Naturals in The City 13! Organic Living

Hey guyssss!

Naturals in The City 13 is around the corner and I can’t believe it either!

Next week Saturday, 12th December, 2015, we will gather round as we always do, and on behalf of the team, I promise you, it’s going to be good.

First, a few changes.

Our access fee is now 1000 Naira. It used to be 500 Naira.

Are you really asking why? ( ._.) Since you have asked, let me go with everybody’s excuse these days, the dollar is high lol. I don’t know how exactly, but the dollar is almost at $1 to 241 Naira and since the dollar started its climb this year, life has been somehow. On a  more serious note, things are expensive, have BEEN expensive and we need to cover our costs. Can 500 Naira even take you to see a movie with no student ID? Exactly. This is a necessary change we have had to make, and I hope it does not change anything between us. Kiss kiss.

Also, we aren’t going to be at the Social Place this time. We’ll be at Cafe Neo, the one on 6, Agoro Odiyan Street, off Adeola Odeku, Victoria Island. Cafe Neo has quite a few outlets now, so please don’t go to the one on Akin Adesola or Alfred Rewane, or any of the others and then get mad at us. NITC 13 is at the Cafe Neo on Agoro Odiyan Street.

How To Find our Cafe Neo

Coming to Victoria Island from the mainland, if you go through Ikoyi/ Alfred Rewane Road, when you climb that bridge at Falomo heading towards VI, you have two options. Akin Adesola if you stick to the left side and go straight, or you turn onto Ozumba Mbadiwe road if you slide to the right. Stick to the left and go straight, to Akin Adesola street. When you’re on Akin Adesola, keep going straight till you get to the first major right turn. Taking this turn will put you on Adeola Odeku. While on Adeola Odeku, keep your eye on the left side of the road, read the street signs. The third left or so should be Agoro Odiyan. Just read the street signs, you’ll be fine. Agoro Odiyan is the very next left sign you’ll see after you pass the one that says Eletu Ogabi. Pretty easy, you won’t get lost 🙂

What To Expect

The theme is Organic Living.

We are going to have hair talk as usual (Ade Balogun of Locitude will be back with us, whoop whoop!) so more details on that will be announced as we get closer to the meet-up. We are more than hair, our goal at Naturals in The City is to encourage you to live a healthier, more natural lifestyle, so we are going to be having our organic veggies as we had last time. If you’d like to learn about gardening yourself, growing your own stuff, come and listen to a pro.

As usual, we’ll have many vendors for you to shop from. Kitchen Butterfly was such a hit last time! I kept saying I would eat later. By the time I was ready to eat, all the food was gone, and I mean ALL of it. She’s going to be back at NITC 13 and I do not intend to miss out- neither should you! She’ll be catering for the day. If you’ve ever wanted to sit at her table, here’s your opportunity to do so (in a way). If you don’t feel like eating proper food, we are at Cafe Neo, so you can get coffee- and try the Naija Starbucks’ experience. There’s free wifi!

#ChristmasOnTheStreetz

Finally, this is the Christmas edition. We should be generous at all times, but if you aren’t, what better time to be than at Christmas? I mean- it’s Christmas! At NITC 12, we collected donations for the Save Mirabel Centre. This time around, we are supporting the #ChristmasOnTheStreetz initiative. No matter how small you think you are, your donations can totally mean the world to many this season.  Please come prepared to donate something, be it cash, gently used clothes & shoes, provisions, rice, diapers, baby wipes. Every little counts. 🙂

Alright guys. Keep your eyes on the blog for more info in the days to come, or better yet, follow @thekinkandi on Instagram.

Come learn, eat, shop, network, and donate! Bring your boo, your kids, and a friend, or three! Everybody is welcome! 

We’d love it if you could share this post, spread the word, share the flyer on your Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, all and sundry!

See you there!

Love,

AB,

xx

#NHIC2015: What Happened Here

On Sunday, November 1, 2015, professionals, leaders, veterans, aspirers, enthusiasts of the natural hair industry came together in Baltimore for what I believe will historically be the first natural hair industry convention! It was AWE-filled and I spent 9 hours and everyday since feeling very inspired. Beauts, we DO have an industry that is alive and the goal now is to sustain and grow this industry into its full potential. This is not a passing fad.

