THANK YOU & HAPPY NEW YEAR!

To all our followers and supporters we humbly say a heartfelt "THANK YOU". Honestly we could not have gone through 2012 without you. I know it sounds cliche but it is true. This is the end of another year and it had its share of positives and negatives. But you know what? We made it! And for that we are thankful.

We pray that the year 2013 will be better than 2012 for all of you and for us. Better hair care, better hair growth, better health, better relationships, better careers, better character, better bank account. A better year all around!

So have a joyful, prosperous, goal accomplishing, healthy, loving and lovely  new year!

Keep it natural!

Omozo

Hair Rant - Cabella

We have to deal with so many mis-informed stereotypes and misconceptions.

Why is it that you automatically start talking about messy, unkempt, dirty hair when we are talking about natural hair? As if relaxed hair cannot be messy, unkempt, or dirty. Why do we natural haired women have to defend our choice to wear our hair in its natural form? How did we get to the point where natural hair, worn in its natural form, is considered unacceptable? Shouldn't the question be 'why are you relaxing your hair?' NOT 'why don't you relax your hair?'

Oh how about in the work place?! Why is it that no one challenges a woman when she wears a fake afro, a fake twist out, fake locs or a fake afro puff but when I wear exactly those hairstyles on my natural hair you start to talk arrant rubbish?! Yes it is rubbish! Ah and when the 'half caste' woman walks in with her natural hair as is, all of you start cooing about how lovely her hair is. *insert long hiss here!*




Source: Memegenerator

 Natural haired women talk about "taming" their hair for the workplace yet one woman walks in with a long , big and straight weave and that is okay. No taming is required there abi? Come on people!

It is so messed up! The worst of all of this is that people see nothing wrong with it. And they will sit down, stand up in their self righteous tone and 'explain' why straight hair is better or why BLACK natural hair is not.






Source: The Angry Black Woman


You see the issue is not the hairstyle. The issue is that I am styling my natural hair in its naturalness. Like I said above, if I go to the office with a fake twist out I will get compliments and be asked where I got the fake hair from. Enter me another day with my natural hair in a twist out and as soon as they know it is my natural hair, I will start getting useless and unsolicited advise from people. The message is HIDE your natural hair and all will be right with the world. *insert an even longer hiss!*

Why is MY natural hair YOUR business? Mind your own business and leave my hair alone!

If people heard that I was not hiring people because they wear weaves will there not be an outcry? Yet folks think it is okay not to hire or promote a woman because she is wearing her natural hair in its natural form. No be one kind madness be this?

Imagine a dark skinned person being told to "lighten" up for clients. Or a tall person being told to "shorten" down for their job. How about someone with light brown eyes being told to "darken" those eyes to look more professional? The point is, those attributes are natural and why should they be changed whether permanently or temporarily?

What is vexing is that I am constantly being 'advised' to PERMANENTLY OR TEMPORARILY ALTER THE TEXTURE of my hair. Like permanently alter your skin colour. My hair is coily, kinky, nappy, natural - whatever you want to call it. That is the texture and I ain't changing it!

*dropping mic and kicking soap box*

Cabella

Halle Berry on the cover of Interview Mag

So here is Halle Berry with an afro looking delish on the cover of Interview Magazine. Can she ever look yama yama? Even when she cried while receiving her Oscar, she looked cute! Loving the BIG AFRO. Maybe I'll rock a BIG Afro this weekend. #justthinking




We see you Ms Berry



The Shoes? The Dress? The Chair? The Sunglasses? All cool!

Keep it natural!

Omozo

African Naturalistas Product Line - Nigeria

Hair Butters, Shampoos and Rinses Oh My!

(okay you can indict me for not being original :D)

African Naturalistas Deep Conditioning Mix

Where are the Nigerian natural haired Sisis o!?! This one is for you. African Naturalistas has added some goodies to the hair butters she has been selling. She has painstakingly researched and experimented and all of that has resulted in the addition of more products to her growing product line.There are shampoos, rinses and lots more.

