Marvelous Mixed Race Hair

Celeb hair horror - Britney Spears

2010-07-24T03:31:00.001-07:00

Yes, this is really Britney out and about in Sherman Oaks California.

She looks like one of my childhood dolls after I got bored one day and cut the hair off, thinking it might grow back!

And what is up with her real hair - why is it that odd shade of brown and. . . . .why is is so short? She shaved all her hair off ages ago - it should have grown back by now, surely?

Does Britney have anyone to advise her at all? Poor thang.

There is only one way to deal with this appalling mess - stop the weave, stop the dye, shave it all off and start again!

See more of Britney and her truly busted weave at Dlisted here.

Celeb hair horror - Naomi Campbell

2010-06-30T13:47:00.000-07:00

I have no words. This is so sad.

Poor Naomi - that weave-related tension alopaecia is unlikely to grow back in.

So girls - choose carefully; your own lovely head of curly, kinky wavy curls? Or the video-vixen waist length weave that will rip out your precious hair as the years go by?

Curly gurls don't go bald, that's all I'm saying.

Naomi - you were an inspiration to me and you are such a beautiful woman - but bald is NOT a good look.

A rare slice of history - Victorian photos

2010-05-14T04:05:00.000-07:00

I came across this brilliant post on the excellent Jezebel, (which they found via the brilliant Afrobella).

Isn't it amazing? What a sweet face she has, and how beautifully her dress fits.

I assume from her short dress length that she wassome form of entertainer - a dancer or singer. This gives me misgivings, as I assume also that she was regarded as an entertaining form of exotica; I would love to know her story, and hope and pray that it was a happy and contented one.

Please visit Afrobella for the whole article; it is wonderful to see all these valuable old images of women from a time where women of colour were often side-lined and ignored by mainstream society.

Hair UN-inspiration - Mel B

2010-05-04T05:56:00.000-07:00

Here is a pic of our Mel, out and about in London yesterday.

I must admit, I was stopped in my tracks by Mel's hair in this photo.

How on earth did a girl, once blessed with a thick, natural curly, curly-gurl afro end up with a weave like a limp, overly-long, half-dead palomino pony's tail stuck on her head?

Once Mel ditched the African Diaspora hair for a waist length weave, she seems to have struggled with her style.

Her hair has looked fake and 'wiggy'

Then she went a bit bonkers and shaved off one side (tastefully revealing the weave track behind the shaved bit!)

But (generic Scary Spice snarl aside) her hair really looks best like this;

Haircut = :-( but Teri's book = :-)

2010-05-04T02:51:00.000-07:00

So I went skiing, and as always when I go on holiday, my hair bore the brunt of it all! It was so much fun, but the very dry alpine air wreaked havoc on my barnet, which was looking kinda knarly from being stuffed in a helmet for most of the day anyway.

So I decided to get it deep conditioned and pampered at a fancy hair salon; the stylist took one horrified look at the damaged, bleached blonde, raggedy ends that I had been cherishing and nurturing for the last year and persuaded me to let him cut them off.

So I did. :-(

Yes, I know the ends were dryer than hay. Yes, I know that I could literally snap the damagedbits between my fingers. And finally, yes I know that no matter how much love and attention I lavished on these wrecked ends, the broken pieces still littered my bathroom floor like frizzy, orange rain.

Hey ho! My hair is back to nape length again, and although I feel that I am getting nowhere fast, my hair is in fantastic condition from tip to end (and the harsh, blonde bits are, thankfully, gone).

Back to square one - but with a really great haircut! And no more hair dye.

However, a few days ago, a preview galley of Teri's book 'Curly Like Me' landed on my doormat which really cheered me up! Thanks so much T!!

If you haven't gone over to Teri's website 'Tightly Curly', please do hop over there now. Her haircare and product recommendations WORK. True, true, true, (as they say in the Caribbean!). You can pre-order 'Curly Like Me' on Amazon.co.uk HERE.

To all those Mums of mixed race/biracial/multiracial/Jewish/Arabic/red-headed/or any type of tightly curly haired kids, this book will be your bible!

Hair Inspiration - Cree Summer, Lisa Bonet, Tamara Taylor

2010-02-03T06:16:00.000-08:00

Ah, the Cosby Show! How I loved that programme - I was almost the same age as Lisa Bonet and I idolised her. I loved and copied her cool, funky clothes and admired her laid-back style. When she got her hair jheri curled, so did I and I was thrilled as my hair grew and grew. (I was much less thrilled about the smears of Care Free Curl that I left on the backs of chairs, car windows and the shoulders of every jacket! Not to mention the constant trail of grease down the back of my neck - my mum made me wash the collars of my school shirts myself!).

Anyway, here is a great photo that I stumbled upon, of Lisa Bonet, her good friend Cree Summer and Canadian actress Tamara Talor at the Biker Boyz premier back in January 2003. I though this picture was fab not only because I am a fan of all three and because of the three hairstyles! Cree is rocking her natural curl pattern, Lisa has heramazingly long dreads and Tamara has a neat and shiny perm.

Wow, Cree's hair has really grown - in all honesty she should have gone for a more glamorous look for the red carpet; even Lisa has styled her hair into a chignon as opposed to her usual loose dreadlocks. Just my humble opinion, that's all! But I love Cree and I love her amazingly thick hair as well!

And here is a lovely, fairly recent photograph of Lisa carrying her two year old (nine months after the birth of her son). It is nice to see her not so skinny - she looks fantastic with the small amount of baby weight on! Two toddlers in your forties - wow Lisa, looking good! You go girl!

Time for a small celebration

2010-01-15T03:15:00.000-08:00

Hiya folks.

Hairwise, I am officially in a good mood - a great mood even!

One of the main problems I have had with my curly/frizzy dry mop is breakage from the ends. Not only does the Type 3c hair on my crown curl more tightly and (appear to) grow more slowly but the ends of the Type 3a and b hair sprouting on the rest of my noodle are dry and damaged, and break relentlessly, leaving the ends thin, raggedly and just plain sad.

I finally clued up changed my hair regimen in August; sometimes I use Terri's hair care regime and simply leave the conditioner in, and sometimes I use my fave product 'Texture My Way'. This is because the conditioner-in method leaves my hair very tightly curled, (and therefore shorter in length) whereas the 'Texture My Way' leaves the curls looser. Either way, my hair has responded - my ends seem to be getting better.

In the words of the inestimable Homer Simpson - WooHoo!!!!!!!!!!

*** Please visit Tightly Curly and order Terri's book! Terri is a fabulous tightly curly hair guru!*****

Venus Williams at the AMA Awards - rocking her natural hair

2009-11-24T06:38:00.000-08:00

Here is a photo of Grand Slam champion Venus Williams, out and about at the American Music Awards this week, wearing a hot designer dress, a mega-watt smile and her natural hair. Her figure looks fabulous in that outfit - who is it by? You go girl!

As a hard-working, focused, top-ranking athlete Venus often wears her hair in a weave, probably for convenience and ease with regard to training (hot, sweaty, frequent washing, etc) and to provide easy glamour for the many, many, many red carpet events that she must attend.

Her hair is slicked back, with a hair band, and it doesn't look like she has done anything particularly special with it; she is probably not used to the natural, and it looks to me as if our Wimbledon Winner is giving her hair a temporary break from the weaves. But wouldn't it be cool if she went down the natural route - put in some twists, braids or sister-locs? Washing and styling would be even more easy with natural hair - and it can be just as glamorous! Gosh, I would be so proud of her - a high achieving, internationally renowned sports woman with her own, real hair. That would be soooooo brilliant.

Venus is outstanding in so many ways - she (and her World Ranked #1 sister) are hugely influential and inspirational - I love them! It is really brave of her to go to a high profile award ceremony with her hair just as God gave her, especially as every other woman of colour was wearing a head full of store bought hair!

That photo above makes me just want to hug her! I am such a Venus fan right now! She lovely!

Hair disaster #1; (I try to impress a boy by frolicking in the waves - with relaxed hair)

2009-11-23T05:56:00.000-08:00

Hair disasters - ya gotta love 'em!

Of course, this blog was inspired by a hair disaster. I was re-reading (and laughing at) my first post, and I realised that my myriad hair disasters are a fundamental part of my life as a tightly curled girl, trying to look (and feel) cute and gorgeous, and trying to impress. Coping with these beauty set-backs has helped make me the strong, black women that I am today! As I look back over the years, these hair-don'ts make me chuckle, I hope they will make you chuckle too. And if people learn from my silly mistakes - well, that might just make it all worthwhile!

The place - Long Beach in Barbados. The time - twenty years ago. So, there I was, in my high-cut one-piece, styling it at the beach, and tossing my mane of shoulder-length, straightened hair, (of which I was very proud). This guy friend of mine had borrowed his father's car and taken me out for the day. I had chosen my 'look' very carefully, 'cos I really liked him and was hoping that he was going to ask me to be his girlfriend, all official-like. My swim-suit (over which I was wearing short shorts and a cute halter-top) was suitably enticing, and I had spent hours on my hair, which was glossy (after liberal applications of VO5 hair grease) and demurely accessorised with an Alice band.

