THIS WEEK'S ISSUE — Updated Every Monday!
“I feel like a girlfriend has died.” – Michaela angela Davis
On Friday evening, cultural critic and writer Michaela…
In the last month, it’s safe to say that singer/songwriter/humanitarian Alicia Keys has been a hot topic — at least…
From the start, Christina Milian and The-Dream’s relationship was a conundrum. After dating briefly, the two announced their engagement and…
Why are African Americans infrequent international flyers?
Recently, I caught myself thinking out loud.
I’ve never been one to bite my tongue, and knowing myself and how…
Recently, a young brother at a party informed me that “White girls are coming up in the world these days”. “You…
Why classist and separatist attitudes are counterproductive to progress.
Exploring the growing myth of rappers and the Illuminati.
What do we mean when we call ourselves ‘independent women?’
The painful history behind hair and race in the Coloured community of South Africa.
Reclaiming the power to call the shots, and being the first to ask for the number.
The importance of self-awareness and honesty to winning the dating game.
You Know You Love Being Natural When…
Do you get upset when not seeing at least one natural present in a series of television or print ads? Can you spot another natural from miles away? Do you walk past a mirror and do a double-take and smile at your own hair? When it comes to family and friends are you the go-to person for natural hair questions? If you answered yes to any of these questions, and fit five or more of the descriptions below, you definitely love being natural.
You Know You Love Being Natural When…
- Either your T-shirt, tote bag, key chain or any other accessory saysyou are.
- You can’t remember the last time you straightened your hair.
- You have your own library of natural hair books.
- You don’t own a flat iron.
- You belong to more than one natural hair social networking community.
- You have a natural hair blog.
- TWA, ACV, EVOO, Co-wash, Poo/Pre-poo, EO and Hand-in-Fro are a part of your vocabulary.
- You follow or subscribe to other naturals via Fotki, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc.
- You are aware of the effects of petrolatum, SLS/SLES, parabens, paraffins, and ‘cones’ and you are not a chemist.
- Instead of avoiding water, you run to it, even using it as a styling aid.
[Photo Credit: Andrea @ www.ilovemyhair.com – make sure you get one!)
Natural Clutchettes – please feel free to add on to the list!
RELATED POSTS
29 Comments – Add Yours
TWITTER — @clutchmagazine
- Discussion: Will Bad Boy Records Rise Again? http://bit.ly/bt4ouU 12 hrs ago
- 5 Products You Should Borrow From Your Boyfriend or Brother: http://bit.ly/9IeXil via @addthis 12 hrs ago
- Want Smaller Feet? You Can Have It With Comestic Surgery: http://bit.ly/b4inCx via @addthis 12 hrs ago
- More updates...
FACEBOOK — Become our Fan!
SPONSORS — Advertise with us!
RECENT COMMENTS
- Akai* on Essence Editor-In-Chief Responds to Criticism Over White Fashion Director
Layla wrote: "I’m tired of Michaela Angela Davis setting off black/white controversy when I persona... - Alexandra on Palin, The NAACP & Perception
Why do people always say Canada? cant move somewhere else?... - Alexandra on Discussion: Will Bad Boy Records Rise Again?
Yup. He's always in every video, hyoping it up. Give the artist their own shine for once. There wer... - Alexandra on Discussion: Will Bad Boy Records Rise Again?
LOL! I agree with those that dont like Janelle in the back. All we see is her head. She should have ... - Shia on Discussion: Will Bad Boy Records Rise Again?
I love Janelle Monae. I'll support her but I dunno about the rest of Bad Boy....
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER — Sign up!
