Special delivery

Look what I got through the post last week!

I am now the proud owner of a Deluxe Softhood by Hairflair.  As my only Black Friday purchase I was able to avoid the pre-Xmas sale madness on the streets. However, I was not immune to the glut of knockout down delights online, eeekk, they got me!

Anyhoo, as the picture on the box so helpfully demonstrates, this bad boy is a softhood hair dryer attachment that allows you to gently dry your hair whilst preserving your curls. It's also great to pop on if your want a bit of extra deep conditioning as gentle heat helps the conditioning goodness percolate deeper into your follicles.

This softhood is supposed to inflate big enough to fit comfortably over your head and hair, and when you're done, squish down into a light, compactable pocket ideal for travelling.  Sounds perfect! We shall see just how perfect it really is.
I want to use the Softhood in combo with my Curlformers (when I next use them), as well as helping to cut down on drying time in general when I wet style my hair - this normally takes at least 24 hours on its own!

My review will be on the way soon.  Has anyone tried this or any other softhood dryers before?


Kanika x

Graff Attack

The weekend before last I went on a Graffiti Tour with one of my BFF's Lo.

You've been warned!

We both love graffiti and street art so when I saw a discount offer on Time Out I said yes please I'll be having some of that.

The tour hosted by Great British Tours took us round a small area off and around Brick Lane in East London. It's somewhere I've been to loads of times but never really stopped to take in all graffiti.

This is what I think Mother Earth would look like

So off we went.  There are loads of fantastic pieces ranging from huge artworks and murals to with tags and tiny pieces you'd miss without an eagle eye.  They included pieces that had been commissioned and impromptu work. Walls, pavements, streets, shop stutters, doorways any and everything was a canvas.  Lots of different techniques: spray paint, stencils, paints, posters, 3D stuff too. Some of it had clear political or social messages others not, some well know artists and others unknown to the tour guide.

One of my favourites

Someone's electricity meter got a makeover

Angry Stick men by Stik

A year in hair....well almost

'Hair as a metaphor for life', is how the idea behind our blog has been summed up.


Sounds ridiculous? Well, not really.  For me definitely and for Miss Karla, there's a lot of truth in that statement.  What we've done with our hair has, many times reflected what we were or weren't doing with ourselves.  Karla for example this year finally took out her braid extensions, writing about the experience here.  They had become her equivalent of a hair blanky that she was slowly having to ween herself off,  and now, she's having a whole heap of fun with her new, freer do.  I can personally vouch that her shiny, super soft head of healthy hair is looking very cute indeed and is currently accompanying her are she gets ready to fulfill one of her life dreams: dancing with a famous Rio Samba School for Rio Carnival 2014.


My hair.....hmmm, my hair is hanging on in there despite some odious instances of neglect this year.

Fascinator, pompadour &
victory rolls for a
40's style party

At the start of 2013 I was all about trying new stuff. I was all over the retro updos (left), pinning, headscarves and quiffs. I dusted of my Curlformers like I said I would and managed to master my own take on a Rose the Riveter do (below right).  

At some point this year my hair and I entered into a long distant relationship. As I got busier, more stressed and feeling less like my myself the fun of experimenting fizzled out. Lack of time and inclination meant that chunky twists pinned back in simple updos became my go to style. Quickish, practical and low maintenance, praise be!

Scarf purchase courtesy
of Brixton Market

In May I finally visited the hairdressers for a straighten 'n' trim, my first in 2 years (I know, I know, will never, ever leave it that long again to get a trim), the split ends and fairy knots were too much to bear.  Sadly, there are no joyous pics of me frolicking about with my shorter, straight hair, and it wasn't coz I couldn't fix my face long enough for pouting over the shorter length to take a decent pic. Truth be told I was disappointed that despite my careful maintenance, my bra strap length hair (yep it was that long, sniff) was getting sizeable chop coz the ends were in a sorry state.  However, better more consistent care would have prevented that in the first place, so I had to take it like a big girl and remember my hair was better off. Anyway, aside from that I was too busy and too feeling stressed to give a damn about posing for hair selfies, which I suck at taking anyway.

Where's your head at?

Just over a year ago, armed with our laptops, Karla and I met at a local cafe: warm, free wifi, the most amazing hot chocolate, a resident cat and laid back enough to allow you to bring your own food, perfect for two skint ladies on a mission!