So no more complaining about not being able to find products that you can use for your natural hair. African Naturalistas presents you with an all natural product line. SO CLICK ON THIS LINK FOR MORE DETAILS AND PLACE YOUR ORDER QUICKLY because, as you know, these goodies will not last for long. And to the sisters with relaxed hair: you too can enjoy the products in this product line! There is something for everyone.

Keep it natural!

Omozo

Naturals in Complete Fashion

This month's issue of Complete Fashion (Agbani Darego is on the cover) got me grinning from ear-to-ear right from the second (or third?) page.

First, it was the General Editor, Franca Chiedu (Nee Asindi). Her profile picture has her sporting really cute short twists. I have seen Ms. Franca in a TWA, in weaves and braids. And now these tiny twists. It just goes to show that keeping your hair natural and un-relaxed does not mean your hair experience has to be boring. Go ahead and spice it up a bit! Thumbs up Ms France for rocking your natural hair. You look fab in it!

Then there is the spread with the model with the really short cut that looks almost like a fade. The shots are so close up you feel like you can touch her hair. If I could, I would have touched her hair (after getting permission of course! ;)

The icing for me came when I flipped and saw a full page spread with a natural haired model whose hair was styled in a Cinnabun style. So cute! I felt really proud. LOL! Weird huh?

I have to give Complete Fashion 4 thumbs up (I borrowed thumbs for that)! I don't know if they are consciously using natural haired models for their spreads. If it is unconsciously then I encourage them to be more intentional about featuring women with natural un-relaxed hair. We are here, we buy the magazine, we are "Fashionistas" too and it would be great to see representation on their pages.

This is a great start though and I look forward to the edition that will make me hoot, hollar and hop on one foot! Till then ...

Keep it natural!

Omozo

"Is this your hair" cartoon

I have been asked this question so many times! No one has asked if I am mixed though. Hmmmm ... Anyway, it still amazes me that some people believe that natural un-relaxed and / or black folk hair cannot grow long. FYI: It can grow to the length you want it to grow.

Check out our blog post about my encounter with a lady who did not believe my natural twists are real. She thought I had extensions in. What was outrageous to me was that she had locs in her hair! I know: weird right?! *SMH* Maybe she thought her locs would stay stubs forever. I tire o!

Source: Hairgetskinky.com

Keep it natural!

Omozo

Ituen Basi Rocks Natural Hair At 2012 MTN Lagos Fashion & Design Week

I think that is the longest blog post heading we have ever had!



Ituen Basi in one of her designs



Anyway, I am a fan of Ituen Basi firstly because I saw her Ankara helmets. I promised myself I would get one and ride on Okada (commercial motorcycle in Nigeria) and take a picture of me. :D





Ituen Basi Ankara Helmets at Arise Fashion Week 2011 *Image from Popafricana.com*


Then I saw her designs and enjoyed them very much. I still do. I think she is the one who brought back the Oleku buba and short wrapper. I plan to own an Ituen Basi piece of clothing. *Nothing wrong with setting goals* She also comes across as modest and not "noisy" like some other designers. Let me explain: you don't see her everywhere on every red carpet attending every event. She keeps a low profile. Plus no be she wey introduce colour blocking ankara style?




Ituen Basi designs




Ituen Basi Dolls


Then I saw she rocks her natural hair too! *sigh* What a lady! Check out the honey brown colour on her TWA at the just concluded 2012 MTN Lagos Fashion & Design Week. She also won the 2012 Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Africa – Africa Fashion International Awards Designer of the Year.




Ituen Basi is the one in the middle with the TWA. Image from Bellanaija


So there you have it friends. I am an Ituen Basi fan *taking a bow*


Keep it natural!

Omozo

African Naturalistas Hair Product Swap Forum

African Naturalistas started a Hair Product Swap Forum. A lot of ladies that are passionate about hair have unintentionally become product junkies. Sometimes we hold on to products we are not really fond of, possibly because we do not want to throw them away. We believe this product swap forum will benefit a lot of ladies.

