Highly Textured

Hey loves.

I haven't forgotten about you all, I promise.

I have just hit a complete and utter wall.

Like... *THUD.* Yeah, just like that.

I adore this blog and each and every one of you, which is why I want to make it a valuable resource for you all. I don't really like yapping about anything unless I have a point.

Which is why I've been posting so sporadically the last few weeks. When it comes to hair, what's new to talk about? I certainly don't want to re-hash the same ol' conversations that have been going on around the web for years, so what's next?

With more and more women big-chopping, curls and coils are definitely working their way into the mainstream. So I want your opinion... what do you see next in the world of natural hair? What's on the horizon for curls and coils?

Hey all.

Some of you know, aside from work and, well, hair, a big part of my life is dance. Actually, a HUGE part of my life is dance. Even to the point where my apartment is nicknamed the Dancer's Halfway House (lol). Anywhoo, after all these years performing and teaching, I find myself learning again, with a studio here in D.C. called Contradiction Dance.

Contradiction Dance has become a vital part of the city's dance community and arts community as a whole. I'm now a member of Contradiction's second resident dance company, MASSIVE ATTACK (which has added a world of rehearsals and performances to my life, which is why I've been so busy lately!). I've been dancing since I was 13, but every time I'm in this beautiful studio, I feel like a child again, exploring space, movement and the ways my body can fly. My baby sister has benefited here too, along with a host of other kids, teenagers and adults... moms, dads, grandmothers, you name it. Contradiction has become a haven. And artists know what it's like to find a haven -- you find the ability to wonder, to experiment, to explore and to soar.

This haven has been presented with a chance to become a permanent fixture in our community -- the owner of the building is offering to ensure that Contradiction can stay in its space for a long time to come. Part of the agreement is to pay a portion of the rent up front. The offer is all too generous, but our time frame is tight. We have to make our payment by June 1st.

This where I'm turning to you -- especially the artists and creative spirits out there -- for your support. I'm asking you to take a moment and donate $10 to keep this haven vibrant and alive. That's it. Just $10. Many of us (me included) will run out to pick up a hair lotion or cream because we saw it on the blogs or on YouTube, not knowing whether it will work or not. Now I'm asking you support something I can truly say is a wonderful thing, something that I 110-percent believe in. The arts aren't vital only to artists -- they're vital to an entire community.

Please click below to donate to Contradiction Dance. It would make me so happy, more happy than any compliment I could ever get about hair or this blog. .. because it's bigger than just me. Your support would allow us all to keep dancing.

Thank you.


CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO CONTRADICTION DANCE.

See Contradiction Dance on YouTube.

From a commenter on NaturallyCurly.com:

"My hair and I have a much better relationship now that I have stopped trying to make it something it is not. Now that I pamper my curls, they couldn’t be happier with me and I couldn’t be happier with them."
-- Carisa Montooth on NaturallyCurly

Have a fabulous Memorial Day, loves!

I love Beyonce. We KNOW I love big curly hair. And I love to dance -- and to watch it too.

Ergo... I REALLY REALLY REALLY LOVE this video.

And I want to know who the choreographer is.





*UPDATE* Found the choreographer. Sheryl Murakami. She's all kinds of sick.

I still can't find my camera charger, and it's driving me insane. I refuse to buy a new one, so until I find the misplaced one, we'll be having fun with YouTube. :o)

Not from a blogger, but from the talk show circuit... :o)

"You are the only you the world will EVER know. Be AMAZING!"
-- Jackie Guerra

Four words: The girl is BAD.

Luam's a dancer and choreographer currently living in New York. I've been following her work and taking her classes (when she's in DC) for a few years now. My two favorite things about her: Her hair (of course), and the fact that she quit her corporate tech job at Time-Warner to start her dance career.

All those ladies looking for inspiration to follow your passion, here's one: In the interview below, Luam shares that her family had big plans for her to become a doctor. The Eritrea native enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania and graduated with a degree in neuroscience. She went to New York for a corporate job, but started taking classes in her spare time....

Now she's a hip-hop powerhouse. She's choreographed and danced for a number of stars, she's taught workshops across the globe, and she's launched a line of dance-inspired streetwear called under the name Wildchild Nation.

Luam's definitely an inspiration (for me at least -- and a ton of other dancers). Check the SceneInteractive profile of her below.

We have winners!!!

Woot woot for NATHALIA and PREMIUMDENIM (from YouTube) for winning the first Highly Textured giveaway! You ladies have some super cute Veronica-Marché earrings coming your way. Send me an email (marchemiller AT gmail DOT com) with your address.

Congrats ladies!

A message for all you hair and beauty bloggers out there:

Stop making me buy stuff!

Stop it, I say!!!

The Internet is a beautiful thing. People build communities and establish friendships and share expertise. But dammit if that doesn't come with a price. And that price is what you pay when you run out to buy a product another blogger is raving about.

It's insane! I never knew I could be so easily influenced! Malleable, that's me. Scandalous Beauty sang about Kissable Couture, so I upped and ordered a set. Fafinettex3 raved about Revlon Colorstay, so I got some of that too. I ordered fifty bucks worth of discounted Lorac products thanks to ItsMsHeatherNicole, and went back for more when I realized they added more the clearance section.
I'm becoming a one-blogger stimulus package. Someone may need to confiscate my laptop and my check card.