We'd been talking about starting a blog for ages but this was the first time we'd met to properly bash out ideas.  In my head, and staying nicely within my comfort zone, this was all it was gonna be, pre-planning before we took the plunge. To my surprise (and alarm that I tried my best to hide from Karla), a couple of hours later we had a real life blog and our first post.  It was the push I needed to start making my things happen!

A lot has happened for both of us this year, some good, some bad, but for me, most of it has not been what I had hoped or wanted for 2013. This year was about moving forward, about seriously starting to sort my life.  I didn't expect everything to go my way, or not have any setbacks, but whatever happened I thought I would be able to handle it, pick myself up and keep moving.   It didn't happen like that.

Back in June, a few days after loosing my new job I wrote about how I was feeling.  Karla encouraged me to do this and to use it as a way of starting to look ahead,  but I felt totally rubbish at that time and didn't have much capacity for feeling positive.  Sorting myself had come to a screeching and premature halt!

I've found it hard to put into words how I was feeling, but I was, and sometimes still am, struggling with the feelings of stress and depression. I was reluctant for long while to use the D word. It's not something I thought I would ever experience personally.
Why? Why is it difficult to admit?   I know there's no shame in it, I know most people experience it as some point in their lives.
I lived with someone with depression. I saw how, for 18 months a close relative of mine struggled to get out of bed, stopped taking basic care of themselves and was unable to do the simpliest things. They became a shadow of the person they previously were, and gave up on the possibility of seeing any improvement in their life. Although this year I have felt as low as I have ever done before, I was never as a bad as that, was I?

WhenYouGonna is on Instagram!

We are now Instagramming pics of our favourite Naturals as well as daily do updates for your viewing pleasure :-)

Follow WhenYouGonna on Instagram here http://instagram.com/whenyougonna

With #instalove,

Karla and Kanika x

Brooklyn's Natural Beauties

In continuation from my last, slightly stalkerish post, in which I showed you all some of the hottest Naturalites spotted at Brooklyn's 2013 AFROPUNK Fest last month; I wanted to introduce you to some of my favourites.

Brooklyn's Natural Beauty Exhibit A: TESSA 

NAME: Tessa Kagbala
Age: 29
NATURAL FOR: 12 years.
Tessa's family are Rastafarian and she went natural to challenge the ideas of beauty that were around her every day.

2 MUST HAVE PRODUCTS:
- Karen's Body Beautiful Sweet Ambrosia (available from Target or online) and
- Natural Shea butter + Olive Oil

Tessa's Top Tip:
Use Bentonite clay wash regularly to cleanse your hair from root to tip without stripping it of its natural oils.



Follow Tessa's blog at www.afroista.com  She is more than just a chick with a 'fro...

Brooklyn's Natural Beauty Exhibit B: BETHLEHEM

NAME: Bethlehem
NATURAL FOR: 7 years.
Bethlehem is natively from Ethiopia and although had used relaxers before, hated depending on it to feel good. She grew out her relaxer and one day took a breath and cut her ends off herself into her sink! Since then she's tried various styles and experiments regularly with her curls.

2 MUST HAVE PRODUCTS:
- Queen Helene's Royal Curl Shaping Creme available to buy online
- Kinky-Curly Knot Today Leave-In Conditioner

Bethlehem's Top Tips: Buy inexpensive Natural hair products from www.terressentials.com.
In Ethiopia women often put butter in their hair before washing... But that doesn't work (and it smells.) So she created her own special Pre-Poo mix:
Ingredients:
Egg yolks
Oil (olive, jojoba or Moroccan, whichever you prefer)
Coconut Cream
Avocado

Whisk the egg yolk and oil together bit by bit to create mayonnaise. Then add the coconut cream and avocado. Add more oil as needed and coat your hair. Cover your hair and do your business. Wash out after a couple of hours and boom - soft, beautiful curls!

Brooklyn's Natural Beauties Exhibits C-F: PARIS, JULES, ZAHRA and NDELEA

NAMES (l-r): Zahra, Paris, Jules, and Ndelea
NATURAL FOR: 16 years, 13years, 10 years, 15years!

Interestingly, they all went Natural in their teens years, rejecting the image of straight haired beauty that surrounded them. Zahra grew up in Hawaii and said she didn't have a colour complex, but instead wanted hair she could run her fingers through, like the other girls. Eventually though she had a realisation: "I can be beautiful in a way that can represent beauty for others."

