hugmyhair

Date

April 10 2014

Written By

Bold Apps

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Brown babies with pink parents

Written By Bold Apps - April 10 2014

photo credit: Joey Ivansco / AJC

My partner - an indian man (though anyone would mistake him for a white man with his milky skin and green eyes) has always said that if we were to have a daughter then I would be the one to take care of her hair. I didn't protest (I secretly loved the idea) however I was on curlynikki.com and came across a blog post with the title 'Brown babies with pink parents' which made me think twice. It describes the love and and battles that white men and women are faced with when caring for their black children's hair. One story in particular made me fluffy inside (maybe because the girl is just so cute!?) So I thought i'd share it with my readers and indirectly shame my partner into wanting to take shared control of our hypothetical daughter's hair.  In 2005 Professor Cliffton Green and his wife Jennifer adopted Miriam Tigist Green (pictured above at age 4) from an Ethiopian orphanage. This is her hair unbraided before her father has tended to it with his "weekly loving touch."

 

Initially, Cliffton and his wife Jennifer were uncertain of what to do with her hair and considered just letting be - as a sign of freedom. They wanted people to accept her regardless of her looks.

 

Here Cliffton has assumed his hair twisting position in the centre of the living room, strategically placed infront of the TV. I remember when my mother would braid my hair - television was so necessary if I was to be expected to sit still for hours and hours.

 

Half an hour into the twists daddy's little girl let's out a yawn. The Greens learnt not to try to do Miriam's hair before church because it would mean that they'd have to rush. They wanted to take their time and learnt that what was at stake was more than aesthetics - caring for Miriam's hair was a litmus test of their parenting.

 

Doing Miriam's hair allows Cliffton to bond with her. Cliffton said that his father made him "feel like he'd hung the moon" and that he wanted the same for his children. "It's a little gift he gives her, the little joy of feeling nice and getting good vibes from other people," Green's wife, says.

Who takes control of the children's hair in your relationship?

Date

March 13 2014

Written By

Bold Apps

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NoScrunchie

Written By Bold Apps - March 13 2014

Do you think the scrunchie will officially make its way back onto the high street? Or are you of the same mind as this brand who state clearly their thoughts on the subject!  NoScrunchie is the brainchild of Leillah Sekalala. Leillah was fed up with searching for good Afro salons after moving from Uganda to the UK. She had too many bad experiences in the salons she visited and was underwhelmed with the lack of good stylists equipped to deal with the afro hair market. She spoke about her experiences with friends, family and posted on her social networks and as a result, found so many people going through the same thing. She thought it was time to do something about it. That something was NoScrunchie. The UKs first salon ratings website for Afro hair. Leillah and her co-founder, Alex, worked hard on designing a website that would appeal to her target market and enlisted Online PR UK to help her reach out to them even more. Onthe website, there is a lively forum that covers just about everything and theblog is all about afro hair, tips, tricks, hairstyles, fashion, beauty, health,you name it!  They are all over Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter  too so make sure you follow them and get involved! They have celebrity endorsements from Shingai Shoniwa, no less AND they have theirvery own empowering meet up where girls get together from either a professional or personal point of view and chat about everything from the natural vs. relaxed debate to being a women in business and their very own personal hair horror stories!   Since launching the site in January 2013 NoScrunchie has over 200 reviews and nearl y2000 social media connections. In just 2 months! So there really is a call forthis service in the UK and their lists are growing each day.   Why don’t you head over to their website and rate your salon, follow their blog and join them on their social media pages, they have some brilliant competitions and giveaways that you should really not miss! Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter | Blog | Website Online PR UK – Online PR and Marketing

Date

March 06 2014

Written By

Bold Apps

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About Me

Written By Bold Apps - March 06 2014

Dalilah Baruti

The Founder of Hug My Hair

Me in New York October 2012

I was born in Tanzania and grew up in London. I did not know I was ‘different’ untilI came to the UK aged 5. I was in awe of and completely LOVED European hair, dreamt of it even, the idea of having golden flowing locks sweeping against my back as I ran around the playground really had me on cloud 9. But I'd alwayswake up from this dream and my hair was still shorter than the other girls, it was still blacker than the other girls and it totally defied gravity.  I was so excited when I got my first relaxer, I couldn't wait to look like the girl on the box. I was beaming. After about 9 years of attempting to look like the girl on the box, I saw my hair for what it was - damaged, thinning and my hairline was a lot further back than I'd have liked it to be. I decided to cut all my hair off.  Mind you, I was 17 and this look was NOT cool. So I exchanged my braids for a headscarf and that's been me ever since.

 

After 8 years of being natural & wearing my hair in a scarf-bun with big earrings I realised that I had grown to accept that black hair - coily afrohair doesn't grow. My hair appeared to stay the same length for years after reaching my shoulders. In a moment of protest I took to the Internet and started researching hair and its properties and how to get it to grow. I learnt three things 1. Black hair grows just like everybody else’s, but because it's naturally dryand very fragile it breaks off a lot more 2. Our skin is the largest organism on our bodies and it absorbs up to 60% ofwhat we put on it 3. Applying 'Grease' to the hair is not what black hair needs, petroleum basedproducts can block the scalp from breathing and your scalp is like soil, if youdo not cultivate it, nothing is going to want to grow there!  So in July 2012 I was on a mission to grow and retain the length of my natural hair -naturally. If my skin was going to swallow what I put on it, I wanted to make sure It would be something I would be happy to eat. I couldn't wait to learn how to retain moisture, rid my shelves of products that contained chemicals and cultivate my scalp so my hair would want to grow. The result was Hug My Hair and I've never looked back. I no longer dream of European hair, I still appreciate its beauty but the difference is that I can see the beauty in mynatural hair too; all I had to do was understand it.

 

Photo credit: Janine/What Renee Made

 I have since created 6 hair butters and Vintage (pictured below) was the first. It contains Lavender and Rosemary Essential oils, Virgin Coconut, VirginAvocado, and Virgin Olive oils - all of which are superior ingredients for thepromotion of hair growth, application of moisture and reduction of dandruff. All my products use unrefined certified organic and fair-trade shea-butter as a main ingredient. The butter seals the moisture in and acts as a natural SPF and barrier, protecting the hair from further damage allowing you to retain length and minimize breakage.  I want anyone who has experienced hair-envy to see the beauty in their naturalselves and hug their hair!  "Her life improved dramatically when she decided to break the rules, and find beauty where she'd been told [telling herself] there was none."

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