Stop. Drop. Investigate.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

 I logged onto my Facebook account which I do every morning and came across a post about cancer causing products in which VO-5 and Pantene Co-Wash were mentioned specifically. As you can imagine the post was filled with “throw the products out” advice. The picture was of a store shelf that showed two VO-5 hair products side by side. Neither product is the subject of the lawsuit against companies selling products containing (cocamide DEA).

Stop. Drop. Investigate. 

There was also a link to a Youtube video and the person in the video mentioned a link where she got her information and yes, VO-5 was mentioned. One product Essence of Henna conditioner has formaldehyde listed as an ingredient, not the entire line. The link was (http://smartklean.wordpress.com/2011/02/23/the-top-12-cancer-causingVproducts-in-the-average-home/

I don't know about you, but I like VO-5 products and would hate to have to throw them out unnecessarily.

Stop. Drop. Investigate.

The issue that got the ball rolling was Proposition 65 (In 1986, California voters approved an initiative to address their growing concerns about exposure to toxic chemicals. http://oehha.ca.gov/prop65/background/p65plain.html) 

Earlier this year a lawsuit was filed by the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) against four companies that sell products containing cocamide DEA. “The chemical, cocamide diethanolamine (cocamide DEA), a chemically-modified form of coconut oil used as a thickener or foaming agent in many products, was listed by California as a known carcinogen last year.” 

Neither Pantene nor VO-5 was included in this listing. For more information and product listings visit http://www.ceh.org/news-events/press-releases/content/lawsuit-launched-testing-finds-cancer-causing-chemical-in-100-shampoos-haircare-products/. 

Stop. Drop. Investigate. 

While many in the natural hair community are well-intentioned, it is always best to do your own research before tossing products or trying techniques. Information given out of context or incorrectly can cause more harm than good. 

You should make it a practice to check and triple check information before you accept it or apply it. That's just common sense. 

 

Yes, I know it's nice when someone does the work for us, but every experience will not be the same. Just because it happened to Youtube vlogger so-and-so doesn't mean it will happen to you or to me.

Stop. After reading a post or watching a video. What is actually being said? Is the person giving the information trying to sell you on an idea or product or speaking from personal experience? Or is the person simply misinformed?

Drop. Whatever "feelings" you have about the product or information. Is this true for you? Have you had this experience? Do you know enough to make a decision?

Investigate. Check it out for yourself. Do your own research. Check multiple sources. Read the ingredients listed on your products, if you don't know what they are or what they do, find out. Check and check again before you make a final decision.

So the lesson for today, if you haven't already guessed, is, Stop. Drop. Investigate, before you throw away products or stop doing something that you have been doing with success.

You are the single greatest authority on your hair.

IT'S YOUR HAIR, YOUR CHOICE. HAVE A GREAT HAIR DAY.

Jackie

Ideas Are Easy

That is until you need one and you have a deadline.

I had a project in class last semester of creating a 25 page screenplay. I knew this in September but it didn't hit me until November when the first five pages were due, that I had no idea what I was going to write about.

I talked about it with friends. They had ideas. They also didn't have to turn anything in that counted as fifty percent of their grade, but anyway. I've been calling myself a writer for the past two years.

In the beginning, I loved to write. But lately, I can't write. I'm not inspired. I'm not motivated, simply put, I'm not writing. A writer that doesn't write is well, not much of writer, no matter what I call myself.

Fast forward to November and a friend of mine called me excited to share his idea for my screenplay. I listened and liked the idea, but with modifications. I kicked the idea around in my head, and thought about how I could make it work. His version was more R-rated than the version that I wanted and eventually settled on.

The genesis of the idea was his, but the eventual story was mine. When I was done, it bared no resemblance to his idea at all, yet he wanted to take the credit.

Credit for having an idea yes, but credit for the writing of it, no. I even went so far as to challenge my friend to write his version. No, he didn't want to do the work, just reap the benefits.

The interesting thing is that once you have any idea, everyone wants to add their take on it. By the time I was done, I wasn't sure whose idea it was. People wanted to know, why couldn't my character do this or that? They wanted to tell the story. I guess it's flattering that they took such an interest in my project, but I had to work hard at telling my story, my way.

I was encouraged to let other people read my work, but I was hesitant, because I wasn't sure if it was any good. It was a first draft after all. I literally wrote it in about three days (the first five pages).