2 MUST HAVE PRODUCTS:
Z - Apple Cider Vinegar  and Olive oil. "If you can't find it in the kitchen, you don't need to use it!"
P - Nature's Blessing Sweet Almond Oil and that's it!
J - Water! And Jojoba oil - which she'd been using for years but was so clueless after first going Natural, she was calling it 'Joe-Joe-buh' oil. Needless to say she has much more of an clue these days...
N - Shea Butter is a must have. "And whatever else I can find in the kitchen."

Brooklyn's Natural Beauty Exhibit G: JENNIFER

NAME: Jennifer

Age: 29
NATURAL FOR: 12 years
Jennifer had been Natural and had long hair until she had it relaxed before high school. After it breaking and not being as long as it had in the past, she decided to go back to natural hair at the age of 17 and hasn't looked back as her hair is relatively easy to maintain!

JENNIFER'S 2 MUST-HAVE PRODUCTS:
- Miss Jessie's Curly Butter Cream
- Miss Jessie's Supersweetback Treatment

Big up Miss Jessie which you can buy in the UK online from the Curly Emporium here :-)

Brooklyn's Natural Beauties Exhibits H and I: ADAMA AND SIQUELE

NAMES: Siquele and Adama (Meaning "Queenly") 

AGES: 29 and 'A Lady Never Tells'
NATURAL FOR: 12 years for both

Siaquele decided she was through with relaxers. She was tired of conforming to the neat pretty look and so wanted to grow out her natural curls. She loves her baby curls so much, she shaves her hair down every February to rock a refreshed new look.
Adama grew her locs as an experiment and now wears waist length hair. At AFROPUNK fest she told me she was trying out a shorter look by twisting up her locs ahead of chopping them off...but, by the end of the day had decided she preferred her long hair.

2 MUST HAVE PRODUCTS:
S - Natural Shea Butter and Aloe Vera Gel
A - Natural Shea Butter and Coconut Oil - Simple is best.



All Hail the Brooklyn Beauties.


Karla x

AFROPUNK 2013

Last week I got back from a trip to New York, during which I went to the very cool (and free!) AFROPUNK FEST!

AFROPUNK is a Brooklyn based 2-day, all day festival that celebrates the best in Black Alternative music. Last year's lineup included Janelle Monáe and Erykah Badu, and this yeart saw Public Enemy's Chuck D, ?uestlove from the Roots and Theophilus London hitting the stage, as well as some lesser known but equally excellent groups (Look up Vintage Trouble - very charismatic James Brown-esque disco/rock outfit).

The 9th AFROPUNK FEST line up

#OKNotToBeOK

Some of you might have noticed that it has been a while since the last post.

And that this last post, a tender revelation from my co-blogger Kanika, may have seemed off-brand from our usual jovial tone. But in all honesty, this is exactly the reason she and I began writing here. This blog, to us meant an honest open space where we could explore our true selves and our innermost feelings. And not everyone feels super positive 100% of the time.

People who know me, usually envisage a big smiling face, but may not be aware that sometimes I feel 'blue' (as a result of PMDD) and need to hide away and recharge for days at a time to maintain the level of 'up-ness' that I like to show to the world. My highs are as high as they appear, but the low periods - of which there are many - are equally low. Low, dark and dangerous.

Many of us can relate to these feelings of depression and desperation but so few of us ever talk about it.

What to do when things don't go to plan?

I’ve been pretty silent on the blog front of late. Save from the odd tweet, you’ve not heard much from me in the last couple of months.  

Why?  Because my 2013 has turned out to be pretty shit so far!

I went into this year full of hope that, for the first time in a long time, things were really gonna be good and my life was finally beginning to come together. Ha! That didn’t last long.

My relationship ended.  

A close relative of mine has mental health issues and while, thankfully, they have been doing better following a recent bout of depression, the stress of their ongoing illness and the impact it’s had on my family has become too much.  

The new job I was so excited to start, working for a great organisation that I was proud to be part of and was actually enjoying my role....as of this week, I no longer work there.

I’ve found it difficult to cope with the personal setbacks I’ve had this year.  I’ve tried to remain positive and not fall off the good path that I started on last year, but at the moment that feels impossible.
Initially I threw myself into things, working, writing, going to seminars, making sure I had something to look forward to every week to try and occupy my mind and keep forging on.  It didn’t block out all my negative feelings or sadness but it certainly helped.   Gradually though, over the course of this year and as more has happened, I’ve continued to feel worse about my personal situation and the direction my life feels like it’s heading in.

