1Blessed Natural Mag

5 Natural Hair Challenges to Try Hey, my blessed naturals! Your natural hair journey doesn't have to be boring! You don't have to sit around waiting for your hair to grow. Research, experiment, and enjoy it! Part of your natural hair journey may be a challenge as you develop your regimen. Here are 5 natural hair challenges you can try: 1. Protective Style Challenge - It could be braids, twists, buns etc. Pick a style and a period of time to rock it! For example, for one of my protective style challenges, I did mini twists . I rocked them for several days and then did a twist-out . My goal was to see how long the style would last. 2. No-Heat Challenge - If you're a natural who loves to use heat, you could try to do a no-heat challenge. This will allow you to be more creative when coming up with new styles. P in curl twist-outs , Bantu-knots , and roller sets will give you heat-less curls. You can stretch your hair using these no-heat methods:   Banding  ...

1BlessedNatural: 5 Things to Do When You Want to Quit Being a Natural  (Photo credit: Darren Johnson / iDJ Photography via Visual Hunt / CC BY-ND Happy Monday, my blessed naturals, As naturals, our journey can be fun, but it can also be challenging. What do you do when you keep trying to style your natural hair, but it just won't come out right? What do you do when you keep experiencing breakage, and it looks like your hair is not growing at all? These situations can be very frustrating, and I know because I've been through them. Here are 5 things you can do to get past those tough times, and continue on your journey to healthy natural hair: 1. Find natural hair inspiration. The Internet is filled with natural hair inspiration! I'm talking about pictures and videos of naturals that will make you remember why you became natural in the first place. If you are not sure what I mean, check out my Instagram page ! 2. Ask questions.  If you are visiting this ...

1BlessedNatural Spotlight: Evangelist Ima Gail When we talk about our natural hair journey, it is always important to understand that it is not a linear experience. You natural hair journey may consist of twists and turns as you struggle to find out what will and will not work for your hair. Like myself, you may also experience breakage and have to cut your hair. It is important to give yourself time to learn what works for you. One person who knows about that all too well is Evangelist Ima Gail Dunbar-Thomas. In March of 2015, Evangelist Ima contacted me to find how to take care of her natural hair. Right before then, she discontinued the use of dyes because they were drying her hair out and causing it to break. Her soft curls were in a TWA style that she kept in puff. That was her favorite style because her hair wouldn't hold any other one. On the flip side, Evangelist Ima Gail's natural hair never really got tangled. Sometimes that can happen when you have a re...

1BlessedNatural: My 4 Year Natural Hair Anniversary Hey, my blessed naturals! Today is my 4 Year Natural Hair Anniversary! On February 23rd, this blog turned 4 years old yay! It's been a great 4 years learning and loving my natural hair, and look forward to continuing my journey. Thank you all for taking it with me! 1BlessedNatural: March 3, 2011- my big chop What date is your natural hair anniversary? Related Articles: My 3 Year Natural Hair Anniversary

pic taken: April 2014- "Love Your Kinks, Curls, and Waves" The natural hair community has been buzzing about issues like curl discrimination and curl envy. Curl discrimination is when a person's natural hair experience is disapproved or rejected because they're curl pattern is looser. The misconception is that they don't struggle with their hair as much as a person with a tighter kink or curl. Curl envy is when another person wants the curl pattern that someone else has naturally. The most important thing to remember about being natural is the love for what God has given you. When you love what sprouts from your own roots wholeheartedly, the other nonsense will cease. Focus on finding products and techniques that work for YOUR hair. Find those things that bring out the best in your strands. Celebrate your natural hair journey and the journey of others. Support other naturals and continue on your journey! What do you love about YOUR NATURAL HAIR? R...

Happy Super Bowl Sunday everyone! I hope that you all had a great week. Just remember that Jesus is the answer to whatever you are going through :-)   "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." -John 14:6 Today I wanted to talk about the way in which your hair journey is just like life. It's not linear; you take many twists, turns, and loops along the way. You learn different techniques. Some of them may work for you and some of them may not. After almost two years of growing my hair out I had to cut 2 1/2-3 inches because of heat damage . Please do not get discouraged if you experience breakage and have to cut some of your hair. It's all apart of the journey. Earlier in my hair journey, I was using a hair product that had two much alcohol in it, and dried my hair out. My ends were dry and breaking. Although other naturals found the product to be useful, I did not work for my hair. Remember, just b...