More Togetherness - Johannesburg Natural Hair Meet Up

To end off the fabulous month of March I attended the aptly named Johannesburg Natural Hair Meet Up which took place in Maboneng District on Saturday 21 March. Be warned - this post has a load of pics (:

There was slight disorder at the entrance to the floor of the venue as a video/series/scene shoot was going on in a different room of the same floor and this delayed the kickoff of the event a little but we eventually got in and settled down to some fabulousness.

Chairing the proceedings of the day was the glamorous Karabo Kekana of Afro Amour (once we got talking we eventually kick-started our memory banks and remembered we once worked at the same firm some years ago lol talk about a small world).

 Giving us her hair maintenance tips and details of her hair journey was the femme extraordinaire,  Ruth of Natural Sisters. She talked about her journey and gave some details on hair maintenance - the one thing that stayed with me was the effect of milk on the body right up to its effects on the scalp resulting in itching and sometimes dandruff. Ruth spoke about how no matter what she did, her scalp had no dandruff but was always itching. That was until a discussion with a friend let her to stopping dairy - her beloved friend's advise. She hasn't looked back and the itching stopped. (more was said about this from the panel discussion and I have certainly heard it before and as you know, we know what we need to do to be healthy but we just don't do it). The audience was all ears thirsty for more.

There were various products on display from various vendors such as Earth, Africa Grace, Afro Amour and Natural Moisture products. A new one for me was a hair butter called Asili founded by the lovely Jolly Mokorosi (she had her hair styled as well by Ijeoma - see pics below). It has bees wax which I have heard about and what I liked is that it is mixed with the usual key ingredients such as Shea Butter and coconut oil. South Africans we rock!
I was really touched and inspired by Lethabo Nyathi of the Sari for Change organisation who specialises in up-cycling donated and/or used Sari's into various other garments by training unemployed women...they had some really pretty pieces hence the term up-scaling (: South Africans we rock indeed!

Above: The World Changer Lethabo Nyathi and Karabo Kekanaa and one of the ladies who won a prize
The beautiful Ijeoma Eboh of Klassy Kinks a Nigerian based in the USA and changing perceptions across the globe demonstrated 3 hairstyles on varying lengths of hair. I was looking forward to especially meeting her and she is graceful as she is humble. She gave a really good tip on what to do if you are travelling and have forgotten your silk/satin headscarf...spray your hair with a little water, if dry and required, and then cover your hair with a plastic or plastic shower cap (most hotels will have these) and then cover with any scarf you have. Your hair is protected AND she managed to maintain the moisture of her hair for the duration of her stay. Look at that fro.

 

 

 

 Above:Ijeoma and the gorgeous Dineo Malembe of Earth Hair

 

Above: Ijeoma and Jolly

 

Look at that Fro - curly hair GROWS!

 

A very nice change to the usual hair meet up programmes was the more holistic approach and more than welcome insight and inspiration by the lovely Charlotte Steenkamp of Africa Grace andbetter4life. Charlotte - a white female - a Nutritional Therapist and Wellness Practitioner who didn't let her skin tone or colour take away from what she was there to say. She didn't just connect on a whole other level but she managed to get into our hearts and minds and leave her footprints well planted. She straight away mentioned that her hair although natural could not compare to the beautiful crowns before her or try to relate to those journeys BUT her message was (in summary), healthy hair and a healthy mindset and a healthy being all begins from within...most of all, if you live in love and embrace yourself a lot of the issues or illnesses we face fall away. Things such as illness have a deeper origin within us, holding on to for example negativity can bring with it a whole number of other things that we never want. Charlotte spoke about her journey and how she got to where she is today - a being of influence, a being of love and someone I hope you will all meet one day.

Maxine Jafta gave some really good tips on fashion and our fro's. (I thought I knew her from somewhere then whilst going through some pics I realised that I had seen her at the FroParty held earlier this month). Maxine also gave some guidance on always ensuring our Fro's especially in corporate, should be at least neat, even just the front of the hair should be neat - I understood clearly where she was coming from but some in the audience were ready to pounce lol and I get where they were coming from - our fro's are the way they are and if we are to embrace them in freedom then we let them be as they are, all free and fabulous. My take is if we can make sure our weaves and relaxed hair are always neat especially in the front of the hair THEN why not our Fro...and its not so much making it neat for others but just not looking like we just rolled out of bed and still having bits of blanket in our fro. Yes some fros are what they are but it is hard enough as it is having to face all the naysayers about us embracing us so why not love our fros and show that love. We wash our fros and love our fro, investing time and effort and how about just making sure they are as good as they really are.

Above: the Fashion Guru Maxine Jafta 





There were giveaways and goody bags and some food and juice if you were early enough and the event closed off with a panel discussion with the speakers where questions were answered and various comments made. A fun and informative afternoon. Heres to more from the lovely Margaret Chandia who made it happen.

Above: Ijeoma and Margaret Chandia

 

 Above:The Panel - Living Hair Dictionaries

 Above: Me and the passionate Sharifa Shongwe aka Jozi4C

Above: Me, Portia and Karabo of Afro Amour

 Above: Me, Portia and Shereen of Nubian Nature

 Above:Me and the glamorous Matlhodi

 Above:Me and the Super Woman Jolly of Asili

 What was in the Goody Bag

More Selfies lol

 



Listen to your heart - Listen to your Hair