As you probably know already, relaxed/texturised/permed/straightened African Diaspora hair and swimming are not an easy combination - salt and chlorine dry out our hair something chronic, so after frolicking in the waves, it is wise to wash out every molecule of salt and dive into the nearest vat of mega-moisturising deep-conditioner ASAP. Half an hour's application of deep treatment, plus heated curlers (or a good blow-dry) are the only means of restoring one's hair to it's former smooth, luxuriant, shoulder-tossable state. As moisturising shampoo and conditioner are usually in short supply at the average Caribbean beach, my cunning plan was to lounge elegantly on my beach towel, cheering on my Potential Beau's manly displays of athleticism in a suitably girl-friend-like way.

Unfortunately for me, Potential Beau, who was an outdoorsy kind of guy, dragged two boards out of Daddy's car, and looked at me in amazement as I arranged myself kitten-like on the sand.

"Aren't you going to swim at all? That's not gonna be much fun - I wouldn't have come to the beach if you're not coming in." he said.

Swiftly reading the danger signs, I sprang to my feet, laughed merrily and said - "Of course I'm coming in - I love boogie-boarding!" (which I did, providing I could speed home and rectify my hair in the shower precisely five minutes later)!

We had a great time leaping in and out of the waves, and the Potential Beau saw how outdoorsy I was, a regularl nature girl! That is to say, I was outdoorsy, but my increasingly tangled sodden hair wasn't. I hadn't even got anything to tie it back with and couldn't even scrape it into a tight (but neat) bun. My hair was everywhere - and when it had dried. . . . . . well, it was huge, it was wild, it was 'pouffy', it was rusty, it was a stone cold mess. I looked utterly ridiculous.

I tried to carry on, pretending to myself that I looked elegant and soignee, a coffee-coloured Audrey Hepburn (all the while knowing that I looked more like one of the witches from Macbeth!)

Being male, Potential Beau took a while to notice this transformation, and when he did his only comment was "Your hair looks really different." With my self confidence well and truly punctured (don't forget the whole 'good hair Caribbean thing was a hang-up of mine in those days too), our budding romance never really got off the ground, a shame really as he was a nice guy. With natural hair, all I would have needed was a bottle of my tried and trusty hair moisturiser - with a handful or two, and a shake of the head, hair perfection would be restored, with no need to fear the depredations of the cruel sea!

And the moral of the story is. . . . .

If you don't intend to swim, then DON'T SWIM! To thine own self be true! Stop trying to impress outdoorsy guys if your hair isn't willing to assist you!

(And when it comes to water friendly hair, natural hair can't be beat!)

Hair Inspiration: Tracee Ellis Ross

2009-11-20T02:34:00.001-08:00

Here we have the striking and lovely Tracee Ross, daughter of the fabulous Miss Diana Ross and Robert Ellis Silberstein. Interesting fun fact about Tracee - she attended the very posh Le Rosey school in Switzerland (where the 'Lear Jet-eratti' send their offspring!) and graduated from Ivy League college Brown in Theatre Studies!

You may know Tracee from the popular programme 'Girlfriends', a Kelsey Grammar produced sitcom about four African-American women in L.A, which ran for seven years; my husband teased me whenever he caught me watching it that I only tuned in to look at Tracee's hair! Well he was completely wrong on that - I tuned in to look at all of the girls' hair! And clothes!

But it was mostly Tracee and her cute curls that had me hooked!

Tracee's hair has a longer, looser s-shape than my own, (she's ha a mixture of type 3a and 3b, perhaps?); her fine textured, glossy hair positively gleams with health and good condition. Here is what she has said about her hair regimen in Black Hair and Braids Magazine in November 2005 :-

Q:Off set, how do you care for your hair?

A-Tracee: I wash my hair once a week. I use a couple different shampoos. Once a month, I use the Aveda Shampure and at the same time I'll also rinse with the Rene Furterer Vinegar Rinse. But if you don't want to spend that much you can use apple cider vinegar and cut it with water. Your hair will shine, but you can't use it all the time because it will dry your hair out. On a regular basis, I use the Gold Wells Conditioning Shampoo. On a weekly basis, one of my beauty secrets is that I steam. I go to one of the Korean day spas. I fill my hair up with Gold Well Kerasilk Conditioner-that conditioner is fantastic for conditioning hair under a heating cap, which I do if I can't get into a steam room. With the Kerasilk, your hair will not curl up. My hair gets so soft that it doesn't curl up, so I have to use another conditioner. The other is very expensive but you get a lot for your money. It's called Hair Mayonnaise. It is a growth enhancer. It's an organic company. It comes in a big tube. I's a really good deep conditioner. Then, when I want my best hair I'll use Denman D-4 brush or the salon industrial heavy brush. I am an advocate of Denman brushes. It is a rubber brush. The older it gets the better because it has gotten softer. I also use the Cherry Almond Burnt Conditioner by Aveda. I mix with a little of the Deep Penetrating Conditioning from Aveda for the smell. And, I seperate my hair into six sections in order to brush it out. So, I don't break my hair. And you start from the bottom. The way your mom taught you. I do this in the shower. I put more conditioner in my hair, shake my hair so my curls can find each other, and take my hair up with a big clip. Leave it in for a while, then, I turn off all the hot water and turn up the cold water. Put the cold water on low pressure because the high pressure will break up all the curls that just found each other. The low pressure cold water keeps it shiny and keeps the curl.

Q: What is the best hair care advise you've ever been given that you could share with our readrs?

A:Condition, Condition, and Condition! And stay away from alcohol-based products. It just dries your hair out.

Interesting! Tracee loves Aveda Products, she deep-steam conditions her hair, and shakes out her curls - cool!

Tracee has been flat-ironing her hair straight a lot more these days, and you can see in these pictures that her hair is in simply amazing condition, and is getting really long.

Personally I am a curl-gurl and I think her spiral hair is just adorable, but Tracee shows us all how versatile mixed race and diaspora hair can be, all without without the texturizer/relaxer/straightener (or to quote Chris Rock, the 'creamy crack') that my mum slapped on my head for so long as a child!

Tracee, you are an inspiration to us natural hair girls! Keep it coming!

My Hair Idol - Angela and Friends Sky1

2009-11-19T00:55:00.000-08:00

Another quickie - my ultimate hair idol, Angela Griffin has bagged her own daily magazine-type show on Sky1 from 9.00 am. It is called 'Angela and Friends' - well done our Angela!!!

Angela is the presenter of this daytime series, where she and three of her friends will chat about he latest showbiz stories, lifestyle trends, viewer comments, features and special guests with lots of revealing, smart chat. The show, in full HD, will feature a daily lifestyle club looking at books, films, health and beauty, and fashion.

The promo's for this new morning show have been running for a couple of weeks now, and all I can think of when I see them is (a) Oh my gosh, her hair is so fantastic! and (b) oh my gosh, how young and pretty she looks! followed swiftly by (c) oh my gosh, I look so old and tired and my hair looks like rubbish, how I wish I was more like Angela Griffin!!

Angela has long been a huge fave of mine - please support her, tune in and make her programme a success. She is perfect for a slot like this as she is young, smartul and she really seems very friendly and genuine - plus, (of course!) she has GREAT hair!

And Angela, if you ever read this (which I doubt!) and you need an older, tired-looking mum to 'make-over' for a beauty spot, or to provide some natural hair care, diaspora/mixed-race hair advice, please drop me an email - I'll be there like a shot!

You go girlfriend!!

OMG! Shea Butter - best product ever!

2009-11-16T01:51:00.000-08:00

Just a short one today.

Because my hair is so very dry, nay - positively arid - in nature, I tend to need a tiny touch-up of something softening on the ends of my hair on the days in between washings.

I searched my locals ethnic shops for a pure shea butter product, but so far I have had no luck. The only shea butter hair product I could find is called 'Organics Shea Butter Plus', and although it is not 100% pure shea butter, it is amazing. When I use it after washing it leaves my rusty, dry hair really silky and smooth in texture - it really is fabulous. My ends are breaking much less as well - (you all know how much I hate seeing those little, broken-off fragments of hair in the shower)!

Feeling somewhat emboldened by this, I now smooth a small amount into all my hair after washing , and add a teeny bit to my ends on non-wash days. My hair feels silky and lustrous and the curls are almost shiny!! Me with shiny hair (lol)!

I really should have figured out the mega-brilliance of shea butter before now, seeing as one of my trusty and stalwart hair products was 'Kids Organics Shea Butter Hair Lotion'; the only reason I don't use this anymore is the fact that it seems to leave grey marks on my white T-shirts and blouses. Staining - not good!).

