Health expert Devra Davis, author of "The Secret History Of The War On Cancer," states that "9 out of 10 women were born with healthy genes" which is an astonishing statistic because this means that only 1 out of 10 women were born with cancer... which means the other 9 may be exposed to man made elements that caused cancer.  She also highlights the fact that African American women are more likely to die from breast cancer than Caucasian women and the fact that it is largely due to our hair products we use that contain placenta.

Listen to "Devra Davis: Chemicals, Cancer and You" or download it to your computer.

If you are newly natural, the first thing you should be doing is going through your product cabinet and tossing out products that have any man made chemicals that should not be going on your head.  However, some chemical-sounding ingredient names may not be harmful but actually may be a natural ingredient.  I used to assume that any ingredient that you can't pronounce is a chemical that should not be used in products, but that was wrong thinking.  These days, products list the "technical name" for even natural ingredients.  One of the few ingredients I avoid right off the bat are:

• Mineral oil
• Petrolatum
• Petroleum

You should absolutely avoid any hair product with these listed anywhere in the ingredients list.  I've stood by this for the past decade.  The reason why these ingredients are used in products is because they are CHEAP and therefore companies who feel we aren't worth the better ingredients (if you so choose to take it this way) or who don't want to spend anymore than they have to on a product, will use these ingredients in our hair care products.

Some other ingredients to avoid: Isopropyl Alcohol, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate or Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Propylene Glycol, Methyl, Propyl, Butyl, and Ethyl Paraben, Imidazolidinyl, DMDM Hydantoin, DEA, MEA, TEA, Fragrances, and Colors.

So this cancels out 70% or more of black hair products on the market today.  Fortunately, there are many other alternatives one can find for hair care.  You just have to be more open to trying unconventional ways of either obtaining your haircare products, or making/mixing them yourself.

Having natural hair is one thing, but using natural hair products is yet another ball game.  Search for natural hair products and take your own health in your own hands.  Make an attempt to follow a healthier lifestyle, and encourage those closest to you to do so as well.  I definitely believe breast cancer research is still necessary and vital.  Please consider sponsoring me by making a tax deductible donation for the EIF Revlon Run/Walk for Women's Cancers by June 11, 2010!

African-American hair varies in texture and coarseness, and is able to be styled in many different ways. Many African-American women choose to make their hair straight by using relaxers or a straightening comb, while others choose to keep their hair in its natural state. It's all up to the individual.

Relaxed

Many African-American women choose to straighten their hair with a relaxer. There are a number of different relaxers on the market, which target different preferences and coarseness of the hair. Relaxed hair has been straightened with chemical relaxers, which can make the hair more manageable and easier to style. Relaxed hair can be worn curly or straight, and the versatility of it is endless. The hair has to continually be relaxed at the roots to straighten the new growth. The time between getting a relaxer usually varies from four to eight weeks. However, some people only get relaxers two to three times per year.

Pressed

Pressed hair is straightened with a straightening comb. The high heat of the straightening comb pulls the waves or curls, and straightens the hair. The hair has to continuously be straightened after washing to maintain this type of hair. When hair is pressed over a period of time, it may lose its natural curl or wave due to the excessive amount of heat being used.

Natural

There are a number of African-American women who choose to keep their hair in its natural state. The hair texture can vary from kinky, curly, wavy and sometimes straight. With natural hair, women are able to achieve a number of styles. Many times they wear a variety of styles that may include afros, twists and locs. Natural hair is often times thought of as being more cultural.

Hair Battle Spectacular TV Taping in Los Angeles

If you just so happened to miss the FREE event, "My Black Is Beautiful," I'm not sure if you wanna miss out on the next.  Do you have a love for hair competitions?  Well there's a taping of a new show called "Hair Battle Spectacular" here in Los Angeles and I'm planning to RSVP a group for the taping in Santa Clarita, CA on Friday, April 16th from 1:00-7:00 PM (check in time 11:30 AM.  If you're interested, please RSVP to carol[@]audiencesunlimited.com to have the details emailed to you.   

About The Show:
Oxygen and 3 Ball Productions, the reality TV Production Company behind such hits as “The Biggest Loser” and “Beauty and the Geek”, are teaming up to delve into the outlandish world of fantasy hair design in their new series, “Hair Battle Spectacular.”

