My friends were all shocked that I would do such a thing as go natural with my hair, seeing as to how I was the main one discouraging them from doing it at any given point.  Guess the me of yesteryears is totally different from the me of today.  With growth comes change!  I used to have thick, pretty, luscious hair down to my bra strap, even voted best hair in 6th grade by my class *takes bow*  ”thank you, thank you”.  Had been getting relaxers for years, but a mild one and my hair was fine.  Then my sophomore year in high school, my aunt started in the hair industry and my mom took me to her for my hair and let’s just say, BIG mistake…shedding, broken off pieces, too much spritz, too much gel…I had to cry in the sink as I washed my hair and it fell out, rinsed away in the soapy suds down the drain.  I had to get it cut to almost my shoulders, lots of inches and layers.  Then my hair was burned by crimping irons and destroyed, like it needed MORE trauma.  After ups, downs, bobs, weaves, wigs, braids and everything else, I decided enough was enough.  Haven’t relaxed my hair since December 2008 and let it grow until September then voila!  CHOP.

My hair is now in the lil headband, a cute baby lamb fro  I bought the 4A hair curly products kit from curlmart and had my mom twist it when I wash it or do little braids so that I can unravel and have some curls. Its fun, but i decided to switch it up a bit.

Mid october I decided to get kinky twists so that it can grow and I’d have a bit of variety.  I make sure to moisturize everyday because my hair is a black pit when it comes to moisture, just soaks it up and makes it appear as if it was never there to begin with.  I am excited to be on the natural journey, especially after seeing all of these amazing pictures of hair.  I’m not sure that we have the same type of hair and if it’s possible, but Tracie Thoms is my hair hero and I want mine just like hers.

This big bouncy fro is also MARVELOUS

We will be holding a Hat Knitting workshop this coming Saturday, December 5th, from 1-5pm. Our knitting teacher, Anne Marie, is amazingly talented…(see below for some of her knitting work — she will also be teaching our Mommy+Me knitting, as well as fashion knitting!)

This workshop is part of our Gift Series — participants will walk away with a finished adult-sized hat to give as a present, as well as the knowledge of how to recreate this gift over and over again!

Details:

Hat Knitting, Saturday, December 5th, 1-5PM, $45  (materials will be available for purchase – kit $20)

320 2nd Street (between 4th + 5th Ave), Park Slope Brooklyn 11215

718-369-0222     www.textileartscenter.com

Web surfing has become such a common term. Maybe less so now, because people are more intentional in their web use.
Back to the surfing story, it seems that surfing implies a ride, a graceful balance that takes skill and practice, not to mention intense focus. This is so not what is intended by the term ‘web surfing’ the way it is commonly used.  It’s more generally considered a random exploration, a sort of ‘poking around ‘ in the attics, back rooms, and parlors that just come up when we start pushing buttons.

So what?

It’s not called the web for no reason. Picture a spider web, a large interwoven configuration of strands that all lead to one place, and then somehow, to each other. The spiders make them to catch bees and other insects who fly in, and ‘get caught’ in the sinuous web woven for just that purpose.

We weave our webs with just the reverse intentions. We certainly want to attract and bring people into our piece of the web – our site – but we want them to be there for their own reasons, not ours. Really. We may want visitors to come to our sites to do business, buy our stuff, take our advice, etc. But they won’t be interested in forming a professional relationship at all unless they have their own reasons, interests and motivations at heart.

Create a sticky web -  that just attracts the beautiful butterflies you want to surround yourself with!

So, it all comes down to this:

This is the web and all the rules are different. (new rules)

Yet,

People are people and we react the way we always have.

So, before you start weaving your web thinking you’re going to ensnare your prey, stop, re-think and remember, you are building relationships, the way you always have.

The web is cool. It’s mysterious, and all of that, and customer/client relationships are the core of  your business.
The web is just a new medium. And the medium is the message – or is it?

These photos are from a hair and beauty spread in Vogue Nippon’s December issue, I didnt have much reason for posting them apart from the fact I love the hair very 80s esq  and as you know by now I’m infatuated with that era.

Hair Styling: Didier Mange

Photography By: Daniel Jackson

Rihanna’s album sales for RATED R are projected to sell only 200,000 copies, while Susan Boyle, contestant from America’s Got Talent is projected to sell her by 275% @ 550,000 copies.    As a result, her entire album is dropped to 99 cents.

