A Doll Like Us

                                         

In the fall one of my relatives informed me that she had written a letter to Maplelea Girls doll company, because she found that as a Canadian, her daughter was not being represented in their dolls as a Black Canadian. Maplelea Dolls pride themselves on giving Canadian girls from different backgrounds dolls that look like them and who would have the same cultural traditions and activities that they do.

                                         Current Maplelea Girls dolls.       Photo: Maplelea Girls

I was intrigued and decided to contact the makers of Maplelea Girls myself. I gave them some resources for Black history in Canada and mentioned that their are many Black Canadians who take pride in their culture and who appreciate seeing a Black Canadian doll that truly represented them.

Within 24 hours I heard from the President of Maplelea Girls, Kathryn Morton. I really appreciated her prompt response and she told me that Maplelea  Girls  has plans to bring a Black-Canadian doll to the market in 2012. Needless to say I was super excited. The idea of having a doll on the market in Canada for little black girls, that looked like them and did the things they did was fabulous.

Now here is the best part she would like feedback from the readers of Canadian Curlies and find out what naturals want in a Black Canadian doll. So I've created a survey link (see below) and I urge you to make your voice be heard. Be sure to think about what you would like this doll to look like and what persona you would like to have. Let's give the little ones something we didn't have a doll like us and share the link with others.

Black Canadian Doll survey link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LLNCXGM

Blessings and Curls,
B-Curlie

Happy Hoildays Curlies!

I just wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas (if you celebrate it) and a very Happy New Year.  All the best to you and your families.

I hope you have been having wonderful holiday hair as well. I decided to blow-out my hair and then twist it for my regular twist-out. I used Jane Carter's Defining Cream again and I'm still loving it. I did find that blowing my hair did make my twists come out a little longer. I like the look, but I won't do it on a regular basis as I do not subscribe to using heat on my hair all the time. Nonetheless, it's fun to try new things. That's what 2012 is going to be about for me. Trying new things and seeing what works best for you..

So my challenge to all of you step outside of your comfort zone and have a hair adventure. Be sure to tell me about it. I'm looking forward to hearing about your stories and experiences.

Blessings and Curls,
B-Curlie

Jane Carter's Curl Defining Cream Review

So as I mentioned in a previous post, I got Jane Carter’s Curl Defining Cream at an iHEARTmyHair event a couple weeks ago.

I heard mixed reviews (in person and on youtube), the natural who brought it to the event, said it left a white residue in her hair and just was not what she expected or wanted. Others who tried it before said they liked it for twisted outs and blowouts. I still decided to give it a try, especially since I could give it an unbiased review without purchasing it.  

So this weekend was the moment of truth. I decided to try it on a twist-out.  Here is the claim from Jane Carter website:

Eliminate curl shrinkage! Curl Defining Cream is light-weight, all natural product formulated to lengthen and define your natural curl pattern while drying to a soft, shiny, bouncy finish.

Water soluble, Curl Defining Cream washes and dries clean without leaving any film, offering the true luxury of “wash and wear” hair!

Ingredients:Purified Water, Extracts of Anthemis Noblis Flower (Camomile), Symphytum Officinal Leaf (Comfrey), Equisetum Arvense (Horsetail), Urtica Dioica (Nettle), Rosemarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf, Humulus Lupulus (Hops),of Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba), Seed Oil, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Natural Vitamin E, Glycerin, Propanediol, Poly-quaternium-200, Citric Acid , Polyquaternium-37, Ceteareth 20 , Phen-oxyethanol, Caprylyl, Glycol, Sorbic acid, Fragrance.
 

Since wash-n-gos are not my strong suit, I decided try it on staple style - twist-out.

So I washed my hair with Live Clean's Apple Cider Clarifying Shampoo, conditioned with Say Yes to Cucumbers, my leave-in conditioner is the Kinky Curly Knot Today (Kimmaytube method). After applying the my leave-in, I started to section and detangle. After detangling each section, I applied the Curl Defining Cream and started to twist my hair into medium-sized twists.

Let me say that is product has a lovely fresh citrus scent. So if you like citrus, you will love this. The smell also lingers on your hair for at least a day after application – which was fine with me.

When I finished twisting, my twists were slightly elongated, soft and shiny. I wrapped my hair with a scarf and then went to bed.

I took them out yesterday afternoon. I coated my twists with a little bit of coconut oil and gently unraveled them. I have to say that I’m really happy with the outcome. My hair was defined, very moist and bouncy.

So for me, Jane Carter’s Curl Defining Cream is a winner. I will definitely use the rest of the jar up and I think it may become one of my staple products. The only thing I will not like is buying it, since it is quite pricey at $38 CDN for a 16 oz jar. For right now I will live in bliss … and see what I can do when I'm on empty... that will be a sad day. 

See pictures below of my twist-out (front and back), using the product.

Have you tried it? What did you think? Or do you have another product review to share, email me at canadiancurlie2010@gmail.com.

Blessings and Curls,

B-Curlie

Loving your Hair

So I went to an iHeartmyHair event last week hosted by its founder Añya Grant.

It was a great night – Thanks for the having it Anya. There was a product swap, which I loved. I left with Jane Carter’s Curl Defining Cream. So I’m looking forward to trying that out, but that is another post. I also finally met another natural blogger that I have been conversing with on Twitter: Bee from '83 to Infinity.