I am still on the hunt for pure shea butter, but for the moment I am trialing Palmers Shea Butter with Vitamin E - yes, I know this is a skin product, but shea butter is good for skin and hair (and pretty much anything it seems!). The only problem with this white, solid product is that it has strange little beads of harder matter in it, which means you have to rub the cream vigorously in your hands to get an even, melted consistency. This is good in a way as I only apply a minimal amount at a time, which stops me overloading on product (something us dry-haired gals do tend to do).

So to avoid breakage and to keep hair smooth and baby-soft, try Shea Butter Now!!!! Pure Shea butter is available at SheaByNature.Co.Uk and when I finished playing aroun with with my Palmers skin cream I shall certainly be giving them a call!

Question forwarded from 'HairMyStory'

2009-10-15T05:20:00.000-07:00

Lovely LeAnne who runs the excellent site 'HairMyStory' (do visit - it is chock full of great beauty info!) sent me a question that made me pause for a bit.

Now I am a natural hair activist. Kinky, curly, coiled, frizzy (hey - my own hair contains all of the above!) I love it and I want y'all to grow it with me. I may not be militant, but I am vocal, (lol!). And I want the world to accept that my coily mop is non-threatening, cute and simply a much-loved part of me. Spread the love.

Yet the cry for help from the mum of a biracial girl resonated within me. I understand where the mum is coming from (and I really understand where the teen is coming from).

At my school, Sally had a European mum who couldn't cope with her mixed-race hair at all. From the age of about eight Sally did her own hair and what a mess she looked. My hair was almost identical to Sally's, but my Mum cared for it, conditioned it and combed it until I had two massively long plaits. At twelve Sally straightened her hair, and month by month it all broke off. Dear oh dear - one teacher described her as looking 'as if she had been dragged through a hedge backwards' to the whole class. Not good.

So this is advice for the mums who have tried to make life easier for their teen with relaxer, and who are now confronted with the ultimate evil - BREAKAGE. Mums, please read my site and those that I link to - I hope that you will really consider transitioning your teen to natural hair one day.

Hello, I have a bi-racial daughter and we just stated relaxing her hair because that is the only way she will wear it down. It was long then she wanted it cut, is breaking big time that it scares me. What product line should we use to help it and which products in that line. It breaking, dry and thin? it just keeps getting shorter? No more ponytails we told her!!! she washes it once a week and flat ions it. Plese help with a play by play on how to take care of it. Thanks you in advance.

Mixiepixie says:-

I am biracial too, with very dry, spiral Type 3 b and c curls but I haven’t worn my hair straight for years now. Anyone who visits my blog (Marvelous Mixed Race Hair) will know that my philosophy to cherish, grow and love the texture of hair God gives them! I preach natural hair – and loudly! But I do understand what it is like to be a teen who just wants long hair like everyone else because I was one too, a long time ago. And hey, we are all free to choose how we want to be, which is what makes life so fun.

My mum first straightened my hair when I was eight, but I would strongly advise parents to hold off straightening hair until your girl is a teenager, as the chemicals used are really much too harsh to put on the scalp of a little kid. Not good at all – please don’t do it.

Although the relaxer went on my own head when I was little, Mum looked after my hair brilliantly; my hair was thick, healthy, and very long - down past my shoulders. It is not hard to have long hair even if strong chemicals are involved, but it requires extremely gentle treatment and a lot of commitment; your daughter will really need your help, as even grown-ups find it hard to give their hair the high level of TLC required – I certainly did!

1. Firstly, the relaxer/perm treatment that you use must be MILD only. My Mum used ‘TCB No Base Crème Hair Relaxer with Protein and DNA’ on me with great results. Use as infrequently as possible (every four months in my case) and relax the new hair growth only – do not apply to the already straightened hair. (The instructions will say to reapply every 4 to 6 weeks – ignore! Every three to four months is what we did.)

After the hair is relaxed (finer hair will take less time than coarse hair to become straight) wash out the relaxer thoroughly with a neutralising shampoo to counteract the chemicals in the straightener. Wash and wash again – it is vital that all relaxer is removed from the hair. Then wash with a mild shampoo, then apply a deep conditioner (see recommendations below).

2. Wash once a week with a MILD shampoo – apply shampoo twice to prevent build-up of product. Try ‘Dark & Lovely Moisture Seal 3-in-1 shampoo’ or ‘Nexxus Therappe Moisturising Shampoo’; after washing apply a highly moisturising conditioner like ‘Nexxus Humectress Ultimate Moisturising Conditioner’. Every four weeks use a 30 minute deep conditioning treatment (apply to wet hair, cover with a plastic bag or shower cap and wrap this all up in a towel for the 30 minute duration - try using ‘Nexxus Emergencee’).

3. After washing (and during daily grooming) comb hair VERY GENTLY through with a wide toothed comb (COMB – do NOT brush – brushes cause damage to straightened hair). I know your daughter (like most girls) wants to wear her hair out, but the heat from blow-drying and flat-ironing are VERY damaging to tightly coiled/curly hair. Dry hair = broken hair, and African Diaspora hair is very dry. Biracial hair must be kept as moisturised as possible to stop breakage from happening.

4. I would advise your daughter to gently pull her damp hair back into a loosely plaited ponytail, a bun, or even two plaits, if this isn’t too babyish for her; and let the hair dry naturally. Blow-drying/flat-ironing should only be used to style hair for a party or some special occasion. Not even celebrities flat iron their hair everyday!

5. As her hair grows and becomes stronger and healthier, she can wear her daily ponytail open and loose. However, to prevent breakage and keep the moisture in please plait the hair at night and consider wearing a scarf to bed, so that hair does not rub (and break) on the pillow when sleeping.

6. Use cloth ‘scrunchies’ or plastic ‘bobbles’ to hold the hair in place; many hair accessories ‘tear’ at the hair and cause breakage if removed carelessly – once again, be GENTLE.

7. Our hair gets dry around the hairline and especially at the ends – be sure to apply a small amount of and emollient like ‘Africa’s Best Shea Butter PLUS Conditioner’ or ‘Dark and Lovely Rich and Natural Hair Dress’ as needed.

This may sound like an awful lot of stuff to do, but it isn’t really – the key is extra-gentle treatment of her hair at ALL times. After a while it becomes second nature, and your daughter’s hair will soon be longer and more importantly healthy and undamaged!

But I must preach a little; natural hair is easiest, healthiest and best in my opinion. Please do think about it.

Natural diaspora hair - not 'professional' and still not acceptable.

2009-10-09T02:12:00.000-07:00

Renee Ferguson, who retired last year as an investigative reporter at NBC's WMAQ-TV in Chicago writes about , discusses how her television employers told her to stop wearing an afro, because it would intimidate white viewers.

Also have a look here (on the Maynard Institute website) to see how natural hair is regarded on the TV news in America (and remember that there are NO black women news readers with natural hair on our screens here in the UK).

You know what? This state of affairs depresseses me - sometimes the refusal of the non-black world to accept my hair and 'me' - 'our' hair and 'us' - seems as as indestructible as it was in the Seventies when I was a child.

But I'm just going to keep plugging on, one step at a time, working to redefine the accepted, caucasian 'norms' of hair beauty that are imposed on me. 'White' hair is beautiful AND my hair is beautiful. I am an educated, (fairly!) intelligent professional and my kinky, curly, natural hair does not bear any relevance to my class, intellect, and excellence at my job.

In the face of this entrenched and sustained rejection of something as small and as simple as the texture of our hair, it is really important that the African diaspora community (with all the myriad types of hair curl and texture that we own) work together, first to accept each other and then to fight this insidious form of racism whever we go.

Curly Headed, Mop-Top Boys

2009-09-21T04:17:00.000-07:00

Whatever the texture of our hair, straight, wavy, coiled or curly, we girlies are always checking out each others luscious locks. We all have our favourite hair idols whom we admire, and whose look, style and swagger we try to emulate.

Well, today it's the boys turn!

Ladies (and gentlemen!) I present to you Corbin Bleu (of High School Musical fame)! Yup - male or no, he is definitely one of my hair idols because he has beautiful natural hair, bouncing with health and boy does it suit him. Corbin is an 'early adopter', in that he is one of the first chaps to sport his natural tightly curly hair in this way, and he does it so darn well! It is not untidy, it is not damaged and he looks great.

So, how do mums and older kiddies look after their biracial, mixed race or simply mega-curly hair?

It's pretty simple really - most boys keep their hair reasonably short, so the maintenance and ultra-conditioning that go hand in hand with sport and swimming do not pose much of a problem. It goes something like this:-

1. Washing

For spiral curls and tight curls my routine (as described below) works very well - and as the hair is shorter there is no real need to pin up separate sections. Just alternate washing with extra gentle shampoo twice a month with a good co-wash - ('conditioner wash') in between.

2. Conditioning

Rinse out the shampoo and condition with a good, rich conditioner (or skip a step to combing on a co-wash day). While the conditioner is on your head, comb the hair through GENTLY with a wide-toothed comb or use the ever-reliable Denman brush. This will help to define the natural curl. Rinse out the conditioning product.