The last 2 months have been the worst, hence the relative silent.  My confidence is as low as it has been.  I’ve been on daily a cycle of feeling crap, having something to take my mind of it but then feeling crap again when it was over.  I’ve withdrawn from situations and lost the motivation to push myself and engage in others.  I don’t feel like myself and I haven’t for a long time.

I DID IT!

Reader, I removed them!

After months of threatening, umming and ahhing, debating and procrastinating, I, Karla-Jayne Elizabeth (yep!) Thomas am now braid-free and it feels good. My head felt lighter. My curls are super bouncy and lovely and I am filled with hope and refreshed by a change of style.

But suddenly my clothes don't seem to fit the same. My earrings don't work and my make up seems out of place. I look different and I feel different.


The thing that people underestimate when they go natural is the ability to still 'do you'. I've been in and out of long braids for the past 4 years and my personality and style was inextricably linked with my having waist-length hair. I would wear boyish outfits relying on wearing my hair down and long to create a feminine, girly-girl-in-boyfriend's-clothes look instead of just looking butch (nothing against looking butch, it's just not my style).

Long hair = sexiness/ femininity/ sensuality, right?

But I was prepared for this, wasn't I? I have talked before about how people would complain when I first took the braids out:
"Oh but the braids were soooo niiice!"
"Noooooo!!!"
"Why did you change your hair?"

and my personal favourite
"WHHYY did you cut your hair?!"

In reminding these people, I also need to remind myself that I am still the same person as I was with the braids, in all my ridiculous face-making glory - I AM the same woman.

Actually my hair is in pretty good condition. I tried to take care of it while I was in Brasil, using heat protecting products, any shampoo/conditioner/oil including 'karite' (shea) or Argan oil I could find; wetting my hair and running olive oil through it whenever I could remember  every other day, and conditioning, conditioning, conditioning.

So now I have healthy hair which has grown remarkably well:

...despite shrinkage making it look like I have a curly bob...

Whatever. It's my hair and I choose to make the most of it, curls and all.

London's Natural Beauties - Exhibit F. Bibi

Hello friends it's been a while! Nearly June already, wowzahs! We're dusting off our keyboards to bring you some lovely hair goodness, from the 6th installment of London's Natural Beauties. Meet Bibi, a London Barrister with a mean Samba no Pe.

Name: Bibi

Age: 32

Natural for: 5 years

When You Gonna: Tell us about your Natural hair journey, why did you decide to go Natural?

Bibi: I decided to stop relaxing my hair in March 2007 because my hair was in such a sad and sorry state. It was constantly breaking and looked so lifeless, even with the tracks my hairdresser had added to give the illusion of thick flowing hair. I remember my fringe just looking awful because so much of my hairline had broken off but so angry at the hairdresser who ignored the deteriorating state of my hair and continued to charge me almost £200 to slap the creamy crack on my head. Fuming.
This wasn't the first time I had given my hair a break from relaxing and grown it out by putting it in braids. I had done it twice before and grown a nice head of healthy hair only to relax it again as (a) I didn't know what to do with it and (b) the feel of freshly relaxed virgin hair seemed so fantastic at the time. What made me decide my break from relaxing was permanent was the realisation that my hair simply couldn't manage it. It would break every time. It looked lifeless and depressed. I really had to start taking care of it.

This revelation coincided with the growing popularity and availability of full lace wigs. This offered the opportunity of maintaining my long straight haired look instantly without applying dangerous chemicals to my head. Or so I thought. It turned out I was allergic to the mainstream adhesive and instead had to use a white glue similar to one used to stick pieces of wood together. Yes. Wood glue. On my head.

I was then introduced to the natural hair movement by a friend and haven't looked back. It really has been a learning process for me, during which I have made plenty of mistakes. I moved on from the wood glue and began using clips and pins to secure my full lace wigs but the clips ripped my hair out of my hairline and left my with fifty pence sized smooth bald patches above my temples. My boyfriend encouraged me to wear my
hair out instead of wearing full lace wigs last October but I think he may regret it as I do spend quite a bit of time on my hair! I am trying to get better though.

I also discovered that I should not be allowed anywhere near a comb, even a wide tooth one, as I am far too heavy handed and break my own hair myself! So it's finger-combing and finger-detangling all the way.

WYG: Describe your hair?

B: I find the current definitions fairly limiting but to give everyone else more of any idea I guess it would fall under 4c. It is kinky and very soft. It's definitely not thick but full of tiny tiny corkscrews which I love.

WYG: What's your routine like?