The show follows an elimination format that revolves around the outrageous and fantastic in fantasy hair creations. Each one-hour episode will have fantasy hair designers vying for the precious title of who will reign supreme and be named champion.  Every week stylists will be battling it out with outrageous and eye popping fantasy hair creations. Ten of the most talented fantasy hair stylists from around the U.S. will come together for a battle to see who is the best. Who can handle the pressure? Can they handle the live audience?  Can they bring their hometown talents to Los Angeles?  Will they make the "cut"?  There’s only room for one winner and the stakes are high.

Fantasy hair design is the “Def Comedy Jam” of couture styling!  The styles these artists create are half sculpture, half pop art and ALL hair. With models wearing their “spectacular” creations every week, stylists will battle it out on stage with a live audience cheering them on. The energy, fun and creativity will palpitate the room as the stylists work their magic. The show will not only follow a cutthroat competition every week, but also introduce viewers to the bizarre world of Fantasy Hair, where every stylist and every style is bigger and more dazzling than the last.

As well as battling it out in day-to-day competitions every week, our ten larger than life fantasy hair designers will be together in one location where they will live, create and compete against one another in a series of challenges escalating in difficulty every week, testing their creativity and expert skills. At the end of every episode, the weakest designer is sent packing, so that in the end, only the next greatest artist of fantasy hair design will win the title in “Hair Battle Spectacular.”

From fan site www.erykah-badu.com

The "Queen of Neo Soul" and long time natural hair beauty Erykah Badu released her newest album today entitled "New Amerykah Part Two: Return Of The Ankh."

I'm sure you've already "heard" but to market her newest single "Window Seat," she shot a one-take video in Dallas, Texas using just a digital camera where she strips down to her birthday suit to reenact the assassination of President Kennedy.

I was personally nervous when I first watched the video--with the sound off.   I kept wondering "Is this staged?  Or are these really unsuspecting people?  Why does she look nervous?"  And as the video played, more and more people appeared--including children.  She kept taking the clothes off layer by layer.  I thought she'd stop somewhere but she kept going.  There were points in the video where it looked like she was kinda pausing when she saw a kid so I didn't think she'd really strip down completely like everyone said she supposedly did in--but she did!   I honestly didn't know what to think!  I was more concerned for the kids and the parents of those kids seeing some strange lady walking around stripping.   I couldn't explain what had gotten into this 'woman.'   Then, I watched the video with the sound on and got a completely different experience.  I then learned that it was about the Kennedy assassination.  But still, what do you all think about it?

Erykah Badu is constantly evolving and is a living work of art.  While other artists fizzle away, I continue to be truly amazed at her constant transformations.  Stay connected with her at http://www.erykahbadu.com!

"Secret Show" Tonight at the El Rey Theater, taking place after her appearance tonight on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

3/30/2010 9:00 PM
ALBUM RELEASE PARTY!
THE EL REY THEATER
5515 WILSHIRE BLVD
Los Angeles, California
Cost: $33.00

Get your tickets at:

www.theelrey.com

I had the fortunate opportunity to be at both the "2010 My Black Is Beautiful" TV Taping and Event last Friday and Saturday.  Did you go?  Had I known about it earlier, I would have advertised it a lot earlier than when I did... would have loved to have my fellow coily hair girls join me!

Click here for my experience

The best thing I walked away was the following affirmation:

"From the color of my skin, to the texture of my hair, to the length of my strands, to the breadth of my smile, to the stride of my gait, to the span of my arms, to the depth of my bosom, to the curve of my hips, to the glow of my skin... My Black is Beautiful.  It cannot be denied.  It will not be contained.  And only I will define it.  For when I look in my mirror, my very soul cries out, My Black is Beautiful.  And so today, I speak it out loud, unabashedly, I declare it anew.  My Black is Beautiful.  Whether celebrated, imitated, exploited or denigrated.  Whether natural from inside or skillfully applied.  My Black is Beautiful.  To my daughters, my sisters, my nieces, my cousins, my colleagues, and my friends, I speak for us all when I say again, MY BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL!"