Knowing how much Rihanna’s camp is pimping her out and pushing that she’s beautiful and sexy and talented on us (doesn’t work on POP PROPHECY–we’re too magical!) it’s refreshing to see that “underdog” Susan Boyle who basically has no PR campaign beats Rihanna by such a margin.

This isn’t the first brush of difficulty for Rihanna, remember when she was going broke?  She was rumored to be only worth 20 thou’; all of her income being spent on music videos to promote her.  And of course, the abusive relationship with Chris Brown.

I think if she looked like THIS again, her album sales would increase:

By the way, when we googled “long weave”, a slew of America’s Next Top Model pictures came up, LOL.

Unfortunately for Rihanna, Pop Prophecy doesn’t see things improving for her in the near future.  Her music is at odds with her fans now and we are seeing another incident of difficulty in store.  What will it be?  Stay tuned!

TWEET THIS “Rihanna FAILS?”

Rihanna’s Twitter (144,500+ followers)

what yo’ name iz? julia hafstrom, sharon kavjian & kamila filipcikova

the triple set of females seen here appear editorially for the latest issue of vogue nippon. i love the usage of hair pieces & tracks. i think this would’ve been a prime opportunity to, again, used colored models. i really think it would be dope to see our favorite colored females for this piece. all three females are represented by IMG model management. creative hair & make-up with this piece but the lack of color for this theme edit is clear & is still a very large problem for females in the modeling game. images for this edit were shot by daniel jackson. didier mange is to credit for the hair while gucci westman did the make-up.

imagesource | tfs

The winner of Miss Gay Brazil had her weave SNATCHED RIGHT OFF HER HEAD on national television! Do not mess with a jealous/angry queen!!!

Ladies and drag queens, this is the # 1 reason  you make sure your weave is on TIGHT! Take a cue from Beyonce The Weaveanator – her tracks are always on LOCKDOWN!

The runner up in the  Miss Gay Brazil pageant did not take the defeat too well and decided to vent her anger at the winner.

Beautiful.

Bwwwaaahahahhaha..

From long wavy curls to man fro in one snatch.

Good times.

This is such an interesting topic in this day and age. We have access to absolute everything to change the way we look. Does natural beauty exist anymore? There is a thin line between natural beauty, enhanced beauty, and fake beauty..Let me explain.

This is the difference (personally), Girls who wear mascara, eyeliner, wonderbras, tighter clothing, heels, TRACKS of weave( not full head, just couple tracks), botox etc are ENHANCING their beauty. It doesnt change them totally, it just makes them look better. These things can be removed and doesn’t make THAT much of a difference, but it makes us women feel alot better when we go out.

FAKE beauty is (to me anyway) concealer, foundation, bleaching, breast implants, false eyelashes, weave (full head, multicoloured shit on your head piece) etc…these things can change they way someone looks 100%…take them things away, and your left with someone unrecognisable!

Regarding to AIRBRUSHING…if your pic is not being used for publications (modelling, etc) then, why are you airbrushing? People don’t expect you to be perfect. If you only have airbrushed, photoshopped pics on your FB/ Myspace then i’m going to assume you are not that good looking. Your giving people a false representation of what you REALLY look like! (Check this SLU  blog http://www.youtube.com/user/studentlinkuptv#p/a/u/1/QOR37SDKVHQ)

We live in an airbrushed world, with a false pretence on what females are supposed to look like. Ignore this! They do NOT really look like this! And Neither should we!

This is My favourite Advert ever! Just watch >  

Ladies, we have to appreciate who we are, everyone has flaws, we’re NOT perfect. HOWEVER, if you are truely unhappy with how you look, and you feel reverting to the fake methods on beauty will make YOU feel better, then you do whatever you have to do. But Don’t change the way you look because SOMEONE ELSE has commented on how you look or because you feel you don’t look like them ladies in the magazines!

I am going to be touching up on the topic in the future! its such a big issue within todays media etc.

But Hold tight all my ladies who feel BEAUTIFUL, naturally, enhanced, or fake. IF you YOU feel good about yourself, then no one else’s opinion matters!

MissCherry.x

Rejection is something we have all experienced. Many of us have been rejected by our families, our church, a prospective school, employer, or publisher. As humans, we have a huge capacity and desire for love. The biggest rejection of them all is by a love interest.

