The Event: The Midlands Meet Up

I hope the name of my Blog United KinKdom, gives a clue towards how passionately I feel about supporting the growth of the natural hair community in the UK, but a quick look at the Events Page will show you that whilst in London I may be spoilt for choice, events happening else where are pretty scarce.

The Midlands Meet Up was a rare outa-London experience and a fantastic opportunity to get to know other ladies from else where in the UK

Not only was I impressed by the Shoreditch-esque colourful creativity of the Custard Factory, where it took place, I was also relieved at how easy it was to find, located just down the road from the Bus Station.

It’s the second year in a row that Lorien Lori has organized the meet-up and this year vendors included BeUnique, Black & Brown, Evelyn Products, Mahogany Naturals and The Goody Box UK, as well as accessory stalls.

The day was co-hosted by Super Fab Rae and featured a full rota of presentations, workshops, demos and even some poetry and a pop quiz.

Hair care hints and tips came from Joycelyn of Afrocenchix, and Lola of Lolas Curls while Sister E (The Calabash Hub), Tope (Mahogany Naturals) and Kadian gave audience members the opportunity to take part in head wrapping, hair styling and make up demos.

The day closed with a series of raffle ticket give-aways and extra prizes being given for most creative hair and style, and those of us who didn’t win anything were still lucky enough to receive one of Lorien’s fantastic goody bags containing a complete travel-size kit of Kera Care Natural Textures products as well as a few other samples. Before the end of the day there was just enough time for some music and socializing, and even a cheeky G&T by the poolside.

I couldn’t help but do some unintentional” natural spotting “on both the coach journey to and from Birmingham. Realizing that I was the only Black female with natural hair made me think even more about the importance of natural hair events, particularly for women outside of London where the Black population is often lower and consequently the chances of spotting a “natural” Black female is significantly reduced.

Going natural can be a major change, but the support and encouragement of others can play a pivotal role in helping women to find the strength and reassurance they may need to love their natural hair. I really hope to see a few more events like the midlands meet-up popping up around the UK.

I’ll be back soon with updates from the Beautiful Textures Launch, but remember to look out for the jubilee of hair events in June.

Crystal Afro