SHE IS BEAUTIFUL - A short documentary

She Is Beautiful is a short documentary by Denise Francis. "I am in pursuit to change the definition of beauty. I made a short documentary to find what the true definition of beauty is. I explored New York City and interviewed 100 people asking them two questions. "Why are women beautiful" & "Why are you beautiful" Their answers were amazing! This is beauty redefined, the true definition of beauty is YOU."  To learn more about Denise or to see more, go to LiveNaturallyLove on youtube.

Traeh's Big Chop

"In [the video below], I will be showing you a portion of my journey from relaxed hair to natural hair. I did my big chop January 28th, 2014. I've been transitioning since Summer 13' (not sure of the exact date). Initially I was going to transition but I got tired of having thin relaxed hair and trying to deal with two textures so I just decided to do my big chop. I am also on a no heat journey so that I can improve the overall health of my hair. I hope my journey inspires you to go natural whether you decide to transition or do the big chop. In my experience, I believe the big chop was the best thing for me to do. The only regret I have is that I wish I did my big chop sooner :)"  ~ Traeh



To learn more about Traeh, check her out on -
Instagram - @Iamtraeh
Youtube - www.youtube.com/iamtraeh 

Our Next Generation of Natural Beauties!

I love this photo that I spotted on African Heritage City.  Such a beautiful group of young ladies. It is a reminder that if we are taught to love our hair & features at a young age - that we will love who we are from the beginning. 

Loving Facebook... 100 "Likes" by Noon!

I just peeked into our Naturally Beautiful Hair Blogs Facebook page during my lunch break. It is only 12:30 pm, and we have 100 new "Likes" (Readers) on our Facebook page,  just from this morning alone!

Thank you soo much to all the Facebook Natural Beauties, for your support. Let's  continue to rock our natural beauty and to be an amazing support systems, for each other. If you have not already, please visit the Naturally Beautiful Hair page on Facebook.

Natural Hair Coloring Book!?!

What if there were coloring books for our little girls and young women, that inspired them to love their natural hair?  I do not know if a coloring book like this already exist - but if they do, please reply to this post, and let us know the Title of the book and the Authors name, so we can look it up.  Until then, I thought it would be great to start a collection of Natural Hair Drawings that can be printed out and given to our kids, so they can color them in.  Here are few sketches to start off with (see artist credits below):

    

 

I will continue to add drawings to an online album, that I will create on the Naturally Beautiful Hair facebook page, to add to this collection. If you have a great sketch or know of an artist that has great sketches, please contact me at naturalhairbeauty@gmail.com.  Or you can post the photo on the N.B.H. Facebook wall.

Artist:  Jacques Provitt, Ehlin, SayaDarkholme, Ehlin, Qmab, BasicLee, Izryell, Molleren, Ebonfire, Kevin Winters

Here are a few of my own sketches, that will make great print outs for coloring pages. Enjoy!
Artwork by Karen:

Thank you N.B.H. Blog Subscribers!

We have reached another great milestone! We now have 800 plus subscriber/followers. Thank you to everyone that has stayed with me and this great community. Your support and encouragement has made it all worth while. As always... this blog is for you and about you. Let's continue to have a another great year of celebrating our natural beauty...

"Mommy"... "you have hair like me!"

Joe-Hannah Louisma's little girl, Gianna, was teased at school because she didn't have long straight hair.  When Gianna came home to mom and dad, they both tried to reassure her that - she and her hair where beautiful. But Giana would look to her mom's permed hair and say I want hair like yours Mommy. This struck a nerve with JoAnna. So one day Joe-Hannah went to the salon and cut it all off.

Her daughter was there with her and was so delighted. The little girl said "You look beautiful Mommy. You have hair like me!" 

This is one great example of how we often teach better, through our actions,  instead of just words.  It is a beautiful message and I am so happy to see that the little girl in the end, talks about how much she loves her natural hair.

Rochelle Richie, how narrates this story for us, was told that she needed to get extensions in order to be and get ahead as a news reporter. She did it and saw her career grow, while wearing the hair extensions for 6 years. But as shown in the video below, she noticed how much damage the extensions caused her hair and just had enough. She cut her hair off and is proud to say that she loves her natural hair. And that she will be working as a reporter from now on with her natural hair.