3. Grooming

When my own hair was shorter I simply shook all the water out like a sheep dog! This also helped keep my curls curly - but saner folk can wrap a towel round the head for a very short time to absorb excess water. As stated before, curl maintenance requires water - the hair must stay very damp when adding your leave-in conditioner/moisturizing product.

Knowing that most boys (small and large) don't want to spend all day doing their hair, you can simply apply said leave-in conditioner/moisturizer in LARGE quantities to the damp hair and smooth it with your hands to make the curls, or you can dollop the product on and 'comb' through with your Denman brush as I do - it just depends on the type of hair and the curl definition required.

There - curly boy wash day is done! Time to go out and do regular boy stuff!

Another, smaller but equally handsome curly cutie is Perri Luc Kiely; doesn't he have the sweetest, little face? Perri is a member of the talented dance troupe 'Diversity'; they won the third series of 'Britain's Got Talent' 30/09/2009). You can check out their moves here.

Anyhoo - here he is ready for school - he wants to be a scientist (even more adorable). Once again, his hair is natural, normal, healthy, God-given hair, and it is lovely. What a handsome (and talented) child! Gorgeous hair.

But is it OK for school? Is biracial, mixed race, mega curly, Type 2, 3 and 4 hair, worn as-it-grows, natural and curly (as opposed to shorn off close to the scalp) acceptable at school? Or in the work place?

As always the question of our hair being 'wild', untidy - non-professional rears it's ugly head. This is something that I with my tightly curled, shock of hair have always had to deal with - I was a lawyer and I worked for a top 10 law firm - but my hair was always scraped back into a tight, bun so that I could 'conform' to the status quo.

My personal viewpoint is easy to guess - love me, love my hair! This is how mega curly hair is, this is my hair, and this is how I am. I am utterly acceptable and so is my gosh-darned, natural hair!!! Just because my hair tends to grow up and out doesn't mean it is untidy!

Well, until all our natural hair blogs change the world, we still have to deal with schools and institutions that are, shall we say, 'conservative. My sons private boys school is very formal; hair must be neat and tidy and above the collar for everyone.

So many mixed race and curly haired boys wear their hair in corn-rows (neat and tidy like singer Lemar Obika), and one or two pull their hair into a very small bun. Back in the day, even this would have been deemed unacceptable, so this sign of acceptance of natural hair is very welcome to me.

My preference for curly boys hair is this; a reasonably short 'afro' or curly do is perfectly neat and tidy - it is natural and it looks great. A slightly older Corbin Bleu is rocking a shorter look in this pic - I think this looks fab. And totally 'acceptable' (grrrr).

/>

Corbin and Perri I salute you - Curly Boys Rule!!

Naturally beautiful - Shingai Shoniwa of the Noisettes

2009-09-14T09:06:00.000-07:00

So I was killing myself on the treadmill at the gym, bored out of my mind, when out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of English Indie band, the Noisettes, singing their Spring 2009 hit 'Don't Upset The Rythym (Go Baby Go'). The video is funky, catchy and cool.

Even an old bird like myself can rock out to indie music so, at some risk to myself, I wrenched my headphone dohickey thing out of my pink Ipod Shuffle (while nimbly continuing to run at 11 kpm) and crammed it into the socket on the treadmil, just in time to catch the tune. The lead singer (and bassist) of the Noisettes is the incredibly beautiful Shingai (pronounced 'Shing-guy' Shoniwa). She sings like an angel, has a figure to die for and is amazingly pretty, but more than that her tightly coiled, type 4 hair is utterly natural, and gorgeous, and sooo cool. This girl is really rocking the hell out of her natural! (to steal a phrase from my blog pal Ayanna!).

The photo above was taken at the fundraiser for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Shingai, you and the
Noisettes totally rock!

Junior Green - Best Mixed Race Hair Salon Ever

2009-09-09T09:31:00.000-07:00

I have been to a heckuva lot of salons in search of the perefect stylist to cut and style my mega-curly, biracial, mixed race hair. There have been many cut, colour and styling disasters along the way (the very reason this humble blog was born!). From the glossiest Mayfair establishment (result - expensively frizzed, puff-ball hair) to the tiny ethnic salon in the 'hood (result - less expensively frizzed, puff-ball hair) , hair-dressing experts have not known how to cut or condition my spiral twists and curls, (leaving me to rush home in a hurry to fix my hair myself).

Junior Green is different. Junior, and his partner Joy, own 'Junior Green Hair and Beauty' in ritzy Knightsbridge. I must confess that when I first visited the salon it was because I knew one of his cousins! I did not know about his brilliant reputation and awards, but it was soon evident that unlike so many of his colleagues, he really understood natural, mixed-race hair. For the first time in ages I left the salon with a head of bouncing, conditioned curly hair, instead of a mass of crunchy frizz or lank, oil-laden slime.

'Junior Green Hair and Beauty' are experts in all aspects of afro hairdressing, but are particularly adept at working with natural hair, mixed-race biracial hair and mega-curls of all persuasions; in short Junior is a specialist in curly hair types, and forms of textured hair, from the tightly coiled to the loosely waved.

Junior and Joy offer all hair services, including colouring and European styling, but when it comes to hair types 2a to c and types 3a to c, they are the only ones I've come across who really have it going on! Angela Griffin, (my natural, mixed-race hair idol!) has been going to Junior for years, and praises him to the heights - with good reason! Her hair is simpy fabulous!

Just my personal recommendation, from my personal experience. (And, Junior is just the nicest guy!!)

When it comes to natural mega-curly hair Junior is definitely worth it. Just look at Angela's gorgeous hair.

Mixed Race Hair Tips - Washing Routine

2009-09-03T03:37:00.000-07:00

As all women of all creeds and colours know, the entire process of washing one's hair is of paramount importance - finding a good hair care routine is almost as essential as finding a clean, renewable energy source, or a politician-lie-detector machine!

Most of my varied friends, curly, wavy or straight do spend a long time on their hair on Wash Day, and many would assume that the washing and conditioning of mega-curly, frizzy, kinky, mixed race and biracial hair is a lengthy process.

It can be; it can be however long you want to make it! But my routine is wonderfully quick and easy; here it is:-

Phase One:- The washing Process

1. First get all the tools out: extra gentle shampoo (I use Motions Lavish Conditioning Shampoo at the mo, but I am always on the hunt for a truly non-stripping, extra gentle product); Conditioner (the Motions range is OK but I really like Herbal Essences conditioner, particularly the blue one), Leave-In Conditioner/Moisturizer (I'm currently using Mixed Chicks and Texture My Way. Then my tried and trusted wide toothed comb, Denman brush, and hair clips. I head to the shower and I'm good to go!

2. Now here is an important fact - I use shampoo on my hair every fourth wash. The other times I 'co-wash' (meaning I clean my hair and scalp with conditioner only). Some people only co-wash - no longer using shampoo on the mega-curly hair, but I live in a big, polluted city, and if I get caught in a huge cloud of exhaust fumes when waiting at the curb, I long to rush home and clean all that pollution out!

Using the hand mixer I wet my hair and add a mid-sized dollop of shampoo (or conditioner, depending on the state of my hair/scalp/mood!). Massaging the scalp carefully and gently (to cleans and prevent damage and snarling) the shampoo is applied and then rinsed out thoroughly.

4. After the shampoo is rinsed out I add tons of conditioner (or if it is a co-washing day, I go straight to combing through) I very gently comb through the hair, working from the ends up to comb out any tangles. Some people like to use their Denman brush for this - I prefer a wide toothed comb, the widest in fact, and to use the Denman for 'setting' my curls later on in the process.

Quite a lot of hair will be left in the comb, but this is nothing to worry about. If (like I do) you only comb your hair when washing it once a week, this is really the only chance for hair to be shed from the root, as normal. The only hair loss that I am really concerned about is the teeny, tiny, tell-tale traces of breakage left on the bottom of the shower stall. Breakage from the ends of your hair is the enemy! With the use of good products, and gentle care breakage will be reduced to a minimum, which means that your hair will remain thick and healthy down to the tips (and not straggly like mine!).

5. The conditioner is rinsed out, and excess water removed with a towel. Now, (this is important) it is essential to keep the hair really damp (almost wet) so that the curl pattern is retained. When mega-curly mixed race hair is completely dried out, the result will be a huge, fluffy frizz ball! So keep the hair as wet as poss!

Phase Two:- The Grooming Process

1. Using my fingers, I part my very, very damp hair into four sections, winding three of them up and pinning them with a clip, leaving one section out. This is to keep my mass of hair out of my eyes and out of my way as I add my preferred moisturiser/leave-in conditioner to the hair.

