Since starting my blog, I have been developing and
nurturing relationships with Curlies and Naturals, and I have been really
enjoying it.
Well I’m happy to say that this has blossomed into something
new. In addition to posting my anecdotes, experiences and feelings on my blog I
will also be a regular contributor to the iHeartMyHair.com website, as a Curly
Ambassador. Añya Grant founded the site in 2009 and foundation is to
Love the Hair You're In.
I also featured her on Canadian Curlies last
October. Check out the POST if you want to know more about her story. Needless
to say it was not a difficult decision to get on board, as I continue to get to
know my hair, not to mention I also believe it’s important for everyone to love
and appreciate the beauty that their hair has, whether it’s curly, kinky or
wavy.
Añya approached me to
be a part of her site late last year and it has been wonderful to join her and her team in
this venture and most importantly to meet and network with other Curlies and
Naturals. We are learning from each other and helping one another on this
exciting journey of being natural.
There are great things to come this year and beyond, so keep
checking in with me. I love getting your feedback and comments.
So yesterday February 19th, was one year since I cut off the remaining relaxed ends off. I can't tell you how liberating and scary that was - all at the same time. I don't regret one minute of my transition or the actual moment I cut my hair.
Over the last year, I've met some amazing like-minded people and have gained respect from others that I didn't expect - all through my journey with my hair. I'm happy to say that I would not have done anything differently and I'm looking forward to next year and I'm very excited about the curlie years to come!
Since it was my hair anniversary, I thought I would kick it old school with a style I did often in my transitioning days - CURLFORMERS. I washed my hair as usual, applied my prep products and a little Lottabody setting lotion. I have to say I love the results and the curls are super cute. Tell me what you think:
Now
that I’m a curly, I often wonder why it took so long and I want to get to the
bottom of the history of the perception of our coils. As the old adage says, “you won’t know you are going, until you
know where you came from.” I will be doing a series of posts throughout
February as my way of celebrating Black History Month. So here I go:
Before
slavery our hair was something that was always pampered and taken care of.
Usually, the person who washed, moisturized and styled your hair took great
pride in the task and was someone close to you. You trusted them. Often your
hair told a story, depending on the tribe wearing a different hair style was a
way of letting the tribe now at what stage of your life, ie: marital status,
social rank or mourning a loss to name a few.
Argan oil
Hand-carved comb
Black
soap was used widely as a shampoo and shea butter, palm oil and argan oil were
commonly used to moisture and style. There was also great pride in hand-carving
combs.
The combs are literary works of art and to me this says that they loved
their hair with all its kinks and coils. It was important to take proper care
of it.
I’ve always been drawn to natural hair. Over the years I’ve gone from synthetic hair extensions to texturizers
to finally purely natural hair. Now that
I’m getting married & soon to be starting a family, I want to be more aware
of what goes in & on my hair & body.
Althea Joseph, co-founder of CurlyCanadians™
Why did you
decide to go curlie?
I’d already begun to consider transitioning from texturized to natural last
summer. Then my aunt passed away from
cancer in the fall of 2011. After my
aunt’s passing, I decided right away to stop putting chemicals in my hair. Better yet, my fiancé, Jason Branton and I decided to
completely detox our home from harmful toxins.
Reading There’s Lead In Your
Lipstick by Gillian Deacon was also a powerful motivator to go natural.
At what point
did you think of creating a business that would promote healthy hair and sell
natural hair products?
After I made the
decision to go natural, I embarked on an extensive Google search for natural
hair care tips and products. I found
some great products yet they were not available in Canada. I wanted to find hair care tips for Canadians
and I couldn’t find much of that either.
My fiancé and I
were (and still are!) inspired to start CurlyCanadiansTM for naturally
curly people living in Canada. Our focus
is on natural hair care for straight, wavy & naturally curly styles for
people from all walks of life.
When was CurlyCanadiansTM
established?
CurlyCanadiansTM was established on October 1,
2011.
What kind of
feedback have you been receiving from Canadian Curlies and abroad and how does
that make you feel?
