I titled this weeks challenge, “Ain’t I a Woman?” after Sojourner Truth’s famous speech in 1851. I feel as if sometimes natural haired women are often seen as less attractive than other women because of the length of our hair or the texture. Women who wear head-wraps are also stigmatized in various ways. In our society I think that long-hair is often associated with beauty, but beauty comes in all shapes, sizes, colors and textures. All women are beautiful and every woman’s hair texture, length, and size should be embraced. In this challenge, I wanted to show that natural hair doesn’t make you any less of a woman. In nature, in a head-wrap, and even in the studio ain’t I a woman?
I was ecstatic to receive the handmade pangi and Ponytail Holder from Suriname. Both of these pieces are especially well made and very beautiful. The pangi was magnificently crafted. I could tell that a lot of work was put into the creation of this item. Each pattern was hand sewn onto the royal purple cloth. The detail on the edges of the pangi are amazingly beautiful. It is obvious that there was a lot of attention paid to the this garment. Purple is also my favorite color and this piece is a gorgeous shade of royal purple with some white, lavender, and blue portrayed in the pattern.
I wanted to show that both the Pangi and the pony-tail holder could both be used for different purposes. In the pictures outside I show the Pangi being used as a shirt tied in the front. In the studio I show the Pangi as a top tied in the back and also as a head-wrap. I show the pony-tail holder being used in my outside as an arm band and inside as a ponytail holder.
For my hairstyles this week, I wanted to show my hair in defined curls. I feel like so far in the competition I have shown my hair in big almost poofy styles but I haven’t yet shown my defined curl pattern and so that’s what I did. I first washed my hair with Going-Natural’s Shampoo and conditioned with the Going-Natural’s Detoxifying Deep Conditioner. Next, I sectioned off my hair and applied Going-Natural’s Curl Keeper Light from root to tip. I racked the product through my hair and once I felt like I had a good amount, I took my Denman brush and shingled my ends. Shingling just means I held my hair tightly a couple inches above my ends and brushed my ends outwards. This process helps to smooth the hair and define the natural curls we have. After I completed this process on my entire head, I went back and blow dried my roots. I really liked the results and I loved the Curl Keeper Light. In comparison with Kinky Curly Custard, I think my hair got the same curl definition with less stickiness and much less use of the product. I really did like the Curl Keeper Light and I think the product definitely lives up to it’s name. My curls did keep all day and it did not feel as if they were weighed down by a heavy product. I will definitely be using this product for my defined curl styles.
For the pictures with the ponytail holder, I wanted to showcase the beautiful hairpiece and my curls along with it. What’s great about the ponytail holder is that it stretches for bigger ponytails. It also has wonderful wood clasps to secure an up-do. For the head-wrap, I wanted to do a Nefertiti style wrap. I have always loved the beauty and style of ancient Egypt. The ancient Egypt women exemplified magnificence and Nefertiti’s head wrap is an iconic style. I think a head wrap symbolizes a strong woman, no matter what culture she is from. To do this style I started by putting my hair into a high bun. Then, I folded about 1/3 pangi hot dog style on the top and the bottom so that the pattern was all that could be seen. I then placed one end of the pangi on my head and slowly began to wrap the other end around until it was fully wrapped. Once it was wrapped I simply tucked in the exposed edges and whalla! A Nefertiti style wrap. Head-wraps are beautiful and the beauty of a woman is only accentuated she wears one.
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To give you voters a chance to create your own perfect curl definition, the Curly Twist Out Hair Milk or the Curl Keeper are on sale and so is the Ponytail Holder. So check the Napshop now!
