A little off hair...

Being a new mother, I am often found watching my her favorite children's shows. I recently began following a children show on twitter called Bino and Fino. The show is produced in Nigeria and I was initially attracted by the title character Fino's cute afropuffs.

Fino's hair is adorable.

Here are the shows claims:

Bino and Fino is the wonderful educational Nigerian cartoon show about a brother and sister who live in a modern day city in sub- Saharan Africa. In each episode Bino and Fino, with the help of their friend Zeena the Magic Butterfly and their family, discover and learn things about the world.The show is for children mainly between the ages of 3 and 6.

Zeena the Magic Butterfly


It was created to provide more animated children’s content for the kids around the world to enjoy. As a parent, wherever you are in the world it is hard to find genuine, quality African made educational media that show wonderful aspects of African culture to your children. This is especially so when it comes to cartoons which kids are captivated by. Africa is telling its story. Bino and Fino will help tell that story to children.

Fino also stars on a Seasme Street style I love my hair t-shirt.

The Bino and Fino merchandise is adorable as well.

I watched a free preview episode and found it delightful the characters were attractive and just as informative and engaging as Dora or Diego. If Bino and Fino were available on television in the US I would love to let my little KnapsGirl watch it.

You can suppport Bino and Fino here on indiegogo

World Natural Hair Show 2013-Spring

Wow! I missed a whole year of the World Natural Hair Show (WNHS) being a new mom. I remedied that this year by packing up my lil Knapsgirl and being a road (weekend) warrior. I arrived Friday evening and was on the scene Saturday morning at 10 AM.

First Impressions
The space and flow were far less congested then in past years. People could easily navigate without walking on top of one another. Strollers were able to move freely through the wide aisles. Unfortunately, I think all of this free space came from the lack of small independent vendors of hair products and accessories.

Notably Present:
Oyin Handmade
Curls
Karen's Body Beautiful
Design Essentials
Jordan's Treasure
BelNuovo

Notably Absent:
Miss Jessies
JessiCurl
Darcy's Botanicals
Sarenzo Beads
Tomoko's Twists
Uncle Funky's Daughter

It seems to have become a venue for larger companies. This isn't a bad thing just different from the past. every large company that has Johnny-come-lately jumped on the natural hair product bandwagon was well represented with ample booth space. While smaller companies had standard booth space and poor access to wifi for credit card transactions. I enjoyed myself because I love the energy, people and show prices on retail products.

Notable Goodies I Got:
3 Sister of Nature Curly Gel-O
3 Sister of Nature Sweet Bounce Back
3 Sister of Nature Curly Whip Pudding
Pursuit of Cleanliness Lemongrass Liquid soap
Spices for Life Natural Seasoned Salt
BelNuovo CoCo Castor Pudding & CoCo Castor Nectar (spritz)

 






There were small independent companies represented just not as many as in past years. I think the WNHS has turned a corner commercially. This can be nothing but positive for the events organizers however, it makes me nostalgic for the start-up grassroots of the past. Feel free to share your opinions impressions.

Crazy Sexy Cool Curls Product Review

This review was done by guest blogger Barbara T


Product Name: Crazy Sexy Cool Curls by True
Size: 8 fl oz
Scent: none
Claims: Control frizz and define curls. Enriched with mongonga and argan oils
​ To give you bouncy curls with lustrous shine. Provides humidity
​ Resistance and protection from environmental stresses.

Review:
This is a curling soufflé. I applied this product to wet hair after washing and conditioning. It is a foamy consistency and should be applied to small sections of damp hair. I then did a 2-strand twist and rolled my twists on the white perm rods. After drying and taking out the rods, my hair was in defined curls with excellent hold. They were not stiff or dry. I think this product did a good job of providing bouncy curls with body.

I have no idea about pricing; I received it for free.

♥ 41 ♥ African Threading For Grown-Ups! :)

This is much better than any tutorial I could have done.
She is the person who inspired me.
Please enjoy!

Her channel is : Girls Love Your Curls

Today's Hair - African Hair Threading (updated)

Style two weeks old in this photo

Style: African Threading (Ghana Plaits)

Time to Complete: 2hrs with breaks and first try

Products Used: Water, AvoCoco moisturizer

Tools Used: Rat tail comb, Denman Brush, Soft bristle brush, Spray bottle, spool of weave thread, scissors

Reason for style: I spent the holiday weekend enjoying videos from Girls Love Your Curls on YouTube. I was so inspired that I decided to thread my hair.

Lessons Learned: You must part Ghana plaits. I tried to do the first few like I do two strand twist with "same size" pinch parts. This will not work, treat the part as if you are making box braids.

  

I  added some flat twists on the side.

There is special thread for hair it looks like this:

While researching online I found this classic article from Ebony Jr here.

So far I love them and they threaten to last longer than two strand twists. I would really like to do more sculptural style once I get better/faster.

Fired for having natural hair?

 

If you haven't already read about Rhonda Lee, she is a meteorologist  working in Shreveport Louisiana. She was fired for responding to a criticism via Facebook about her hair. She alleges that her appearance had been an issue previously. He employer claim that she broke with company policy when she responded. Her response was professional, polite and unapologetic.

The viewer (Emmitt Vascocu) wrote:

 “the black lady that does the news is a very nice lady. the only thing is she needs to wear a wig or grow some more hair. im not sure if she is a cancer patient. but still its not something myself that i think looks good on tv….”

Ms. Lee responded:

“Hello Emmitt—I am the 'black lady' to which you are referring. I’m sorry you don't like my ethnic hair…. I am very proud of my African-American ancestry which includes my hair. For your edification: traditionally our hair doesn’t grow downward. It grows upward…. I’m very proud of who I am and the standard of beauty I display. Women come in all shapes, sizes, nationalities, and levels of beauty. Showing little girls that being comfortable in the skin and HAIR God gave me is my contribution to society. Little girls (and boys for that matter) need to see that what you look like isn't a reason to not achieve their goals.”

The same station recently fired a white male for the same offense. 
He is openly homosexual and defended himself as well.

Her employees say she violated the same policy in a incident where a viewer alleged that all the children involved in a particular broadcast were of color. Ms. Lee asked to see the policy she had violated in writing and was told that it wasn't written down. She is currently suing her former employers.

The viewer later wrote, "you are very right to be proud of where you are from and I do respect that" and publicly apologized to Lee.

This isn't the first time that Lee's hairstyle has affected her job. "I've even had a news director once say that my hair was too aggressive for Sacramento, so I wasn't even allowed to interview at that point," she told CNN. 

I'm inclined to believe that being fired for violating a policy that doesn't exist in writing had more to do with her unapologetic pride in her ethnicity and less to do with her very polite FB comments. What do you think?

You can sign a petition here, to try and have Ms. Lee reinstated.

Product Review - Beautiful Textures Moisture Butter Whipped Creme

I recently tried the Moisture Butter by Beautiful Textures. I used a sample from my CurlKit.



I found the butter moisturizing and it provided a good shine. I used it on a head full of two-strand twists. I did not really enjoy the scent, I thought it was a strong flowery, fruity smell. The scent isn't over powering or harsh, just not my taste.



I have seen Beautiful textures in Sally's Beauty Supply so it is widely available. I think the $7.00 for 8 oz price is reasonable, considering I used just one side of a two-sided sample. My hair had been previously washed, conditioned, moisturized and worn in a puff. I wet it down with a spray bottle and used the Moisture Butter to make my two-strand twists, so I may have needed more had it been freshly washed.