RECENT VIDEOS + PHOTOS
THIS WEEK'S MOST POPULAR POSTS
NEWS.GOSSIP.INFO — Daily Blog
Diddy and camp covers the 15th anniversary “Juice” issue of Vibe magazine. The mega-producer and rapper is joined by…
100 Black Men Incorporated, an prominent civic organization and service club committed to the empowerment and education of African American…
From Black Voices – BV Buzz can report exclusively that ‘Real Housewives of ATL’ star Lisa Wu Hartwell is…
After Kelis slapped Nas with back child support payments and alimony, a conversation opened up around the validity and fairness…
People can’t stop talking about Ieshuh Griffin, an African American female independent running for a state assembly seat in…
From The Grio — In the wake of the Shirley Sherrod incident various news sources are trying to contextualize…
You Know You Love Being Natural When…all of your wig/extension/ponytail hair is nappy~!
Do you have any idea how long it took me to find a kinky Afro wig with brown hair? Or #4/#30 kinky twist hair? I live in a Black neighborhood – where, presumably everyone has Black hair – and there’s a beauty supply store every 4 yards. STILL I had to shop for hours. If I wanted long, straight, blonde hair extensions I could get those the drug store. SMDNH
LOL… I felt the same way when I went to the non-chain store. I could get any kind of fake hair in any color and any variety of chemicals to color, relax or add shine to my hair, but I was hard pressed to find anything natural except for the Jamaican Rasta products, ALLLL the way in the back, dusty, neglected corner of the store.
Definitely guilty of the above and proud! : ) *Mae*
Love Andrea’s work (from Fly)! You should def stop by her online store and site!
I am on my way there and I cannot wait!lol!
I’ll add when you read Clutch and remind yourself to thank them for the natural commentary:)
And I love Andrea as well, have the “didn’t do it sooner” print. Just have to get a nice frame to put it in.
Natural HAIR commentary:)
Wow…Black women are falling in love with their hair-sincerely-now. I mean the 70′s was a kick start. The beginning. Yet i do not believe that we really understood what we were doing and why. It just turned into a trend, a fad, fashion. Then finally a style of an era.
We still had issues around self-love and assimilation. Because those hair straightening products had BOOM very soon after the 70′s!!
There still is ambivilence. Denial. But for the most part we’ve relaxed(our minds instead of our heads!) and allowed ourselves to not just like and love being Black, but being unconditional about it.
I was like many BW once upon a time. Everything but wigs. And that’s only because I really didn’t know how to rock one.
I took a Spiritual leap. Which is one reason, at the bottom of my list, why I dislike organized religion(the Black Church mainly).
In having a relationship with the Divine I had to accept EVERYTHING that he made of me. It just didn’t ring right that I refused to present my own natural hair that He/She made.
The whole idea was pretty deep to me anyway. I was assimilating the ‘NATURAL’ texture of European women! I don’t think BW can wrap their minds around that one. Denial!
In the beginning it was uncomfortable. I actually felt ugly. Which is the subliminal message we’ve been getting all along. And then I just let go and I fell in love.
I wear dredlocks. And they’re very long. Which reminds me when I was younger hearing that it’s a myth that BW can’t grow their hair long. We just grow it long differently. And that’s the problem. Our ‘difference’ is not acceptable. That’s b.s.! But we still believe it.
It’s time for Naturals to reign supremely.
I love being Natural indeed.
You took the words right out of my mouth. I completely agree especially with the part about the black church. About three years ago I started my spiritual journey. At my home of enlightenment I noticed a lot of our congregants are natural including the Reverend and his wife, they all have locks or natural hair. I never thought that I would take this path to natural hair and now I love it. I think it’s beautiful to see so many black people embracing their natural hair. In the past I almost felt out of place because whenever I’m there I look out into a sea of naturals and my hair was relaxed stringy and straight. :-)
When your bathroom cabinet could be mistaken for your kitchen cabinet–there’s olive oil, apple cider vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice, brown sugar…
FriendBoy always asks if I’m in there baking a cake or something!
There is nothing like a natural woman. On a day to day basis I try to explain to my guy friends why they are the better choices. There is nothing wrong with a perm or make-up but when its over done the attractiveness begins to disappear.