2. I start at the back, adding huge dollops of moisturiser to the hair. Then I comb it through gently, but firmly, with my Denman brush; if you have thicker or longer hair than I do, you may want to 'sub-divide' your 'quarter' of hair into extra, separate sections. Combing through the hair with the Denman makes the natural curl pattern of the hair really 'pop' out into defined waves and spirals. You can also use use your hands to smooth down any areas that need extra definition with an additional, small dollop of your moisturising product to get the look you want.

Phase Three:- Shake out hair, tidy up, and away we go!

Self-explanatory really! The whole washing/grooming process takes me about twenty-five minutes and it is so easy! How I wish that I had figured this out when I was a teenager, instead of chemical straightening my hair, then cutting it all off, then jheri curling it, then cutting it all off again!

My hair withstands, dry heat, rain, mist, wind, fog, snow, pretty much anything the weather has to throw at it, which is lucky for me seeing as I live in 'fours seasons in one day' London! The only thing it doesn't do is hats - I always end up with hat-shaped hair - oh well. Oh, and anti-greying hair dye. Hmm, I really need to work on this ageing thing!

I am still battling against breakage of the ends, but I know I'll get there one day, healthy from root to tip.

(PS:- My hair curls up much shorter when dry!)

How NOT to parent - self-hatred learned at a mother's knee

2009-08-31T05:56:00.000-07:00

There is a very disturbing YouTube video of a truly ignorant, weave-wearing black 'mother' ripping and tearing at her little daughter's hair with a brush, causing the child to struggle and scream in pain. The hairbrush was full of baby-soft hair, ripped out by the roots, while the mother swore and railed at her child. At one point the little girl calls for her daddy only to be told 'you ain't got no daddy'. Horrible, horrible horrible. (And way to live up to the stereotype by the way). I could only stand a few seconds of this moronic behaviour before I had to 'click' away. The video has provoked genuine outrage, and some have vowed to find the mother and report her to Child Services, so appalled are they by her behavior. Behaviour which is truly loveless and unmaternal.

Which is why I cannot bring myself to post a link to the actual film; yet three weeks after seeing it, I cannot get the deliberately, pointlessly, ignorant treatment of a little girl and her God-Given natural hair out of my mind. The YouTube video is beautifully and intelligently discussed here, at The Root, please do have a look at their article. My blog pal Siditty at Naturally Kinky has a great post about this incident too.

Overlooking the completely deliberate cruelty and stupidity of the so-called 'mother' towards her daughter, it seems that both white and black mothers can be completely and utterly clueless with regard to the care and treatment of Diaspora hair. Yet your child's African Diaspora hair, whatever their admixture, whether the tightest of coils, frizzy, curly, fluffy, 'wooly', 'kinky', dry, or 'nappy' is easy to groom, truly it is.

In my next post I will describe a daily routine for grooming your child's lovely, natural multiracial, biracial, or monoracial Diaspora hair.

In the meantime, if you can do even one little thing to help someone who is struggling to be a better parent, speak up, don't stay silent. Together we make each other stronger. Spread the love.

Sun Damage - Arrgh!

2009-08-19T06:52:00.000-07:00

This is hard for me to accept and even harder for me to say. Please bear with me . . . . . . . . .

I am going grey. Rapidly, at the speed of light. At this rate I'll be completely grey by 2012. My parents didn't go grey early, so it's not in the genes. (I shall blame it on the stresses of raising two boys and a husband instead!)

So I colour my hair a nice, quiet, reddish-brown so that the grey hairs don't show quite so starkly against my natural dark colour. The problem is that the 'dyed colour' then gets even lighter really, really quickly, resulting in the somewhat brassy look in the photo taken today.

These somewhat 'Dolly Parton-ish' streaks are the result of one meagre week of English sunshine (it has been a very rainy summer) and one week of mega-intense Southern Italian sunshine.

Quite 'loud' isn't it? Oh well, Back to the dye bottle! And time for some intensive deep conditioning therapy, otherwise my hair will all snap off!! Particularly the delicate, tightly coiled 3c hair on the top of my head, which needs tender, loving care and lots of moisture. Yikes!

Now that I think about it, grey hair is infinitely preferable to broken hair, or no hair at all. But I'm just not ready to go stone-cold grey - what shall I do?!!

Beautiful Zahara Jolie Pitt

2009-08-16T03:48:00.000-07:00

Crikey! How can a simple family trip to a 'Toys 'R' Us' create such a firestorm of parenting criticism?

The vociferous theme of certain websites is that this very small child is a 'hot mess' (guys, guys! Zahara is not a 'hot mess', she is a gorgeous 4 year old!) and that her parents are being very neglectful by not 'drawing a comb through her hair' (an implication that her hair should be straightened perhaps?). Angelina is excoriated for not hiring a black nanny to sort Zahara's hair out, and it is said that 'the poor child shouldn't be walking around with nappy hair'. Their viewpoint - that the 4 year old's healthy, natural hair is unacceptable, beyond the pale.

On other websites people are wondering why black children are 'rarely taught to marvel at the gravity defying shapes that it (our hair) can take on', and 'why is it so unacceptable that Zahara is allowed to have her hair flow freely?'. Reading between the lines, these sites seem to have responded with very little working knowledge of the ordinary, workaday grooming of Diaspora children's hair. This resonates with me, when I recall a particular Northern European mum going on about her two daughters natural curls (when said curls were not curls at all, but had matted into the dry clumps and snarls and wisps seen only on the down-and-outs at Waterloo Station).

The answer, as with most things in life, lies in-between. Zahara is very often photographed with groomed, moisturised hair (in twists and two cute 'puffs', particularly when she is with Brad, I've noticed), and the fact that her parents do not slap a hot comb or chemical straightener on her small defenceless head shows them to be loving and caring parents. In the photo above Zahara's hair looks moisturised and healthy; for a family day out it is perfectly acceptable, . . . . . but for me it is untidy (as is Shiloh's).

(Personally, as a mum, part of my job is to keep my kids and their clothes clean, neat and tidy, hair included. Straight hair or coiled hair.) Also it is interesting that all the focus is on Zahara (girl child) and not Heidi Klum's Henry and Johan (boy children).

So to those posting on the more 'liberal' websites, you guys love 'world culture' right? So please remember that historically Africans have always braided, corn-rowed and threaded their natural hair for grooming and beauty, OK? In fact, braids are a huge part of Zahara's original Ethiopian culture, so don't disparage them please.

And to those that frequent 'urban' sites, stop the hate; love and accept your child's natural hair. Our natural, curly hair is beautiful, just like our natural selves. Us Diaspora gals do not have to sport Bone Strait hair in order to be beautiful. Do not teach your kids self hatred.

Love the curls, love the coils.

Tightly Curled (and totally natural!)

2009-08-07T03:30:00.000-07:00

Just a lightning quick note before my hols (holiday - woohoo!!)

There is a fantastic website called 'Tightly Curly', chock full of advice for mixed people with tightly curly hair. (and guys, while T and I are both biracial, my personal viewpoint is that most of us gorgeous, global African Diaspora gals - American, Caribbean, South African, South American - have a fascinating combo of admixtures which make us who we are. Biracial, tri-racial, redbone, light-skin, dark-skin, whatever, who cares and who's counting? If you are a Diaspora gal, let's celebrate !!)

So T, who runs this website and is about to publish her book, has tons of advice about growing and maintaining healthy mixed race hair, with sweet photos and stories of her hair experiences while growing up (experiences that many of us share). I have to say, I do think it is brilliant and empowering, and puts one in the eye of the hitherto exclusionary, 'Bo Derek/Claudia Schiffer/Doutzen Kroes only' Vogue standard.

One of her bits of advice is so simple and so effective - I felt like a complete dweeb for not working this out before. It is this:- (drum roll please.........)

Smooth your hands firmly along sections of your wet hair when adding your final conditioner/hair dressing at the end of your cleansing routine. (See the section on 'Smoothing' in T's 'Curly Primer'.)

I had a real 'Durrrr!' moment when I did this and my hair 'pinged' into teeny ringlets that 'set' and stayed put for the rest of the day. Stayed put - no fluffball or frizz by 4.00pm. It really worked. How simple, how brilliant! Why didn't I figure this out - why didn't my mum figure this out (my mum and hair care - remind me to come back to that one! Lol!)

So please mosey on over to 'Tightly Curled' and rummage around in her blog there is so much fab information on there for us all.

Thanks T!

Hair Holiday Hell!

2009-08-05T00:56:00.000-07:00

Gals and guys, I am going to Italy this weekend with the family in tow. My husband and two boys are already packed - flip-flops, swimming trunks, T-Shirts, IPod and Ninetndo DS. Me? I'll be taking an entire suitcase full to the brim of conditioners and moisturizers, scrunchies, hair-clips, my trusty Denman, head scarves and an all concealing hat! Vive la difference! (How do you say that in Italian?!)

