Crystal Afro @ Gidore Event

Diposting oleh good reading on Jumat, 06 April 2012

Natural Belle's Field Reporter Crystal of United KinKdom

How to intro myself? Well I guess firstly Hi peoples, (I cant believe Im gona be on Naturalbelle Im so excited!) Im Crystal and I write a blog called United KinKdom.
I began it a year ago after graduating as a Community Arts Practitioner, as a way to document my decision to go natural. I began it partly for myself/ partly with the hope it might help someone else out there. If you had told me during my weave obsessed years that I would be part of the UK’s natural hair community, I would never have believed you. But here I am a year into being natural and I’ve made so many amazing new friendships and met so many inspirational people.

The great thing about the natural hair scene in the UK is that, although still in it’s early stages, it’s growing rapidly and as a result there are an increasing number of events popping up all over the UK. Last year I attended events in London, Birmingham and Nottingham, and this year I'm very excited to take my new role as Field Reporter for Natural Belle, meaning for any natural hair events I attend, I’ll be giving you the feedback right here.

Most recently I attended the Multi-Textures Hair Workshop, organized and hosted by the lovely Lukwesa Burak. Lukwesa is the founder of online store Gidore.com that stocks a number of hard-to-get hair products in the UK.
But you may also recognize Lukwesa from your TV as this multi-talented lady also presents Sky News. The event had various speakers and demonstrations including a representative from Kera Care Natural Textures, and the lady herself Jane Carter.

The highlight of the day was the workshop given by special guest Felicia Leatherwood. Felicia has been over from the states a few times and it stands to reason that each time it’s a full-house. This woman has styled the likes of Jill Scott and Will Smith and is recognized as a natural hair expert for a reason. Felicia took questions from the audience of over 200 women, and talked them through everything from how to comb your hair to the dangers of too much sugar in your diet.

In the audience and taking notes where a whole host of UK Youtubers & Bloggers including, Laila-Jean – Fusion of Cultures, Wunmi – woman in the Jungle, Fiona – Love Your Tresses, Pelumi of Care For Your Hair, Joycelyn of Afrocenchix, and many others. Aside from the opportunity to buy the US Brands like Shea Moisture & As I Am there were also UK vendors including Shea Butter Cottage, Mahogany Naturals and Adornment 365. Overall the day felt like a fantastically informative seminar and as always a nice chance to catch up with other ladies. I've posted a video review with clips of what Felicia had to say, on my blog, where you can also find a list of natural hair events happening in the UK.

Hope to see ya ‘round. Bye for now. Crystal Afro x