"The Napp Edition" of The Nigeria Fashion Show Nov 17, 2011

The Nigeria Fashion Show runs from November 17th - 19th. Venue: Muson Centre, Onikan Lagos Nigeria. Runway shows are 12 noon and 6 pm on all days. Exhibition runs from 9 am - 8 pm. We asked a fellow Napp, Ibhaze, to check it out and let us know how it went and here is her report. We interviewed Ibhaze here and she gave us a hair tutorial here.

Salut!

Omozo called me to invite me to the Nigerian Fashion Show. She asked me to go "A-Napp-Hunting", and I’m glad to say that I found a few natural sisters who were nice enough to let themselves be attacked by my questions and my hand in their hair (after asking of course lol) and by my camera. This was my first attempt at interviewing people so I apologize if there isn’t much “meat” for you guys on their hair care regimen and such. Enjoy!

Meet “Stella”!

She is a nice lady who wanted to be kept anonymous. So I’m sorry, I can’t reveal what state she comes from for her to have this type of hair texture. She is Nigerian and this is definitely her natural hair. When I asked what products she uses for her hair, she told me I would be very surprised and she was right. Her hair care routine is very simple.

She washes every 2 weeks with Moroccan oil and conditioner. She applies olive oil in her hair and that's it! She sleeps with her hair wrapped up in a scarf (not necessarily a satin one). She has been natural all her life and intends to stay that way.

“Stella” and her sister will be at the Natural Hair meet-up in V.I. this Saturday 19/11/2011. Her sister makes skin care products for black skin with goat milk. Definitely try to attend this event!

Here’s Bimbola.

I practically tackled her at the end of the event to ask her a few questions, more because of her sunny disposition than anything else. :) Bimbola has been natural and loc'd since 2009. She started her locs by rubbing the foam on her head. As her hair grew longer, she palm-rolled with Jamaican wax. It takes her about 3 hours to re-loc her hair. She uses an anti-itch serum to control itchiness. She washes weekly with “Light Dread” shampoo. She’s another one who takes it easy on her hair and just lets it do its thing.

Hello Ngozi!

One of the models who strutted the runway and she definitely did an awesome job. Not only that, she stood out completely from all the others thanks to her "no-hair" style. Ngozi ("Zika" to her friends) cut her hair in 2008 when she started modelling. She cut it so she could have the low cut style as her signature.

Ngozi never wears wigs nor does she make her hair at all. She usually leaves a bit of a fuzz on but she goes completely bald for fashion shows. She has no plans to grow her hair until she leaves the industry. And I would advice her to keep it short and sweet even afterwards. :)

Hey Patience!

At the end of the fashion show, I snuck into the exhibition centre where designers displayed their creations. As I was looking round for my target, I found Patience and her lovely mane. She was really nice and friendly even after I’d separated her from her friends and shot my questions at her at crazy high speed. I’m sure I spotted a desperate look in her eyes as she watched her friends walk away, leaving her in the hands of a maybe slightly deranged hair-loving freak.

But, she obediently nodded and let me take her picture. I had to follow up via sms as she was scared ... umm ... KIND enough to leave me her number. Patience cut all her hair off and started her locs 5 years ago following a personal traumatic experience. She washes every 3 weeks with a conditioning shampoo.

She says it’s not easy to have a particular look for a long time so when she gets bored, she styles her locs differently, or changes the colour of her hair. Each time Patience changes the style or colour of her hair, she receives nothing but positive responses from people and she gets inspired this way.