Protective Style Challenge!!

It's been A WHILE since I've blogged or made hair accessories. I won't go into details but I'm feeling much better and ready to get back to spreading the natural hair love. The last few months I've had a few of my close friends tell me I've inspired them to go natural and they miss reading my blog. I know how hard the transition and journey can be so here I am, I'm back!

I've decided to do a protective style challenge. Here are the details:

Who: Anyone natural :-)

When: Officially starts Oct 1, 2011 - Jan 1, 2011

What: Protective styles (twists, wig, sew-in, braids) either your own hair or added synthetic hair. You are allowed two days out the week to wear the hair loose.

AND

I would encourage to do a length check both at the beginning of the challenge and at the end.

Extra: There will be two prizes given out. One will be the most creative style(s) during the challenge and one prize for the most retention so I would highly recommend you to document your progress via pictures :-)

Prizes are sponsored by the beautifully talented Daphne of IMadeYouLookSC and I am the other sponsor. My store, Arym's Creations is currently empty, as I'm working on new accessories. We both do custom orders and here are some pictures of our work:

Aryms Creations

















IMadeYouLookSC














If you're interested in joining me in this challenge please either leave your email address in the comment section or (if you prefer) send me a direct email to bigGirlbigHair@gmail.com with Protective Style Challenge in the subject line and I will send out an email once the challenge officially starts! I hope I'm not alone in this :-)

Midlands Natural Hair Meetup

Daphne (@ThatgirlDapSC) and I decided about a month ago to host a natural hair meetup for the ladies of Columbia, SC. We went into this having no idea what kind of response we may get but we were wholly committed to it nonetheless. I began reaching out to companies for sponsorships. Thanks to twitter I have a really good relationship with some amazingly talented ladies who are creators/ceo's of their product lines who gladly agreed to sponsor our event.

WeRockRoots, Wonder Curl, Created by Nature, Mei Fashion and GloryRest. Additionally, Daphne and I donated pieces from our accessory lines; IMadeYouLookSC and Arym's Creations < Currently under maintenance!

We had about 19 ladies RSVP via facebook that they would attend and amazingly, 16 showed up! It was a great time of just talking natural hair, eating some great food (Thank you Red Bowl Asian Bistro! Shoutout to our awesome waiter Sam!!), and having a Q&A with my natural hair stylist, Nora

Onto the contest!
We came up with various giveaways for the ladies to win prizes from our sponsors:

Deshanda won our Wonder Curl prize of the Get Set Hair Jelly and Butter Than Love Whipped because she's been natural the longest. An amazing 10 years!:


Chelsea was our youngest member and won our Wonder Curl sample pack which consisted of Get Slick Hair Smoothie and Get Set Hair Jelly. She transitioned the longest. 8 months (sorry for the fuzziness):


Our MEI Fashion sponsored giveaway was a beautiful handcrafted bag. The question to answer was "What is the natural way to both color and condition the hair?" The answer was henna. Kionna was our winner:


The following winners shared with group what the following acronyms meant (in order their pictures are listed); PJ, PS, Pre-Poo, EVOO. These ladies won accessories from IMYLSC and Arym's Creations:

Crystal knew that PJ= Product Junkie



Chelsea (she KNEW! her natural hair trivia lol) knew that PS= Protective Styling



Kisha knew that Pre-Poo = Using an oil as a pre-treatment before shampooing the hair



Kryshinda knew that EVOO= Extra Virgin Olive Oil


We then did a "What's In Your Purse?" game. The ladies who had bobby pins and headband won prizes also from IMYLSC & Arym's Creations:

Johnessa had bobby pins on hers, Owww!:



Chelsea (once again, this girl KNOWS natural hair!) had headbands with her:


Mixed Chicks was gracious enough to send two 1 liter bottles of their deep conditioner. We gave one away by randomly selecting business cards from a pile.

Kisha was our business card winner:


For the second liter, a participant had to tell us one ingredient to avoid, one styling tool to avoid, and one treatment to avoid.

Kionna correctly named to stay away from mineral oil, hard bristle brushes, and Brazilian keratin treatments (sorry for the fuzziness):


Huge THANK YOU!! To all our sponsors. Every attendee was able to walk away with a great goodie bag full of products to further their natural hair journey:


Special thank you to our jr. host, CiCi! She took great pictures!

BGBH Feature: Daphne

I met Daphne on twitter early 2011. She is super sweet and supportive. It turns out that a position I applied for was at the same company so now we're coworkers. When I launched my online accessory store, she was one of my first customers and spreads the word for me about my store and continues to do so at our job. When she FINALLY (lol) launched her store, I wanted to do something to show that same support so I've decided to do a feature of her and her store on my blog :-D

How long have you been natural? Since Late 2009



What prompted you to go natural? I had decided to to go natural 3x over the last 3 yrs prior but really wasn't interested until I couldn't relax all of my hair due to scalp issues & I participated in a 2009 breast cancer walk & saw that most of these survivors had no choice but they are walking with pride with their afros!

What's your favorite/go-to style? Comb twist; love them, quick length check also I like to look at 1st pic of them & compare them to the current ones



What are your staple products? Unrefined SHEA BUTTER and Tea Tree & Herbal Essence Totally Twisted

Piece of advice for those transitioning to natural hair? My transition was quick I had a spikey hair cut so didn't take me long. Whether it's weaves or wigs, maintain your hair as if it was out, edges and all! Stick with a regimen! If you compromise your hair because it's hidden you will have a long road trying to recover!

