Hopefully that video has gotten you ready for our share on natural hair and how great it can be to wear your natural mane, and how you can easily go from natural to straight.

There is an awful stigma associated with natural hair for a lot of women of color. The first word to come out of the mouth of women who love processed hair or those who have grown accustomed to their straight hair look is nappy! Not coiled, not curly, not kinky, not course but nappy y'all. It's really unfortunate that such negativity is associated with wearing natural hairstyles but it often is. Despite the fact that the natural hair of women of color is really soft when the right products are used.

The negative idea's probably surrounding wearing our natural mane have grown because many mother's decided to start processing their girls hair during the early years, often starting with texturizers like S-Curls.

By the time girls are old enough to start recognizing who they are and appreciating their features and attributes as unique beauty, they are already use to getting their hair chemically treated. Singer Ciara recently shocked everyone when she appeared in a photo donning dreads like her fiance Future.



It is wonderful to see Celebrities showing off a positive outlook for tough issues that can drastically affect the self esteem of very impressionable girls who are coming of age. Opinion Leaders who appear in the media and on television can change preconceived notions about natural hair by being positive and raising their children to be independent thinkers.

Despite the many hair styles worn by women of color, natural and processed, I love that Essence.com featured quite a few natural hairstyles worn by women who were either performing, attending, or sitting on a panel at Essence Festival. Here are a couple or our favorites



They look pretty annazing, if you ask me. The other problem with women who have processed their hair for so long is, they believe that their style choices are limited with natural hair and that styling products do not help unless their hair has been chemically treated.

I'm here to put those notions to rest! Check out my natural hairstyle below. I've gone from dreads, to afro beautiful, to a mohawk with braids and then to braids throughout my 12 year natural hair journey. All of the styles have been fun to wear and create. Here I am with my latest natural looks.

Of course, there are times when I want to drastically change my look, at those times, I just pull a Wendy Williams. Need I say more? For those of you who may be living under a rock and have no idea who Wendy Williams is, she is just one of the best Talk Show host that have ever graced the small screen! Oh and a little detail that will shed some light on what I mean by pulling a Wendy Williams, she wears wigs and has her own line of them available for purchase. Needless to say but I will, there are many varieties available. Side parts, middle parts, and flyovers every which way can be achieved. Your stylist will even give you a good cut and style on your wig. Don't believe me, just watch Kim Kimble go to work. Not a wig girl? No problem, clip ins and half wigs give you more options too and after a day or a week of looking at your new hair, you can go back to your natural normal.

As I stated before, I have been doing this natural hair thing for twelve years and I hope if you have young girls, you will give them a chance to come into their own and make choices about their hair and that you see natural hair differently after you read this.

Al and all, I just want to say that wearing natural hair does not have to limit your choices or looks and it certainly should not be seen as some repulsive or negative. It's a part of who women of color are. It's not nappy, it's happy that its mine and I can be different. Different is not bad and it certainly is not wrong.

Feel free to share your natural hair photos on the Abornewords Facebook Page. If you want to style jack, it's okay, I try to be original.