Nicole's Sisterloc's

Read this readers contribution from Nicole about her new Sisterloc's:

Q: How long have you been Natural? If you transitioned from process hair to natural hair, what made you want to change?

A: I have been natural for a year but unfortunately I wore weaves for that whole year. I stopped processing my hair because I thought it was an unnecessary expense since I did wear weaves and I wanted healthy hair. I now currently rock 2 day old sisterlocks. Which I am excited about!

Q: What has been the most amazing or suprising part of your having natural hair?

A: The most surprising part of going natural was how beautiful I looked with my natural fro. As sad as that sounds, I didn't know I would be so beautiful or as beautiful as I was with my long flowing weave. But I love the way I look with natural hair.

Q: What is your maintenance routine? What product do you love?

A: Right now I have a shake and go routine...still new to the sisterlocks.

Q: What advice do you have for any one that is considering going back to their natural texture or getting their hair loc'd?

A: Be fearless. Going natural is scary for black women...society has made us afraid to love ourselves the way God made us. So I would say do not be afraid to be you, because the natural you is the most beautiful. And I am so happy I stopped damaging my hair with chemicals.

Q: How can we keep up with you and your journey (for example: facebook, fotki, tumblr, twitter, and more)?

A: Facebook. I have a photo album that I will update often to show my sisterlocks journey.

Bay Area Naturals Event Coming in October

Mark your calendars! On October 23rd, join us at "Rock Your Natural" natural hair event, hosted by Cassidy, from the  Naturalselectionblog.com.  I went to the last event hosted by Cassidy and it was lots of fun. Their will be product swaps and a chance for you to meet and connect with other Bay Area naturals.

600 Subscriber!!!

Wonderful news everyone! We have reached 600 Subscribers (aka - wonderful 'blog followers')!!!  Each time we hit a milestone, I feel so blessed and happy to be a part of this Natural Hair Community. I appreciate you all for sticking with me and contributing every day.  Please continue to join in, share, and help us celebrate the beauty of Natural Hair. 

As always, this blog is for you and about you.  Feel free to contribute by sending in pictures, your stories, experiences, knowledge and or questions. Go to the Contribute page for more information. Also, if you see a great story, book, article or video that should be shared, email me the info at naturalhairbeauty@gmail.com. You will get full credit for any information that is shared on this blog.  Don't forget to check out the website at www.naturalbeautifulhair.com.  Also we have two giveaways right now! So check out the Swag Bag page for more information.

Thank you again!  I learn so much from you all. And it is so great to see that we can empower each other by just connecting.  Peace and Love  ~ Karen @NaturallyBeautifulHair

500 Hundred Readers!!!!

Naturally Beautiful Hair has reached 500 Readers today and its very exciting. It has been a true joy to be able to share stories, information, photos and encouragement with our community of beautiful people. I continue to look forward to continouse dialog, advice, questions, support and more! Look out for the next giveaway coming soon to say thank you for your support and contributions.

**I have a few packages going out today for those who won giveaways in the past, or have recently ordered from the website.

Mahogany Boisseau

Check out my interview Mahogany Boisseau.  She is a model and the spokeswoman for Naptural Roots Magazine.

 

How long have you had your hair in its natural texture? I have been natural for 14 years

What challenges have you come across in the modeling world with keeping and loving your natural hair? The biggest challenge is that natural hair modeling is not mainstream yet, natural hair modeling paying jobs are far and few, but I remain positive that this will change.

Would you ever cut or process your hair to please a big client? No, I would not if they do not accept my hair as it is I will not take the job. I am doing this for such a bigger purpose that is way beyond money. I feel like modeling should be more diverse and I will not conform to what the majority of society considers to be beautiful.

What are some of your favorite products? My favorite products currently are all under the “Jane Carter Solution” umbrella. They work the best on my hair but I am still experimenting with new products.

What do you love most about your texture? I love everything about my hair, I love that I can switch up my hairstyles wearing styles like: braids, afros or curls. I love that my hair represents my ancestors and the beauty of god’s creation.