The Natural Hair Industry Convention 2015

Such a serious name, for what promises to be seriously educative, seriously fun, and seriously worth shlepping over to Maryland on Sunday, Nov 1, 2015.  It is a shame for me to say this, but I have been to a total of ONE hair meet-up. However, in recent months, I have been itching to educate myself more about this industry that we are immersed in, just by being; this industry that AB and I are so interested in. What better way for me to show my zeal than to go all out and be a part of this convention!

According to Mintel, as at 2012, the black hair industry was worth $684 Million! Did you see those numbers? MILLION! And it is anticipated that by 2017, this figure will rise to $761 Million. Side note: It is so fascinating to me when I walk into a local beauty store to find that it is run by Asians. With the rapid move and consciousness to natural hair and natural hair care, this industry is growing even more and dare I say that there is room for interested parties to pick their niches.

I am looking forward to hearing the big players in the industry speak and best believe that I shall be reporting back to you in detail. The line up of speakers include Diane Bailey of Shea Moisture, Essence China, Sabrina Boissiere, Tanya Wright (she plays Laverne Cox’s wife, Crystal, in orange is the new black!), and more!

There are only so many ways that I can express how truly excited I am to be able to attend NHIC 2015. Heck, I’m setting out at 3am to make this event! I shall definitely keep you posted and if you will be in the Baltimore area and have the money to spare, you should check this out!

– MeeMee

xx.

Let’s Talk! Haircare. How Much Are You Willing To Pay?

Crochet braids by The Kink and I. A few weeks old in picture, though .

On Saturday, after I posted that I was on my way to K.L’s Natural Beauty Bar, I got a DM asking me about the pricing there. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, my hair has been to this salon twice, so I told the person asking- that it cost me 4,000 to do twists with cornrows on the side, and 2000 to wash and dry. She responded “Hian”. Out of actual curiosity, I asked her what exactly the Hian was meant for- the 4k or the 2k- or both services. And, it is this same question I put to you today.

Today’s post is just to set the conversation going. I really want to know what you think.

Hairspiration!: Nafisah

Hey beauts! My faves. I hope you are all having a decent week. It’s Friday!!! And it’s time to hair drool. Today, we have Nafisah!

Hey girl! Tell us about you!

Hello! My name is Nafisat. but I like feeling fancy with it by replacing the ‘t’ with ‘h’ sometimes. I’m an architecture student living and studying in Lagos.  I love reading, making new friends, trying out new things and my hair (yes, my hair is my hobby).  I tend to be very lively and cheerful. I smile a lot even when I sometimes feel like it’s unnecessary.

Have you always been natural? If not, when did you go natural? What inspired you to go natural? How did you do it (transition or BC or both)?

No. My short-lived quest for long healthy relaxed hair since September 2012 birthed my decision to go natural sometime in May 2013. It was one of those researches on ‘’how to grow long relaxed hair’’ that led me to a natural hair site in April 2013. I think the first blog I discovered was black girl long hair. I read hair features and fell in love with naturally kinky coily curly hair and from that moment, I knew I wanted to try it! As time went by, I learnt a lot from these blogs and finally did the big chop after 4 months of transitioning. I‘m glad I big chopped because I never really knew what it felt like to have really short hair (no, I wasn’t Rapunzel).

Tell us about your hair! Does she have a name? how does she feel? How would you classify her if you had to? (length, porosity, texture, density, curl pattern, if you’re into any hair science)

My hair! No she doesn’t have a name. I currently have a kinky- coily head of hair with densely and closely packed tight  and fine 4a strands. I generally have normal porosity hair with the nape area suppppper fine, supper coily and super fragile! My hair generally retains moisture well. The mid and nape sections take forever to dry. I just don’t get it. My edges (temple to ear are) retain moisture the least. Its like they just like to do their own thing! Oh well…My hair is so dense and can be challenging to work with in terms of styling and detangling. The nape area tends to be the least dense and easiest to style/manipulate (and break!)

How do you care for your hair? Do you have a regimen? Any staple products?

