Omozo of O'Naturals featured in AIT report on natural hair in Nigeria.

Natural hair in Nigeria is getting some "screen time" in Nigeria. Check out the report aired last Saturday (August 3, 2013) on AIT in Nigeria. The clip with Natural Nigerian and I was recorded at the last Naturals in the city (NITC 6) and I had just finished talking on how to select a hairstyle. Oh did you see African Naturalistas' products? And Natmane who styles hair in Abuja is in the report too. The momentum can only get better and it will!

Yeah they got my last name wrong! And why was I speaking so fast?


Enjoy!

Keep it natural!

Omozo

NITC 5 On April 6th 2013 in Lagos

NITC 2

It has been announced! The 5th Edition of NITC is taking place on April 6th 2013 in Lagos Nigeria.

Be there o no say we no tell you! ;)

Here are pictures from

NITC 1

NITC 2

NITC 4

Check out Natural Nigerian for more details on NITC 5.


Keep it natural!

Omozo

Capital Naturals 1 in Abuja Nigeria - Pictures

Here are some pictures for those of us who could not be in Abuja for the first ever Capital Naturals 1. Check out Deepbrown Kinks for more. Enjoy!



Courtesy Deepbrown Kinks




Courtsey Deepbrown Kinks


Keep it natural!

Omozo

NITC4 - Pictures

Hailings!

Check out some pictures from NITC4 (LAGOS). You can also go to Natural Nigerian, Love, Ifeanyiwa for more pictures.

Share pictures and stories with us if you attended.



NITC 4: Courtesy www.naturalnigerian.com



NITC 4: Courtesy www.naturalnigerian.com



Keep it natural!

Omozo

Capital Naturals 1 - Abuja Nigeria

Abuja folks here you go! Natural Nigerian, Deep Brown & Kinks, Bibi Naturals brings you a natural hair meet-up in Nigeria's capital city -ABUJA.

For more details check out the links to

Natural Nigerian

Deep Brown and Kinks

Bibi Naturals

And if you do attend send us your updates, pictures e.t.c. so that we can feature it on the blog. Have fun y'all!!

Pop of colour

Some employers require that their employees dress in neutral colours. This does not have to be a sentence to a "colourless and boring" existence. I suggest you add some pop of colour by using colourful hair accessories to spruce things up a bit. This will make your hair interesting, add some colour to your dressing and honestly it will make you feel so much better too!

In Lagos Nigeria, hair accessories can be purchased in most salons, hair product shops, markets and neighbourhood stores. Of course there are also accessory stores like Diva House of Accessories (Palms Shopping Mall Victoria Island, Lagos) and Accessories 2 Die 4 (Adeniran Ogunsanya Shopping Mall Surulere, Lagos: where you have Shoprite store). There are a lot of Nigerian entrepreneurs making their own line of hair accessories also and these pieces are usually unique and one-of-a-kind.

Here are some pictures for inspiration.

  

 

 

 Oh if you are not keen on colourful hair accessories, pop in some colour through your handbag or shoes or jewelry!

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

Harmattan and Dry Ends

For many of us around the world, the cold / dry season is approaching. In Nigeria, we call it harmattan. It can get really dry, dusty and cold. During this period lots of things can get drier: your lips, your feet, your hands, your throat, your clothes hung outside and your natural hair too. So what can be done to limit / prevent the season from taking a negative toll on your hair?

I read a simple, straightforward blog post on Curly Nikki on how to cope with dry ends. The great thing about the post is that these are healthy hair practices that really should be done as part of your regular hair routine. The post discusses 5 steps including: deep conditioning, moisturizing and sealing, trimming etc.

I would like to emphasize moisturizing and sealing. If you have not already done so, consider using a conditioner (rinse out or leave-in) as part of your regular hair routine and then putting your sealant over it. This helps retain more moisture in your hair for a bit longer. Your sealant can be any of the butters you prefer (Shea, cocoa, mango) or natural oils (olive, jojoba) or a mixture of both.

 Check out the full post here.

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

Spotted: Natural Haired Model in Complete Fashion Mag

For those in Lagos Nigeria, this month's edition of Complete Fashion features a natural haired model. She has a TWA and looks great in the shots and in the free fashion spread insert that comes with the mag. Thumbs up to them for using a natural haired model. We want to see more models with natural hair in magazines and on the runways please!

Keep it natural!

