CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
BEAUTY AND CULTURE TIPS & TRICKS EMBRACE YOUR NATURAL HAIR
CONTENT Beauty and Culture
The History of Jamaican Beauty
Like Me!
A Celebration of the Natural Beauty of Hair
The Samson Project Stage 1: Tiny but Mighty
The Samson Project
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Stage 2: All Wrong but Still Strong
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The Samson Project
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Stage 3: #LongHairDontCare
Tips and Tricks
Some Tips and Tricks to get you started on your hair journey
Now You!
Are you game enough?
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Out of Many One People! The Jamaican culture has been developed from a variety of nations worldwide. Have you ever wondered what were some of the things they left behind? Let’s find out!
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Embrace Your
Natural Hair
Black gyal, brown gyal You yout’ wid di roun’ gyal Man and woman everywhere Come! Embrace your natural hair! Now, as a Jamaican, what is beautiful hair? We all know we’ve contracted the American disease so, From them sneeze we’ve been thinking that it Must be straight, it must be long to be Beautiful and strong but, is that really Jamaican beauty? I mean, even our very own beauty queen, recently went on the international scene And create an uproar cause, for sure no other Afro-centric beauty has ever made it her duty to represent like Davina Bennett did So why can’t more of us join THAT bandwagon? Stop lagging! Don’t fret, Maybe you think its too hard, And thats why you haven’t yet Well take a moment, and learn with me To embrace and enjoy your natural hair’s beauty!
Here’s to celebrating the versatility and beauty of natural hair!
Samson was a warrior from bible days, who went through three significant stages in his life. Stage 1 was when he had his long flowing hair and basked in the love and attention of many people around him. Stage 2 was when he was betrayed by his wife, who cut off all his hair and ultimately destroyed his confidence and his life. Stage 3 was his redemption stage. After going through his trial he was able to use his last ounce of strength to do something miraculous. These three stages of his life are the foundation of this project. Having experienced similar stages in their lives, the three people featured will share their Samson experience. The point however is not to highlight personal matters, but character traits they’ve learned as a result of their experience.; Traits similar to ones Samson himself possessed. Not only are these traits replicable to everyday life, but they can be excellent sources of motivation for taking care of your hair!
Ronella Peralto may just be eighteen (18) years old, but she has wisdom way beyond her years. Despite her small stature, she has a wealth of knowledge learned not only from her experience, but from the experiences of those around her. When you see her, it is hard to miss the beautiful head of hair that she has been blessed with, but her glossy and shiny hair is not something she has magically gotten over night. Good things take time and effort, and hair care is no different. For Ronella, she’s gotten her luscious locs not from wishing them into being, but from nurturing them into reality.
“HUMILITY HELPS YOU APPRECIATE WHAT YOU HAVE” In the bible, Samson was a warrior, with long, flowy and luscious locs. Having never cut his hair from birth, you can imagine how long and beautiful it must have been during his adult years. It may have taken quite some time, but I’m sure it was time well spent! His hair was his pride and joy, functioning as more than just a symbol of beauty, but a mark of confidence and strength. Ronella’s hair functions much in the same way. She’s expressed that her hair contributes to her confidence. It is one of those features that helps her to walk with her head a little bit higher. But there is a thin line between confidence and pride.
While it is good to be confident, she warns that we must never allow our confidence to turn into pride. Finding the balance between confidence and humility is key to not only living your best life, but having your best hair as well. Ronella treats her hair as if it were a child. She doesn’t spoil it with too much attention, or satisfy every greedy need for product or styling. She uses everything in moderation, but also spends the time to just allow her hair to feel itself – no products necessary.
pilling them one onto another it results in a gunky, smelly scalp that is stressful for your hair. For your body- if you eat good food you will grow well, and feel well. Your hair is the same. Feed it good, all natural products and it will grow strong and healthy. Feed it allot of modified products and it will feel heavy, not grow and leave you wondering where you went wrong.
