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CHRIS MARCH AND HIS RUNWAY COLLECTION

Chris March, one of the four finalists in Season 4 of Project Runway, used human hair as part of the design of some of his dresses.

Project Runway chose Rami Kashou to join Christian Siriano and Jillian Lewis as the third finalist to appear on the television broadcast. The fourth finalist shows at Bryant Park also.

Creepy? Many think so. Or maybe just creative.

You decide

TELL HAIREALITY!

CULTURE CLASH……..part 2

Business is very slow in many African braiding shops, even on Saturday.

A lot of braiders complain about this. “Out there,” they say, are other, invisible braiders, working alone out of their living rooms. Those other braiders worked in storefront salons, their shop bound counterparts say, until the cosmetology act was updated in 2001, and lots of braiding shops received cease and desist letters. A lot of braiders became too scared to continue in the shops, whether they understood the meaning of the letters or not. They decided to “go underground”–as one woman puts it.

The price of micro braids has been driven down by home braiders.

Home braiders existed before 2001, but not in large enough numbers to count. But over the last five years they’ve mushroomed to the point where they’re affecting the viability of the storefronts. Once they were established at home, many found that less overhead made it easy for them to lower their prices and attract the storefronts’ clientele. Microbraids– –which can take 6 to 8 hours to complete—-used to go for at least $400, $500 if the customer wanted human hair instead of synthetic. Since the home braiders began “breaking the prices,” as many women call it, the going rate for micro braids is down to around $250; one shop does them for $150. African braiders mail-order hair by weight from Korean or Chinese distributors in New York. Good quality hair is $50 a pack or more. Some women also complain that home braiders will walk into their shops when there are more customers waiting inside than braiders to work on them to pass around flyers and business cards. Sometimes customers walk away then and there.

The profit margin in the African braiding industry used to be steep, before the state updated the definition of cosmetology and triggered the price-breaking epidemic. Most braiders paid nothing to learn their skill, and beyond the raw material–the hair–they require next to nothing in the way of supplies. One loctician said she knew African braiders who used to pull in $90,000 or $100,000 a year at their shops. The same women now worry about making the rent each month.

One of the women said she believes that if the home braiders felt safe again, they’d return to the shops. I asked why she thinks anyone would voluntarily give up the comfort of working in her own home and paying just one rent. At an in-home salon, she said, the braider works without the support and protection of a larger community. The braid shops make it so African women can come out of their homes, and set up real businesses.

Part 3, Another piece of the culture clash

CULTURE CLASH

Western Standards vs. Ancient Art

People of African descent have braided hair in intricate styles for centuries.

In the last two decades, Africans have immigrated to the United States in droves to open braid shops and earn a living.

In large urban centers like Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Atlanta, there suddenly seemed to be an African braiding shop on every corner.

Then the states stepped in. State legislatures in California, Tennessee, Illinois and Georgia wanted the braid shops to become licensed by the state, and the braiders to go to cosmetology school.

Into the fray steps Taalib-Din Uqdah, of Cornrows & Co., a Washington, D.C. based braiding shop.

Uqdah successfully organized braider, loctician, and natural hair providers in fighting cosmetology boards and giants of government regulatory agencies that harassed and jailed braiders for operating braid, lock, and natural hair businesses. As a result of Uqdah’s grassroots lobbying and consulting efforts, landmark legislation was passed and Federal lawsuits were won that freed hair braiders in many states from outdated cosmetology laws that hindered their cultural practice.

Some West African braiders hold licenses from braiding schools in their native countries, where they learned to wash their hands between clients and what scalp infections look like and that braiding too tightly can cause hair loss. The locticians, whose trade is more recently popular, learned at seminars and workshops hosted by companies like Sisterlocks, a California styling business that successfully sued there for exemption from licensure.

The problems caused by some of the legislative action have forced some braiders underground…in other words….to the kitchen.

Part 2 will explore other aspects of this culture clash.

Should braiders have cosmetology licenses?

Split Ends: Ready for Weaven’ Steven?

Weavin’ Steven, (Steven Noss) of Pittsburgh, the “baddest white boy in hair weaves”, goes to Nashville, Tenn. in an exchange with Melanie Shelley, who doesn’t do “ethnic hair”. More at Split Ends Revisitied: Ready for Weaven’ Steven?.

The Style Network

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ANTM: THE STRESS, THE DRAMA, THE MAKEOVER!

  

                   Season 9

America’s Next Top Model will return for it’s tenth season February 20.

The best episode?   Makeovers, without question.

It’s all about the hair.

The hair can make or break these model wannabes. Remember the girl who walked off the show rather than have her hair cut shorter?

 

Jaeda never adjusted to her haircut.

Or Brittany , with the painful, unmanageable  fire engine red weave? 

And who can forget Bianca, season 9, and how well she took to the almost bald look?

 

The mushroom look of the winner, Saleisha, was not to be believed.  Of course, many feel her win last season was not to be believed.

 

Say what you will about Miss Jade, she was correct when she said models in magazines had long hair.       

                                                         Miss Jade

                                                

                                                                           

The makeover show is usually after Tyra and the Gang have dropped a couple of girls.     

Around  Week 4.

Speaking of dropped, looks like Twiggy is out and Paulina Petrokova is in.

 

Is the Makeover the best episode?

Tell Haireality!

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The New Rapunzels

Extensions and Weaves

                                                 The Ultimate Hair Blog
Thanks to weaves and extensions, we can have happy hair everyday.
Let’s discuss the latest trends and the trendsetters in this expanding, multi-billion dollar industry।

HOW ‘BOUT A HISTORY LESSON?

(you know you wanted to go back to school)

Women wearing extensions dates back to anicient Eygpt. In fact, extension hair was recently found on a mummy!
Human hair is grown mostly by ladies of various ages throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa.European hair is more fine or narrow following the cuticle removal process. Indian hair is oval, like European human hair and about the same diameter once stripped of its cuticle layer. Human hair is harvested in various countries, where it is gathered using special hair brushes, and then it is sold to harvesters. The hair harvesters remove the cuticle layer from the hair and bundle it according to length; it is carefully separated into standard color groups. Finally, it is sold to various distributors around the world, then sold to wig maker manufacturers, beauty supply houses, and hair salons.

Today, hair from India is in very high demand. This is a multi-billion dollar import business in the United States.