Omozo

"Natural hair is freedom you cannot buy" - Interview with Actress Kate Henshaw

I met Kate Henshaw at the Kinky Apothecary's birthday event (Check out the blog posts here and here) and she graciously agreed to chat about her natural hair journey. Kate Henshaw is a popular Nigerian actress who has featured in many successful Nigerian movies. She won an AMAA (Africa Movie Academy Award) for best actress in 2008 and she also writes a weekend column for the Vanguard Newspaper. I enjoyed Kate's humour, honesty and her excitement through out our chat. Enjoy!

When and how did you go natural? I stopped retouching my hair on the 10th of September 2010. I cut off the last relaxed bit of hair about a year later and started doing this (points to her twists). I decided to go natural because I was tired and I wanted my hair back. I had really healthy hair before I ever started using Ultra Sheen relaxer which was the very first relaxer I used. I remember it very well because my mom was a hairdresser.

My hair was long, full and, healthy and then I started relaxing, which made it look nice, but then I started loosing my hairline. Then they said retouch every 2 weeks; retouch every 6 weeks; retouch every 8 weeks. It was crazy and my hair was falling off even with all the advanced products I was using. It was getting limp. My hair stylist and I tried everything. And then I decided that I would just cut everything off and have a change when I turned 40 even if it had to be a low cut: I was prepared to do it.

Wow! So what was the reaction of your family and friends? One of my friends said "Ah you are a celebrity, you cannot be carrying this type of hair"  I asked "Why?" Why can't I carry this kind of hair? It is my hair. I am tired of all this Oyinbo culture. We are black people! We should be proud of how our hair is: kinky, fun, healthy, rough. We like it like that! You know, I was just tired of trying to make it look like their's because that's basically it: for me to fry my hair to look like Oyinbo hair. It is not Oyinbo hair. The kinky will always come out you know?

So since your mom is a hairdresser what did she say? My mom. (Kate smiles widely) Oh when she saw it she said " It suits you. It makes you look younger". I said "Yeah, I know right?"

It is just so much fun! Oh! I cannot explain the feeling I had when I went to the gym and came back for the first time and I put my hair under the shower and the water just hit my head and I was like "Oh!" It felt amazing! Amazing!

I always hated the hair dryer. Each time I had to fix a weave-on, I needed to sit under the dryer for maybe an hour and the heat made me angry. It is just so exhilarating having this hair. And it is not for anybody. It is for me! I have chosen it for me. If I need to style it into something else, I will wear a wig, at least then I have the freedom of taking off the wig.

So it sounds like it is freedom for you. It is freedom you cannot buy! You cannot pay for it! Everybody should go natural o!

(I start laughing)

I know it is hard. Some people say it makes them look like a house girl. Trust me that is who you are: Natural. Not a house girl but Natural. Having your own hair and making it work. You have to make it work. You have to try. I am one that always looks forward to challenges. I want to try out new things and I do not care what anybody thinks. It is for me. You can never please the world so you do what makes you happy.

So how did you learn? I took part in a stage play alongside Tosin Otudeko and she had natural hair and it was long hair. I thought she was a girl of 20 only to find out that she is married with 2 boys! I asked her a few questions and she introduced me to Kinky Apothecary and to Nibi (owner of Kinky Apothecary. See Nibi's interview here). I went to her house and asked her what products I should be using. She told me that she cannot tell me what products to use but that I should try various products  to see which works. She said look out for products that do not have silicone in them and this and that. I was like "Just tell me what to use! That is too much work!"  Then I went to her blog and learned about co-washing and so many other things.

Do you twist your hair yourself? No, no my hand cannot reach there! I go to the salon and pay them for that.

Do you find anything frustrating about having natural hair? Styling can be frustrating. This (she points to her twists) is about the only style I have been doing since I went natural. I am loving it but I would like to do different styles.

As an actress, how have the directors, producers and film makers approached you having natural hair? Funny enough, I have used this hairstyle in a movie which is yet to be released. I played a high powered executive. The producer said "Oh I think you will have to use a weave-on" and I said "No! A high powered executive can carry this type of hair" And I was looking slamming in my suit!

The movie Kate mentioned is titled "The Meeting". Check out the trailer below.

Keep it natural!

Omozo

AMAA 2012 - The Event

The Red Carpet was supposed to start at 5PM and the awards at 7PM. We reckoned that since we did not plan to walk the red carpet (would we even be allowed to?) we would get there in time to be seated before the awards began. As my cousin and I bade farewell to my parents, my Dad yelled "Walk the red carpet o!" Daddy really?

