Naturalista :)

I was featured on a blog for the first time ever!

I met blogger, medical student and fellow naturalista Yemisi Adesida while ranting on a mutual friend's facebook wall about the guardian article on hair fads in Nigeria. I had a lot to say!

"It's not that simple... or that complicated. There's more natural hair awareness these days - less than ideal, but it's not hopeless. Extensions don't have the same racial/ethnic implications back home as I imagine they have elsewhere, simply because we do not have issues of racism - not directly, in any case. It's just a case of following the international trends for us. (In the more 'artistic' circle natural hair has become a trend in its own right; not because people understand it or know how to handle it, but because it is the look that 'creatives' in the 'industry' have. A trip to bogobiri for instance, will clarify.) I also hesitate to agree with the suggestion that ridiculously expensive extensions are a particularly Nigerian indulgence, because it is a fact that most of the celebrities on the covers of magazines/in movies/etc are styled with equally expensive hair, and in a variety of colours and lengths too!

So much to say! Lol. I'm natural, but I wear natural looking weaves, or braids, or flat out false hair. Is one more acceptable than the other? Is it an issue of identity or is it an issue of choice? Or is it the economical implications of the indulgence that we are discussing? As a natural I have friends who flat out treat my hair as some brave, exotic adventure, as well as others who have been 'inspired' to go natural as well. But for Nigerian women in Nigeria, what does it matter really? I haven't decided. I don't think there can be one 'answer' because every woman has a right to make her own choices... "

She asked to quote me on a post responding to this, and when she does i'll put up a link to it here.
In the mean time she asked me to be the 'Hairlight of the Day' on her blog, and I of course said yes.

An excerpt from the feature:

Why did you choose to go natural? 

While relaxed I had worn my hair in short styles off and on as I was mildly obsessed with the idea of split ends. One day I realised that because my edges never really grew, they had never been trimmed! I had this image of split ends going all the way down into my scalp and decided to do something about it. I think the answer to your question is that I didn’t really make a conscious decision to go natural, even after I did.

Read it all here!