my hair is super wet with either shampoo or conditioner.? That’s always exciting to me because the answer is simple…it simply means that you capture that curl pattern with your favorite styling product.

Hopefully all you naturals are avoiding shampoos that have suds because they are so damaging for your hair.  I am talking about the sulfate free ones as well.  Hair Rules has a sulfate free shampoo with Aloe Grapefruit or a Volumizing Shampoo.  They’re both sulfate free, but we don’t suggest them to any of our clients or textures who have textures 3 or  4, unless it’s for removing buildup every few months or so.  Because those textures are naturally drier, they will never need anything that has suds be it sulfate free or not.  What was missing from your arsenal were these new cream shampoos, non-sudsing cream shampoos, that are the missing link to textures that are naturally dry to getting great versatility through proper hair care.  These non-sudsing cream shampoos  of course Hair Rules Daily Cleansing Cream Moisturizing No Suds Shampoo is just the best thing since sliced bread when it comes to natural hair.  It’s a cream shampoo that allows you to de-tangle while you are shampooing and it doesn’t dry out your hair, so your hair is left soft, and de-tangled, and freshly cleansed.  That’s your go to weekly shampoo and that of course helps to bring out the curl pattern.

Once you’re finished you have your Hair Rules Quench Ultra Rich Conditioner for textures that are naturally drier or kinkier or curlier textures.  Conditioners are there to help further soften the hair and to help you recognize your curl pattern.  Once you put your conditioner in you should be able to see a great curl pattern because  soft hair is the only hair that wants to curl up which is why you only see curls when you have conditioner on.  The great thing about the quench conditioner is that it will allow you to see the curl pattern that you have, and it also preps your hair for your styling products.  So after shampooing with your cream shampoo you want to use your quench conditioner or if you’re co-washing you’ll use your quench conditioner daily   to simply rinse and condition and use your quench conditioner to co-wash.  That  method  of co-washing and wash and wear styling helps to transform your texture to one that is soft and elongated and curlier, it will just get curlier and curlier.  Of course you are looking to find out how you capture that curl pattern.  These are small indicators, when you see a curl pattern when the hair is wet and has conditioner on it that’s just a small indicator that’s where you are going to apply your styling products. Again, your conditioner helps to prep your hair which softens it and de-tangles and elongates.

The moment you rinse out your conditioner, the instant you rinse it out,  that instant while you are conditioning the hair and your fingers are feeling your texture and you’re feeling these curls that are so prevalent as you’re rinsing your conditioner.  That active rinsing the conditioner helps you become more familiar with the texture that you will learn to love.  The moment you feel these great curls that you have as you’re rinsing out your conditioner you’ll then stop rinsing.  The moment you rinse out the conditioner the hair is super wet and super soft and still curly reapply your styling product, your favorite styling product. Be it the Kinky Curling Cream or the Curly Whip.  Hair Rules has a number of different styling products for different textures a lot of them can cross over to other textures.  A lot of women that we know that have kinky hair also use the Curly Whip and a lot of women with curlier hair use Kinky Curling Cream so a lot of times it’s just a matter of your preference.  They both work similar but remember you want to use as much of your styling product to re-saturate your hair.

I don’t know if any of  you remember getting a roller set or wet set in your hair when you had a relaxer or your hair was straight.  What’s a roller set?  You’re not going to put a towel dry section around a roller you’re going to saturate it and put it on the sections which are going to be very wet.  You are going to set it and you’re not going to disturb it until it is dry.  Setting your natural curl pattern is essentially the same concept you’re wet setting your natural curl pattern.  You’re going to condition, get the hair soft, rinse it so it is super wet, and you’re going to saturate your hair with your favorite styling product that should also act as the conditioning agent.  The Hair Rules Kinky Curling Cream and the Curly Whip also will condition the hair.  Make sure you use enough. You can’t overuse these products.  Make sure to saturate the hair with it.  You might use a handful of it or a golf-ball size amount depending on your thickness of hair.  You might use more if your hair is longer.  Use your product as a tool.  Use your styling product to saturate your hair.  Once you’ve worked that product through in a manner de-tangles and stretches out, I like to add a little water sometime so the hair really hangs and then set it.  Whether you want it defused, sit under a portable hood dryer and if you don’t want to do it in the morning than do it at night and stretch it out afterward.  You’ve got to work it into your lifestyle. The wash and wear styling, the more frequently you do it, the softer and easier it will be to capture your curl pattern and your curls will get better and better by doing this.  Wash and wear styling also allows you to go forward with a lot of versatility styling ,whether you’re going to do twist outs, braid outs or straight styling  – you don’t get heat damage because you’re doing a lot of wash and wear on top of hair that is thoroughly moisturized through the method of wash and wear styling.