We picked up a friend and headed to the venue. It was about 6:10PM when we got there. Another cousin joined us there. That was the Cookie Crew! My plan was to find a few natural haired women, interview them and go inside for the show. When we got there, the other half of the red carpet was just being rolled out! Literally! Then a guy announced "The Red Carpet is officially open!" And so it dawned on us that it was going to be a long night! The Red Carpet must have lasted three and a half hours because the award show did not start until about 9:30PM. WTH! *Yeah, that's what I thought!*

Left of the picture: The red carpet is being rolled out. Osarieme (my cousin) does not seem impressed

I turned on my Napp radar and went to work. My Osarieme and Irene (my friend) went star hunting. Ebele (other cousin) and Nosa (my Bro) hung out looking cool. The Celebrities we saw were really gracious I must say. They took time to shake hands when we stretched them out. They posed for pictures with us and they also said "thank you" when we were done. I was / am really impressed. All this while we were outside the venue. The bottom of the red carpet was really crowded and you could not tell the celebrities from the journalists and the fans.

Who is the Celebrity and who is the Fan? Everyone is on the red carpet!

We finally got into the venue after passing 4, count them, F-O-U-R security points. The fourth and final one was at the door to the hall. That part was kind of funny. Only one door was left open creating a bottle neck. I guess when people saw this they thought that seats were full in the hall and so folks started pushing to get through. And some celebrities started sneaking in people without tickets! Ha! Ha! Comedy o! One lady announced before going in "I beg I be married woman o make nobody press my body!" With that, people gave her some space, she went in and they started pushing in again. We got in and saw the hall was not near full. SMH.

The stage was nicely done. The hall was nicely decorated. The sound quality was good. Food and drinks were available for purchase which was a good idea. You sure do not want a hall full of hungry (and angry) people! We did not stay till the end of the show because some of us had work on Monday. We saw Yinka Davis perform: she is superb I tell you! We also saw some awards presented and we left there just after 11PM. They really need to work on better time management and that is all I will say on that matter.

For the most part, it was not bad. I hope the organizers are people who aim for excellence. If they are, then next year will be better. If not then ... Next few posts will feature some of the natural haired ladies I interviewed. Enjoy the pictures.

Mai Atafo of Mai Atafo Inspired and Fashion Editor for Genevieve Magazine

L-R: Irene (my friend), Eku Edewor of Studio 53, Osarieme (my cousin)

L-R: Cousin Ebele, Irene and Osarieme (The Cookie Crew. Don't ask)

My Bro (Nosa) and I

Segun Arinze being interviewed and I think he was "The Voice" for the awards

Ireti Osayemi-Bakare

Gbenro Ajibade who plays Soji on the show Tinsel

L-R: Osarieme, Tee Mac and Irene

Osarieme and Tomi Odunsi who plays Shalewa on the show Tinsel

Abiola Atanda also known as Madam Kofo and her signature Gele (headpiece)

Chinedu Ikedieze (aka Aki)

Uche Jombo

Lydia Forson. Our napp radars went off at the same time and she gave me the peace sign. I fainted then woke up to take this picture. She is so cool!

 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

AMAA 2012 - The Beginning

After jumping up and down and screaming, I composed myself and started wondering what to wear. Most importantly: how am I going to style my hair? I had just been told that I got free tickets to attend the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA). Yeah I know it is not the Oscars, so say what you like o, me I was psyched.

My ticket: "Regular Single" means we sat up, up (Nose bleeds section LOL)

Of course I was going to use the opportunity to go Napp hunting! I was interested to see how many other natural haired women I would encounter at the event. Surely after Viola Davis rocked the red carpet at the Oscars with her TWA (Teeny Weeny Afro), I could expect to see some natural haired ladies rocking it at the AMAAs. The next post will talk about that - right now it is about my hair.

I decided on a textured afro. Hmmm! What is that right? It is either a twist-out or braid-out or coil-out or Bantu knot-out that is styled into an afro. So it is not your regular normal afro. I dampened my hair with some water and twisted my hair in chunky twists. I used gel for hold: I knew that I was going to be moving about and would probably sweat so I wanted to get maximum hold and longevity and definition. I also put Bantu knots on the tips of each twist so that my ends would curl up a bit. Check out this blog post for more details. I did all this the night before and planned to take out the twists only when I was ready to dress up for the event. 24 hours should be enough time for my hair to dry and set.

Chunky twists with Bantu knots at the tips

Time to get ready! I took out the twist and quite liked the way my hair turned out. The definition was nice. I brushed in one side and was ready to go.

