Aside from originating out of imperialistic attitudes around the world, the over-policing of black women's hair is also part of respectability politics which itself has been like a plague in our own communities. It dates back to when we were little girls just beginning to form opinions about who we are in relation to the rest of the world.
Wow. This is a tough question! Everybody feels like they know what real shea butter is and isn't. Other people say different parts of Africa have their own versions of shea butter. The general consensus seems to be that real shea butter is not hard or gritty, but rather soft and creamy.
In the United States, the American Shea Butter Institute has weighed in to give a guideline about what to look for when buying shea butter. And here's a hint: that yellow stuff in the Beauty Supply store may or may not be it.
Sometimes I get questions about the terminology I use to describe the process of what I'm doing while making DIY mixes. One such question involves the one-mason jar method and how do I use it.
LOL! It's not serious! It's quite simple, actually. The one-mason jar method is simply using one mason jar (or one glass bowl) to heat both the water phase and the oil phase together.
You just throw all of your Phase A and Phase B ingredients into one jar/bowl, and heat that one jar/bowl for a certain amount of time.
I'm starting to feel like this lady right here!
I'm raising money for an unexpected expense: a new laptop, yall. *SIGH!*
Recently, an email question came in asking about the creation of a diy mix similar to a popular product.
I learned a long time ago not to fool with trying to make a real dupe of a product already on the market. It can be a headache and a total waste of ingredients.
Walking down the road of trying to match what's already on the market may hinder creative skills. You may be able to create something which works even better for your own hair if you're not so focused on copying a product.
Over the course of my 13 year natural hair journey, I have chosen to stay away from certain products once I became wise to why they may not be good for the hair or body.
However, there comes a time when you start to question why you were running away from that thing -- whatever it is -- in the first place.
Uh, why-come this BTMS don't work no-mo?! LOL! What I really mean to say is that there's a definitely difference with the look and feel of two different batches of BTMS I purchased about a year apart from the same wholesaler.
As many of you know, I buy a number of my DIY ingredients from lotioncrafter.com. One of those ingredients is BTMS-25 (INCI: Behentrimonium Methosulfate (and) Cetearyl Alcohol).
Don't be intimidated by the high quality videos created by some Naturals today, and don't judge other Naturals too harshly for the quality of their Youtube videos, especially if they're just starting out.
I was recently asked for advice about creating youtube videos. I didn't have a whole lot of advice to give because I haven't done a whole lot of youtube videos. Although I've been watching youtube videos for years, I never felt a need to actually create any until recently.
The best advice I can give is to understand where you are in your creative journey and start with the first step without directly comparing yourself to people who have been making videos for years.
For an upcoming recipe, I decided to use a mix of Irish Moss, Foti Root and Burdock Root as the base for a conditioning mix. But I want to talk specifically about Irish Moss here.
Irish Moss is a seaweed from which the thickener "carrageenan" is derived. It's probably most known among Naturals as the thickener used in high quality Aloe Vera (and other things) to give it a more gel-like consistency.
(You will have to excuse my language in the following post)
I initially wanted to view the topic of Blue Ivy's hair as a light subject, worthy of only interesting internet memes. I really did. But the past few days, people on social media began acting like members of the Nappy Hair Squad, too busy over-policing a 2 year old child's hair and suggesting she looks as if nobody cares about her.
Do you guys add any "heavy lifters" to your mixes or pre-made conditioners? When I say 'heavy-lifter', that's my way of noting an ingredient which adds to the ability of a DIY mix to improve the condition on the hair, skin, or in some cases, improve the overall feel of your finished product to make it more usable and marketable.
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