I hope this helps.  Go to hairrules.com also has a how-to section with how-to videos and it has application videos on how to achieve all of this looks.  By all means go to hairrules.com and look to see in the how-to video section will show you how to apply the product and step by step methods so you can see for yourself.

#QA – Products for Shedding and Hair Breakage While Going Natural

Can I go to Walgreens here in my home town and have them order it? Also, what products should I use for shedding, and hair breakage while going natural? I’ve relaxed my hair for years and don’t want to cut it.

If you would like to know where Hair Rules products can be found go to our website at www.hairrules.com ;and scroll to the bottom where it has retail locator and just click on that and put in your zip code or state and your location in your area for Walgreens or Target should come up. (You can also order online at walgreens.com and target.com)

There’s never one product that will prevent shedding, shedding is more preventative than anything. There could  be an existing problem. From the question it looks as though you’re transitioning from relaxers to natural.  It is rumored that if you stop relaxing your hair will break all off and that’s not true.  Where that actually applies is if you’ve over relaxed the hair and you have a very kinky type 4 texture that has very little curl pattern.  Then there’s that really processed hair, because  you’ve taken the hair to the limit with the relaxer, and then there’s the new hair coming and you can get breakage from that.  I’m not sure if that’s where it’s coming from or the kind of damaging techniques that you’re using to style your hair.  Congratulations! Now that you are transitioning out of a relaxer, if properly care for your texture you will get great results and you will have a lot of versatility.

One of the first big things with transitioning out of a relaxer, the most important thing that has to happen, is you have to stop using shampoos that has suds at all costs.  Avoid entirely any shampoo that has suds.  We have an amazing non sudsing cream shampoo, it’s the Hair Rules Daily Cleansing Cream. It will allow you to clean your hair without drying it out.  You want to be mindful of the new texture coming in and the one that is still processed. You want to keep the one that’s coming in soft so it’s easy to blow dry and you don’t want to do any damage to to the relaxed hair that you have.  I would suggest using a blow dryer with a comb attachment to style it, and smooth out the roots while they’re wet, after you’ve cleansed with Daily Cleansing Cream and conditioned with Quench Conditioner.  We also have a great blowout styling product called Blow It All Out and that should also help to further moisturize your hair so that it is more pliable and soft.

The last thing you ever want to do to your new hair texture coming in is to dry it out.  (Remember it’s naturally dry so the last thing you want to do is put a shampoo that has suds that is going to dry it out or strip it.) Your hair will never need anything.  Textures that are naturally dry, say the 3’s, the 4’s, the curly, and the kinky, their textures will never need any shampoos that have suds , maybe to remove buildup every three months or so. Beyond that, we don’t suggest using it on those hair textures any suds (sulfate free or not).  Sulfate free happens to be an ingredient that has sulfate has been taken out of shampoos that have suds, the fact remains that any shampoo that ever existed that had suds should have been sulfate free.  That doesn’t mean they were for every hair texture. Now you know that kinkier textures should avoid shampoos that have suds at all costs, sulfate free or not.  Daily cleansing cream is sulfate free, it’s paraben free, phthalates free, it’s great for kids.  It’s a cream shampoo so you want to use enough to get your hair juicy. This part of your hair care regimen, it  will keep the hair soft  and the new hair coming in so you can transition it into your natural texture without any damage.  Shedding usually comes from having dried out your texture that’s naturally dry on top of that and then your relaxed hair which is also dry and damaged technically that’s how you straighten hair.  When you use sodium hydroxide relaxers there’s a certain amount of damage that has to occur so if you start to dry it out it starts to shed.  There can be a normal amount of shedding there can be an unusual amount of shedding which comes with bad hair care.  Don’t feel that you have to cut your hair to transition your hair to natural.  Terms that we hear like big chop are not necessary for everybody it’s a choice you can make.  Or wait until you are comfortable with chopping off and departing from the straight and just have your natural texture.  All in time, that’s what transitioning means it means that time is a healer.  How you think of your hair today, the day you stop relaxing your hair, will be different six months from now,  where you will feel more comfortable with the texture that you have that  you’ve been living with, that you’ve become familiar with at that point maybe you will decide to cut it off.  I hope this helps and go to Walgreen’s  get some Hair Rules products.

Taren Guy and Hair Rules Present Love and Learn Your Hair

Bigger and better this time around.  Will you be there?  Tickets can be found here on eventbrite.

Virginia Gets a Hot Night Look with Dickey of Hair Rules

Dickey’s hot hair tip – steam rollers for sexy volume!  Finish with Hair Rules Volumizing Hair Spray