Natural Hair Academy in Paris a Huge Success!

Me with the amazing Felicia Leatherwood

On Sunday April 1 LA native Felicia Leatherwood of Loving Your Hair with Natural Care was in Paris to give the Natural Hair Academy. Hosted by Clarisse Libene of bellebene and ak-a, this was a rare opportunity for naturalistas in Paris. I can truly say that I had the loveliest of times cruising around the River Seine with some of the world's premier natural hair experts and natural hair lovers. 

Ms. Leatherwood's workshops are an invaluable resource to women who want to learn how to maintain and take care of natural hair. She has been doing hair since she was nine years old. Her experience is solid, having worked on stars such as Jill Scott, Kim Coles, Will Smith, Terrence Howard, Anthony Anderson, and Hill Harper. Her work that has appeared in People magazine, Essence, and InStyle, as well as in film and television. 

I had been looking forward to attending this event for weeks and I wasn't disappointed. Ms. Leatherwood was so kind and patient! She took in a lot of questions and made sure attendees fully understood her answers before moving on to other topics. Some of the questions included: What type of curl pattern do I have? Can I condition my hair before bed? Can I blow dry? 

Needless to say it was extremely informative and women walked away feeling more confident and knowledgeable than they were when they arrived. Several of the ladies I spoke to afterwards told me they were so happy to have an expert on hand right here in Paris to guide them in their natural hair journey. Here, here.

Jane Carter (Jane Carter Solution) was there as well and demonstrated some of her products on models. The results were amazing. I definitely have to try her products for myself. AND on top of that and she was truly wonderful. I had the best time chatting with her. Cassidy Blackwell (The Natural Selection Blog) was on hand and it was great meeting her too. Chimole Williams of SheaMoisture  (who also co-sponsored the event) was there but unfortunately I didn't get a chance to speak to her. A real pity since SheaMoisture is my favorite product. Hopefully I'll see her again in the future. 

Chimole Williams of SheaMoisture and Actress Aissa Maiga

There was even a surprise appearance by French actress Aissa Maiga, who is currently starring in Sur La Piste du Marsupilami with Jamel Debbouze and Alain Chabat.  She was both gorgeous and humble.

I think there will be another event of this kind very soon.
I'll definitely keep you guys posted!

Go to the Black Hair in Paris Facebook page to see the rest of our photos!

Debut at the Flute Champagne Bar

PLJ with Doni Belau of Girl's Guide to Paris

On February 23 Doni Belau, President of the Girl's Guide to Paris, invited Parisian bloggers, writers and partners to a cocktail event at the Flute Champagne Bar. The event was to celebrate a new travel club that has been created. I was very excited to go because one, Doni's a great person and I wanted to see her again; two, I knew some of my fellow writers (great people also) were going to be there; and three, it was the first time I was going to an event with my "new" hair! 

It was quite liberating not having to go to the salon, or fret about my hair beforehand. But suffice it to say that I did pull a "JKJ" (she knows who she is ;-) and decided to wash my hair at the last minute. It turned out quite lovely though. Nice curls and a "fresh" look. The funniest part is that once I got to the Flute Bar several of my friends tried to find me in the crowd and completely overlooked me because they did didn't recognize me with my new do. CLASSIC!

It was a great night, cool event, and lots of fun. Definitely to be repeated....Maybe I won't wash my hair at the last minute, but then again, who knows?

Naturally Me in Paris

I am a new naturalista. But I never planned to be. I didn’t go for the big chop. I didn’t have a hair tragedy or develop an allergy to chemicals. I didn't watch Chris Rock's Good Hair. I came into the look I’ve always wanted simply by accident. Serendipity is my friend.
 

I got my first relaxer at 13. I tagged along with my aunt to the salon. While sitting there amazed at her glossy results she asked me if I wanted one. I said yes, all gooey-eyed, and that experience led to me using chemicals for the next two decades. Before my relaxer I got my hair "pressed" as folks back home call it. Every Saturday night we'd go to my grandparent’s and sit in the middle of the kitchen. I still remember my grandmother saying "Grab your ear girl" and me cringing, hoping she wouldn’t slip and burn my finger. When she'd finished and all the smoke had gone, there we sat with our long hair reaching our shoulders. Happy. Proud. Ready for ribbons and church on Sunday.

Those were the days.

After I initially got my relaxer I kept it simple until I reached 18. I was away at college and modeling part time. For one of the fashion shows the organizers sent me to a hair stylist. She turned out to be a weave specialist and said "Why don't you try it, at least for the show?" I went from having a bob to being a diva overnight. That led to what I call my "Diana Ross years." Afterwards I wore long hair extensions (braided in, glued in, sewed in) off and on for several years. If I cut my hair and missed it, I'd go and get it weaved in again. If I simply got bored with my already long hair, I'd go and get even longer hair. Curly weaves were my kryptonite.

In 2006 I decided that length no longer mattered to me. I didn't need super long hair. Not even long hair. I went for a super short bob and it was one of the best looks I've ever rocked. But then, I let my hair grow out and I was bored again. I returned to my old habits and went and got another weave. Sigh. The vicious cycle was hard to break. I finally got rid of it once and for all in 2009.

I was then expecting a bundle of joy. I didn't want to go to the salon. I went for a long time without doing anything to my hair other than a simple shampoo and a pull back. After the baby came I knew it was time to get my head taken care of. Nicole Pembrook of Polished Hair Care told me on my first trip back to the salon, "You know what? You don't need a relaxer. I'm not putting one in. In fact you never needed one."

WHAT?

I didn’t believe it. I'd had a relaxer since...forever. In the back of my mind I thought "I'll just try it out. She'll see." That day I walked away with a shampoo and blow out. No one could tell that I didn't have a relaxer. I would wear my hair blown out and flat ironed for the next two years.

In December 2011 I was travelling home to America for Christmas. I had a weave specialist’s number. He was inexpensive and good. I didn't want to go back to relaxers or weaves but I wanted to change the texture. I wanted curly hair again. It turns out he wasn’t available (thank God!) so I decided to wash it myself. However, when I looked in the mirror afterwards I didn't recognize my own head: I had a head full of naturally curly hair.

It's been two months since I had a blow out. My family, my friends, and most of all, ME love my new hair! The icing on the cake was when my daughter, who has curly hair too, looked at me, patted my hair, and said "Mom pretty hair." 

What more could a girl ask for? Absolutely nothing.

Black Hair in Paris Blog

"Reasons...the reasons that we're here..."

I started this blog because quite frankly, I’m slightly obsessed with my hair. It wasn’t like this before. It only started when I moved to Paris in 1999 and couldn’t find any good hair salons. That experience (yes it was painful) led to me writing an article entitled Combing for a Black Hair Salon in Paris. It’s the most popular article on my Anglophone webzine Prissy Mag, so I knew there was a lot more to explore on this subject. At Prissy Mag we gets tons of emails every week from people who need even more hair information. I wrote a list of what we call good salons, but people also want to know where they can buy products. They’d like to know else is going on in Paris as far as hair is concerned. For example, do straw sets exist? What about loc extensions? And, they want to know what my personal hair experiences in Paris have been like lately. So stay tuned. We gotta lot to talk about!