Take the time to take care of your hair. Get to know your hair. If your hair helps For her, water, coconut oil or even aloe vera – you to be a more confident you, take the strictly natural ingredients- can be your hair’s time to thank your hair and give it only the best. Not everyone’s hair is the same, best friend. Using allot of different products to get different results all at one time can do but this rule can be universal! much more harm than good for your hair. Sometimes when you mix products and keep
When Samson was at the lowest point in his life, he had to examine his life to see where he went wrong. I would like to think that it was in this time that he remembered all the people who meant him well but he ignored, those he listened to that did not say things for his good and he questioned his decisions and choices. This seems like a natural reaction when people have done you wrong. Self preservation is an instinct, so we tend to move away from those things that we genuinely believe are intent on harming us. For Uzurie Davy, going through this stage was one of the hardest, but most defining times in her life. She had to basically restructure her life, choosing a new set of friends, adapting a new frame of mind and removing those aspects of her life that were doing more harm than good. She went through this stage on her hair journey as well. When she was a child her hair was beautiful and long, but somewhere between puberty and her teenage years her hair kept getting shorter and shorter. It got to the point where her hair has stunted growth and she felt like enough was enough.
She cut her hair, in an effort to remove the split ends that was preventing length retention but she couldn’t stop there. She made a conscious effort to change her bad hair habbits, change the products she was using and even her routines so that she could reset so to speak. By cutting off those things that hindered her hair growth she was able to start a blank state and get to know her hair in a new light. In her lifetime cutting off harmful people and harmful circumstances have helped her to develop into the woman she was always meant to be. By taking the same approach with her hair care, and cutting off split ends, harmful products and practices, she has started the journey to having her best and healthiest hair. In this instance, change can be a good thing. Don’t be afraid to do that big chop, change your routines, avoid certain styles or harmful hair practices - your hair will thank you for it.
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Samson’s shining moment was not when he had his long flowing hair, and certainly not when he was deprived of his hair - his strength and confidence. His shining moment came when he was able to act inspite of. He went through his struggles with pride, he went through criticism and betrayal, but despite everything he went through he was able to prove that he was more than everything he lost, everything he overcame. Tiffany Robinson’s story is similar to this stage of Samson’s life. In her lifetime Tiffy has experienced much hardship and trial. From struggles with her education to criticism from choosing to follow the will of God for her life, she has had more than her fair share of lashing. But despite everything, she has learned to trust the process, which has translated into the way she has begun to treat her hair. Having once had processed hair, she was accustomed to the easy combing, low maintenance, quick-to-do hairstyles and treatments. Transitioning has been difficult for her. From the moment she decided to cut her hair and take on the challenge of being fully natural, she has realised that this natural hair journey was more than she had initially thought.
She has gone through the down moments, when switching back to processed hair seems like the best option for her, and struggled to comb her hair herself or even find a style that would be manageable but in everything she haa learned to trust the process. In her walk as a christian she has learned that God is an intentional God. Sometimes he seems to be requesting the impossible, and he puts you in situations that you think are way more than you can handle but just trust the process. In the same way that trusting His process has helped her to grow stronger as a christian and closer to God, trusting her hair journey has helped her to reap the rewards of her patience and hard work. She has seen her hair grow stronger amd longer, developed little tricks and skills of her own and gotten much better at this ‘natural hair thing’, simply because she didn’t give up, didn’t question it, but just trusted the process. Imagine if you were to do the same?
GROWTH Care for your scalp.
Oil treatments and scalp massages are so good for your scalp’s health. A good scalp massage sends blood, oxygen, and nutrients rushing to your follicles which is a contributor to growth. It could also help to lessen the tension from a sensitive and tender scalp.
Deep condition your hair.
This ensures your hair gets adequate amount of moisture and strength to protect it from manipulation and the weather elements. Some hair masks and treatments you can create at home are:
#1 Moisturizing
Aloe vera, olive oil, coconut oil and castor oil.
#2 Moisturize and Strengthen
Avocado pear, castor oil, olive oil, mollasses and honey
#3 Protein Treatment
Egg yolks, banana, honey, avocado pear and aloe vera.
#4 Moisturizing
Coconut oil, castor oil, peppermint essential oil, rosemary essential oil, honey, avocado.