To read more about Mahogany, check out her interview on Afroniquely You. Or checkout Naptural Roots Magazine.

My IC Styling Gel Review

After seeing Wahidah's video on how she maintains her hair, I decided to give one of the products she uses a try. I have always avoiding gel, because I knew that it has a history of building up, becoming a flacky mess and just drying out loc's. But I have always admire Wahidah's loc's, so I said.. ok, I will give it a try. And I love it!

I washed my hair, oiled my scalp with African Pride Oil, and then palm rolled each loc - using the IC Styling Gel at the base of each loc. As I palm rolled my loc's into sections, I braided loc's in groups of 6 loc's for each braid. Once all of my loc's where braided, I let them air dry. I left the braids / plaits in for 3 days.  With the IC Gel, the roots of my loc's stayed shiny and neat the whole 3 days (It always helps to wrap your hair with silk scarf at night, and wear a comfortable scarf around you hair line when working out to keep your loc's looking fresh).

When I took my braids / plaits down... I was so surprise. It looked salon fresh!  This is how my hair looked after I went to the salon two months ago. I was able to get the same look at home that I got at the salon for $60 bucks!  So I am so happy with the results. I am alreayd a fan of the IC leave in conditioner; but now I am also a fan of the IC Styling gel. Of course use the gel moderately. A little bit will go a long way.  Thank you for the recommendation Wahidah. Great info...

N.B.H. on Facebook!

If you haven't already, check out the Naturally Beautiful Hair Page on Facebook!

Whoo Hoo!! 400 Subscribers!

Very exciting... This is really a tribute to you all. Every one of you have shown me just how beautiful we can all be. We can walk tall, with our heads held high, knowing that being Naturally Beautiful is something to be cherished and praised. Thank you everyone for reading, commenting and contributing. As thanks, please look out for the next giveaway to celebrate our official 400 subscribers.

Confidence

C

onfidence is a funny thing. It often comes and goes like the sun and the rain. It's not seasonal, but it sure feels like a quick change in the weather. The way it comes and goes without notice or reason. Some times there is a burst of it, like the sunshine. Sometimes it just fades away. Often times it takes work, nurturing and care. But all that hard work is o' so worth it in the end. Because what you end up with is an amazing feeling of self pride, love and admiration for who you are inside and out. Love it, hold on to it and embrace it. Confidence.   

~ Author: Karen @ Naturally Beautiful Hair Blog

RE: Suggestions?

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**I just watched this video again... lol. I sure did say "you guys" a lot. Well it is a bad habit of mine. I do know that the majority of the readers for this blog are women. So I do apologize if the phrase 'you guys' was a bit annoying... :-P. I will try to watch out for that the next time I do a video. 

~ Love, Peace & Happiness to everyone ~
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Interviewed by Toshia Shaw

Check out my interview on On The Road To Queendom. Thank you Toshia!

Suggestions??

What would you like to see on this blog? I would love to hear some feedback from you all. If there is something you would like to learn more about, leave a comment. If there is a subject, hair style, product or any thing else that you want to see - let me know. One of the previous suggestions was more styling videos for people with shorter loc's, coils and afro's. So that is something I am working on. Readers contribution is also a big goal of mines. It actually makes the experience of being a part of the Natural hair community that much greater for me because there is a constant interaction where I am learning from you. So if you have comments, suggestions, questions, stories, art... or more, that you want to sure on this blog - please do not hesitate to email me at naturalhairbeauty@gmail.com. Or you can leave a comment on this post or leave a comment on the NBH Guestbook.

~ Karen

Black Men LUV - Photo Gallery

For facebook users, there is a cool fan page called Black Men Who Love Black Women. I like this page because there are a lot of women with different textures and styles, that come together to celebrate their own unique beauty.

"There is somethingintriguing about the black woman who loves the way she was born. So much so that she goes against the grain and chooses NOT to put a burning-hot relaxer on her scalp to straighten her hair in order to fit inside the "mainstream". This group is for all guys who recognize the black woman's natural beauty. And if you are a woman with natural hair, please join ad represent yourself."