We've been to Italy in the summer a few times now, and I have had a hair disaster almost every time. Your average English summer is cool and damp with occasional scattered showers. Your average Italian summer is hot, hot hot and dry, dry dry. Did I mention that it is extremely dry? The first time we went I completely miscalculated the effect of the climate, my poor curls/frizz demanded ever increasing amounts of moisture, with the result that I ran out of product halfway through. Needless to say, it is pretty nigh impossible to find Diaspora hair products of any kind in Tuscany (or at least I couldn't find any; wine, olives, linen trousers but no moisturiser.) Instead of wafting around the museums of Florence looking chic and stylish, I stumped around feeling unattractive with my hair tightly scraped back into a dry, rusty bun.

Last year, feeling overconfident I flew off on holiday with a plentiful supply of a new product I had found in my local diaspora hair shop.

Mistake!! (sung with an operatic Italianate flourish!)

Maybe this product was OK for cool, rainy England, but I had only just started using it, so I might have given up on it even in London. (Avlons 'Ferm' by the way). In the blinding dry heat of Tuscany my hair screamed for moisture; I added handfuls of Ferm but it became thick and 'claggy'. In desperation I added more and more product, with the result that my hair became a heavy, concrete-like mess. Once again I ended up on the tourist trail sporting an unflattering, tightly pulled, rusty red bun on my head.

Although I am clearly rather dim and slow to learn, this year will be different, I know it! I have several bottles of light moisturising spray, bottles of 'Texture My Way', which I have been using for several months now, deep conditioners to keep my hair happy and flexible and (most important of all) cute hair accessories and a cute hat just in case disaster falls, and I get it all wrong yet again!

Wish me luck y'all!!

Mixed Race Hair Tip - Good Product - Texture my Way

2009-08-04T06:58:00.000-07:00

Hello people!

How are you all? Things chez moi have been going along as usual, with the continual trial of shampoos, conditioners and moisturizers to help manage the hair that I determined to grow into a healthy mass of tight curls. My own natural hair - the way it grows out of MY head - no longer a weak facsimile of someone else's.

My two favourite moisturizing products at the mo are the 'Mixed Chicks Leave In Conditioner' and the hilariously named 'Texture My Way'. (I shouldn't tease - I really like the attitude and moxy of a product labelled 'Texture My Way'! And to be perfectly honest I am searching for texture MY way, lol!)

Anyhoo, I really like this product; when applied to wet hair after washing/conditioning, it smooths and holds the s-shape structure of the hair beautifully, leaving me with a bouncy head of pencil curls once my hair has dried naturally. Even better, the curls are soft and natural to the touch, with no unpleasant sticky residue. Even more better ;-) it is reasonably priced!

'Mixed Chicks' provides a similar curl-enhancing effect, but I find that my hair is peculiarly 'crunchy' when it dries. I don't really like this 'crunchiness' as I want my hair to have a soft and 'hair-like' feel (quite reasonably - hair should be 'hair-like, don't you agree?!). I think that my hair has a 'mannequin-like' texture to it after using 'Mixed Chicks' leave-in conditioner, but this is just my personal opinion. It still is a very good curl providing product.

To refresh my curls on days 2, and 3 after washing I separate my hair into 4 sections, dampen with water or 'Motions Leave-In Conditioner' (a very light moisturising spray) and add a small watered down dollop of the heavier cream conditioning treatment to smooth any dry areas and ends.

On Day 4 lather, rinse and repeat!

'Texture My Way' and 'Motions Leave-In Spray' can be easily found in shops in ethnic areas. Malikstores.co.uk sell both of these online.

'Mixed Chicks Leave In Conditioner' is available from the very efficient Afrotherapy website.

Well, that's all for now! Have fun with your gorgeous curly hair!

President Elect Barack Obama - I salute you.

2008-11-05T11:57:00.000-08:00

Today is a happy, happy day.

Today a brilliant orator, intellectually impeccable, tireless, hard-working, mixed race, non-white man, a 'black' man, was elected President of the United States of America.

Today America chose to change, today America has hope and the rest of the world has hope too.

Thank you Barack (and Michelle).

Today I am so hopeful. And happy.

Braiding Daughters Hair a Labour of Love

2008-07-31T02:59:00.000-07:00

Here is a heart-warming tale of father-daughter bonding and love.

I found this via my friend Beatty and there from Mulan's thread here on this forum.

Professor Clifton Green and his wife adopted little Miriam from Ethiopia as an infant. They were originally uncertain how to care for her hair (as it is a different texture to their own) but soon decided to groom it as other Americans of colour do with their children.

With a little bit of research and a little bit of practice, they learned how to moisturize and plait Miriam's hair.

"We wanted her to know her hair isn't a burden, but something really wonderful, something beautiful to be celebrated," said Mrs Green.

This story of ordinary parents, ordinary love and ordinary care is just the sweetest thing I've read for a long time. And I am thrilled that the Greens say that this part of caring for Miriam is a parent -child bonding experience (as I mentioned at the end of my post on caring for your child's curly/coiled/mixed race hair below).

After taking a peek in Miriam's hair drawer, you can see a wide-toothed comb (YES!!), packets of hair clips and baubles (or bobbles) to go on the ends of her plaits; some Carol's Daughter Hair Milk and what looks like a light Leave-In Moisturizing spray from the same brand.

Carol's Daughter is another fantastic natural hair product company, used by celebs like the Jolie-Pitts on their daughter Zahara, and will Smith's actress/singer wife Jada Pinkett-Smith. Alas, the products are so far unavailable in the UK and the website does not ship outside of the States/Hawaii/Canada.

With my overly obsessive, OCD tendencies, I am thrilled that the hair baubles are all one colour - I always feel ever so slightly peevish on spotting a little girl with a head full of riotous, multi-coloured clips, all done up like a Chritmas tree. Gosh, I am persnickety!

And there are not one, but two tubs of petroleum jelly in there! I doubt that parents as clued up as the Greens are using this on Miriam's hair - petrolatum is drying and cloggy and not to be used on mixed race hair/African Diaspora hair! I bet that they use that on elbows, heels, arms and legs - any bit of skin that gets dry and ashy.

You know, I just would love to give all the Greens a hug. You can see more photos of the very ordinary, (yet beautifully extraordinary) Green Family here.

Marvelous Mixed Race Hair Care for Marvelous Mixed Race Children

2008-07-28T10:04:00.000-07:00

A long time ago, in a country that is now (hair care-wise at least) far, far away there were no 'biracial' products to help my mother work with my massively curly hair. None at all; my lovely frizz was shampooed and conditioned with products tailored to suit Caucasian hair - there simply was nothing else available. Now, Caucasian hair tends to be oilier than African Diaspora hair, as more sebum is secreted, which travels quickly down a straight hair shaft. African Diaspora hair has less sebum, which travels a comparatively shorter distance along a curly, spiral hair shaft.

Caucasian products are therefore unsuitable, in that they are designed to strip away unwanted oils. My mum did pretty well; she used the gentlest shampoos and the most moisturizing conditioners, and she would dab a little heavy pomade on my dry scalp and ends. The pomades and greases contained mineral oils and petrolatum - bad for anyone with very curly or coiled hair, and although these heavy oily products appeared to soften and moisturize the hair, they do not. They coat African Diaspora hair and prevent moisture entering the hair shaft - this is molto bad because moisture is our friend. Moisture is VITAL to maintain bouncing, happy healthy curls. (Mum also used Vitapointe when she could get it; again, it was wrong for my hair, but I will always remember the lovely smell and I will be fond of it forever!).

Years passed during which a huge market in African American hair products was born. At last I had access to gently formulated moisturizing shampoos and conditioners that did not strip my hair of every scrap of natural moisture. Alas, most of the leave-in conditioners and moisturizers proved way too heavy for my personal type of hair, a common problem for multi-ethnic folk. Still, hair-wise, things were on the up!

Today I am sublimely delighted to see that there are so many fantastic products to cater for the wide variety of different hair-types that our infinitely (and increasingly) mixed population wear on their lovely heads with pride. The very diversity of our hair does entail a certain amount of trial and error for the parent of a mixed race child, but the products are finally out there and you will eventually 'land' on one that truly 'works' for your mixed race child.

After all, mixed race brothers and sisters have varying types of hair, let alone cousins, neighbours and friends! But if you are the parent or guardian of a bi-racial or mixed race child here are some pointers that I have laboriously learned along the way:-

1. Avoid harsh, drying products formulated to strip off all natural hair oils.

2. Shampoo once or twice a week and always use a good thirty minute conditioning treatment afterwards.

3. Avoid products with petrolatum, mineral oils and alcohol (eg: isopropyl alcohol and anything with an 'ol' at the end) like the plague. These dry out curly/coiled hair.

4. Protect your child's lovely, delicate curls from excess heat, sun and chlorine. Put that big sun hat on when playing in the sand, (protects skin and hair). Put hair in plaits (and follow with a mega-rinse of water, plus deep conditioning treatment) when splashing around at the beach or the pool. Or wear a bathing cap, if this isn't too uncool!

