Yesterday I got a chance to catch some daytime tv and came across Dr.Drew's Life Changers. I was thrilled! Why? Well, of course its because the topic of the hour was about hair in the Black community. Kim Coles (who looked great and was on point with her comments), the wonderful Felicia Leatherwood and Kurly Bella of KISFORKINKY were all guests on the show!

The first half hour highlighted some of the reasons why most Black women are uncomfortable/opposed to wearing their natural kinks and coils (from "its unmanagable" to "my momma says straight looks better"). Plus, Dr.Drew had to be schooled on some of the lingo of Black hair because we all know that to other folks when WE talk hair its like another doggone language. 

A mother-daughter duo was interviewed as well. The mom, Nakesha, is natural and was wearing a weave/wig. She had some of the classic complaints about her natural hair, but really, it was the common case of not being fully educated on how to care for it. What was really interesting, though, was how proud the mom was that her young daughter, Tiamot, was so proud and confident of her own hair. However, when Tiamot came out to talk, the subject of how her classmates pick at her and call her names made her cry. I love how Dr.Drew told her that those kids just say those mean things because they are stupid and that she is beautiful the way she is. Then comes the TV makeover. Felicia took the two in the back, did her thing and by the end of the show the mom looked great! Plus, she received some tips on how to take better care of her hair from one of the best natural hair care specialists in the industry. Felicia didn't do much to little Tiamot because she truly is a beautiful little girl, and Tiamat's real confidence came from seeing her mom at peace and loving her own hair.

The last 30 minutes of the show featured what Black men think is good hair. The youngest of the bunch was 21 years old and really, to me, had a very mature thought. He said that your woman dictates what you like (when it comes to hair) because you like her (for who she is as a person, not based first or solely on her hair).
Eventually, it turned into a fairly heated discussion between the women panel on stage (natural, relaxed and weaved) and some of the men. But, one common thought among the men that I picked up on was that none of them really cared for weave*hmm*. That, obviously, was very upseting to the weave-wearing panelist. All in all, the bottom line is that this is a topic that isn't going anywhere because everybody has their own ideas about what makes hair "good". Final thoughts went to Kim Coles who said that its all about self-love and being honest about why you do what you do.

                                                                                          Share your thoughts:
Did you get to watch the show? What do you think is "good hair" or do you think there is even such a thing as "good hair"? Did you agree with any of the men or women on the show?

I came across this advice column question that a local guy asked the "Dating Queen" @ West Orlando News Online:

"DEAR DATING QUEEN,
It’s been 6 months since my girlfriend and I have been together and I’ve never seen her real hair. She always wears a weave. I constantly ask her to let me see her real hair but, she gets mad at me and says “No”. I’m curious and don’t know what she’s hiding underneath her weave.
-Weavie Wonder

DEAR WEAVIE WONDER,
We all have certain parts of our bodies we are insecure about. Your girlfriend, no doubt, felt insecure about her hair, long before you entered her life. Be understanding of that and patiently wait for her to come around. Don’t constantly ask to see her hair.
Are you ready to see your girlfriend completely naked? And will you still be attracted to her no matter the appearance of her natural hair?
If you can’t handle the truth don’t ask for it. If you can handle it, then encourage her to lessen the amount of hair weave extensions she adds to her hair. If you don’t see an improvement over time then let your girlfriend know you will accept her for who she is and how hiding her natural beauty from you bothers you. If she still refuses to reveal her hair to you, end the relationship.
Good luck!"

What do you think? Was the advice given appropriate? Should she bare the hair or leave in the weave and keep Mr.Double W wondering?

My mom and sisters were thrilled to inform me that while driving on a major road here in Orlando, they saw a billboard advertising for naturally curly hair. Is this a "sign" that the natural hair community is growing here in Central Florida? Hmmmm...Well, I for one surely hope so! What about you, do you think its a "sign" or just a sign?

TypeF has responded to our outcry for them to get some help on those misinformed and damaging natural hair care videos. Yay! They have removed pretty much all of the videos featuring Ms.JoAnn Robertson giving bad advice. So, you won't be able to view the videos from my previous post. If you didn't get a chance to see them, trust me, its probably for the best.

If you want to keep the hair on your head, please DO NOT follow the current advice being offered by TypeF for afro-textured hair (on YouTube or on their website). Below is an example of things you should NEVER, EVER, EVER do to your hair. This is a HOW NOT TO video.

This tutorial/video/whatever its supposed to be, is wrong on oh- so many levels. First, lets start with the fact that you should NOT attempt to detangle/comb/brush your hair when its bone dry. I had to listen to this video through my earphones (my people where watching tv) and I could HEAR her hair as she brushed it. It sounds like she is brushing velcro. Also, I didn't know that a "down afro" was a style. That was new. I'm not sold on the technique of how to accomplish the look though. It isn't working for her, thus I doubt it will work for me.

This isn't the only video with major NO-NO's. Here's another one where this "licensed stylist" does the UNTHINKABLE. She uses a small tooth comb to detangle her dry hair.....stop the insanity! I watched several videos hoping that at some point the advice would improve, but it did not. It's like watching a bad movie, you know its not gonna get any better, but you can't turn it off!

Its information like this can cause major damage to your hair and cause set-backs to achieveing and maintaining healthy hair. I'm an advocate of using the Internet (websites, blogs and YouTube) to educate yourself about natural hair care, but PLEASE USE DISCRETION. A good way to judge if you should follow the advice of someone you see in doing research on the Internet its to look at THEIR HAIR. It don't tell no lies! Watching these videos from TypeF, you can see that the woman they are using to educate others has obvious hair damage (no doubt caused by following some of her own detrimental advice).
Also, just because a person is a “licensed hair stylist”, it doesn’t mean they know who to help someone achieve and maintain healthy hair (as seen from these videos).

Cassidy of NaturalSelectionBlog.com has an open letter to TypeF, which I think is well stated. She even has a proposal and message that you can send to them via their YouTube channel or website. I hope that TypeF gets the message and takes up the offer for help in making improvements. Sometimes the truth can be cruel and hard to except, but in the end it will be the the best for them and those they are attempting to educate.