1Blessed Natural Mag

Mursi woman (photo courtesy of Flickr- "Rod Waddington" under the Creative Commons License )  The young woman's hairstyle appears to be in small locs. The sides of her head are shaven. The Mursi people are known to have little or no hair on their heads. They often wear decorative headdresses. Similiarly, African-Americans often wear headbands , accessories, and locs . The woman in the photo above is from the Mursi Tribe in Ethiopia. The Mursi people are known for their practices including lip and ear stretching. Both practices are also practiced by African-Americans and other people around the world, but the Mursi people seem to draw the most attention because of the size of their piercings. In the Mursi tribe, lip stretchings are done for beauty. It also indicates a rite of passage from girl to womanhood. Around ages 15 or 16 (before marriage), the girl's lip is pierced by her mother. The piercing is held open by a wooden peg until it heals. Afterwards...

Since the weather is finally breaking, many of you may be planning to go away on vacation. The question is what natural hair items do you pack? As a natural, you may be tempted to pack everything. So, I have some tips that may help you get your natural hair vacation bag together. Moisturizer and Sealant In order to determine the items you need for your hair during vacation, it's important to distinguish needs vs. wants. If your hair thrives on moisture, then you need to pack a moisturizer and a sealant. You can chose a product or make your own product. One of my personal favorites is the Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie. If you would like to save space, time, and money, you can fill a small spray bottle with water and an essential oil. You can purchase the small water bottles at stores like Dealz for $1.00.   Shampoo & Conditioner (Optional) If you are planning to wash you hair during your vacation, grab your favorite cleanser, cond...

Happy Friday everyone, Today's Bible verse for is Psalms 138:8 which reads,"The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O Lord , endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands." This verse reminds us that no problem or concern is too big for God. He will take care of us; we our his children. In hair related news, I've recently started washing my cloth headbands. Usually, I would wear them until they were too oily and then abandon them. But, I started tossing them into the washer machine. Not only does it save money, but some of the headbands (non elastic) regain their shape when thrown in the washer/and or dryer.  You can keep your favorite headbands longer than normal :-) Also, you can hand wash your headbands. If you have sensitive skin, then you may want to use a mild detergent to wash your headbands. Elastic Headbands I would advise against trying to wash elastic headbands because rubber and heat do not mix lol. When my...

My edges now ' My edges in September, after removing micro-braids Happy Snowy Saturday, (depending on where you are) lol I can admit that I have been a headband junky, and my hairline has paid the consequence for it.  However, nothing can beat the damage caused by the micro braids that I had in September.  I'm happy to report that my edges are finally growing back in. The mini-twists are helping because they are not braided tight, and I haven't been wearing headbands with them.

Hey everyone, I hope that you are enjoying your Friday :-) I was getting bored with wearing the twist outs. So, I decided to try the braided headband style inspired by Tiashauntee 's post. I really should have did a twist out on the back part of my hair, but I was being lazy :-p.

Update 2/10/2013 This post was originally a Youtube video, but I've taken it down. Here are the written directions for making your own stretchy headband. Materials 1. Scissors 2. Old Nylon or lycra tights   Directions 1. Take your Nylon tights and cut about an 1/2 in to an 1 inch (wide) strip across the thigh area.  Yes, lol It's that simple!

Hey Everyone, My friends and I had been joking about headbands and TWAs (Teenie Weenie Afros). I wanted to see how my hair would look with one. The front of the band is satin. You can purchase them at any beauty supply, dollar store, or grocery store.The back of the headband consists of a cloth covered elastic band. But I still applied Shea Butter around the perimeter of my hair (where the headband rests)to prevent breakage. You can also apply a moisturizer to the cloth-covered elastic band (ex. soak it in oil). I prefer to have more hair to wear the headbands. But, I was actually pleased with the results. I'm embracing my TWA lol :-).  God is good :-) Until Next Time... ~1BlessedNatural~