So think, how many bottles of conditioner do you have that you used only once? How about that "miracle" hair cream you bought that made your hair hard? At this forum, you can put up these products and other ladies can pick them from you and try the products for themselves. And you can do the same with the products that other ladies put up. Why bother with this? Because you might have a product that does not work for you but works for someone else or otherwise. Get the drift?

So take a look at your product cabinet or box and pull out the products that you want to swap or give away and click this African Naturalistas Hair Product Swap Forum link and do the needful.

Keep it natural!

Omozo

Muppets changing the world

Remember that Black Sesame Street muppet with natural hair who sang I Love My Hair? Watch video here. Well she sang another song called Change The World. Her back-up singers seemed to have natural hair too (could be my imagination running away *shrug*). After watching the video I left thinking "If only I could dance and roll my head around like those muppets!" Enjoy.

Keep it natural!

Omozo

So Sorry for the silence

First, MAJOR APOLOGIES for not updating this blog for so long. We are very sorry.

Many thanks to all who checked up on us and sent emails. Thank you for your faithfulness to O'Naturals. We appreciate you and we know that without you, we would not be here. Thank you for sticking by and with us.

We are here and we are working on improving O'Naturals. Believe us, there are exciting things in the pipeline so stay tuned. Exciting times ahead!

Keep it natural!

Omozo

Yes it is my hair

On a visit to my Tailor, I met another customer waiting for her clothes. As I was looking at other clothes the customer asked me how long I had my "kinky twists". And that was when the wahala started o! I told her it is my hair and she told me "It cannot be your hair!" Waaaat? We kept going back and forth.

Me: It is my hair.
Sister Customer: It is not your hair. It is kinky twists.
Me: It is my natural hair.
Sister Customer: It is not your natural hair.
Me: Touch it and you will see it is my hair.
Sister Customer: I don't need to touch it because I know it is not your hair. It is attachment.




Definitely not extensions; just small twists with natural hair and rolled with perm rollers


Na wa o!

The Tailor entered the gist.

Aunty Tailor: It is her hair. I know her. Her hair is natural.
Sister Customer: It is CANNOT be her hair. Just tell me what extensions you used.
Me: *looking bewildered and shocked*

I went back to looking at clothes and left Aunty Tailor to defend 'my' ownership of 'my' hair. I am not sure what Aunty Tailor told her but after a while I heard "Ooookaaaay! Ah I cannot wait for my hair to grow that long!" At that point I took a hard look at Sister Customer only to notice that she is at the beginning stage of dreadlocs!

*smh*

Keep it natural!

Omozo

Nse Again!

This month's edition of Complete Fashion Nigeria has Nse Ikpe-Etim on the cover rocking a twist-out fro hawk!
See our interview of her here and see her rocking the AMAAs here.

Love it! Love it!

Kudos and well done to Complete Fashion and the Stylist for keeping Nse's hair as is and not putting her in a weave or whatever else. And snaps to Nse too because I am guessing she would have asked to use her natural hair. And Nse, your hair looks GREAT!

Keep it natural!

Omozo

Naturals in The City 3 - This Saturday!

Hailings people! It is here again! Lagos (and I dare say Nigeria's) foremost natural meet-up is here again.

Date: Saturday (tomorrow) June 30th 2012
Venue:  Omenka Gallery, 24 Ikoyi Crescent (Now Folorunsho Alakija Crescent), Off Osborne Road, Ikoyi Lagos
Time: 1:30pm - 6pm (PROMPT)

I am so proud of the organizers who are committed to bringing you this quality event consistently. As usual, O'Naturals will be there and would love to connect with you our followers and readers. We will be mingling, laughing, cheesing widely and answering those troublesome natural hair questions. We are soooo excited! See you there!

Keep it natural!

Omozo

Black Barbie had a Nigerian Wedding

Yeah it is true! And it was a Yoruba wedding. And she had one friend with what looked like an afro puff. All the others, and Black Barbie herself, had straight hair. Oh well. I sha would not use the tailor that sewed Ken's Agbada! But there was this one friend of Black Barbie who can dance o! I think she was dancing to Konko Below by Lagbaja.




Check out more pictures on Photography by Obi. I must say it looks like a lot of work and dedication. Well done!