We are completely astounded by the feedback we’ve been receiving from
across Canada & around the world! People are really excited about having a Canadian resource for curly
hair. Just this morning we received a
message from one of our Twitter followers in the United Kingdom commending us
for targeting a diverse customer base. Comments like this make us grateful for this opportunity & happy to
do what we do.
As a business
owner, what do you think on the Canadian natural community?
I believe the Canadian natural community is the most diverse on the
planet. There are people who want to live a more sustainable lifestyle. There are also people who are becoming
increasingly aware of harmful ingredients in their favourite personal care
products. One of our main goals at CurlyCanadiansTM
is to
provide the consumer with as much ingredient information as possible so they
are able to make an informed purchasing decision.
Secondly, I feel the natural community needs to join forces. Canada is so vast that we’re all doing great
things in every corner of the country without really knowing that our neighbor
down the road is also doing something great. The natural community needs to come together and work together
more. That’s why we are open to selling
Canadian-made “actual natural” hair care products & accessories from
Canadian artisans & manufacturers.
What are your
goals for CurlyCanadiansTM in the next five years?
Our main goal for CurlyCanadiansTM is to be Canada’s
foremost authority on naturally curly hair and natural hair care for all ages
and all walks of life. We want to show
the world how products sourced from nature can help you feel, look and be your
best without exposure to harmful toxins.
What new
products do Canadian Curlies have to look forward to from CurlyCanadiansTM?
Hair Love for starters! Hair Love
is our latest handmade product. Look for
hair care products from Strauss Herb Company (an amazing Canadian company),
handmade hair cleansers from McLeod Naturals and best of all: a new skin care
line called Althea Officinalis, which will debut this spring!
So a few months ago I purchased Miss Jessie’s Curly Meringue
and Baby Buttercreme on sale at HoneyFig. I thought to myself, this is my
chance to try these products. I did some research and I found that Curlies
either really loved Miss Jessie’s products or hated them. I actually have mixed
feelings about them.
This product smells delicious. It has a wonderful lemon
scent that makes you want to indulge in a lemon tart, if that is your thing.
The consistency is thick and creamy. I
decided to use it on my freshly washed hair, after applying my leave-in. I made
sure my hair was moisturized and somewhat sealed before applying the meringue. God
knows I didn’t want any trouble, since there is mineral oil in it.
So I proceeded to use half of a finger-tip amount on each
twist. I was very happy with the light hold and shine the product imparted on
my hair. It felt soft and healthy.
After untwisting my hair, I was surprisingly very happy with
the results. I will definitely use this product again.
The buttercream smells like vanilla cake, which made me
happy. The consistency was very thick and buttery just like the name. I applied
the product the same way as I did the Curly Meringue. It went on damp hair
nicely and seemed to give it a little shine. Once the twists dried I unraveled them. When
styling and separating my twists I found that my hair felt brittle and dry.
Nonetheless I worked with what I got and tried to stay positive. By day two
my hair was in rough shape, very frizzy and super dry. On day three, FORGET
ABOUT IT!! I slept with my satin head tie as I usually do and found a humongous
mess. I was in shock! I would like to say that I did not treat my hair any
differently than I do with my other twist-outs, that usually last about five
days.
So I was in a little panic and almost late for work. I
decided to wet my hair to try to create a puff that appeared moist and shine. It
was a TOTAL FAIL. The water only made tons of white residue appear in my hair.
I had a small meltdown and then savaged my hair with a few twists in the front
and the rest was covered with a bean. Needless to say I will not be using the Baby Buttercream
again.
Although, this was product did not work for me, it may have work for
you. Tell me about your experience and if you love or hate relationships with Curly Meringue
or Baby Buttercreme.
It was cold December day shortly after Christmas and I was
off from work. I decided to log onto twitter to touch base with some of my new
followers and to reconnect with others. There were also a few people and
organizations that I was interested in following. One of them was Curly Canadians. A Canadian based hair product creator and distributor.Later that day I received a tweet from them,
informing me that I had won a D4 Denman brush from them for becoming their 200th
follower. I was so excited, especially since a Denman brush was also on my
holiday hair wish list. What a pleasant and generous surprise.
