Challenge 1 was a very hard challenge to portray pictorially. All of the models showcased healthy, beautiful hair and polished pictures. What sets the Next Natural Model apart is her ability to express the challenge through her pictures as well as through her words! With this challenge, I had 3 very quick top selections that I believe did a good job of showing the challenge and/or showcased polished pictures that I can see in a magazine spread. My advice to all the models is to really dig into the challenge, be creative in your approach and in your hair styling, and really think about the finished look! You must always showcase a polished and ready for the runway or the magazine spread look! Good luck ladies!
Top selection: My top selection for week 1 is

Challenge 1 was a very hard challenge to portray pictorially. All of the models showcased healthy, beautiful hair and polished pictures. What sets the Next Natural Model apart is her ability to express the challenge through her pictures as well as through her words! With this challenge, I had 3 very quick top selections that I believe did a good job of showing the challenge and/or showcased polished pictures that I can see in a magazine spread. My advice to all the models is to really dig into the challenge, be creative in your approach and in your hair styling, and really think about the finished look! You must always showcase a polished and ready for the runway or the magazine spread look! Good luck ladies!

Top selection: My top selection for week 1 is: Natasha Houston.
I picked Natasha because I felt that she was the best match to the challenge. Her pictures illustrated the challenge while showing the beauty that is her natural healthy texture. Her pictures were polished and at a better resolution, I could see them in a magazine spread. Her story was touching and inspiring and showed her growth and progression from unhealthy to healthy hair!

To remove: This was a hard decision for me because all of the ladies are beautiful in their own way and had a story to tell. If I was to remove one person, I would remove Desyray Keizer – Desyray is another beautiful woman that I just did not get the creativity and originality I was looking for with this challenge. You have to look at every challenge as the most important one. She stated that she has been growing her locs for a year, yet there are no pictures of locs. That means she has not presented us with a look of her natural hair and therefore did not complete the challenge in my opinion.

I was not clear from her pictures if her pictures showed healthy hair or unhealthy hair. I wish she had left her hair unstraightened. She did not present a polished image that I could see in a magazine spread. While beautiful and her story was honest and from the heart, I do not think she is the next Natural Model.

Model Comments:
1.    Carlie M – Carlie was my number 3 selection. Her pictures were beautiful and polished. What I would have liked from her was a more creative depiction of unhealthy hair. It was hard to determine that the first hair style was her damaged hair! I was also concerned with one statement in her challenge response. She stated that people continue to stay in the processed world due to a lack of knowledge and community support (paraphrase). This statement put me off a little because there is a now a wealth of information and support out there now for those wanting to go natural. We have magazines (Naptural Roots and others), blogs, youtube videos, groups, meetups, expos. You have to always be concerned with what you are saying, how you are saying, and what your intentions are when you are seen as a role model.

2.    Natural Jael – Again, I was looking for a more creative demonstration of this challenge from Jael. While her hair looks healthy and beautiful, her pictures did not give me an overwhelming sense of the challenge. I couldn’t tell from her pictures that this was a damage challenge.

3.    Justyce Chavez – I was not impressed with Justyce’s photos for this challenge. I do not feel as if I was presented with photos that showcased the challenge in a creative way or that I could easily put into my magazine. Her look was not polished and I could not see enough of her hair to see her texture, health, or styling creativity.

4.    Natasha Houston – I was very impressed with Natasha’s photos. She showcased photos that are worthy of the title America’s Next Natural Model! They were creative, beautiful, polished, and they portrayed the challenge beautifully. I especially liked the mirror view looking at the doll. This is such a powerful picture that shows just how many of us have felt and do feel about our hair in relation to what we are TOLD/SHOWN is beautiful! Great job.

5.    Nefertiti – I know at this point I sound like a broken record, but I just did not see magazine quality photos from Neferetiti depicting this challenge in a way that would make me want to read the article attached to it.  I did like her primary photo showing her healthy hair and a beautiful city shot, but my eye was continually drawn to the background and AWAY from her.  Her jacket blends too much into the sky and I wish she had used some vibrant colors that really made her stand out from the background.  Her remaining photos were nice, but I did not see a lot of emotion from her. Your face as well as the setup of the picture must show the challenge.  I didn’t see that here.

6.    Kala G – Kala is a stunning beauty with equally beautiful hair. Again, I just did not see the challenge portrayed visually.  Her primary picture was not a very strong picture because she looks unhappy/angry.  I am finding it hard to tell from her pictures which one is the unhealthy hair and which is the healthy hair depiction.  I love the use of color in her photos and the backgrounds are not taking the focus from her.  I will be looking for more creativity from Kala.

7.    Chassity Bynum – Chassity’s pictures were pretty and showed three different styles with twists. I would have expected that the twists would have been more recently maintained as they looked old and didn’t match the polished look of her outfits and makeup.  For a challenge, you have to always present the best look. That could have easily been retwisting the edges so that the hair always looks its best.  I did like that she showed three different styles for set of twists, but this was not the challenge.  I am not able to see the challenge in her pictures.

8.    ReShonda Parker – With ReShonda, I was not able to determine if all her pictures showcased her own hair. The pictures with the rollers, I spent more time trying to determine if it was a weave or wig she was using as a prop to demonstrate the challenge.  I do like that she provided a variety of facial expressions so you could tell which were the damage and which were the healthy hair images.  What I would have liked was a more polished look to her primary picture.  I loved the hair, but was expecting more (makeup, accessories, background variety).  

9.    Jalita – Jalita was my second choice in this challenge.  I loved her creative use of props and her facial expressions were on point!  I could easily see her progression from unhealthy to healthy and I loved the use of the mirror to show her hair texture AND the happy look on her face. She presented photos that I could easily see in a spread of Naptural Roots Magazine!