Ask Felicia Leatherwood: Natural Hair Diet #FeliciaFriday
Natural Hair Diet
Natural Hair Diet
Written By Felicia Leatherwood
Written By: Felicia Leatherwood
People tend to make a lot of assumptions about why people go natural and most of those assumptions are based on their own beliefs about why everyone should be natural. And along with those assumption comes a great deal of judgment about how others choose to maintain their hair. But is that fair? Who are we to judge someone’s choice to be straight, or wavy, or curly or kinky or relaxed!?! Have we gotten off track with the meaning of the whole “I’m Natural” movement?
Personally, I’ve always believed that the choice to go natural was about freedom and self-love. But after talking to lots of women about how they feel about their hair and reading numerous negative comments all over social networking, I’ve come to the conclusion that the way we feel about other people’s choices in hairstyles are generally a reflection of our own insecurities.
Many of us may grew up with negative stigmas implanted in our brains about our hair through constant verbal negative repetition, and even if our mothers didn’t say we had tight or tough hair, it was implied by the look on her face whenever she came with the jar of Blue Magic and the pressing comb! Maybe we went to school with bullies who called us “nappy headed” or felt that we didn’t get that boyfriend because of our hair texture or type! But that is not the case for everyone. Not everyone grows up hearing that their hair is nappy, tough, rough and bad. So, could it be that some of us want to march against the injustice of how others treat their hair because of our own negative self-perception? Soooo many reason for us to be angry and judge what natural hair should or shouldn’t mean to others.
When the natural hair community first came out strong, it felt like a very pride-filled time, but as the days, weeks and years are flying by, there is an air of disharmony and mean-spiritedness! What is happening to our strength and our confidence? Why are we the only ones getting into debates every time one of us changes our hair; even creating forums to have other people decide what we should do with our natural hair and if it is appropriate for public view? The negative chatter I have seen throughout social networking feels judgmental and sad. People are throwing their opinions around like there is a shortage of negative gossip in the world; expressing opinions about women who are straight hair wearers to the children of celebrities who are barely able to walk! Somehow, we seem to be losing our way. So, let’s remove some of the emotional layers and get to the heart of why some of us feel it’s OK to attack one another because of how we choose to wear our hair.
What can be done? How can we bring the positive, loving, supportive community that once existed, back to it’s powerful place of strength, unity and Love?
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Written By Felicia Leatherwood
Sometimes we gotta take inventory and make sure that the very thing we need to change is our attitude or frame of mind and not always our hairstyle!
Written By : Felicia Leatherwood
I am constantly being asked which products work best on what hair types or what are some of my favorite hair care products to use. So, here is my list for all of you product junkies out there and “naturals in the know”.
Written By Felicia Leatherwood
One of the biggest most important and detrimental questions I get almost everyday, is “How can I get more moisture in my hair?”
Written: By Felicia Leatherwood
I see a lot of really great video’s on the internet these days, and you can choose from learning how to weave to learning how to braid and trim your own hair. So I can’t help but to think about how it’s affecting the salon’s around the world and how much business they have lost as a result of it!
Sure I’m surviving well, but that because I really enjoy being apart of the Natural Hair community in a more personal way. Therefore I have been able to keep up with the times and get involved in assisting with the DIY movement. But some of my colleagues are concerned about this and have a lot to say.
So I wanted to write this post to show the other side of the coin about the growing DIY’s that are popping up everywhere.
First let me start by saying that I absolutely advocate learning your hair and at least knowing how to do 2-3 hairstyles on yourself is definitely empowering incase you ever have to put yourself together and don’t have time to get to the hair salon. I’ve even learned some tips from the “How To’s” on the Internet and have found them very helpful. But I think the disconnect comes in, when some of the blog sites and video channel suggest that women never go to that hair salon and state that the salons are a rip off and you will save yourself money and time by not bothering to go to the salon.
I say “to each her own when it comes to going to the salon.” I don’t know about you, but I believe that we all have a friend or two that should never do their own hair!
There will always be that one person who follows the DIY directions wrong and make mistakes that sets their hair back to when they first started going natural!
Pro’s & Con’s:
Pro – DIY’s are great for inspiration, but if you have a good hairstylist, they can never take the place of that person.
Pro – DIY’s when done properly make you feel proud of yourself, when they come out correctly, BUT wait… when done WRONG, our feelings can get a little hurt!
Speaking as a Natural Hairstylist and Educator, I receive lots of emails and messages saying how their DIY went wrong and trying to understand why it didn’t work.
Everyone is not DIY capable and that;s not a terrible thing, that exposes you as one who should seek the help of a professional.
Pro – You will save yourself some money if done properly!
Pro – You can become a Internet sensation after creating and editing your DIY hairstyles!
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Con – Not following the DIY instructions.
Con – Following a vlogger/blogger that doesn’t have your hair texture!
Con – Destroying your hair with excessive ingredients, dyes, heat, tension on hair, poor trims, creams, butters, oils, etc.
Con – Confusing yourself by following too many instructions and websites, thus resulting in frustration and wrong information about your hair.
Unfortunately if you’ve ever had a bad experience at the salon, it can turn you off forever! But bad hairstylists are like bad relationships…when one doesn’t workout, get back on the horse and just remain open to finding the ONE!
Here are a few tips on finding a great hairstylist…
First be sure to always set up a consultation appt. before booking your service! Consultation appt. are very important, because if you don’t vibe with the technician or care for the space they work in, you can save yourself some irritation by going to meet with the stylist first beforehand.
Second, when meeting with the hairstylist be sure to ask questions that are important to the health of your hair. Ask questions about products, treatments and prices and check for honesty, resurrance, and good customer service(which includes- attitude) while conducting your interview,
It really does help if you have some good friends or people that you trust the opinion of to refer you to some good hairstylist.
But let’s face it…we can’t do everything ourselves, so when you are ready to seek the advice of a licensed professional, the right hairstylist will be there for you!
Posted By : Malia
Written By: Felicia Leatherwood
1. Thou shall not ever curse thou own hair or anyone elses.
2. Thou shall be more mindful of what’s going in the body as well as on the hair.
3. Thou shall not label any hair as “good” or “bad”. If it grows out your scalp then it’s all good.
4. Thou shall consistently nourish and feed the hair with healthy hair products.
5. Thou shall recognize that a texturizer IS a chemical relaxer and NO Lye IS a lie.
6. Thou shall treat the hair and the body as a Temple.
7. Thou shall always have patience with their Kinky Curly hair.
8. Thou shall never use silicones or parabens in their hair.
9. Thou shall wrap thy hair up to protect while sleeping.
10. Thou shall ALWAYS rock thy natural hair with confidence. Love Your Hair With Natural Care.