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Showing posts with label Pro Natural Movement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pro Natural Movement. Show all posts
Interview with Yarminiah
Q: It is wonderful to see young successful business woman. How did you get your start in creating your jewelry line?
A: Thank you. I have dedicated seven years of my life to the fine arts. In that time I have studied/collaborated with artists of all mediums, but did not delve into jewelry making until a year and a half ago. P U R P O S E began at the end of last summer, a time in my life when I was eager to keep my work moving in new directions. It all began one morning when I felt particularly unmotivated, staring at a gigantic pack of matchsticks sitting in my room. I don't recall how the vision came to me but I found myself some glue and began creating earrings out of matchsticks. After a week I'd perfected the design and couldn't stop making them. I showed my sister, Yaminah, and she was incredibly inspired. The concept of making jewelry out of ordinary materials was born and we couldn't be more excited. We had begun a new chapter of creativity. Yaminah and I spent weeks hunting for new materials and began creating different unique designs. Then we began a blog. Deciding a name for our jewelry line was a no brainer- we had found a sense of purpose and hoped to share it. We sold our pieces at a local festivals and area selling in Spain and soon the Canary Islands! We are deeply invested in keeping P U R P O S E growing as a company and as a source of artistic inspiration. It has taken on a life of its own and created a new space for enriching collaborations!
A: Thank you. I have dedicated seven years of my life to the fine arts. In that time I have studied/collaborated with artists of all mediums, but did not delve into jewelry making until a year and a half ago. P U R P O S E began at the end of last summer, a time in my life when I was eager to keep my work moving in new directions. It all began one morning when I felt particularly unmotivated, staring at a gigantic pack of matchsticks sitting in my room. I don't recall how the vision came to me but I found myself some glue and began creating earrings out of matchsticks. After a week I'd perfected the design and couldn't stop making them. I showed my sister, Yaminah, and she was incredibly inspired. The concept of making jewelry out of ordinary materials was born and we couldn't be more excited. We had begun a new chapter of creativity. Yaminah and I spent weeks hunting for new materials and began creating different unique designs. Then we began a blog. Deciding a name for our jewelry line was a no brainer- we had found a sense of purpose and hoped to share it. We sold our pieces at a local festivals and area selling in Spain and soon the Canary Islands! We are deeply invested in keeping P U R P O S E growing as a company and as a source of artistic inspiration. It has taken on a life of its own and created a new space for enriching collaborations!
Q: You are currently studying in Barcelona Spain. How is your experience there? What was your motivation for studying abroad? And what is the culture like in Spain?
A: I am in college studying fine art in Spain. My experience in Barcelona cannot be described in one word. The architecture is breathtaking, and the open markets make your mouth water with their vibrant colors and fresh fruit. All the apartments have balconies with flowerpots and laundry drying on a string; its very picturesque. This city has granted me my first taste of flamenco dance. lI have been able to learn & converse with locals and others studying abroad. In addition to taking all my classes in Spanish, I have also learned a bit of Catalan, a dialect specific to Barcelona. I have been able to experience who I am as an artist outside of the United States while collaborating with other artist here as well. As for my decision and motivation to study abroad, my family is from Honduras and Puerto Rico and after having visited both countries several times, I developed an appetite to explore. I've learned that Spaniard way of life is much more relaxed than in the United States. The Spaniards rely on a basic schedule that allows time for
relaxation and work. Many work in the morning, have coffee break at around 11, siesta/lunch from 2-4pm,resume work at 5pm, and a late dinner at around 10-11pm. This took some time to get used to but it is such an efficient way to spread your time out-something I am not used to living in New York. Also many here are family oriented. Almost every Catalan I know goes back home every weekend to spend time and have dinner at home with their families. One interesting fact is that there are numerous Spanish youth who wear their hair locked here. I have seen youth with hairstyles that are a mixture of a shaved head, curly bangs and long locs all on one head!A: I am in college studying fine art in Spain. My experience in Barcelona cannot be described in one word. The architecture is breathtaking, and the open markets make your mouth water with their vibrant colors and fresh fruit. All the apartments have balconies with flowerpots and laundry drying on a string; its very picturesque. This city has granted me my first taste of flamenco dance. lI have been able to learn & converse with locals and others studying abroad. In addition to taking all my classes in Spanish, I have also learned a bit of Catalan, a dialect specific to Barcelona. I have been able to experience who I am as an artist outside of the United States while collaborating with other artist here as well. As for my decision and motivation to study abroad, my family is from Honduras and Puerto Rico and after having visited both countries several times, I developed an appetite to explore. I've learned that Spaniard way of life is much more relaxed than in the United States. The Spaniards rely on a basic schedule that allows time for
Q: What is your hair story? Have you always had natural hair? Or did you experience a need to change at some point in your life?
