Going Natural’s exhibit featured in the international newspaper Amigoe

The first annual natural hair and beauty fest on the island of Curaçao was a great success. Direct TV’s Germône de Lima, a natural herself, not just interviewed team Kuralicious on her morning show Mainta, she and her co-host Maurilhio Nobrega Jr. also visited and even participated in the event.

Kuralicious opened on Saturday September 9 with Going Natural’s exhibition Bad Hair Uprooted. Founder Marlynella Conception started the evening by welcoming invited guests and sharing the vision of the very first natural hair, beauty and health fest on Curaçao.

Miss Conception followed up by introducing salon owner and Natural Hairstylists Sabine Bellevue. Miss Sabine, all the way from New York, didn’t just show case her incredible talent but also showed the endless versatility of natural hair. Three beautiful local models each with different textures got complete different hairstyles. The audience watched the locs sculpture, intricate cornrows and bouffant hairstyle in awe while enjoying the served tapas and a drink.

Soon it was time for the keynote of the evening by M.S. Mireille Liong, the woman behind the exhibition Bad Hair Uprooted. Fascinated by the untold history of Black Follicles, the guests silently listened while Miss Liong, who was also invited from New York, brought the story to live. The evening came to close with an engaged audience who could individually relate to the portraits, the book and getting rid of the idea of bad hair by uprooting the history of Black Follicles.

With Team Kuralicious on Direct TV

Kuralicious; the expo

Sunday was the day of the expo with a marketplace, workshops and gatherings. It was one of those very hot days on Curaçao but all workshops were full and the constant flow of people visiting the marketplace, workshops and networking, made Kuralicious a great success.

Going Natural Workshops

I personally truly enjoyed the workshops because people were truly engaged and asked questions they clearly had been struggling with.

As usual when I do workshops, I gave a set of products to a model who was willing to try them out and share her experience, just like with Cherelice for demonstration purposes.

As Sheryl shows, washing with the Going Natural Herbal Shampoo followed by treating your hair with the Detox Conditioner then twisting with the Silky Shea Hair Butter, never fails to give beautiful curl definition that lasts. This package is called Going Natural Simple Start and you can order it at FromUsByUs.com, the Marketplace for Black Hair Care Products. Just watch the video of a woman who said that her hair couldn’t keep a curl. 

The workshop Intro Locs was also a success. Despite the fact that not many people in general wear locs on the island, it was a full house. And not only that, I got a lot of questions. Still only three women were contemplating locing their hair. Their main obstacle was acceptance. You will definitely not get a job in banking or other conservative areas on Curaçao if you have locs. That is an issue. We got a long way to go all the more reasons to share Bad Hair Uprooted, the Untold History of Black Follicles. We can’t know where we’re going if we don’t know where we’ve been.  

I am happy that I also had the opportunity to watch Sabine at work. The workshops were also full and people were as engaged. Not just as a teacher but also as a stylist Sabine did an amazing jobs styling hair on the spot.

The Marketplace

The marketplace was absolutely impressive. From locally produced hair products with unique ingredients from the island to amazing accessories and home accents were available for very reasonable prices.   

Too busy with my own workshops there was no time to visit all stands. Still, I did have the chance to purchase infused water from from Elly Sambo of It’s Yummy, attend a headwrap workshop by Inonge of Inonge’s Fashion & Designs and meet with the Sabria Mahawat Khan who is interested in joining the FromUsByUs.com marketplace with Safa Organics. Stay tuned!

Panel Discussion

Kuralicisous came to a close with a panel discussion. The panel moderated by Elianthe Trinidad consisted of Salon Owner/Natural Hairstylist Sabine Bellevue, Miss Belkis Osepa, the news reader who was belittled because of her natural hairstyle, Maurilhio Nobrega Jr, a lady who used to have long locs and purchased my very first book Kroeshaar Wat je Moet Weten en Meer and myself. We had a wonderful dialogue with the audience that would not have ended any time soon if Marlynella didn’t give us notice that all good things come to an end.

Clearly natural hair lives on Curaçao and there was definitely a need for a fest. With Kuralicious Marlynella managed to fulfill the need beyond just show casing hair products. With the exhibition, the documentary and the workshops, the event was a complete educative engaging cultural treat.  

Amigoe, the international newspaper for Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao , featured Kuralicious with the headline There is no such a thing as Bad Hair quoting my words from the Untold History of Black Follicles. I couldn’t wish for more and already look forward to the next one.

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