5. Do not comb hair when dry - only comb during the conditioning process, (or immediately after rinsing) with a wide toothed comb.

6. Moisturize - Part 1!! After washing and conditioning, apply a generous amount of moisturizing creme to your child hair. be generous, because once all of the water from the washing process has evaporated off, the hair will be quite dry and will absorb a lot of product. (With practice you will know exactly how much moisturizing creme is needed to strike a good balance between dry, unmoisturized hair and clogy hair with too much product). These cremes vary in texture to match the texture of curly/coiled hair - some are thicker and heavier than others; Type 2 and Type 3a/b hair need lighter formulation product while Types 3c and Type 4 are good with a thicker, heavier creme. Again, with a small amount of trial and error you will soon figure out which formulation works best for your little one's hair.

Finish with a spritz of a light, Leave-In conditioner to the ends of the hair. Leave-In conditioners are fabulous - where were they when I was growing up! (Oh well, never mind - they are here now!). This product is a light, liquid, moisturizing spray that helps to lock in moisture and define curls, and it is a must for all African Diaspora hair!

7. Moisturize #2!! Daily maintainance - Mixed race/coiled/curly/African Diaspora hair is DRY, so the moisturizing proceduer does not end with the weekly/bi-weekly wash.

Groom your child's hair, as part of the morning routine, with a small dollop of moisturizing creme - as needed. 'learn' your child's hair - wavier Type 2/3a hair may not need the heavier cremes and may be just fine with a generous spray of Leave-In conditioner to redefine and lock in the curl. Type 3b. 3c and Types 4 hair will need a smoothing of moisturizing creme and a nice spritz of conditioning spray.

Keep to this routine until the next hair-washing day and your child's hair will be well moisturized and healthy!

8. If hair is worn in plaits, do not use bands or barettes that will rip the hair. Be gentle and use bobbles, scrunchies or bands covered with woven fabric (with no metal clips).

9. Go natural #1. The only products that a loving parent or carer should place on their child's skin or head should be natural, natural, NATURAL!!

10. Go natural #2. Do not straighten/relax/texturize the naturally curly hair of your mixed race, multi-ethnic or biracial child's hair. Just Don't Do It!

Grooming textured and curly hair is no longer difficult in our global village. Learning how to maintain and groom your child's hair is a loving, bonding experience for you both. It will also teach your child how unique, special and gorgeous he or she is, and promote self-esteem, confidence and a sense of pride in one's appearance.

I recommend Curly Q's for children (I have used both the kids and adult line). This is available from Nature's Parlour. Please do read Xina's professional advice about mixed Race hair care (my advice is purely self-taught!).

Please also have a look at the Curls website which is a mine of information.

Another product that I have used is Kids Organics Shea Butter Moisturizing Hair Lotion. Although Curly Q's is preferable, this lotion contains no mineral oils or petrolatum, and can be found in shops.

Coiled and curly hair-Do's (and Don'ts): brushing and combing.

2008-07-24T09:40:00.000-07:00

Fashion is so cyclical isn't it - if you wait long enough everything comes back into style. Take the Seventies for example - long flowing dresses, boho skirts, chandelier ear-rings, skinny jeans, and anything by Diana Von Furstenbug have all been rebranded, revamped and imbued with drop-dead cool. And speaking as someone who was there at the time, I know I would feel very comfortable click-clacking around in my Dr Scholls, tripping over my maxi-dress, with a soft, unstructured bag slung over one shoulder. But I wouldn't feel comfortable with the big, giant, dry, rusty hair I used to have, no sirree!

Don't get me wrong - the new afro is moisturised, groomed, sexy and current, and the women that rock it are fashionable and cool. (In fact, when I'm in the mood I do wear the new afro out to parties and clubs). But I'm talking about the OLD afro! The one that grew out of my head from 1977 to 1981, that I had absolutely no idea how to work with, and that was dry, brittle, broken, damaged and unkempt.

So what was I doing wrong?

1:- Brushing and combing dry hair. I was told never ever to comb out my hair wet, because wet hair is elastic and stretchy, and combing would rip and break it. So I would dutifully brush or comb my hair every morning, not realising that every bend in tightly curled hair is a breakage point, and wondering why there was a veritable carpet of snapped-off hair on the floor tiles after I was done. Combing African diaspora hair when it is bone dry is a complete no-no; combing or brushing should be done only on wet or very damp hair, preferably after washing/conditioning/moisturizing.

2:- Brushing and combing every day. Now I wash and condition my hair once or twice a week. After a generous application of deep conditioner (plus a handful of olive oil for good measure) I part my hair in two (or four, or as many as necessary) and comb my hair out very gently, working from the ends towards the scalp. Then I rinse, towel dry (gently!), moisturize, style and go. This means I only comb my hair once or twice a week - when it needs smoothing or grooming, I apply more moisturizer and gently arrange it into sections with my fingers.

3:- Using the wrong tools. I used to wrestle an cheap, hard-plastic ordinary comb through my frizz; it was difficult, eye-wateringly painful and very damaging to my hair. Now the only comb that gets anywhere near my head is a very smooth, large handled, wide-toothed detangling comb, and the only brush that I would use is a Denman, rubber-padded hairbrush with nylon bristles. To be honest, I rarely use the Denman, I prefer the wide-toothed comb, and combing wet, conditioned hair is easy and painless.

So there you have it! It seems so obvious now that small comb + dry hair = huge, brittle, dry, damaged 'Fro.

Ah well - wisdom comes with age - pretty much the only good thing about aging I guess ;-)

'Politics of Fear' or Politics of Hair?

2008-07-22T01:56:00.000-07:00

This little blog is not meant to be political - it is just a chronicle of my complex love-hate relationship with my mad frizz, and my personal 'journey' from afro-denial, lol :-), to love, understanding and appreciation of my natural, God-given, madly curly locks.

But then I am forcibly reminded by the liberal media that even in the 21st century, a peaceful, healthy, choice to wear my hair au naturel broadcasts an unintended negative and aggressive message to Those In Charge (see the incredibly disappointing, deeply unamusing New Yorker cover entitled 'The Politics of Fear').

Throughout history, a Euro-centric beauty standard has been imposed on the women of the African diaspora; if your hair wasn't straight, you covered it with wraps or straightened it with lye. Even as late as the Sixties, the only available ethnic glamour came via Shirley Bassey, the Supremes and the Ronettes with their big, bouffy, wigs (well, done girls - we admire your guts and ambition, we love you and we thank you). But black only began to be beautiful when the wonderful model/actress Cicely Tyson, who appeared on a TV show called East Side/West Side with her natural hair cropped softly short. The Afro style was born - needless to say it caused a sensation. Cicely was also one of the first prominent women to wear cornrows; gosh, even as I write this i find it very hard to believe that something as simple and ordinary as maintaining neat, groomed African hair was once so very controversial.

And it still is; the New Yorker chose to depict the very conventionally smooth, straight-haired Michelle Obama as a radical, gun-toting, Black Power, afro-wearing revolutionary, with all that that entails. The unspoken message of the New Yorker is depressing; why am I not afforded the right to grow my hair without artifice (the way Asian, Indian, Caucasian and Semitic women can) without being cast as a scary, political bogey-man? Naturallycurly.com and Toya at Life of a Ladybug have clearer thoughts than I on this issue, so please take a look. Also here are links to the Guardian and the Independent newspapers for a UK media view of this little issue.

Liberal elitist New Yorker editor David Remnick seems taken aback by the furious backlash, poor fellow. Let me help you out David - your cover is not satirical; it is merely a tasteless, unfunny caricature. Does that make it any clearer?

Phew, thank heaven that's over! No more politics, please! Normal service (aka rambling on about my favourite hair products!) shall be resumed as soon as possible!

And just to be mischievous, I leave you with the radically beautiful Angela Davis.

Brit Singer Jamelia "Why I'll never wear extensions again"

2008-07-18T01:21:00.000-07:00

An interesting article in the UK Daily Mail by English pop singer Jamelia. While I'm not a fan of extensions and weaves (for a whole variety of reasons) I can't help thinking that Jamelia (who is very tall , as pretty as a china doll and with a figure to die for) would look fantastic even if she shaved her head completely bald.

You go Jamelia!

The article is here:-

Mixed RAce Hair. What's your type? ;-)

2008-07-16T09:05:00.000-07:00

Following on emphatically from the post below, please join me in refuting the old, inherited perceptions of black/bi-racial/multi ethnic hair; let's put them to rest forever. There is no 'good' hair other than healthy, happy growing hair and there is no 'bad' hair other than neglected, damaged, unloved hair. However, to best maintain and manage one's fabulous ethnic or curly hair one needs to understand the way it behaves and its personal likes and dislikes. This is where some knowledge of the various 'types' of hair come in handy, which is where Andre Walker and his brilliant book come in.