B: I started the New Year with the intention of using either only 'clean' products with no harmful ingredients or homemade concoctions on my skin or hair. I don’t use any heat on my hair.  I wash my hair once a week. I have been experimenting with a few ideas and playing
around with the order in which I do things. But my basic staples are to:
• clarify with apple cider vinegar
• steam my hair with coconut oil
• deep condition my hair with coconut milk and honey or Greek yogurt
• Wash with rhassoul clay

In between washes I mist my hair with water, followed by aloe vera gel and seal with an oil daily. I am loving Moringa oil at the moment. Not a fan of the smell but it makes your hair feel so so soft and smooth. I always sleep with a headscarf and I usually sleep on a silk pillowcase. If my hair feels dry I'll baggy it before bed.

I henna my hair once a month and it has definitely added strength to it. This is the only time I use commercial products as I haven’t figured out how to get the henna completely out of my hair in a natural way yet. I use Hairveda because they are very clean products which are handmade and impart a lot of moisture which you need after a henna treatment. A tip for those who have hard, harsh and dry hair after using henna – mix it with coconut milk instead of any other liquid. I use the Amla Cream Rinse, Moist Condition 24.7 then go under the steamer for 20 minutes with the Sitrillinah deep conditoner which is amazing.

WYG: Favourite products and where do you get them from?

B: My favourite product is one of my concoctions. It is a gel which holds my curls if I do a wash and go but also gives me consistently good results when I do a twist out. I haven’t named this potion yet though. As I mentioned above I love Moringa oil and am pretty partial to Aloe Vera gel

Hairveda products are very moisturising and just excellent. I think the only stockist www.britishcurlies.co.uk which specialise in selling products for curly hair.

WYG: Top Natural tips?

Bibi: Be willing to learn and become an expert with your own hair. I have been finger detangling for almost a year and a half. I only realised a year in that the way I was doing it before was causing breakage. I could have died but better late than never. You learn something new everyday.

Get a steamer – it helps give excellent curl definition. Use coconut milk and henna!

WYG: You work in a very professional environment and do you ever feel pressure to wear your
hair in a certain way?

Bibi: The easiest thing for me while I am working is to wear my hair in a bun as it is a very easy style to maintain and it’s very neat. Sometimes I just don’t have much time to do anything but re-moisturise my hair and go to bed!

I wouldn’t dream of wearing my hair out in court but that is regardless of my hair type; it’s a pretty antiquated profession in that sense. That said, I have felt completely comfortable in being natural as a barrister. Complements from clients or other lawyers about my hair have been a bonus.

WYG: Does your dancing affect what you do with your hair?

Bibi: No, not really, I just wear it up in a puff and wash it if it gets too sweaty and dirty. A good thing is my hairstyle doesn’t really get affected but I haven’t tried dancing with a full blown afro yet.  When I do shows I wear the passista ponytail extensions because I like the look. It feels very much like part of the costume and best of all it’s easy and only takes minutes to throw on!

WYG: Best thing about being Natural?

Bibi: As much as it sounds like a cliché I think it is completely liberating. I feel absolutely confident that when I have children I can care for their hair and also teach them how to do so. It has also been empowering because there is a level of self-acceptance. I really like my own hair (even after watching youtube hair porn!), I am so glad I am in a position to learn about my hair and understand what it likes and what doesn’t work. It has also started me on a journey to finding the best natural and ‘clean’ products for my hair and skin which has made such an improvement in those areas. I make my own facial cleansers, toners, deodorants, hand creams, lip balms and body butters now as well as stuff for my hair. You’ll be getting some samples soon…

WYG:  Thanks, Bibi, we can't wait!

Tress Talking

Two Sunday evening’s ago, following my bovine escapades and a much needed samba class, a bunch of us ladies braved the bone chilling weather in search of a cosy chinwagging spot.  Lured by the promise of the best hot chocolates around, we headed for the nearby When You Gonna office, aka Scooter Cafe in Waterloo, where we took up residence for a couple hours.  Side note: Their hot chocolate, is of a thing of unadulterated sin! Hot milk (but not too milky) or white, liquid chocolate you want to dive into, or, at the very least smear all over someone and lick off, slowly! Ooooh Mama!

Ooops! Nearly finished my white hot chocolate
before I took a snap

We made ourselves comfy, talking about a mishmash of random, and eventually the conversation turned towards hair.  One of our number was off on holiday the next day, and wasn’t sure what to do with her Brazilian Blowdried, curly afro hair.