Stop telling me about all these great products! Stop it, I say!

:o)

Have you fallen victim to product junkie peer pressure? What have you bought because of it?

After a week of oohs and ahhs and a handful of questions, I finally took out my sexi FlexiTwists last night. I have to say, I was surprised by the way the twists were received by other folks -- they love 'em!

On Wednesday, I walked into work and literally stopped productivity. The co-workers gathered around and asked how I did my hair and told me how cool they thought it was. My roommate's little sister confessed that she took a closer look when I fell asleep. (It's okay, though. She's so cute and I heart her.)

All this because I got bored last Monday and wanted to do a hair experiment. "Happy accident" is what my friend Kelly calls such things.

Alas, a week elapsed and I had to take the twist outs. Mostly because a) I was getting not-so-sexy frizz, and b) some of them actually started unraveling themselves. (My hair is easily manipulated and yet, refuses to hold a style. I think it's passive-aggressive.)

So now I sit here with a fuzzy puff, wondering what to do next. "Twists!" says the teeny voice in my hair. (No, not my head. My hair.) But my arms are not happy about the prospect of another 6-hour project. And even if they were, my head would not be happy about the prospect frizz and fall-out.

And so I turn you, friends. You've helped me out before and I think you can help me again. How do I do my twists faster? And how do I make them last longer? (A note: My hair will frizz if you so much as blink at it. So I need some creative suggestions here.)

Leave your thoughts below.

When you peruse hair forums, you'll inevitably find little gems like this one:

"What grows out of your head is from God, and 100% of the time it is tailor made for you."
-- KoolKurls11 on NaturallyCurly.com

...not having your camera charger.

I have been looking for the blasted thing for two weeks now, and I can't. Find it. ANYWHERE. ARRRRRRRGH!

Clearly, this is frustrating me in a number of ways. I can't take pictures of the randomness that happens from living in DC (exhibit A: Car Afire). I can't take video of my precious kids in dance class (exhibit B: Les Petites). And worst of all, I CAN'T TAKE PICTURES OF MY HAIR!!! AAAAAAAAAAHHHH! This is SO not cool, especially since the twists have been a big hit this week and I've been rocking them with everything from a flower to a scarf.

*sigh*

Help me, please. Someone pray that I find my camera charger. Or else I might lose my sanity.

A lot of us watch the First Lady like a hawk, and some instinctively so, since we work in the business of watching people. But somehow, in the all the hubbub over clothes and royal protocol, we missed this when the Obamas were in London over a month ago.



Post your reactions below.

Watch the vid. :o)

If you had your money on Mine That Bird this weekend, congratulations. You probably just came into a lot of dough, or at very least, a lot of bragging rights. But when it comes to the Kentucky Derby, who's really looking at the horses. We wanna see the hats! And NPR.org has a great slideshow of some hats found at Churchill Downs. A few favs:

Getting it in the black and gold.

Fly. Just. Fly.

Of course, some hats go the other way on the style continuum, but... the hat got a hat!

Go check out more of the NPR slideshow here. And post links or pics of any cool hats you've seen yourself.

As you start off your week, keep this in mind....

"Do you. Be proud of who you are. Be proud of your hair. Be proud of everything that God gave you. Because if God made it, it's beautiful."

-- Ayanna Naeela

Ayanna is yet another fantastic video blogger on YouTube. Make sure to go check out her channel (and her fabulous hair!).

Yes, yes it can, if it's Kissable Couture.

Scandalous Beauty was kind enough to let us know that the lipgloss line by Keisha Whitaker and makeup artist A.J. Crimson is having a Mother's Day sale. You'll get 40% off your purchase when you enter the code MOM at checkout. Of course I started browsing the site... and started drooling.

How could you not, with choices like these?

"Innocence" from the Nudes Collection


"Fantasties"


"Bliss"
And of course, there's a shade inspired by everyone's latest style icon...

"First Lady"
I'm loving Bliss, and I'm coveting Horizon too, but think I'll be snapping up the Mini Smooches collection -- a perfect buy for indecisive lip gloss junkies like myself.

Which Kissable shade are you?

I haven't been posting style pics lately because 1) my life has been a tornado and I always forget, and 2) I can't find my camera charger so I couldn't take good pics if I wanted to anyway! Argh!

But did use my cameraphone to snap today's curly 'fro (and yes, in the ladies' restroom at work, don't judge me), because I was waaaaay too excited about it.


I used a glycerin/water spray and Heather Nicole's technique (here's Part 1 and Part 2) to do it last night, and I'll probably have to do it again with a better-holding product to get one more day out of it.

But hey, here it is. Don't ever say I never gave you anything. :o)

You STILL haven't entered? Whatsamattawitchu?! I'm giving away jewelry in my first ever giveaway, but you can't win it if you don't enter!

Check the video to find out what I want you to do. CLICK HERE to enter on Blogger, and CLICK HERE to enter on YouTube.

Hurry! Today's the last day!!!