It’s great that natural hair is now a trend! I went natural 10 years ago–before it was popular and while I was in high school But I didn’t do it to make a statement; I did it for my hair to be healthy. I love being natural because I can have whatever style I want. I can lock my hair up tomorrow or press it out and it look better than a fresh doobie out the salon.
I didn’t have these online communities or other natural sisters to help me through the process. But I took ownership of my hair and learned how to style my hair so now I feel confident wearing my hair however I want to wear it.
Now I don’t feel the need to wear accessories that say “i’m happy to be nappy” or own tons of books on hair (‘Hair Story’ helped me out a lot, by the way) I let me hair speak for itself. I wear my hair like a crown that every once in a while I switch it up because I can. It’s important not to let natural hair (or any hair) define who you are. Instead, you define the hair. Yes I own a flat iron and I press my hair when I feel like it.
I will never get another relaxer in my life.
=D
I wonder if Afrikan-American women see Afrikan hair as a black woman thing or a Afrikan thing ?
Yup, that’s me.
I like this list.
Although I do own a flat iron, but I haven’t used it in over a year.
Ah…articles like this make me long for my natural days. I remember when I was newly twa. I was walking down Broadway and noticed a fellow fly sista rockin the same ‘do. We didn’t say a word to each other, instead we both nodded and smiled, like we were a part of the same super secret gorgeous nappyhead society (we shoulda had a handshake). You know you love being natural when you realize that what you have is something special:)
…if you know what 3a,3b,4a,4b and now 4c is and how it applies to you
…you can make your hair last 4 or more days and it gets better every day
When you try a press and curl and immediately go out in humid weather, rain, to the gym or in the shower to get the kinky/curly look back.
I fell in love my napps. My bathroom cabinet can be mistaken for a kitchen cabinet–and my boyfriend loves it( it’s a bonus of course).
Dude! We totally have the same name and last initial. Even spelled the same way! And we’re both Black and natural. How weird is that?
Ha Ha I’m guilty of practically everything on this list. I am transitioning still but I love it so far and I can talk about natural hair 24/7.
TamiaS… That’s me!
You love being natural when…you feel an instant bond with other naturals you encounter!
I went natural almost 3 years ago and it was the best decision I made. I bought one of Andrea’s prints of Christmas, love it!
I love how clutch boasts about loving natural hair, and then has an ad for indian weave :sneer:
Hi Roni – we love all hair types and honestly – those Indian ads are what helps keep Clutch running (mean revenue to keep Clutch running – we are a small biz)
Thanks!
Dede
i cut my hair down to the natural curl in March of 2009 and literally haven’t even put a comb in my hair in over i’ll say 6 months and haven’t had to even go to the barbershop in over 4 months… hehehe- how many ppl can say that? i don’t miss the chemical burns, sitting in the salon for an 8 hour shift, or the dry and flaky scalp that i used to have. during Christmas i passed by a couple salons while i was out shopping and remembered sayin’ to myself GEEZ they must be givin’ away hair-it’s soooo crowded. then it hit me that those ladies were really waiting to get there hair done (can’t remember the last time i did that). i love being natural!!!
Love my hair — big hair, don’t care!!
(Just don’t try to touch it, yes, it looks like cotton and is just as soft — but you see with your eyes, not with your hands) :D
You know you love being natural when.. You smile and give the sisterly nod to any other naturals you see in class, at the bank, or at Tarjay (target) :)
Solgar I don’t think it should be a questions of being an afrikan woman or a black woman thing. To me it’s a question being my DNA, it’s not a political statement or assertion of any sort. I love my afro textured hair and especially the versatility of it.
I understand because of years of conditioning some (not all) black women have come to despise their hair. But once we stop looking at our hair as an issue or statement but as any part of our body that need to be cared for properly with care, we’ll all be better off.
Haha too a T!
I love being natural sista,especially rocking my kinky hair in a corporate setting is liberating and refreshing, When I flat ironed my hair, I didn’t know what to do with it so under the sink I went, back to kinky hair, hair that I love and know how to style..crazy, but true.