Once I was done writing and editing in the same session, I printed it and turned it in. I didn't look at it again until the last twenty pages were due. Once I completed it, I turned it in and got an "A" in the class.

 I haven't decided whether I will finish it or not.  One thing is for sure, I will never, ever, say that I can do that, when watching a movie or television show.  Ideas are easy, but writing is hard, really hard.

Life Had Other Plans

I've been pretty down lately. From time to time I take inventory of my life and play the if I coulda, woulda, shoulda game. It's a game that I never win by the way.

I think back and try to pin-point the exact moment when I went off the grid and missed the turn or misread the sign.

Maybe it was the time in 2007, when I packed up everything and headed to California, with no money and no job to pursue a life long dream of working in the Entertainment Industry.

Or maybe it was second time in 2010, when I quit the job in had in Nevada and moved back to California with no money and no job because I didn't think I stayed long enough the first time and the dream was still alive.

I'd come this far, I couldn't go back and failure was not an option.

Fast forward six years and I am no closer now, than I was then, geography aside. I still have yet to get my first job in the Industry.

Where I am vs. where I wanted be? I'm waaaaay off target. This not how I planned it. Not. At. All.

What went wrong? In the movies the girl always gets the guy. The underdog always comes out on top; but this isn't a movie. This is my life and I am not where I expected to be. Not by a long shot. No way. No how.

I had it all planned. Well sort of. Okay, so I didn't work out all of the details, but I know this wasn't on the original blueprint. Or was it? While I was making plans and dotting my i's and crossing my t's, life was making other plans.

Plans that had I been privy to, I might have stayed where I was and never took that leap of faith. Because looking back, faith was all that I had. It's still all that I have. 

 My undying belief that yes, this too shall pass. Sooner or later, things will have to go my way. In spite of all the set-backs, heartbreaks and missteps, I'm still here. I haven't given up yet. I don't know how the story will end. So for now, I'm waiting for the sequel. 

After all, this is Hollywood.

"Nappy, the other “N” Word"

Wow, Sheryl Underwood really went there didn't she? I mean we are all pissed that she said “Afro hair, who wants that?” On national television on top of that! Oh no she didn't!

How dare she say, what we feel, but would never say to anybody except maybe our closest friends. We certainly don't say it to other women while we sit in salons waiting for hours to have something “done to our hair.”  “Afro hair?” In this heat and humidity? Are you kidding me? Who has time for that?

I wonder if we are really pissed off because of what she said or if she struck a nerve? We all know that when somebody gets our number, we go on the defense. We become outraged. When in doubt, get mad.

I think that what Ms. Underwood said was more true than we want to admit,  and that makes us mad. In all honesty, who does want Afro hair? 
Nobody, and everybody knows it.

The Beauty Supply stores know it. The Hair Care Industry knows it and so do you. You may not say it with your mouth, but the billions of dollars spent on hair care products to "soften, straighten and loosen your curl pattern" tell a different story.

If you've ever gotten a relaxer, a press and curl, a Jheri curl,  a blow-out, flat-ironed; worn wigs, weaves, braids, ponytails, texlaxed, stretched or whatever else to your hair, you know exactly what she's talking about.

Why would anyone want "dry, nappy hair," when you can have Indian Remy hair, Brazilian hair, Malaysian hair or even Yarn hair? Yes, you'd rather have Yarn hair over "Afro hair."
Why spend hours doing a twist-out or wash n go when it's just gonna puff up anyway once you go outside? Get my hair wet? Shrinkage? Hear the Fredrick Douglas jokes again? Don't play.

I have been “relaxer free” for the past six years, but I wear wigs. Prior to that, it was weaves. Yes, my real hair is “natural” but the hair that other people see is synthetic hair. Hair that was made in China. Hair that I throw on because my hair isn't bouncing or behaving. I know I'm not the only one.

Even among “naturals” we all want to know what products or techniques to use to “smooth our edges and change our curl patterns."
What can we do to make our kinky hair softer and straighter and less “Afro looking?” We all want to know. I mean, we have job interviews or school or work or a life to live. We can't go out looking like that! All “nappy” and stuff. 
There it is. I said it. Who wants Afro hair? 
Nobody and everybody knows it.