CURLVOLUTION 2015: A Curly Revolution!

22 Jun

I don’t often travel South of the Thamesso enthusiastically, but the promise of meeting Jenell B Stewart of Kinky Curly Coily Meand hair expert,Felicia Leatherwood(whose Instagram accounts I have been known to scroll through for hours), had me skipping all the way to the Canary Wharf’s Hilton Hotel. It was refreshing to see a man fully immersed in the natural hair community; Action Jackson was an excellent host. His interpretation of the dialogue around 'loving yourself from the inside' and, consequently, embracing your crowning glory; was nothing short of uplifting.

While I did not manage to attend all of the workshops, I did hear excellent reviews about the ‘Business of Blogging’ seminar, and I did get a taster of Felicia Leatherwood’s 'Hair Care and Styling' talk. I also really enjoyed Jenell Stewart’s talk entitled ‘Being natural isn’t easy but you can survive’. For me, the stand out moment of the day was during Stewart’s talk. An attendee stood up to ask a question, but took the opportunity to first acknowledge her sister; a talented mobile hairdresser who was too shy to shout out for herself when talk turned to stylists. In that moment, with Jenell's encouragement, the stylist (@NatzDT) gained a room full of new Instagram followers and enough business to keep her going for a year! Contrary to the title, moments like these suggest that we naturals don’t just survive, we embrace and empower each other too.

The marketplace offered the chance to explore new brands and improve knowledge, but it did something more; it provided the opportunity to meet the people behind the brands, namely Joycelyn of Afrocenchixand Melissa Sinclair, the all-round lovely lady and founder of Big Hair. I jumped at the chance to familiarise myself brands such as Sheabutter Cottage and Fashion Fair(where I had my lipstick done) plus I learned all about the benefits of silk and satin pillowcases and headscarves from Ayamour.

AfroNoire's editor, Deborah Marie and I had the opportunity to snap some of the women in attendance who graciously and excitedly shared their favourite thing to do with their hair!