 

One of the reasons Karla and I started W.Y.G was so we could discuss hair.  Most of the stories and info we read, via the blogosphere, were largely from an American perspective. In real life, neither of us had had many conversations, with other people, about natural hair and most of our Black friends were relaxed.  Feeling a bit remote from the growing ‘community’ we wanted a forum where we could share experiences and invite chat.    For us, it's not the norm to be anywhere where naturals make up a sizeable number, so this impromptu convo two Sunday’s ago was lovely. 

The others had slowly peeled off leaving Ami & Isabelle (former London's Natural Beauties), Dee and myself to get stuck in.  As a group of Black women from different ethnicities and Nationalities it was great to have a range of perspectives and stories.  We touched on everything from regimes to myths to our individual hair journeys and other people’s reactions to our hair. 

I have never....dressed up as a Farmyard animal!

I love cows! Who doesn't!?  

So when I was asked to get dressed up as one for this year's St Patrick's day parade in Central London 2 weeks ago, in accordance with the rules of the New List, I gave it a good ol' Mrs Doyle stylee 'Go on!'.

Who, What, When, where?

See, this wasn't just any old cow I was being asked to impersonate, I was going to be a Frisian Cow! Frisian's, by the way, happen to be my second favourite cow, all hail the Highland!  I would be joining a small troupe of fellow heifers as part of Mandinga Arts section, alongside some giant golden peacocks and Pineapple Baianas.  I'm not remotely Irish (that I know of....) so at least this year I had a genuine reason to go out and celebrate St Paddy's day. The parade route took us from Green Park, through to Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and ending up in Whitehall a stones throw from Downing Street.

Pineapple Man & Baianas (Mandinga Arts)

Why?

Choreography is comfortable.  Improv on the other hand, can be scary because there’s nothing to fall back on, it’s just you.  St Paddy’s day performance was all about improv, and as part of a big moving parade, it was going to be a challenge. 

Dreams of a Life

Zawe Aston as Joyce Vincent

Last night I was up till all hours, partaking in some early morning/late night hair styling. Typical!
My hair's freshly washed, sealed with an olive/coconut oil combo and chunky twisted in prep for a night out tomorrow, for anyone who's interested ;).

To keep me company, and sometimes awake through my nocturnal hair styling sessions, I usually listen to the radio or watch a film, yesterday it was the turn of 'Dreams of a Life', a film I've been meaning to catch since last year.

In 2006 the body of a woman was found in her Wood Green flat. Sad yes, but nothing extraordinary there.  But 38 year old Joyce Carol Vincent, whose friends described as vibrant attractive and popular, had lain undiscovered in her living room for up to three years; her TV, heating and lights still on, she was surrounded by Christmas presents.  In that time no one had reported her missing and no one had come looking for her.


Dreams of a Life writer/director Carol Morley, pieces together the story of Joyce, a mysterious and enigmatic woman who people gravitated towards and yet few seemed to know. Interviews with her workmates, friends and former partners are cut with reconstructions of Joyce, played by Zawe Aston.  It gradually brings to life a person who initially starts off as a faceless name, but a lot of questions where left unanswered.


It's hard to imagine someone becoming so invisible, at a time when it's supposedly easier than ever to stay connected to those around you.  The story is made even more striking, because Joyce didn't fit the profile of someone who you thought might have died alone or been forgotten about.  She wasn't elderly or reclusive or didn't not have any family or friends.

By the end you're left with the sad picture of a women who, for whatever reason, became increasing isolated from the people around her. Joyce's family declined to take part in the film, perhaps understandably wanting to remain anonymous. Maybe they would have given more insight into who Joyce was and why her life took the path it did, maybe not.

Dreams of a Life sounds like a really depressing night cap, but it was actually a compelling watch.
You can watch Dreams of a Life on 4 On Demand here.  Sorry any non UK readers, the link won't work for you, but here's the trailer instead.

RIP Joyce.


Kanika x

Phony or not to phony?

 To phony or not to phony?  This is a question that as a part time samba dancer I've asked myself several times.

Dunno what I'm on about. I’ll show you.  What do these beautiful Brazilian passistas have in common?

Lovely, lovely passistas (blackwomenofbrazil.com)

They’re all wearing itsy bitsy shiny bikinis, have the same megawatt smiles, but hang on one cotton picking minute! You there! I say, Miss Blue there’s something different about you! Its....its.....Bingo! It’s the hair. You‘re not sporting the same luscious hair as the others.  