Where you there?  What did you think about the TV taping or the event?  I personally felt that the Saturday event was much needed... as women, we rarely think about ourselves so I thank BET for putting together a phenomenal event for the African American females in the Los Angeles area!  I hope to do this again next year :-)

Stay tuned for future TV taping invites!  :-)

Click here to read about my experience (pictures included)

]]> http://www.coilyhair.com/my-black-is-beautiful-in-los-angeles-where-you-there/feed/ 0 http://www.coilyhair.com/2010-healthy-scalp-%e2%99%a5-hair-challenge/ http://www.coilyhair.com/2010-healthy-scalp-%e2%99%a5-hair-challenge/#comments Sun, 24 Jan 2010 05:37:47 +0000 Bessie Kaine http://www.coilyhair.com/?p=836

Now that you've had a chance to make or break your new year's resolutions, it's time to take on a real challenge--promoting a healthier scalp to grow healthier hair!

IT'S TIME!!! WILL YOU JOIN ME?

How many years have gone by before you decided to do something about your hair? Or have you not made that decision yet? Well I personally got fed up with not being able to realize the kind of growth and the kind of hair that I wanted. I've perfected styling in twists, weaves, roller sets, etc... even found great products and various regimens for my hair. But after 10 years of being natural and having gone through many "chops" to my length and high heat damage from stylists, I decided to scale back and instead focus on an issue I had been dodging for quite some time--the health of my scalp.

SO WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH THE SCALP... ?

I have always had issues with my scalp and have proceeded to ignore them. I would get a "break" from the problem by resorting to wigs, weaves, extensions of all sorts, etc. In essence, I was hiding the problem, or hiding from the problem. I was recently reading "The Black Woman's Guide to Beautiful Hair" and was inspired to make some changes in how I treat my scalp. I have actually been damaging my scalp tissue by scratching it when itchy, causing lacerations to the scalp that will flake and/or get dry and itchy while it's healing. I would then scratch again because it was itchy, thus never letting it heal. I was also scrubbing my scalp with my finger nails because... well... it simply felt really good, even though I know that I'm supposed to use the pads of my fingers. The scalp has a top layer (the surface) and a bottom layer (where the hair grows) that need to be treated with care. I now believe that all of these unhealthy scalp habits have affected my hair growth or the health of my new growth in one way or another.

WILL THIS REALLY WORK...?

Yes! And there are tons of other resources that will prove it. I personally wanted to make this challenge public last December but instead wanted to try it out for myself, specifically the 1st part of the challenge. I decided to fully take on the below rules and found that they worked well for me! My scalp is able to "breathe" and is a lot more moisturized... less dry scalp as a result and less desire to want to scratch my scalp. I've also experienced noticeable growth as well :-)

This challenge is for MOST types of hair, such as relaxed, permed, or naturally curly or coily. Even if you're still under a weave, you can benefit from this regimen. This challenge will help you get on the right track with your hair for 2010 and have you growing at least 4"-6" of hair by next January, if you follow these 'simple' rules (with scalp care being the biggest one).  Send your starting picture(s) so that I can post them on Feb. 1st! If you're reading this past this date, don't worry!  Just join the challenge whenever you're ready, and hopefully that's soon :-) Just snap a photo backing a mirror, or have someone take a picture of the back of your head showing where your hair ends.   RSVP for the event and follow updates for the event throughout the year (see more info below under "Join The Challenge"). I will plan to post progress pictures every 1st of the month.  I will also be interviewing some amazing women who have grown their hair to unbelievable lengths!

PART I: SCALP CARE

• Refrain from scratching your scalp when it's ichy with your
  finger nails, brush or comb bristles, shampoo brushes, letter openers... basically any sharp object.
• Wash your hair every 3-4 days, as needed at the sight of any
  build up, or once every 7 days at the most.
• Use only ph balanced shampoos that are between 4.5-5.5 in ph.
• Rinse your hair immediately after sweating after a workout.
• Use only the pads of your fingers to scrub your scalp when washing your hair.
• Use a direct stream of water such as a massage shower head or a hand held shower sprayer on your scalp and hair to rid of excess dry
  scalp and debris before washing.
• Perform regular scalp massages for at least 5 minutes daily.
• Apply oil or a water soluble cream moisturizer to your scalp and/or hair when needed.
• Throw out any hair products in your cabinet that contains alcohol, petroleum, petrolatum, or mineral oil.  These do not help with your scalp's health.
• Put your scalp and your hair first and make time to do these things your scalp will benefit from.