I will admit that I used to watch talk shows on a regular basis. My favorites ones were The Maury Povich Show and of course The Jerry Springer Show. I just never had enough of these guests who would willingly go on their shows and sometimes even embarass themselves on national television. Private rejection hurts, but public rejection is the ultimate worst.

I can’t count how many times I watched as a woman in love was ruthlessly rejected by her man. Some were so broken down and desperate for love that they would beg for affection, hoping that he would stay with them. There are women who have purposedly gotten pregnant, thinking that he would step up to his responsibilities and marry them. Ladies, no man is ever going to respect you if you don’t respect yourself first.

As woman, the matters of the heart never come easily. It’s usually an emotional rollercoaster with plenty of heartache. Many of us know how to mask the pain well, while others crack under the immense pressure, struggling to put back the pieces. Although I am considered too young to know the game as you would call it, I’ve had my fair share of love. I have had enough experience to have a good idea of relationship do’s and don’ts. With every year that passes, I know there will be more added to both sides of the list, but in the meantime, here’s what I  have learned.

This post is mainly for the ladies. For the men who may choose to read this, feel free to take notes, or better yet submit a response.

First things first, men do not validate you! YOU VALIDATE YOURSELF! Too many women have been killed as a result of domestic violence. If he isn’t treating you well, move on. Your life is worth more than him.

Second, please don’t waste your time waiting patiently by the phone for his call. Nor, are you to jump the minute it actually rings. The last thing to do is wait on them hand and foot. Once it starts, it’s usually hard to break away from it.

Third, why oh why do we allow men to have so much weight on our appearance and behavior? You are your own individual. You can take his opinion and suggestions under consideration. His words are not law. Remember that!

Fourth, compromise is essential in any relationship. You can cook on this day and he can step and cook for you every now and then. Thankfully, God creates us with two hands and two feet, why not use it?

Fifth, have you ever wondered why some men expect you to dress a certain way with them showing the curves and other assets that are now off the market? Then expect you to dress like a nun when they’re not around. Uhh, ladies the word is balance here.

Sixth, women tend to lose their dignity and self-respect trying to build the ego and confidence of their man. I’m not saying it’s wrong but the job is not entirely yours. They have to carry some of that responsibility too. You can’t do all of the work.

Seventh, trust your instincts and make the decision for yourself. It’s great to have the support of your family and friends, but it isn’t always guaranteed. Before you get into any relationship, make sure he is exactly what you’re looking for. Never settle and don’t even think that you have the mystical power to change who he is. The last thing you want to do is look back five years later at time wasted on a brother who won’t settle down with you or worse.

Eighth, avoid drama. It’s not a good look nor does it do any good for you. You ever notice that even when it’s the man’s fault, the women are always the ones stressing. It’s always the women fighting, cussing. pulling hair. The man just stands aside watching the show. Give the blame to whomever it belongs. Regardless of the situation, you’re a woman first. So act like a lady at all times.

Ninth, we need to draft a woman’s bill of rights. Some men, nowadays, take women for granted and need a big wake-up call. I am not your mother. I will not baby you. If you want to be a grown man, you will be treated like one and nothing less. No I will not run all around town with a metrocard, when you have a perfectly good and working car. No I will not wash your drawers when you still live at home with momma. No I will not do the grocery shopping so that you and your boys can have snacks during the game. When was the last time you took me out?

Tenth, women need to be united. Enough of this backbiting, creeping, man-stealing foolishness. Enough of the weave fights and expensive hair repairs. Cut the car-keying and tire-slashing.

If you can’t handle a relationship and the twists and turns involved, DON’T DATE!

Gabardine fabric is chiefly used for trousers. Gabardine is made with a twill weave and appears smooth on one side but has a diagonally ribbed surface on the other. Thomas Burberry, founder of the Burberry fashion house, invented gabardine in the late 19th century and received a patent in 1888.

Serge is also a type of twill fabric that has diagonal lines on both sides and is typically used to make blazers but may also be used for suits.