A few days later I got my Denman brush in the mail. While I
waited for the brush, I decided to do a little research online to find out how
most Curlies were using the brush on 4a-4b hair like mine. Some used it to detangle
while others only used it to distribute product through their hair. I decided
to do the latter of the two, since I was not interested in unnecessary damage
or breakage.
After using my Denman brush for the last month I can truthfully
say, that I am extremely impressed with the tool. First of all let me say it
does not matter if I’m styling with shea butter, Jane Carter’s Curl Defining
Cream or Eco Styler gel, the curl definition is OFF THE HOOK. I was amazed. I
didn’t even know my hair could curl like that. The only con is what often comes
with defined curls - SHRINKAGE. You really have to decide what works for you.
For me personally I know my Denman will be a part of my
styling regime on a regular basis. If I want a more stretched out twist-out, I
may just stick with my width tooth comb, but that depends on my vibe that day.
TIP: As with everything else you use on your hair, be gentle
and let the brush work for you. Do not tug or pull your hair through the brush.
Slowly start from your end and gradually work your way up you’re the section
you are working on. See below a video from monicajoi on youtube. She does a good demo of how you can use the brush that I found helpful. I hope you do too:
I would recommend this product to other Canadian Curlies out
there.
It is my
great pleasure to feature Anne-Marie as my first Celebrity Canadian Curlie. I
first met Anne-Marie when I was in high school and she became our Cultural
Awareness Youth Group leader. Her career has expanded so much since then and
she touches people in many different ways through her craft. She also happens to be a teenager in curlie
years - enjoy her riveting story below:
Name:
Anne-Marie Woods, founder of Imani Enterprises, spoken word artist, singer, actress,
mentor to name a few .
Hometown:
Toronto, Ontario / Nova Scotia
First year of curlieness:
I went natural in 1997
Why I went curlie:
I went to Philadelphia to do a
residency at Freedom Theatre an African-American theatre and theatre school. In
many ways my nine months at Freedom Theatre shaped much of my life today. I
went there to take an August Wilson Advanced Acting Class, and I was teaching Senior
Theatre and Assistant Director on a production. It was an amazing and life-changing
experience in many ways.
Having the opportunity to learn and teach in an all Black environment. I was
surrounded by beautiful sistas with afros, twists, cornrows, fades, locks, and
almost every natural style you could imagine. Everyone was so beautiful. I
can’t say that before living in Philly that I thought about going natural at
all.
See I was the child of the jeri curl. I started with TCB in the 80’s and
graduated to Carefree Curl and then I was a Wave Nouveau woman for life; I
swear. I tried a relaxer once when I was about 14, but the lady burned my scalp
terribly and so I became a slave to jeri curl juice. When I needed a break from
the curl, I would get extensions in my hair.
Anne-Marie with afro kinky twists.
So now, here I was in Philly
surrounded by the most amazing and beautiful natural women. I found myself
asking people different questions about their hair; especially Ayanna who
specialized in Nubian Knots and twists and a short afro or whatever style she
decided to do that day. Her hair was short, but so versatile. I was in
Philadelphia for nine months and by then end of my time there, I came back to
Nova Scotia and went natural. It’s been 14 years since I made this liberating
move and I have no regrets, but because I have a lot of hair and I do
everything myself I do sometimes dream of a fade.
Regime and products:
My regime is
an interesting one. When I first went natural I cut all my processed hair off. It
was quite short. I pretty much do the same things now as I did then twist and twist-outs,
twists and twist-outs. I like Ayanna the sister I admired don’t rock the same
natural hair style daily. For instance for one of my shows I may pick my hair
out into a bit curly twisty afro, then the next day wear my hair twisted and
pulled back, or I leave it twisted for a few days and then open the twists; I
love that look. I also blow dry and flat iron my hair sometimes and then twist
it and put it in rollers, for that special look. That is what I call my
18 hour hair style…it lasts for about 5 hour or so. That’s when I feel like
Blackarella – like the Cinderella of hair. Like the time I rocked that style on
one of my birthdays and then went out dancing, and half of my hair turned into
an afro. Luckily I had a barrette with me – to pull my hair up into one. Cause
the ½ curly and ½ afro style was not cutting it for me.