PART II: HAIR CARE

• Invest in better products!  If you haven't already, make looking at the ingredients labels your new habit.  Water should be listed first in a list of ingredients.  Stay clear of a product if the majority of its ingredients sound like chemicals.
• Reduce your use of direct heat in the form of flat irons, hot combs, hot curlers, crimpers, and even blow dryers.  If you can, commit to completely stopping the use of these tools for a year.  These tools weaken and thin out your hair overtime, causing hair to break. Air drying is the best alternative to blow drying, and steam rollers or even air drying on magnetic rollers, in twists, or in braids are better than any direct heat appliance.
• "Dust" your ends instead of trimming or cutting them. This means feeling the ends of your hair to clip off only what needs to be clipped off. Use a good sturdy pair of styling scissors/shears which are solely for cutting hair.  Using the wrong type of scissors will damage your ends.
  
• Focus on moisturizing your ends with a light oil daily or when needed.  Your ends will always be the driest part of your hair.
  
• Deep condition your hair once every week by sitting under a bonnet or hooded dryer for 30 min or covered with a plastic cap for an hour or more.
• Consider a protein or a clay mask treatment once a month. (these and more treatments to be posted here soon!)
  
• Opt for more natural protective styling options such as two stranded twists, twist outs, bantu knots, cornrows, individual braids, buns, etc. These styles will keep your hands and styling tools out of your hair.
• Always sleep with a silk or satin scarf or pillow case.  Cotton scarves suck the moisture from your hair.
• Accept your hair for what it is.  God would never give you anything that is "too hard to manage."  Develop a healthier and more positive attitude about your hair and your hair in turn will work for you!

Other Tips:

• Weaves
  • If you wear wigs or weaves, refrain from using glue on your scalp.  Opt for a well done sew-in or quick weave.
  • Resort to full weaves that cover your whole head as opposed to half weaves where you are required to press your exposed hair to match the weave.
    
  • You can use a dry shampoo to manage in between washes, but for this challenge I encourage you not to rely on this method.
    
  • Invest in good quality human hair such as Indian hair or Brazilian hair.  This way you will be able to commit to the challenge and wash your hair regularly, as opposed to synthetic hair that will tangle or shed after a couple washes.
  • Use weaves as a styling option and not a replacement for your own hair.  Take some time out to work with and improve your own hair for this challenge!  You have a whole community of women here to support you.
    
• Braided Extensions
  • Always braid your hair with ample hair in your parted sections (never small sections).  You should never see little tiny white bulbs around your hairline or base of your braids--that means that your hair pulled out of your scalp possibly from braiding too tight... definitely NOT good.  Your scalp should not hurt when it's braided.
• Relaxed Hair
  • Make sure you or your stylist only retouches the natural newgrowth--NOT THE PREVIOUSLY RELAXED HAIR.   Also, protect the already relaxed hair by rubbing an oil or protective cream through it. Overlapping your relaxer can cause lots of damage which results in the thinning or breaking of your hair over time.  If your stylist disagrees with this, then you need to find a new stylist.  There are plenty of good stylists who would love to have your business.
  • ALWAYS base your scalp with an oil or protective cream to create a barrier between your scalp and the relaxer cream.
  • Stretch your relaxers to reduce the number of times you get a relaxer a year.  This reduces stress on your hair and scalp from the chemicals and allows your hair to grow in between relaxers.  There is plenty of information online on how to do this.  (Also check out my Natural Hairstyles)
• Hair Stylists & Hair Care Specialists
  • Try your best to find a good one!  I know this is difficult for many with natural hair, but there are some good ones out there.  Do our research and find someone who can do a good deep condition for you.  I've posted a few reviews and will be posting more.
    