#5 For Dry Scalp
Brown sugar and olive oil Please note that the ingredients must be combined in proportion to each other. Use only 5 - 10 drops for the essential oils - They’re pretty strong! When you’re ready to do your treatment just loose your hair, wet it, add your concoction and then steam hair with a steamcap or good ol’ scandal bag. The treatments should stay in for 15 - 30 minutes, but the longer the better!
LENGTH RETENTION Do low manipulation styles.
These are styles that you can get a few days out of without doing much to maintain. Your twist outs, braid outs and rod sets, among others.
Don’t wear tight styles.
With summer coming up, we want to be extra cute. But, let’s not be cute and bald. Just watch those extra tight styles.
Don’t be afraid to get rid of bad ends.
Cutting your hair doesn’t make it grow faster. Dusting or trimming your ends removes splits end and knots that pose potential damage. The less damage- the better the possibility for length retention.
Dont abuse your ends!
There is a misconception that natural hair can be combed out in any way. NOT TRUE. Gently comb from ends to roots. Spend the time to carefully detangle your hair to avoid unnecessary hair loss.
Protective styling
Protective styles are major players in length retention. Any style that prevents the ends of hair from being exposed to the elements is considered a protective style. They are especially useful for those times when you don’t have the time to comb your hair. Braids, cornrows, crochet braids, faux locs, flat twists and buns are all examples of protective styles.
STYLING Use a shoelace as a hair tie or scrunchie. You can control the tightness on your scalp. It will make your puff/bun look bigger and neat!
Hair accessories are your friends.
Get yourself some cute wire headbands or wraps - they will come to your rescue when you need them. Beads, clips and other hair accessories.
Know what works for your hair! Different hair types respond differently to different styles.
What is your hair type?
1 - Straight Hair 2 - Wavy Hair - Right inbetween straight and curly 3 - Curly Hair 4 - Coily Hair
Keep it minimal!
You don’t have to be a product junkie to have great hair. Whether its gel, hair spray, oils or moisturizers, a little can go a long way!
To get you started on your healthy hair journey, there are a few challenges we’d like you to try. Are you up for it?
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Get to know your hair. Ask yourself, which products work, those that don’t, which side when you part, it makes you look blessed and extra cute.
This Summer, I challenge you to drink more water! Stay hydrated- your skin and hair will benefit.
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Of course! Deep condition. Feel free to try out any of the Deep Conditioners we’ve listed above in Tips and Tricks!
Take vitamins for your overall health. If you’re not a fan of pills get gummies or do nutrient-rich smoothies.
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Growth Challenge using JamCurls growth oil. Massage the scalp with it 3 times a week for a month.
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Summer is coming up and it’s time for protective styling. Take a month and “hide your hair’. Do a protective style for a month, then see the results!
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Go without products that have all this extra stuff in it. So for a month you will only use natural oils and natural products for your hair.
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Fruits and other produce from our kitchen can make great ‘hair food’! Create a homemade hair mask from items in your fridge once a week for 4 weeks! Even add Aloe Vera and feel the difference!
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Don’t forget about your hair underneath your braids or weaves. Keep moisturizing and keeping it healthyyour hair will thank you.
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Get yourself a real good satin or silk tie-head or bonnet.
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Go on a 8 weeks No Length Check Challenge. It’s so easy to start obsessing over the length and wanting your hair to grow, grow and grow. Truth is; it’s growing! The first day of your challenge take a picture of your length, keep following your regimen and a final picture at the end of your challenge. Then, compare and thank me later.
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FUN& GAMES
I am a Tea, but you cannot drink me. The answer is split in three, but a clue is you’ll need me Essentially. We all grow strong, and can Spice up your life, so think carefully, what could we be?
Can you guess which hair type matches to each curl pattern?
1 2A 2B 2C 3A 3B 3C 4A 4B 4C
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___ ____ Guess the OIL!
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To my supervisor, contributors, lecturers, friends and supporters - thank you! Your guidance, feedback and suggestions were integral to the creation of this media project. Thank you for believing in me, and helping to make my project a reality! ~ A. Gordon