Serge fabric

I’ve never watched this programme before but i’m gonna indulge just to support Sabrina Washington

She’s been called a Z-list celebrity in the tabloids, but she was the LEAD singer of Mis-teeq, its weird how they’ve never called the mic-man Alesha Dixon Z-list, but anyway…

Sabrina is making sure this gig works for her, she is already tipped for some jungle fever action with one of the contestants – Stuart Manning (think he played Russ in Hollyoaks) – apparently he has been following her around like a puppy dog!

All Sabz has to do is shower in her bikini, lips up this Stuart guy and sing out round the campfire and she should have couple TV deals when she gets out.  She’s the biggest ‘eye-candy’ competition for Jordan so she may end up with some beef on her hands too.

The one question we all want answered is – HOW THE HELL IS SHE GONNA MAINTAIN ALL THAT HORSE HAIR IN THE JUNGLE?

LaLa blankets are designed by Chelsea graduate Flora Parr , and are the softest thing EvER!!!!!

Made from 100% lambswool, these woven blankets are in perfect colours with immaculate finishes. She also does some rocking bunting, made to order.

Contact Flora or track them down in a couple of shops in Notting Hill to get your hands on one -winter warmth!!!!  go go … lalablankets.co.uk >>>>>>>

HX

(photo thanks to Flora)

By: Arti Patel

“Daddy, how come I don’t have good hair?”

This was the question that inspired actor Chris Rock to release the documentary Good Hair. The documentary takes a deeper look into the hair product industry aimed at African-American women and how these woman are constantly being pressured to have “good hair.”

Rock interviews major industry women including artist Eve, actress Raven and Nia Long. While all women have different reasons for their personal haircare, Rock strives to answer the tougher questions as to why women spend thousands of dollars for hair pieces and what are the bigger costs behind that hair.

Image provided by www.boston.com

“Creamy-crack” for sale

The first part of the film breaks into the relaxer industry and its origin. The main ingredient of a relaxer is sodium hydroxide and Rock experiments to find out exactly what damage a relaxer can cause. He visits a scientist who has three cans of pop dipped in sodium hydroxide. After four hours, the can is almost gone, as Rock tries to show exactly why so many African-American women and men feel “the burn of the perm.”

For young girls, the burn may just hurt more. Rock finds hair stylists and mothers who have their young daughters have perms as early as the age of three. This process would not only help young girls fit in among “other hair styles” but also normalize the motto that, “everyone is supposed to have a perm.”

Diamonds better watch out, there’s a new friend in town

Rock puts his money where his mouth is. He introduces the weave industry or the “graduation of the wig,” which makes millions of dollars every year alone in the United States. Just one piece of weave can have a price tag from anywhere from $1000 to even $5000.

For these weave-wearing women, Rock’s interviewees describe this as a social movement. At a time, having weave was almost a secret. It was most seen when “white women would ask black women how their hair grew so long overnight.” Today, it’s nothing in that nature. Women talk to one another, share their dealers and stylists and always ask one another that one question: “Where did you get your weave?”

India’s hair market

But where does this weave hair actually come from?

Human hair is India’s largest export, but their is a spiritual path Indian women take to shave their heads. The process of sacrificing one’s hair to God is called tonsuring and 85 per cent of both men and women in India have had their heads shaved for religious reasons. A journey that may be seen as a way to get closer to religion and God is cut short as sacrificed hair becomes shipped to Los Angles to become a profit.

There is both the manufacturing companies that collect, groom and export human hair and then there is the black market in India, where women are victims to this idea that gold equals hair. Rock interviews a man who is involved in hair-selling black market and asks him how he collects hair. Cutting a woman’s hair while she sleeps or watches a movie is the most popular. The “I Am Legend to I Am Bald” notion is more valuable for the industry and woman are being “scalped” for their hair, not even knowing which celebrity wears it next.

Ugly truth about the beauty industry

The hair business is a cut throat one. Good Hair both educates and pokes fun at an industry that so many people sweep away.  When he is not comparing the burning sensation of a relaxer to giving birth or getting shot in the face, Rock wants his audience to know that ”good hair can put you in the poor house and if you’re not careful, it can burn down your house.”

Tweed is made in either a plain or twill weave and may have a check or herringbone pattern. Subtle flecks of interesting color are obtained by twisting together differently coloured strands of wool into one yarn. Tweeds are desirable as sport jackets since they are moisture-resistant and durable.