• Environment
  • Keep yourself surrounded with positive women who will support you on your journey.
  • Invest in Black Hair or Natural Hair books & magazines.
  • Google pictures of women who have your type of hair and bookmark them as your 'hair inspiration.'
  • Join different online hair communities where you can get the support you need for your hair.   Even as a blogger myself I still have some that I've been with for many years.  Feel free to post any questions you might have.  I'd be more than happy to answer your questions :-)
    

If you follow these tips religiously, I will guarantee that you will experience tremendous growth by January 1st!  If you've read this whole post and commit to it, you're definitely ready for the challenge!  Now let's get to it!

Depending on your preferred choice of social networking, you have several ways to get involved with this challenge:

On CoilyHair.com

1. RSVP for the event (to the right of this website).
2. Email your starting length photo to info @ coilyhair.com by Jan. 31st to guarantee your photo will be included in my first monthly progress posting by Feb. 1st.   If you're reading this past this date, don't worry!  Just join the challenge whenever you're ready, and hopefully that's soon :-)  (read about the challenge)
3. Check the "2010 Challenge" tab for updates and related postings.

On Facebook:

1. RSVP for the event.
2. Upload your starting photo to the event page (recommended by Feb. 1st) to officially join the challenge.
3. You'll see the event listed under "Events" anytime you log into your Facebook account.  Check in for any updates!
4. If you're not already a fan of CoilyHair.com, become one today :-)

On Twitter:

1. Tweet your related updates to the tag #scalphairchallenge2010
2. Follow the conversation on Twitter.com, HashTags.org, etc.
3. Follow the list @coilyhair/scalp-hair-challenge-2010 to be added :-)

Lamya Cammon is a 7 year old first grade student who had her hair cut by her own teacher out of anger said to be stemmed from the stress of budget cuts. Image courtesy of Essence.com (click for video)

Many of you have seen the video, but how many of you are speaking out against it?  I've found that people take silence to mean indifference.  There is nothing wrong with stating your indifference about something, especially when it can help someone else.

Below is my short letter to the Milwaukee Public Schools (and thank you to "Black Girl With Long Hair," Tia Shauntee, and even Essence.com for talking about it):

To: 116@mail.milwaukee.k12.wi.us

Subject: "Justice for Lamya Cammon"

Dear Superintendent William G. Andrekopoulos,

I was not happy at all to hear about the incident involving Lamya Cammon nor was I satisfied about the solution that was offered--to fine the teacher and allow her to continue teaching her class.  Lamya should not have had to leave her own class, but rather the teacher should have been taken out of that class and either given a psychological evaluation to determine if she is fit to teach, placed in another class where she will be dealing with much older students who aren't 7 year olds, or fired.  Clearly, she is unfit to teach young children if she doesn't know how to properly deal with a 7 year old child playing with her hair, let alone teach at all.  There are much more deserving teachers who would love her job.

My primary concern is how a teacher can come to violating a child by  cutting her hair off in front of her classmates.  It baffles me what kind of mind this teacher has to go to such lengths as to think of picking up a scissors and cutting off her students hair--out of frustration? If you claim that it is "stress" that induced such behavior, God forbid what if the teacher had a knife or a gun in her purse? Or is this too hard to believe? If you asked me, I find this incident hard to believe--but it happened none the less. As a teacher, I am sure there had to be some kind of training on how to deal with stress. Even at the most basic level of dealing with stress, you never put your hands on someone. We also know that you never direct your anger at someone who has nothing to do with your personal issues (in this case, a reduced budget?). Lamya definitely was not the cause of this teacher's stress but instead a victim of it. Clearly, Lamya was obedient enough to come to her teacher when called for her punishment and was also obedient in that she stood still while the teacher took her scissors to cut off her lock of hair.  So to say that Lamya pushed this teacher over the edge is not only false but covering up a much larger issue with this teacher--whose name we still don't know--and even the lack of quality in personnel working at Congress Elementary School.  When will enough be enough?

You are setting a terrible example for the rest of these kids.  As far as Lamya's classmates are concerned, the students in this classroom will go on to believe that Lamya was the "problem" and the teacher was justified in what she did.  The students laughed at her when this happened--is this what we're supposed to do when someone is being wrongfully violated?  Is that what you want to teach these children? Lamya went back to her chair and wept--she didn't attack the teacher, she didn't shout at her laughing classmates, she sat and cried. Is this what your school district is teaching our next generation? That they are unworthy of proper fair treatment?