A: I have pretty much been natural my whole life. I've only had one perm and one texturizer in the 20 years I've been alive. My older sister has been a mother to my hair. I have adapted practically everything she has learned throughout her hair journey, except she now has loc's. When I was younger, she administered avocado, mayonnaise, and egg yolk treatments every weekend. All of that formed my hair journey. It was after I moved to Miami during high school that I began wearing my hair out in an afro. It was my high school friends that encouraged me to take a risk and let my hair be what it wanted. After Miami I moved to New York for college and saw so many other naturals which helped me further develop confidence and I began trying new styles. I even dyed my hair a rusty blonde! Up until my move to Barcelona, I took New York's palette of style for granted. In Spain, it is a different type of stare that I get on the streets, one that shocked and made me uncomfortable at first. I have only recently begun wearing my hair out as I had to ease into being comfortable with the stares. Natural hair and personal style shouldn't be so shocking.
Q: Have you experience in any negativity or had any experiences because of your natural hair?
A: Of course there are always strangers on the street who have something to say under their breath as soon as I pass by, even in the US. Some of my extended family members simply don't understand why I won't just get a relaxer, but with the negativity also comes admiration. Many appreciate the confidence required to rock such a bold hairstyle.
Q: What are three products you can't live without for nurturing/styling your hair?
A: Honestly, I don't style my hair much. But when I do - olive oil for moisture, spearmint essential oil to tame dandruff. I find that Alaffia’s Every Day Shea Moisturizing Shampoo (its free of synthetic fragrances, parabens and sodium lauryl sulfate) and a big toothed comb are an absolute must.
Q: What would you say to someone who's thinking about embracing their natural hair, but scared about being rejected in various parts of their lives?
A: At the end of the day, it is you and your hair. You have to face your fears to not only challenge your character but also to develop a sense of who you are! People cannot make those decisions for you. If you are ready to embrace your natural self, then you must surround yourself with people who can accept you and encourage you.
Q: How can we keep up with you and your journey i.e. blog, twitter, facebook, fotki, tumblr, personal or professional website? (Optional)A: P U R P O S E jewelry blog
Dolls of Today
See see more ethnically rich dolls, check Naturally Beautiful Hair album on Facebook.
Stylish Blogger Award!
Thank you Roots Of Blackness, Chasing Metamorphosis and Nappy Headed Black Girl - for naming our Blog one of the top Stylish Blogger!!!To Spread the love, I would like to share this award with some fabulous blogs that I follow daily:
Franchesca.net
I Love My Loc's
Le Coil
Beads, Braids & Beyond
Chasing Metamorphosis
Baby Makin(g) Machine
Goapele
Runway Wonderland
Wahidah Fowler
i Rock Loc's
& sooo many more!
Fixed the Image!
I have been talking about this since last year. The original image that I had on the bottom of the Naturally Beautiful Hair Website welcome page, only featured women with loc's. For some odd reason, it did not click with me, for awhile - that this image did not reflect our large community of natural hair styles. I just recently updated the image on the website (see new and old image below). But it is still not feeling very diverse to me. I would like to add some images of our men, as well as coils and braid photos. It is a work in progress.
Cassidy's Naturals Night Out - Saturday April 9th!!
Cassidy at Natural Selection blog has been putting together great events for us in the Bay Area. The next event will be next Saturday, April 9th at 7pm. Here is more about the event from Cassidy's blog:
"We’ll be taking over Head Designs Salon in Oakland for the evening where you’ll get to enjoy music, champagne, and meeting new and old Bay Area Naturals friends! There will be FOUR styling demonstrations by the expert stylists at Head Designs Salon. Styles will feature transitioners, loc’ers, and loose naturals — so we’re covering a huge part of the natural hair spectrum! The stylists will be using Komaza Care products! Even more exciting is that the Komaza Care Family will BE at the event so you can get to know the amazing women (and men) behind the company. Attendees will also have the chance to win giveaways sponsored by Komaza Care and NaturallyCurly.com. But not to worry, if you don’t win big, all attendees will receive goodie bags with product samples and CurlMart coupons sponsored by NaturallyCurly.com."
America's Next Natural Model
If you have not already checked it out, start following the America's Next Natural Model contest. It is an annual pageant that celebrates the beauty and versatility of natural hair.