A couple of months ago, while in the throes of my bi-annual hair crisis (ie: what shall I do with my hair, I'm so bored, should I cut it all off, should I straighten it, it looks terrible, I hate it so much, etc, etc) I searched the Internet for inspiration and came across several brilliant websites that described Andre Walker's hair type system (Curls.biz and naturallycurly.com ). As someone who was raised in the Caribbean where regular-strength French Perm was slapped on the head of every girl child over the age of seven, this really taught me something new. If you understand what you have got, you can learn how to groom it, care for it and work with it: result - healthy happy hair.

Andre classifies hair into four basic types: Type 1 - straight, Type 2 - wavy, Type 3 - curly and Type 4 - kinky; straight is pretty clear-cut, nuff said, but the other categories are divided further into sub-categories as follows:-

Type 2 WAVY - wavy hair with a definite S pattern to it. This S-pattern hair lies flat to the scalp and does not spring away from it as curly hair does.

2a:- fine /thin. Easy to manipulate with blow dries, ceramic straighteners or curly tongs. Singer Joss Stone has 2a hair.

2b:- medium-textured. More resistant to styling. I think Rozonda Thomas (Chilli from TLC) has this hair.

2c:- thick and coarse. More resistant to styling with a tendency to frizz. Mya's hair is described as 2b, (but it seems more like 2c in the link photo, maybe even 3a).

Type 3 CURLY - Type 3 hair gets much straighter and longer when wet, and will then 'shrink' back to its normal, curly state when dry - the length difference between wet and dry can be substantial! Humidity is the enemy of type 3 hair, making the curls tighter or making it frizzy. It is not difficult to straighten it completely with heat (although long term heat treatment will be damaging). Curly hair is fragile - the S-shape will break with rough treatment, sustained heat or harsh chemical treatment. Andre defines two subtypes of curly hair, and Naturallycurly.com readers have suggested a third Type 3 subtype: 3c.

3a:- type 3a hair is usually very shiny with big curls. The shorter the hair, the straighter it becomes, and the longer the hair, the more defined the curl. Andie MacDowell's hair looks like this, and here is Nicole Kidman.

3b:- 3b hair has a medium amount of curl to tight corkscrews. Many people have a mixture of these types growing on their head all together (I know I do!). A mixture of finer and coarser hair is often to be found as well. Rachel True has a lovely head of 3b hair, as does Jurnee Smollett and Kelis.

3c:- Naturallycurly.com defines this hair as growing in tight curls, in corkscrews. This is my main hair type. The curls can be either kinky or very tightly curled, like pencil or straw circumference. Some people refer to this as "big hair." Getting this type of hair to blow dry straight is more challenging than for 3a or 3b, but it usually can be done. Celebrities with gorgeous examples of this hair type are Cree Summer, English actress Angela Griffin, Gloria Reuben from ER, Ex-Spice Girl Mel B, and Sister Sister twins, Tia and Tamera Mowry.

Type 4 KINKY - Andre Walker has defined type 4 hair as kinky, or very tightly curled. Generally, Type 4 hair can be wiry, is very tightly coiled and must be treated gently as the tight curls make it fragile. Type 4 hair appears to be 'coarse', but healthy type 4 hair is soft to touch and although the coils mean that it won't shine like wavy hair, it still has a distinct sheen. The tight coils and subsequent fragility make type 4 hair easily breakable, leading to the myth that this hair doesn't grow. Well it does; if you treat it gently, with the respect it deserves it will grow very long - if you don't comb it at all it will grow even longer!

4a:- Type 4a is tightly coiled hair that, when stretched, has an S pattern, much like curly hair, with a coffee stirrer circumference. Here is the divine Jill Scott .

4b:- 4b, which has a Z pattern, less of a defined curl pattern (instead of curling or coiling, the hair bends in sharp angles like the letter Z). I'm guessing the equally divine India Arie might have hair like this from her photographs.

As many women with Type 4 hair straighten it or wear weaves and extensions (for convenience or different perceptions of beauty), lovely Type 4 hair rarely seen these days. This is a shame as beautifully maintained and natural Type 4 hair is gorgeous; the good news is that there is a growing trend for natural afro diaspora hair of all kinds which I think is cause for celebration.

If you know and understand your type of hair, you can learn to give it the best, loving care. So what's your type? :-)

Good Hair

2008-07-14T07:14:00.000-07:00

*'Good hair' - for us mixed folk this is an unfortunate phrase. One that I grew up hearing a lot ( see also **'Nice hair'). It is one that we really all should retire for good.

At the very sound of these words, I fly through a time tunnel back to my teenage years, where the top-dog girls at school spent hours talking about and comparing hair 'quality' (as well as bullying those whose crowning glory was not 'fine' enough to make the grade). I remember big, heavy-armed matrons perched on their stools, raking candy-coloured combs over the heads of the heads of squirming, crying children, while hurtful words like 'picky' or 'nappy' or 'hard' flew about the room.

I remember fighting to conceal the hot tears that spurted from my eyes after stupidly wrenching a fine toothed comb through my much-prized, kinky-curly fringe (leaving half of said fringe in its teeth). Why did I do such a ridiculous (and frankly quite painful) thing? Because of a boy, silly! A handsome boy with lustrous, silken curls of his own had spotted my comb and sneered that such a thing could never pass through my hair. Well, I sure showed him - I guess the pain was worth it. But I never liked him the same way ever again. Even then I understood his comment for what it was.

The point of this long ramble is that I utterly reject the antiquated, 'old-timey' and ever-so-slightly self-hating premise of 'Good' or 'Bad' hair (and so should you). There is only one type of good hair - healthy hair that is clean, well-maintained and growing out of the top of your head. And the only bad hair is broken and damaged hair (from sun, chemicals, or bad treatment) that is not growing out of the top of your head as it should.

Full stop. End of.

*'Good hair':- (from the Urban Dictionary)
A popular term in the African-American community, used to describe an black person's hair that closely resembles the hair of a typical white person (i.e. soft, managable, long, as opposed to "nappy" or "bad" hair). The closer your hair is to a white person's, the "better" your hair is. See: "bad hair".

Note: Most people who use this term would never admit the inferiority complex from which it came.

**'Nice hair':- Exactly the same as 'Good hair' but used mainly by West Indians.

NB:- the picture is of Jazmine DuBois from the brilliant Boondocks cartoon by American, Aaron McGruder. In one famous strip her friends stage an intervention because she is in 'Afro-denial'!

I need help. Now. Please.

2008-07-13T07:10:00.000-07:00

Okay.; (takes deep breath). This is a first. I have never been to an Afro hair salon that was clueless with regard to my 'brand' of hair. Until today.

Over the years, as women do, I have had several, major salon disasters. These were with stylists that catered to 'European' hair as opposed the kinky, curly hair handed down via the great African diaspora. Why did I keep going to salons whose expertise with ethnic hair was slim to none? Blind hope really - at the time I lived in the deepest, darkest countryside - it was very 'Cold Comfort Farm-ish', and if I needed a haircut or a deep conditioning treatment there was nowhere else to go. After they'd made a hash of it I would pay up quietly and slink home tearfully to repair the damage. I can laugh about it now. The scars have healed. Finally.

First there was the nice lady washed and conditioned my hair with great expertise, but then foolishly set it on rough, Velcro rollers. It took her hours to extricate them, after which my scalp was sore and my hair was a veritable birds nest.

At another place the stylist took one look at me, and shaking her head she said 'Eeee love, we don't know how to cut your type o' hair'. Oh well, at east she was honest.

But the worst was an upmarket international franchise, where I was sure that they had the right training. WRONG! The stylist sat me in the chair and chopped away enthusiastically, blissfully unaware that my 'sort' of hair gets longer when wet and 'shrinks' when dry. Shrinks a lot. After washing I was nearly bald - the poor man, his face was a picture. And I cried when I got home. Cried buckets.

After months of doing my hair at home I decided to treat myself with a trip to a well know Afro salon (with branches in Balham, Clapham and Brixton). I cautiously booked a deep conditioning treatment (rather than jump in at the deep end with an entire hair make-over), thank heaven! The young stylist poked and prodded at my head as if she had never seen corkscrew curls before (is this possible in London - the City of the Mixed!?). She asked whether my hair was natural or a perm (WARNING - ding, ding, ding!) so I explained what products I used (Kids Organics Shea butter moisturizer), how I applied them (damp hair) and how much I applied. (lots).

I guess she wasn't listening. After the treatment she sat me down in a chair, next to a fan, and went off to chat on her mobile phone. I sat there knowing that by the time she returned, my hair would have transformed from a mass of wiry curls into a rusty, giant haystack.

'Oh!' she said in a shocked voice, hastily applying a dollop of hair goop. Finally she decided to soak my head and start again - 'You do need a lot of product!' she chirped.

I ended up leaving the salon with my hair looking much as it did when I went in. How could they not 'know' my hair? This was a first.

maybe with the popularity of straight hair and weaves no-one knows what to do with 'naptural' hair anymore? Answers on a postcard please?