Your accessories, you make these yourself? Yes! I, well correction, I scroll the aisles of different stores and if the items speak to me with inspiration & I can see someone wearing it I buy it and glue it to different hair attachments!

What inspires your pieces? Elegance, exotic images, a persons character!

Do you design custom pieces? Yes, I just finished some clips for an 8yr old princess and now I'm working on a wedding head piece due in August.

Where can people purchase items from you? www.etsy.com/shop/imadeyoulooksc



Piece of advice for those who are interested in the art of designing accessories? Have a plan, research sites to sell/buy from, make sure you are making a profit, wear your pieces, test them a full day know what do's & don't's that apply to wearing them. Critique yourself and let others do the same. Try to find pieces that no one else can wear but your buyer. Lastly, have fun! No such thing as bad art, all art is creative!

Where can your pieces be bought? www.etsy.com/shop/imadeyoulooksc

WINNER: Cuties, Curls, & Coils.

First off, thank you to all three beautiful contestants. You were all deserving of praises and prizes for proudly showcasing your natural hair!

The winner of the Taliah Waajid Herbal Comb Out and Style & Shine is.................................................................................

Princess Aaliyah!!!


I will be contacting the mom of Princess Aaliyah shortly for your mailing information. Once again thank you all who participated! And thank you to the creators of WeRockRoots for organizing the 31 day of Natural Hair CommUNITY Days!

**CLOSED** Poll: Cuties, Curls, & Coils

We have three contestants for the Cuties, Curls, & Coils Contest! Voting ends at 5:00am March 31st. To vote, simply select your choice on the poll to the right side of this blog post and then press "Vote"

I introduce to you:

Princess Aaliyah




















Prince Chance
















Princess MaTaia

Contest: Cuties, Curls, & Coils!!

I'm happy to be hosting a contest for the Natural Hair CommUNITY Days! Do you have a son or daughter with the natural hair and want to showcase them? Then this is the contest for you. Here are the details:

Who: All the natural hair children (6mths-12yrs)
What: Photo Contest
How: Submit your photos via EMAIL by Saturday (26th). I will will then post the pics on this blog on Sunday (27th) and give the public the chance to vote for the cutest cutie with curls, coils, naps, and fros!
When: Winner will be announced Thursday, March 31st.
Prize: The winning child will win one (1) Taliah Waajid Easy Herbal Comb Out AND one (1) Taliah Waajid Herbal Style & Shine.















**For the safety of your child, I will gladly blur out their faces if you prefer it that way**

Natural Hair CommUNITY Days Feature: Jenell

Of all the posts I've made on my blog thus far, this is without a doubt my favorite post. One of my fave persons, who I have come to call a friend, Robyn (@NaturallyRooted) came up with an idea for a month long celebration and highlight on the natural hair community; thus Natural Hair CommUNITY Days was created. It goes the entire month of March with blog posts, giveaways, contests, and deals almost everyday. So my contribution to the NH CommUNITY Days is a feature of my favorite or inspiration and Jenell is that person.



I met JenellyBean (lol) via twitter and began tweeting back and forth with her and over time we realized that we are hair twins. My hair is 3c and hers is 4b but our hair "acts" the same exact way and most things that work for one of us, works for the other. She has a great hair care forum and YT channel that I'll share with you later. Side Note: this is more of an inside thing between she and I but I HAD to post her puff pic as the main picture of this feature. She swore up and down that her hair wasn't long enough for a puff and then I told her about trying a pantyhose leg..VOILA! a puff =)

How long have you been natural: I've been natural for almost 1 year. 3/26/11 will be 1 year.



What prompted you to go natural: My cousin was interested in going natural and she shared this info with me. I thought she was crazy. But she shared some YouTube videos with me of beautiful women who big chopped and I was inspired by their natural hair, curl definition, and growth. After one week of watching over 100 YouTube videos, my mind was set--I was ready to Big Chop.

Fave product(s)/Least fave product(s): Anything made by Shea Moisture makes my hair happy. I also appreciate products made by Giovanni, Herbal Essence, Kera Care, Design Essentials, and Organix. Coconut oil is my favorite oil. Tropical Traditions makes an awesome batch.



Who are your natural hair inspirations: My hair inspiration from the YouTube community is Vanisha aka AfricanExport- her 4B Kinky Hair has grown long and healthy and she "Keeps it Real"!
Some honorable mentions would have to be Tracee Ellis Ross, Janelle Monaé, and Jill Scott.

What's the oddest request for a tutorial you've received (if any): I create tutorials on a whim so usually no one has to even ask for something. But I have subbies (subscribers) that wish to learn more about my personal life.

If you could choose any 7 twittermates/YT vixens to meet up with, who would it be? Why? (Think of it like a Who's Who of natural hair lol):Fortunately for me I've had an opportunity to meet some great TwitterMates and YT Vixens and have made great friends with them. But there are some I'd love to meet. YT- AfricanExport, MsVaughn and her sister MeechyMonroe, KimmayTube, and Naptural85 TWITTER - (Im sorry I don't remember twitter names I always remember first names) Nicole (you!) and Shannon (I think her twitter name is BluNatural)



Any parting words?Love your hair. Remember its a natural hair journey, not a race!

Check out my website KinkyCurlyCoilyMe From there you can find links to my YT channel where I have lots of information and styling options, you can join my FB fan page, join my Natural Hair Forum, and follow me on Twitter. MUAH!