Tweed with subdued colour tones woven as a herringbone pattern

A friend of mine (who will go unnamed here) encouraged me to continue to write about my dreams, which I have not done for a long while, so let’s talk about the wet ones. Yes the wet ones! I don’t want to talk about fantasies of Fergie, Angelina Jolie, or the Octomom. Hell no! I want to talk about S.D’s Wet Dreams.

Don't deny it. If you're a man, you've fucked one of these down pillows before.

Wet dreams are not as satisfying as you may think. In fact, when I was younger (that’s right, I haven’t had one since I’ve been married, cause that would be cheating!) I would wake up in pain with cum on my belly button. I suppose, though, a penis ejaculating with the stroke-motion — well, Sir Isaac Newton can figure that one out, something to do with gravitational pull I think…

Damn, he's cute! Got to be that sexy weave! I need a wet dream about Fig Newtons.

My first wet dream was simple. Fucked someone in the backseat of a car in a junkyard. I say someone cause I don’t know the gender. But I got off on it. And it hurt! Felt like my mushroom head had been fried! On that note, here’s S.D.’s theory. Most people who have wet dreams are virgins. I haven’t had one since I’ve been sexually active. But then that poses the question: Are you a virgin if you’ve had a wet dream or masturbate until you’re blind?

Shit, I've killed SCORES of emo kids.

Actually, as of late, the sexual dreams I’ve had I never get to finish, thus betraying the proverbial wet dream. Yet the beauty of this is I don’t spill my seed and stay hard for an eternity. I’m the Mystical Prostitute from Dreamland! And for the record, I’m usually fucking women in my dreams. Mmmm….

I wouldn't dream of this shit if I was on Nyquil.

And now for the moral of the story. Wet dreams do not equal pleasure. They hurt. It’s like a 2-foot syringe being injected in your urethra. And to think, you almost get your navel pregnant. What would a hermaphrodite do if it had a wet dream and jizzed in its vagina?

We’ll save that question for the next blog.

Guys, check this out!

A song sang by Big Daddy Weave.

It has a really good music with wonderful lyrics!

I don’t think I can quote one of my favorite lyrics since I like them all – yes, I seriously do.

I find the lyrics to be very true and heart-warming.

BIG DADDY WEAVE – EVERYTIME I BREATHE

I am sure all of heaven’s heard me cry
As I tell You all the reasons why
This life is just too hard

But day by day
Without fail
I’m finding everything I need
And everything that You are
To me

Chorus:
Every time I breathe You seem a little bit closer
I never want to leave
I want to stay in Your warm embrace
Oh basking in the glory shining from Your face
And every time I get another glimpse of Your heart
I realize it’s true
That You are so marvelous God
And I am so in love with You

Now how could I after knowing One so great
Respond to You in any way
That’s less than all I have to give
But by Your grace I want to love You not with what
I say
But everyday
In a way that my life is lived

Chorus:
Every time I breathe You seem a little bit closer
I never want to leave
I want to stay in Your warm embrace
Oh basking in the glory shining from Your face
And every time I get another glimpse of Your heart
I realize it’s true
That You are so marvelous God
And I am so in love with You

Wrapped in Your mercy I want to live and never leave
I am held by how humble
Yet overwhelmed by Your majesty
Captured by grace and now I’m finding
I am free
You are marvelous God
And knowing You is everything

Here’s the vid: (I do NOT own this)

Using Firefox at home, at work, and having several computers that I use, syncing all the bookmarks started to get to be a large problem…

So after upgrading to version 3.5 of Firefox, Mozilla Weave Is a good solution, mainly because of two things:

- You can synchronize all your data across computers, including passwords

- You can deploy and use your own Weave server, which solves the lingering question about the privacy of my data: http://phaseshiftllc.com/archives/2009/10/09/setting-up-a-custom-weave-0-5-server

Anyway, after a few days of use, synchronization is not always without any problems. It works, but some times, I get duplicated folders, and bookmarks that I have to delete by hand… Not good. I’ll try to use it a bit more, to see if this is due to the number of computers and bookmarks that I have. One neat solution for finding duplicated bookmarks is the bookmarkDD plugin at http://bookmarkdd.mozdev.org/

If these issues keep going I’ll have to try Google Toolbar…

Attention, attention messieurs, vous vous faites avoir avec ces “weaves” aka perruques. Ça joue des sérieux tours, le lendemain matin!