1Blessed Natural Mag

Q: Dear 1BlessedNatural,  I wear protective styles, but my natural hair is still not growing. What could I be doing wrong?   A: It is a popular misconception that if you wear your hair in protective styles, it will automatically grow. While, part of that is true...It will grow, but you might not retain length if you don't take care of your hair. You have to care for it before, during, and after protective styling. Before you install a protective style, be sure your hair is in good condition . Ask yourself these questions: 1. Are my ends healthy? If they are damaged, you may need to trim them before installing a protective style. An exception to this rule would be if you trim your hair while it is in twists, like I do. 2. Is my hair dry? I like to wash, deep condition, moisturize, and seal (with an oil) my hair before installing any protective style.  3. How long will I keep my protective style? It is a good idea to take breaks between styles to let...

1BlessedNatural: Big Sister Natural's Impromptu Puff Happy Tuesday, my blessed naturals, Yesterday, Big Sister Natural went to school with a ponytail and cornrowed edges and came home with a puff and cornrowed edges lol. I thought it was the cutest thing. She said as soon as she sat outside, she could feel her hair drawing up from the humidity. Too cool! I think she was in shock though! Because I didn't get a chance to take a before picture, I'm including one from last year. This way, you can get an idea of how her ponytail looked. I love the way her mom does the cornrows around the perimeter of her head. January 2015 - Big Sister Natural's ponytail Have you ever left the house with your natural hair one way, and then the rain/humidity caused it to do something else? Related Articles: 1BN Kids: Big Sister Natural's Flat Ironed Hair and Length Check                           ...

Kimberly J. Childs' rocking a beautiful puff for her wedding day (photo cred: Kimberly J. Childs) Kimberly J. Childs Just had an awesome conversation with one of my besties, a gorgeous woman with locs to die, kill and steal for! She told me about a talk she had with an engaged woman, also with beautiful locs. My friend asked her,  “How do you plan to do your hair for the wedding?” The woman replied, “I'm cutting my locs off, I want to be pretty that day!” Well ladies and gents, here it is. This woman has grown out beautiful locs for years, only to chop them off, to be pretty. Why? Her locs do not meet the standard of “wedding day pretty”, apparently. Hearing this truly made my soul sad. I also nearly dropped my drink! So, after gathering my thoughts, and grasping my margarita, I thought: 1. Have you felt unpretty all of these years? 2. Why did you go natural in the first place, if your highest standard of pretty requires a weave or relaxer? 3. The Sis...

1BN Kids: Big Sister Natural's Cornrows and French Braid Styles Happy Thursday, my blessed naturals! I hope you all are having a great night! This week, Big Sister Natural has been rocking cornrows. For the first part of the week, her hair was cornrowed up into a doughnut bun. Last night, her mom took them out in the back and unraveled the ones halfway in the front. The picture above shows the results. The french braid photo below was taken in March about a week after BSN's hair was flat ironed . Both Big Sister and Little Sister Natural's hair grows like weeds thanks to genetics and their mom keeping up with their protective styling routines! 1BlessedNatural: BSN's french braid - last month   BSN's hair in April of 2014  Can you believe how much Big Sister Natural's hair grew?   Related Articles: 1BN Kids: Small Cornrow Into French Braid...                  ...

1BlessedNatural: 1BN's Lost Natural Hair Files Happy Wednesday, my blessed naturals, I found some photos of my natural hair that I don't think you've seen before. They date back to 2014. I know we could all use some natural hair inspiration, so here is some :-)  July 17, 2014 Flat twists and puff style. If you like this style and want to try it, check out the tutorial ! August 9, 2014 - Formal Puff  Updo with a flat twist (I believe) in the front October 17, 2014- my mini twists! No hair added. October 2, 2015 Twist-out- fro hawk style with a bang    March 16, 2016 Bun life - I was not in the mood to do my hair  lol.  Flat twist, twist-out on March 18, 2016 What's your go-to natural hairstyle? Related Articles: Tutorial: Puff Transformed Into Formal Updo                             How to Get a Well-Define...

1BlessedNatural: Product Review of the Modesa Bonnet with Drawstring I like to keep a few bonnets around the house so that I can switch them up when they get dirty. This past weekend, I decided to try the Modesa Bonnet with Drawstring. Here's my review: Product: Modesa Bonnet with Drawstring Price: $2.00 and up Places: Family Dollar Claims:   -protects hair and prevents breakage                -one bonnet fits most     Initial Thoughts When I first took the Modesa drawstring bonnet out of the package, I was pleasantly surprised. The material was a nice satin and thicker than I expected. I've used a few brands of bonnets, and some are thin and have small holes in the fabric that allow your hair to slip through. I'm glad that this one was different. Because I've grown accustomed to the bonnets with the elastic and fabric around the edges, I kept thinking the Modesa bonnet was going to slide off ...

Hey, my blessed naturals, Hair bonnets have been around for a long time, but satin caps and bonnets have gotten popular with the natural hair movement in the last few years. Even though they are intended to be worn at bedtime to protect your hair from getting damaged, I've seen them worn regularly in public. I've also heard about some establishments banning them. This leaves the question: Should hair bonnets be worn in public? There is a photo circulating around the internet with a flyer that is said to be posted inside of a rental office. The flyer has a picture of a black woman wearing a bonnet. The words above the image read,"Not allowed in the rental office." Some people agree with the flyer, but others are saying the rental office should get over it. Why should it matter if it doesn't affect a person's ability to pay rent? But the rental office though? Y'all want the rent or not? Posted by KevOnStage on  Wednesday, March 30,...