Artwork by Nicholle Kobi

I found some gorgeous artwork by Artist Nicholle Kobi on Pinterest. She is a very talented woman that has her work published by Hallmark, featuring art inspired by Gabriel Union  (see Gabriel's photo below) and others.

"I am currently working with Hallmark on an exclusive art collection focusing on black women, love and friendship. Next month, I’m launching the Black Woman Art Series Tour. We’re starting in Brazil and Canada and then visiting 30 cities all over the United States, Europe, Africa and Asia." - Quote from Nicholle during an interview for AYO Magazine on Jan. 31st, 2019.

It is always great to see an artist that is passionate about making art that celebrates our brown skin!

Nicholle's social media pages - 

Website
Instagram
Facebook
Pinterest

Mildred Bean's beautiful grey hair

I have always admired photos of Mildred Bean's hair. She is a wonderful example of how silver or grey hair can be gorgeous.

I have started noticing my own silver hair popping up over the last year or two. At first, I would freak out and cut them out as soon as I could. Cursing the intruders. But over time, I have started to accepted that at age 42, things are not always going to be the same. 

So I have stared to slowly accepted and even celebrate my silver hairs.  Occasionally the idea of coloring pops up in my hair. But I still stay strong...  as of now. lol

Here are a few quotes from Mildren, that where published on an old Hair Looms Blog interview.

Here's what Mildred recommends [for maintaining healthy grey hair]:

 

• Keep your hair cleansed.
• Use products that are either clear or white.
• Avoid products with artificial and/or deep natural color.
• Avoid flat irons and curling irons. If you're not careful they can discolor hair by burning or "baking" products into the hair.

"Embracing your natural hair color, be it gray, silver or white isn't always an easy decision.  It takes a

little courage for some because nobody wants to feel unattractive and/or look "old."  I would suggest they wait until they have a little more confidence in their appearance.  If you have concerns about your outer appearance, I would recommend concentrating on your overall health.  Adopt healthy eating habits, exercise routines, and skin care regimens. Then work on a wardrobe update.  I strongly believe these can help make you confident about your personal appearance.  Once those are in place, I think transitioning into your natural hair color will be a lot easier."

You can read more about Mildred on The Pink. To see more, check her out on her social media pages -

http://instagram.com/naturalsilversista http://www.facebook.com/NaturalSilverSista https://twitter.com/Silver_Sista

 

N.G.U. partnering with Miss Black USA

 

I am so happy to be working with the Miss Black USA organization. I will be donating 3 dolls - one of the dolls will go to the winner of Miss Black USA. The second doll will go to the winner of Miss Black Teen USA. And the third doll will be sold, and funds will be donated to their scholarship fund. To learn more, go to - https://www.missblackusa.org. To see my full article, go to https://goo.gl/a6jBDr.

Meet Eleanor

"Hello I'm Eleanor "L" Chisolm and I would like to share my hair journey with you. It all began when I got terminated from my job. I was then taken on a life journey about myself, about who L is, the good, bad, and the ugly.

Through this journey I discovered some things about me internally that needed to change and saw how those things attached itself to me some were even self inflected. As God began to deal with me, my health came into play also.

I suffered from acne really bad, even went to the dermatologist a number of times but still no improvement. This journey had me to change my diet and go from relax hair to natural. Well due to my personality I Had to have some color for a pop because my natural hair color is really dark.

Once I made those changes and began to live from the inside out. My skin cleared up and I began getting in shape. Now I hardly wear any make up due to loving my skin now and my hair, doing what it do! I'm loving my big hair don't care with my natural curls. My healthy hair had always been my signature I've been told and since I have gone natural I can't go anywhere without being stopped. My hair I found has been the main attraction until I begin to tell my story of how I became natural and what it did for me.

I hear women shy away from their natural hair when I speak with them and I always get, "You have that good hair." I would ask the question, "What is good hair?" Then I explain that "Good hair" is the natural you, your hair you must embrace because it's all you. Beautifully and wonderfully made.

We as women, women of color must stand up and embrace our natural beauty, we must deal with our brokenness on the inside, and not allow society to define their perception of beauty for us.​

#NaturalIsProfessional

"#NaturalIsProfessional is a photo campaign collaboration with Professionals with Natural Kinks & Curls and Happy Hair Boutique. “Natural Is Professional” aims to show that many high-demanding career women rock natural hair in their workspace.

In February 2016, a number of high school students received backlash about their natural hair being “untidy, un-groomed, unkempt and looking like it hadn’t been combed for days.” Also February marks Happy Hair's 3rd Annual 'Love Your Natural Hair' Month. It only felt natural to join the two. 15 Natural Hair Professionals and four up and coming Natural Hair Young Professionals, including a medical engineer, a dentist, a CPA, a future doctor, a business owner and more, came out to show their support for these students and to prepare them “for today’s job market.” The result is countless stereotype-breaking, positive black hair images flooding social media timelines to make people rethink what professional hair can be." - #NaturalsProfessional

 

Lupita Nyong’o's Second VOGUE Cover

 

 

Lupita wows on this gorgeous cover for Vogue.  She also talks about some life experiences that has brought her to this day -

"Her first memory of fashion was at age five, wearing her “very eighties red cord miniskirt with suspender straps. Presentation is extremely important in Kenya. You dress formally. You can’t just wear flip-flops. My mother always had her own style. She wore A-line, tea-length flowery dresses, very well fitting. Her nails were always perfectly done.” As a girl in Nairobi, Lupita recalls, “salons were a big feature in my life. We would go every two weeks to get our hair braided, washed, or treated. That’s where I read American, British, and a few African magazines.Then I would design my own clothes. In Kenya it’s much cheaper to get clothes made than to buy them. We would have everything run up by a tailor, or my aunt Kitty, who is very creative, would sew things for me.”