I will be following this story to see that something more meaningful is done.  I will not only like a response to this letter but also the name of the teacher and the address for Lamya Cammon's family so that I can mail Lamya a gift for Christmas to let her know just how special she is.

Thank you,

Bessie Kaine

I encourage everyone to write your own letter of disapproval because I know that I would never want this to happen to my own child.   I hope this encourages you to also speak out against Lamya's treatment.

I think the most memorable experience for me was listening to Dr. Eve Allen's lecture about natural living and how to live a toxin-free life.  She spoke about how our beauty regimens such as nail polish, makeup, and hair/body products can make us sick.  She spoke about how to remain beautiful without relying on toxic products.  Needless to say, I learned a lot.  If you weren't able to attend the event, I recorded her presentation for all to watch and enjoy (coming soon).

I felt that the whole event was well organized, and the vendors had a lot to contribute to the whole experience.  To be honest, when I initially walked in, I thought I would only spend a few minutes to get the whole experience, an hour tops.  But as I made my way around talking with the vendors, asking questions, taking pictures, and listening to the presenters, I think I easily spent 3+ hours there--and I wish I could have spent more! 

In the below pictures, I left comments and later I will post videos of what I was able to record during my time spent at the event.  Feel free to leave your own comments or questions!

"Wooli Me" Vendors:

1 2 Living
411 Cafe Newsletter
Bev's Original
Blessed More Caribbean Entertainment
BOBSA
Charles Cambell
Chazz
Chef Marilyn
Divine Gifts
Dr. Eve Allen
Dr. Tony Llaneau
Elegant Chic Purse
James
Genuine HoBo Body-Sense International
Godswill
Intercoast College Life Well Institute
Jewel Diamond Taylor
Keepers of the Krown
Kreative AfRaKan Designs
Kwanzaa People of Color
Mozenna Independent Representative
My Soul Designs
Nehemiah Boaz Covenant Ministries Itl.
Oran Z
Party Lite Independent Consultant
Patricia B. Hall
Quiet Warrior Publishing
Rych McCain
Sables Images
Sensual Shea
Sparkletts Water
The American Dream
The Honor Thy Father Award
The Sister Marketplace
Tona Rensen-Body Magic
Yendi Collections
You-niquely Yours
Wooli Me

(More information in the photo gallery)

Many of you may have already seen this video, but "A Girl Like Me", by Kiri Davis, is a short documentary filmed in 2005 about beauty standards and biases amongst African American females.

I remember seeing this video years ago (and luckily I bookmarked it)... I felt so sad watching the young children in the experiment exhibiting the same results as a similar experiment performed decades ago--the Kenneth and Mamie Clark's study of color preferences among young black children.  I remember feeling like we had not come a long way at all.   When I see young girls, I go out of my way to tell them how adorable they are or how pretty their hair looks.  In doing so, I have always been blessed with a smile, and sometimes a blush, from them.  I, too, am careful how I present myself to them.  You'll never catch me spouting negative words or phrases such as "I wish I was skinnier..." because they scream "low self esteem" and indirectly would teach them to be just as self conscious.  And when it comes to my naturally coily hair, I wear it proudly so they see that there are "girls" who are "older than them" who have hair that looks like theirs.  They see me in my business attire and some in my workplace setting so they know they never have to limit themselves with how they look or wear their hair when they grow up and enter the professional world.

In this season of giving thanks, we must remind ourselves to never forget how beautiful we are!  Self love will always be deeper than what your hair looks like or what shade your skin color is.  Think about giving the youngster(s) in your life a gift that will empower them and make them feel worthy.  If you don't have self love, nothing you do to yourself will ever be good enough.

• My original video reference
• Learn more about Kiri Davis
• Get Involved!
• Rate this blog post or comment! (below)

Goapele, who is often known for her hit song "Closer" has released her latest single entitled "Milk & Honey".   Check out her magazine cover photo shoot and her newest music video!

Check out more of Goapele's music at http://www.goapele.com.