Keep it natural (and creative)!

Omozo

Random - "Corporate" Socks

Friday is always a fun day at work. Is it like that at your office too? And some of the guy's wear "interesting" socks. I just had to share. Enjoy.

Can you remember this guy on Muppet Show?

For all the squares out there!

Keep it natural (and fun)!

Omozo

Zina Saro-Wiwa's Op-Doc on Transitioning

Many thanks to "Baby R" for sharing this video. I enjoyed this video and smiled through it. Hope you will too!

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2012/05/31/opinion/100000001579773/transition.html

Keep it natural!

Omozo

Hair Nets and Satin Scarves

For as long as I can remember I have used a hair net to cover my hair at night to sleep. If you are not a Nigerian but watch Nigerian movies you may have noticed the women wearing a brown or black or brown and black "netty" type of thing in the night or early morning. That's the hair net! I have seen red, blue and green coloured hair nets. I have seen big, small and thin ones too. I saw a girl wearing a blue hair net and I thought it was a beenie. I wonder: is the hair net common to Nigerians only?

My now retired hair net. Only brought out for pictures

When I went natural I kept using the hair net to cover my hair while sleeping on a satin pillowcase. The satin pillowcase is to help minimize the drying out of the hair. For some reason, I never migrated to satin scarves. I figured that one satin thing is enough to reduce the drying out of my hair. Over and over again the hair net would loose elasticity and I would buy a new one.

A few weeks ago, my younger sister gave me a satin scarf and I started to use it instead of the hair net. My hair net was getting slack anyway so no loss there. And I noticed one thing almost immediately. I noticed the reduction of frizz in/on my hair. Usually, my twists would last 2 or 3 days before the frizz starts to come out of hiding. With the satin scarf, I noticed frizz showing up after almost 7 days! *dancing azonto*

My satin scarf: my new best thing

To test if it was not just my imagination (running away with me) I tried the satin scarf on my twist out. *more azonto dancing* My twist out stayed for 5 days with the satin scarf while with the hair net I could not keep a twist out past day two. Can you tell I am loving the satin scarf!

Day 3 of my twist-out. Better definition than before and look little or no frizz!

If you are reading this and thinking "Duh!" please indulge me. I am sometimes a slow adapter.

Keep it natural!

Omozo

Naturals on TV

I was watching cable TV and noticed that the ladies in the non-Nigerian soap operas were most likely to wear their natural hair than the ladies in the Nigerian soap operas. More specifically I think these soap operas are Eastern or Southern African soap operas. I saw afros, afro puffs, twist outs, and locs.

Hmmmm... 

Then I watched Tinsel. Tinsel is probably the most popular Nigerian soap opera on TV right now. The episode I watched did not have any women wearing their natural hair, not even a natural hair weave. Why do you think this is the case? If you guys on Tinsel are looking for someone to style natural hair for your show come and talk to me o! I can hook you up! #justsaying

Here are pictures of some of the ladies with natural hair in the soap operas I watched. Pardon the quality *sheepish grin*

Keep it natural!

Omozo

Antonyms of A Mirage: A book by African Naturalista

Atilola Moronfolu aka African Naturalista has published her book! Yay! This is a big deal because she is one of the natural hair bloggers based in Nigeria. Although the book is not about natural hair she reps it on the cover. Check out her blog for more details on how to purchase a copy.

Keep it natural!

Omozo

Genevieve Magazine highlights Natural Hair - April 2012

Remember we mentioned that Genevieve Magazine attended the last Naturals in the City 2? The write-up is in this month's edition along with some pictures. Pick up your copy now and check out our smiling and happy faces!

Yes o! The option to keep our hair natural and wear it in its natural state is getting more attention. Sometimes negatively (remember Sister Lady here?) and sometimes positively. Kudos to Genevieve Magazine for catching the vision and highlighting it.

Women are tired of the pain of the relaxers and its damaging effects. Although we still have a long way to go, keeping natural hair as is will soon be the norm - I believe that. Till then, here is to being natural and to a revolution that is not being televised.

Keep it natural!

Omozo