It may seem an unlikely combination, but politics were as ever-present in the Nyong’o household as style. Lupita’s father, Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o, now a senator, was for a long period an opposition politician under the repressive Moi regime. He spent three years in self-imposed exile with his family in Mexico, where Lupita was born.

The Nyong’os returned to Nairobi when Lupita was one. The following years she remembers as “scary, but I was at an age where you couldn’t fully understand what was happening.” Her father was at times detained in jail, once for an entire month, and the family “had to destroy a lot of his documents. I wasn’t allowed to go to school. We were basically locked up in the house. The curtains were shut all the time, and we were just burning papers.” She says the experience made her resilient. “I was definitely exposed to some extreme situations. Tragedy is something that I have known and that I have tried to accept as part of life. But I don’t dwell on it. . . . ”   Read the full article here.

Style Photographer - Latrenia Bryant

"Fashion/Style should be fun. I love when clothes make statements and I think personal style is really cool. Personal style shouldn't be a hobby, make it your way of life. Live out loud." - Latrenia Bryant

I have admired Latrenia for quite a while.  She is a talented photographer, great at finding gorgeous styles at a bargain price and she is also a great model of her fashion finds.  Here are some of my favorite looks from her -

 

To learn more about Latrenia, you can check out her websites - Latrenia Photographer,  Twitter & Youtube. 

Blue Ivy's Natural Hair

I have been trying not to comment on this whole topic that has been circulating on the web, about the state of toodler's Blue Ivy's hair (daughter of Beyonce and Jay Z).  Because I did not want to bring attention to such foolishness. But to hear recently that an irresponsible and thoughtless person started a petition to get the famous couple to comb their daughters hair, has gotten me a little fired up.

I am so deeply offended by this petition. For one, you are bringing negative attention to a child.  That in itself is horrible.  Internet bullying is no joke and that is what this is.  Second, it is not your child - so it is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS.  Third, there are so many people constantly criticizing Beyonce for wearing weaves, wigs and hair extensions. But she allows her child to wear her hair in a natural state and people still get angry.  I am sure that Blue Ivy is a healthy rambunctious child. I, for one, have a toddler at home.  I know first hand that when I do my daughters hair, she often messes it up with in a half hour of the style being done because she loves to play, wrestle, jump, cuddle, roll around, etc...  No toddlers hair is going to be perfect all the time.

I just think that internet bullying is so horrible. And for the creator of the petition to play if off as being a joke, is her not taking responsibility for doing something that could be hurtful to another person and family; and to focus on a child in any negative shallow way, is hideous.  To read more about this petition, check out the NY Daily News.

Blue Ivy, you are beautiful not matter what your hair looks like.

 

Cynthia Jackson Natural Hair

Q:  What is your hair story?  

A:  I have always had long hair, but after a while it just got a little mundane, every one had straight hair and I wanted something new... a fresh start. Truthfully the cause was a midlife crisis, a bad break up, and a new baby on board. I was just a flat iron girl before I went natural. My relaxed regimen was much simpler than my natural hair journey. After I gave birth to my first son, I chopped off all my hair, and was ready for the new me. Over the past 3 years, I have had 2 big chops and I am currently growing out my second big chop. Going natural the first time, I just got tired of doing my hair, having to re due my twist outs almost every night, so I got a s-curl perm trying to loosen my curl pattern,... then months later I got a regular relaxer and my hair turned out uneven and limp, and that's how my second big chop came along.

Q:  Did you have any big fears about going back to your natural texture?
A:  Honestly I thought I would, but since I was at a stage in my life where I really didn't have conversation with anybody or close friends, I didn't care what people thought and I was ready to do my first big chop. And watching you tube videos, it gave me the confidence and inspiration to pull through with it. I was more ready than fearful.

Q: What are three products you can't live without for nurturing/styling your hair?
A: I am learning to keep things very simple, unlike my first big chop experience.. I love olive oil, Cantu shea butter leave in (want to try Giovanni) and tresemme naturals, olive oil gel.

Q: What would you say to someone who's thinking about embracing their natural hair, but scared about being rejected in various parts of their lives?
A:  You know this is still a problem occurring today and its sad. I would say do you and if somebody has anything negative towards that then its best to just move around. You will always run into people that will have something to say, just remember that the world is going to keep on moving whether they like what you do or not. But never change the way God intended you to be. Be of truth, love, and freedom. My mom used to talk about my natural hair, and how dry it was looking... but after a while she was like "i want to get my hair likes yours, its really cute." :}

London Born Singer Lianne La Havas

"Lianne La Havas no longer needs any introduction; her trajectory has been well documented. Her name has become synonymous with beautiful, soulful, emotive songs about heartbreak. Aged 22, her debut album reached number 4 in the UK album charts, was nominated for this years Mercury Music Prize and she can now count Stevie Wonder, Prince, Erykah Badu, Bon Iver and Jill Scott as fans.

 Lianne announces the release of a two-part video with Noisey.com and Essence.com for singles "Elusive" and "Gone". Director Colin Solal Cardo (La Blogotheque) said of their partnership: "I've been collaborating with Lianne for more than a year now, but working on this project felt like something completely new. Lianne's a brilliant storyteller, there's a true cinematic quality to her songs. When you listen to them, you go through all these emotions and narratives, like a collection of short movies. We felt like it was finally time to build a world around these songs, give life to these love stories and let Lianne actually become these characters. Be it a candid young girl falling in love, or a heartbroken femme fatale in the middle of the woods. I feel fortunate for the trust relationship I have with Lianne, it's something any music video director has to cherish because it's rare and precious. Ultimately, that's what allows an ambitious project like this one to exist."" - by Noisey