Top African American Hair Blogs
Out blog has been listed on the Masters in Teaching website as one of the Top African American Hair Blogs. Thank you Lori for the blog highlight!
Thank you N.B.H. Blog Subscribers!
We have reached another great milestone! We now have 800 plus subscriber/followers. Thank you to everyone that has stayed with me and this great community. Your support and encouragement has made it all worth while. As always... this blog is for you and about you. Let's continue to have a another great year of celebrating our natural beauty...
Natural Beauty - Kwarana Adrea
This weeks Natural Beauty is model, Kwarana Adrea. A good friend of Kwarana emailed me and recommend that I feature Kawarana. So I am very happy to introduce you to this lovely young lady, that has been natural all of her life.
What inspired your to have natural hair? Well growing up I've always notice family, friends, random people in the street - all following a trend of weaves,extensions... straighten hair, basically. And I didn't want to be part of that group. Even still to this day, I'm the only person in my whole family who has locs. Never in my life, did I ever put chemicals in my hair. The quality and texture of my hair has never changed since day one. I remember being such an outcast in my school years, because all of little girls my age were already perming their hair. It honestly never bothered me . My younger sister always begged my parents to have her hair permed, but I never did. As a child I grew up with every possible natural hair style you could imagine....I had the braids, corn rows, William sister beads, Afro puffs, mickey mouse puffs and Afros. I carried those hairstyles up through elementary and middle school then eventually high school. Finally in my second year of high school, I started to grow loc's.When I first started the loc my hair, I got so much negative feedback from a lot of females, but that didn't stop me. And look at me now ..... Its been six years now and I love my locs!!!!! I was meant to have natural hair all my life; and I wish alot of women could follow... The same young ladies back in high school, who told me to not loc my hair, are in love with my hair now and actually are on a path for having natural hair. So I'm very thrilled about that!!! 
Maintenance Tips: I use two very good product line for my hair and I would recommend it for everyone....I use the "Loc A Fella twist gel" & the " Jamaican Mango & Lime Island Oil". These two products work well with my hair. I used the "Jamaican Mango Wax" for a couple of months at one point, but then I stopped because the wax created build up. So I wouldn't suggest using the wax. But a great alternative is honey. But I have always been curious to know if other people with loc's use wax and if it also created the same build up..."
Love....
Loc's. Love. Curl's. Love. Braids. Love.
Afro's. Love. Fades. Love. Dreads.
Love. Twist. Love. Coils. Love.
Exciting Amazing Beauty!!
Exciting Amazing Beauty!!
Love
all natural beauty!
all natural beauty!
Awesome Bloggers - Mop Top Maven!
I am always excited when I discover a new blog that is full of great information, tips, natural beauty and more. This month, I want to highlight Mop Top Maven. Not only is she and her hair gorgeous! But she also have recipes, great information, YouTube tutorials and gorgeous pictures on her site. Her blog will be added to my Favorites as of now!
The Mop Top Maven
Mop Top Maven - You Tube
Facebook
The Mop Top Maven
Mop Top Maven - You Tube
Regular Braid Out Tutorial
Flexi Rod Tutorial - Part 2
See Part 1 Here.
"In Love with Locs" Video
Check out this great video created by Keisha (aka - 'decor8mylife' on youtube). Thank you for creating this Keisha and for including me and so many other natural beauties!
JILcreations (aka -The Flying Ewe) Custom Doll Hair
*To have your dolls hair custom made by Carolyn, please contact her on Flickr.com. You may need to have an account with Flickr in order to email her. Try this link for Carolyn's contact page.
700 Subscribers!!!!
As always, I am very thankful to everyone that subcribes and visits. Please keep an eye out for giveways, that will have prizes, that will make great gifts!
"Mommy"... "you have hair like me!"
Her daughter was there with her and was so delighted. The little girl said "You look beautiful Mommy. You have hair like me!"
This is one great example of how we often teach better, through our actions, instead of just words. It is a beautiful message and I am so happy to see that the little girl in the end, talks about how much she loves her natural hair.
RE: Bay Area Natural Hair Gathering
Thank you Cassidy, from Natural Selection Blog, who hosted another wonderful Natural Hair Gathering on Saturday, October 23, 2010. Please take a look at the photos below from Saturdays event in Oakland, California.
The event was filled with laughter, product swaps, giveaways, great food, and familiar faces from the last gathering in SF. I met some great people at this event, and heard some inspiring stories about what inspires these beautiful woman to continue to embrace their beautiful natural textures. I hope to stay in contact with everyone from the gathering and I look forward to the next Natural Hair Gathering event! Thank Cassidy for all of your hard work with putting this events together.
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