I like to follow the basics. Cleanse, Condition, Protect and Maintain (and rock! lol) my regimen is really simple (in terms of technique and products)  I just like to use whatever works well for my hair and whatever is available. I shampoo, deep condition and finger detangle bi-weekly with Dudu Osun black soap and Vitale Hair Mayonnaise( plus honey, olive oil and Emily millionaire’s coconut oil and herbs) I moisturize damp hair with any available creamy leave in ( Paul Mitchell/Cantu Repair cream/Shea Moisture Smoothie) and seal with shea butter or castor oil.  Then proceed to put my hair in twists. Shikena. I feel I don’t have personal knowledge of hair products so right now I’m currently experimenting with more products for the sake of ‘experimenting’

What are the things your hair cannot do without?

My hair and SHEA BUTTER are hommies for life! Lol…My hair also loves Paul Mitchell the Conditioner, Castor oil and Vitale Hair Mayonnaise….Just anything creamy and slippery!!

What have you realised your hair doesn’t like at all at all?

Hmmn…I’m not sure but I don’t think my hair likes being sealed with coconut oil (generally light oils). It dries my hair out when used alone but gives it shine. (o_0)  So I only use it to unravel my twists/braids and add shine to my hair.

How do you like to wear your hair? Usual hairstyles? Favourite style? Protective styling?

I like wearing my hair in chunky twist –outs ( well, when my hair was shorter) and puffs. Let’s just say puffs because most of the styles still end up in puffs now that my hair is longer. I’m just too afraid the huge sexy twist out might turn heads and break necks. But when I’m feeling really fancy, I just let that twist out do its thing.
I mainly do low manipulation styles because
1) I’m too in love with my hair to hide it.
2) I haven’t found a good ‘’affordable’’ hair stylist that would handle my hair with care yet.
3) I don’t have the patience to install protecting styles
4) I can’t get protective styles to last long. (That’s the point of protective styles in the first place)
When I’m getting too bored of my hair/ have some free time to spare/exams are approaching, I hide my hair under crochet braids, or box braids or weave. My favourite protective style is box braids!

How do you feel about shrinkage? Do you fight it? Do you embrace it? Either way, tell us how

I don’t really know how I feel about shrinkage, but one thing I know is that I NEVER allow my hair to shrink….lol…no it’s not a fight. It’s just something I had to get used to doing if I want my fine curls to grow and flourish without much knots and tangles. I mostly keep my hair stretched through twists and braids, mini puffs and when I have time African threading a.k.a. Fake blowout!!! Lol

Have you received any negativity from others towards your hair? How did/do you deal?

I hardly get negative comments. But while hair was shorter in a twist out, a few people have criticized it. Now, Everyone I know currently admires it. Sometimes, It is mistaken for a weave or wig.

Are you facing any hair challenges right now or bad habits you’re trying to break? Bad habits? 

A lot. I can deliberately not moisturize my hair for a whole week just for the sake of stretching it . Now I know better..smh. Sometimes I go to bed without protection out of laziness.  Challenges? Yes o! My nape area. The hairs there are fine and fragile. They break easily and don’t retain much length because of their fragile nature. So I’m currently trying to be super gentle with it.

Do you have any hair goals- short or long term?

My long term hair goals: Be a styling guru, and probably healthy waist length natural hair.

Any last words to anyone considering going natural or a new natural?

First, accept your hair, and then love your hair. As it is, like it is.. You can’t achieve healthy long hair if you don’t love your hair. It’s like feeding a pet you don’t even like. Not possible! Secondly, please don’t go natural hoping that it would be a ‘’quick fix’’ to all your hair issues. (dumbest idea) This healthy hair journey is a learning process. If you are planning on going natural and you know that  you are impatient/afraid of making mistakes/don’t like learning new things/shallow –minded, you might end up getting so frustrated so early in your journey and probably hating your hair forever.  So please do your research about black hair first and at least have a mental picture of what you will be dealing with before taking the plunge.

Wise words, Nafisah! I hope you enjoyed reading that as much as I did.

P.S.: If you will be in Enugu TOMORROW June 13th, you should check out the Enugu Naturalistas hair meet up. It promises to be fun and there are prizes to be won! For more details, visit here.

Have a great weekend!

– MeeMee

xx.