For many passistas ‘Megahair': long, flowing, ultra feminine hair, usually loosely curled, is part of the look and hair flicking, a compulsory part of any self respecting mulata’s choreography. You don’t often see passistas sporting natural afro’s like Clara Paixao, who I featured last month in Carnaval carry on. Those who don’t naturally possess Megahair, fake it, turning to Brazilian blow outs, weaves, wigs, extensions and straighteners, and then, there’s the phony pony. 

Being the centre of the samba world, Brazil dictates samba fashion.  So if the samba gods decree female dancers be decked with flowing manes of hair, then so it shall be, and most female dancers obey this command. But not I. 

When I dance, I never straighten my hair or never wear it out.  I have my natural hair in protective styles like twists, tied back or pinned out of the way (like below mini twists, pinned back), and here’s why.

Me at Coburg Samba Festival 2012, Germany 
(Noriega Photographics)

1.     It’s easy ‘n’ fuss free...ish.

2.   When you samba you sweat! You could be wearing a samba bikini outdoors in 7˚C London (yes I’ve done that before), and after a couple of minutes you're perspiring in places you never knew had sweat glands.  Think about that next time you want to hug up close to a passista 'n' get your picture, mwhaha! Freshly straightened hair wouldn’t stand a chance, sweating out sooner than you can say ‘afro’.  

3.   Samba dancers wear elaborate headdresses that are secured tightly onto our heads.  They might look stunning, but after a while your skull feels like it’s being crushed and your hair’s the only thing providing any cushioning.  Us passista’s have to suffer a little for our art!

London's Natural Beauties - Exhibit E. Isabelle

Say a big, friendly hello to our second London Natural Beauty of the year.  A beautiful mother, dancer, singer, student and lover of life from Belgium, Isabelle!

Name: Isabelle (some call me Izy)
Age: is irrelevant
Natural since: May 2011. Let's get started, shall we...?

December 2011 - ....yeah ok, I blow dry my hair to make it bigger!
March 2012 - There is still remnants of my coloured hair.
December 2012 -  Yay! I can finally make a pony tail! All my coloured hair is gone! Now it's really 'au naturel'!

When You Gonna: Tell us about your hair journey. Why did you decide to go Natural?

Isabelle: To start off with, I want to clarify, I didn't GO Natural, I AM Natural!
Like most African women, before growing our own opinion about ourselves, I was forced to obey clear rules and conform to the norm in order to look acceptable. Without much thinking I embraced it. Never mind the numerous failures and mistakes, never mind using toxic products and risking being bold. Never mind the huge amount of time and money "invested." I started to alter the nature of my hair since oh... oh hang on! I thought I was born with tresses on! Anyway once you reach your teens, the incredible business of trying to rule your hair the way they refuse to, is second nature.
It took my boyfriend telling me endlessly that he adored my hair to take a second look at what Mama gave me. That's how, for the first time of my conscious life I decided to love, accept and care for what I had.  It's one of the best decisions I have ever made!

WYG: Describe your hair?

I: My hair is absolutely amazing. No, seriously!
It is soft and adapts pretty well to whatever I want. I can make it into a large big afro or sophisticated 40's hairstyle, I can make it wavy, curly, straight... I love it!
Only down side, it is so not in a hurry to grow and can break pretty easily. Oh, and it shrinks like crazy!  But a more objective viewer would describe my hair as 4C-4D, Black and roughly 25cm long.

WYG: What is your hair like at the moment:

I: Ah! It's winter time so I want to minimise manipulations. I put my hair in a protective style: loose dread lock that I redo every 4 to 6 weeks.

WYG: What's your routine like?

I: I always try to keep it as simple as possible but not simpler.
I co-wash my hair every month. As you may know already co-washing is washing hair with conditioner. It's less aggressive than regular shampoo and still contains enough cleansing agent.
Every morning I lightly spray my hair with water (I want to try coconut water soon) to hydrate it.
Then I gently seal the moisture at the tip of my hair with natural oils. It can be coconut oil, avocado oil, rosemary oil or Shea butter depending on the state of my hair, my mood and the weather outside.  I style and go.  At night I wrap my hair in a silk scarf....Nooooot! It would be THE thing to do! But I'm working on it...'  

WYG: Favourite products

I: I couldn't go without water, coconut oil and Shea butter!

Shea Butter

WYG: Top tips?

I: Forget the noise of the new miracle products here and what your best friend's doing there.  Just listen to what your hair has to say. It knows best!