I just wanted to say that it was really good to get together with other Curlies in the city, in an intimate setting and just chat. We had a good discussion about why we went natural and how many of us are perceived in our professional and person lives. There were many insights, but for me the most important thing I took away from the evening was the need for support and unity in our natural and curly community. Slowly but surely we are getting our act together and showing the world our natural beauty. So look out world!

I hope that this blog can help provide you with support and unity to a certain extent whether you are near or far. Let’s continue to communicate and share stories. Keep me posted on what you want more of and make sure and drop me a line to just say “Hi” or if you would like to be feature on Canadian Curlies.

Blessings and Curls,

B-Curlie

My Holiday Hair Wish List …

It’s time to get out there in the malls or if you are not into the crowds and prefer to makes gifts for loved ones that is fine too. Alternatively maybe you are just not a holiday person, that is fine too … but that does not mean you cannot have a wish list for your hair or decide to give your lovely curls a gift or two or three. As far as I’m concerned it’s just another way to show your love for yourself and there is nothing wrong with that right. So without further ado here is what is on my hair wish list in no in particular order. Donations are always welcome and appreciated…LOL.

- Funky hair accessories

- Cute beanie hats

- I’d love for someone else to style to my hair. Something nice that I wouldn’t have thought of.

- Shea Moisture (Anything from them. I’ve yet to try their products – little pricey.)

- Denman brush

- Huetiful Hair steamer

- Miss Jessie’s Curly Meringue

- Carol's Daughter Loc Butter

- Oyin Handmade Burnt Sugar Pomade

- Hicks Edges

Whatever you decide to do this year for others or yourself, please remember those who are less fortunate or just need a little love.

Blessings and Curls,

B-Curlie

Featured Curlie - Ardean

Name: Ardean Peters

Hometown: Born in Toronto, grew up in Jane & Finch, currently in Brampton

First year of curlieness: 1992 (I think... I'm not good at numbers! I was 19 then, and I'm 38 now!)Actually, I just did a youtube video (purfikt), looking back at these early years. I've been following the online natural hair community on and off starting in 2005 and for the last year or two, have been occasionally following some youtubers. I had wanted to start a natural hair channel for a long time, but it's a lot of work. So this will just be the occasional video on what I do, and more a way to connect with other naturals and glean info from them :D

Why I went curlie: Well, as a child of the 80's, I started my teen hairstyling years, in the age of the Jheri Curl. Remember those? NOT pretty! I remember going to the salon early in the morning and waiting forever until they started working on me. At the end - you had this greasy, dripping head of Jheri Curls and there was no 'styling' option on freshly Jheri Curled hair. Getting back home was therefore a matter of trying to sneak out of the back entrance of the mall, unnoticed and taking the back streets to get back home. By grade 10, I moved onto a relaxer. I remember doing the ponytail that wasn't: using hairspray to try and slick up all the hair that was too short to reach into the bun! I also remember taking an hour in the morning to do my hair curling and styling - yikes! Honestly, I just got tired of all the work, plus that lovely burning sensation you always got from doing a home relaxer! So in grade 12, while my hair was still relaxed, I decided to; dun, dun, dun - cut my hair! Something no black girl did back then. I had decided that I would really prefer a short and easy hairstyle - that wouldn't take an hour to style every morning. It was such a cute look. I loved it. But inevitably, the relaxer grew out and my short cut, wasn't working so effortlessly anymore, so I decided just to cut off the relaxed ends and go natural. I figured if guys could do it, why not me? And I loved it. Wash and go hair - literally!

Regime and products: I have never been big into styling, I'm lazy like that and so have also never really been into tons of product. Last year when I found kimmaytube, I started experimenting with twist outs - so then I was using aloe gel for setting and olive oil hair creams for sealing my hair. But that didn't last too long...although I achieved some cute looks, I'm just not one to twist my hair nightly - or even to tie it down and re-fresh it in the morning. So the last few months, I was mostly just washing 1X a week and then daily just dampening my hair in the shower/or spritzing with aloe/water to moisten and be able to style it: a low bun in the back and 2 flat twists in the front.

(above) Ardean with braids.

(above) Ardean with a puff.

Now though, I've decided to re-visit my 'wash and go' again. This is what I did years ago and was doing up to a year and a half ago. I had stopped, because the band I used to pull my hair into my staple large puff, was now causing a tension headache. This time around, I'm going to try the wash and go and either leave my hair in a fro or another simple style, that doesn't cause any tension.

My current products:
1. Conditioner in the shower daily - just started using Tresemme and Tresemme Naturals and so far love it.
2. Aloe juice (by way of Kimmaytube) - I love how this smells and I do see a difference (smoother, less frizzy hair) when I use it. After I condition and rinse, I spritz on my aloe/water combo.
3. Shea butter - I had been using castor oil (sometimes jojoba) up to now, but never liked how they smell. I recently went back to shea butter and love it! I find that shea leaves my hair curly, softer and sealed, while the castor seems to straighten my hair out and never really absorbs into my hair.

The best part of being curlie for me is: Is the 'ease of use'. I don't worry about getting my hair wet. In fact, my hair loves getting wet. The versatility you have with being curly - you can do a straight style anytime you want and then go back to being curly. And mostly, I just love how my curls feel.Chemically relaxed hair, just never felt near as good:D