Anne-Marie rocking her 18 hour hair a.k.a. Blackarella.
When I first
went natural I was asking so many people and doing research about products for
natural hair. I used everything from Mane and Tail to Dark and Lovely which
dried out my hair completely, to some type of shampoo that was supposed to be
for natural hair. I am sure there are many more products now, but back in the
late 90’s every shampoo that I bought for my hair cost quite a bit and made my
hair as hard as sandpaper on a sunny day. I have a friend with locks and I
remember telling her my plight and she was like “Girl I just use wheat germ and
honey shampoo from Shoppers Drug Mart.” That gave me an idea… I began to
try regular shampoos. So, after much trial and error, I now use Dove shampoo
for dry and damaged hair (this works really good on Black hair and does not
make it brittle or hard), and I love the Organic Root Stimulator (ORS) Olive Oil hair products. I use the ORS Olive Oil conditioner which costs about $6.99. If I want to deep
condition my hair because I dye my hair auburn, I put conditioner in my hair
the day before and leave it in before dying it. This has kept my hair soft and
it’s never been damaged by the hair dye. I just use Nice 'n Easy dye because
many of the dyes for Black hair damaged my hair and made it very dry. Are we
noticing a trend here? As far as keeping my hair oiled and healthy, I
used Natty Jojoba Oil and I have been using that since 1997 it costs $2.99 and
you can get it at any Black Hair Product Store in the states. I put that in
right after washing. I also use the ORS Olive Oil cream in my hair right after
washing. Outside of that I use hair food now and then, and that’s about
it. Nothing I use in my hair costs a lot of money and the products last
for a long time. When I started this journey though I spent a lot of
money on products just trying to figure out what works well with my hair.
The best part of being curlie for me is:
The best part of being natural for me
is being versatile, and I love the look of my hair. It’s just liberating. It’s
like I emancipated my hair! For me this is not a fad obviously, because it’s
been 14 years now. I like to rock different styles, and my hair is long
enough now that I can just pull it back into one. Or I twist it and open,
twist and curl, wear a bit Foxy Cleopatra afro, or when I need a break in the
summer I put in afro kinky extensions. I prefer the afro kinky twists, because
they look just like my real hair. So it’s simple when I feel like locking
my hair, I put in the afro kinky twists. When I yearn for a fade or to cut off my
hair, I pull it back into one. When I want it to be a bit more manageable then
the ceramic blow dryer and flat iron are there for me. If I really want a
straight style then I can do that too. The other thing is I do everything
myself including my extensions, so unlike many of my friends I am not paying a
fortune at the salon. Yes it takes time and planning sometimes to do this hair
of mine, but I don’t mind. I love my hair!
Anne-Marie at a recent spoken word performance in Nova Scotia.
What
professional projects are you working on:
I just
finished producing a show at Young Peoples Theatre (YPT) in Toronto called, Word Up it was a spoken word and theatre
showcase called, Why I Write and it
was phenomenal Word Up is a youth
spoken word and theatre program that I developed for YPT. Presently I am
in Halifax, Nova Scotia in a hotel room getting ready to perform at the Word Iz Bond Poetry Series and then in a
few days I will be the MC and guest performer for the Nova Scotia Mass Choir’s
20th Anniversary of The Dream Continues Tribute to Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King … then I am back in Toronto
and I am the writer and poetic narrator for Tribute
a show that is paying tribute to African Canadian Choreographers past and
present. It’s being put on by Dance Immersion and it is for me it is one of the
pinnacles of my career. I also do work in schools and will be working on
a Spoken Word Anti Bullying project at Queen Victoria Public School and then
also working on a big Spoken Word Conference and Showcase for 2013.
If you would
like more information about Anne-Marie and Imani Enterprises feel free to visit
her website:www.imanicreativeconsulting.com.