WYG: Best thing about being Natural

I: It's almost a spiritual journey, first it takes love, acceptance, care to grow your own hair. It takes love, acceptance and care to be a beautiful woman. Secondly, symbolically speaking, it is reclaiming our true nature. It is refusing to comply with a certain idea of beauty that is not ours. It is finally regaining the respect for our own individuality.

           

   

WYG: Thank you very much Isabelle, some wise words if we ever did hear them!

Who runs the world?!

Women of the World stand up!

This Friday, March 8th is International Women's day.  Whether or not you find that yay or groan inducing, I'll be celebrating by attending a slew of lady orientated shindigs.

This weekend i'll be heading to the WOW - Women of the World festival at the Southbank.  I have my Saturday and Sunday Day passes, woot woot, and I can't wait to sample the delights of Weave vs Natural? The politics of Afro Hair chaired by Hannah Pool, Ruby Wax's 'Out of her Mind', The Guys Guide to Feminism and many others. My hungry mind is positively licking it's lascivious lips!

Kanika x

What are your goals?

It's a straightforward question, right?   But just having a goal is the easy part, reaching it is usually where the difficulty lies.

One of my biggest problems is that my goals are never long term enough. I reach one milestone and then put my feet up before embarking on the next.  Stop - Start or starting and not finishing, the story of my life!

I have a PG Journalism diploma, but several years after achieving this and still paying off my student loan, I'm not a working journo. This wouldn't be an issue if my life had changed direction or if being a journalist was no longer my dream, but it's a resounding no on all those counts. Suffice to say 'wasteful' doesn’t quite cut it when I think of the time and money I have invested into my dream.  It’s taken a while to pick myself up by the scruff of the neck, but 2013 is my year , so in January I bit the bullet and signed up to Women in Journalism (WIJ).

Last night I went to ‘What’s Holding You Back: Executive coaching seminar’ with Fran Moscow, hosted by WIJ.  Fran Moscow’s an accredited Executive Coach and Managing Director of her own Consultancy company.

There were lots of tips about networking, getting what you want without alienating your colleagues and most importantly, overcoming self imposed barriers when it comes to achieving you career goals, just what I need.

School you - Winifred Atwell

Friday evening I was minding my own business watching the One Show on BBC1. It was already an episode that had caught my attention.  Not only did it feature one of my heroes, Lord Robert Winston, talking about coping with the lose of his father, but, the show's special guest was the beautiful Naomi Harris, another lady who I have a definite girl crush on, talking about her part in James Bond, fashion and her up and coming role as Winnie Mandela in The Long Walk to Freedom - the Nelson Mandela biopic.

Naomi (middle) with One Show presenters Chris Evans (left) & Alex Jones (right)

About 2/3's of the way into the program they featured a women I had never heard of, Winifred Atwell (1914-1983).  This Trinidad born British pianist achieved some remarkable things in her life.   When she moved to the UK in 1946, she gained a place at the Royal Academy of Music, becoming the first female pianist to be awarded the Academy's highest grading for musicianship.  She later went on to be the first Black person to have a UK number one in the singles chart, the first British artist to sell a million records and then to have 2 other consecutive million selling hits, another first.   Over her career, Winifred Atwell sold in excess of 20 MILLION records!

Here's Winifred and one of her most popular hits 'Five Finger Boogie'

Winifred also enjoyed International fame.  When she moved to Australia in the 1960's her celebrity prompted the Australian government at the time, to give her special dispensation from their racist immigration laws and allow her to make the country her home. While there Winifred was outspoken about Racism in the country and fought to highlight the injustices towards Aboriginal Australians.

Winifred getting her hair did in her salon

These are just a fraction of Winifred Atwell's achievements.  They're made all the more impressive by the fact that Post-WW2 immigration to Britain, from it's colonies, had resulted in Racial tensions and many ethnic minorities faced considerable prejudice.


I was pretty damn impressed by Winifred already and then the One Show dropped this nugget....Winifred opened what's believed to be the UK's first salon catering to Black women in Brixton, in 1956.  In the package, hairdresser Errol Douglas comments on the significance of this. 


Unfortunately the original building on Railton Rd, where Winifred's Salon once stood, is no longer there.  Ironically it was burnt down in the 1981 Race Riots.

You can watch Friday's One Show HERE on iPlayer as long as it's up.  The segment about Winifred starts from 21.14 mins.


How have I never heard about this remarkable woman! Have you?!



Kanika x