Some texture accomplished and my ends were curled and not straight.

Smile of satisfaction

Look ehn Lagos can be hot and humid even at night! Within about 2 hours my definition was puffing out and my textured 'Fro was turning into a "not-so-textured-fro". I mean come on! *frustrated tone here* What must I do to keep definition in this Lagos? Maybe I should have done smaller twists: not micro but smaller. Maybe I should have picked out the Afro more so that it was bigger and would have shrunk instead of loosing the definition. Thoughts.

So here is what my hair looked like at the end of the night. Trust me, that ain't no textured 'Fro! But one of the awesome things about being natural is that anything can be turned into a hairstyle. It was the not-so-textured 'Fro that got the most compliments! Figure that one out! *Cheesing*

Left: Textured 'Fro at the beginning. Right: Cousin of the textured 'Fro at the end

Keep it natural!

Omozo

Travel Size Hair Care Tips

We just came back from a trip to Benin City (in Edo state, Nigeria) where we celebrated our Grand-mommy’s 90^th birthday. It was awesome! Grand-mommy is also natural: we’ll show pictures later. 

While traveling you want to still take care of your hair. I mean, no need to take a hair care break because you are on vacation! And with most airlines and bus companies having baggage restrictions, we do not have the liberty of carrying those large bottles of shampoo and conditioner anymore. We all want a smooth journey to our destinations and so anything that removes the travel drama is welcome in my opinion! 

Here are 5 tips to help you pack a hair care kit fit for any trip.

1) How long is your trip? Decide this and pack accordingly. Add a day or two in case something prevents you from heading home as planned.

2) Acquire 100ml sized bottles and jars. 100ml is the standard size Airlines allow in your carry-on luggage. In Nigeria, buses are usually stingy with space: charging you for almost every piece of luggage you carry. Investing in these small sized bottles and jars is worth it. You can either purchase or re-use old bottles or jars. Make sure you clean your containers properly whether re-using or purchasing brand new.

 

 

L-R: Shampoo in the bottle and Conditioner in the jar

3)   How are you going to do to your hair on your trip? Are you going to wash and condition your hair or will you be maintaining your hairstyle or are you going to do rinses during your trip? Decide all this so that you do not carry a whole suitcase full of hair products! I prefer rinses during my trips because it is less hassle and my hair still gets some refreshment. Oh! If you plan to rinse out or wash your hair do not forget to pack your cotton hair wrap or towel.

 4)  Put hair products (shampoo, conditioner, oils, Shea butter mixes, hair spritz and sprays etc.) into the small travel size bottles and jars mentioned in #2 above. It is important to secure your products in the bottles or jars properly. Oils tend to leak through bottles so consider wrapping your oil bottle(s) in a transparent bag and then storing them perhaps in a transparent plastic container. You can never be too careful. If you have ever experienced seeing sweet scenting lavender oil on the red dress you were going to wear for that award ceremony, securing those oils would not be a chore but a necessity! I am just saying  :-I    

L-R: Home-made daily Peppermint spritz in the bottle and Shea butter mix in jar

 5) I recommend you put your travel hair products in transparent bags like the zip lock bags. This saves you the drama of explaining to Customs officials at the airport and then removing them from your cute hair bag to end up putting them in the transparent bags anyway.

Zip lock bags I use for my trips

What are your travel tips? Share them with us.

Keep it natural (and enjoy your trip)!

Omozo

Nature's Gentle Touch kinda lied on Bella Naija

The writer of the article on Bella Naija wrote "In strengthening the hair, the process of hair relaxing is used." What the ...! Okay so I read the whole article and then I read the comments and then I got a headache and had to take a break. Read the article here.

It is articles and comments like the ones that followed the article that remind me that there is so much work to be done in educating Nigerian women on proper healthy hair care. I am just shaking my head. In the comments we are informed by Bella Naija that the article is written by a "Hair Professional sponsored by Nature's Gentle Touch". Okay so that explains the fundamental fib that the article was built on. It is basically a commercial that was not paid for.

For the record: relaxers do not strengthen your hair. They "damage" your hair so that it can become permanently straightened. The healthy or good hair care practices we are taught or encouraged to carry out when we relax our hair is really just to hide or minimize the damage. Once your hair is relaxed, the damage cannot be reverted. This is why going natural involves growing and not relaxing the new hair that grows.

That's the science and that's the truth. So now that you are better informed, make your choice.

Keep it natural (and true)

Omozo