Naturally Kinky

Cross Posted @ Siditty


I thank my twitter friend, Froward1 for the link.

I can sit silent no longer with L'Oreal. I didn't act a fool when they lightened Beyonce's already light skin in the Feria ads so she could appear to be "less ethnic". I knew it was bad, but I don't really use many L'Oreal products anyway, so it was so sweat off my back. I know that to mainstream advertisers, the closer to white, the better, that is the norm.

What I am discussing now shouldn't be the norm, and proves that racism continues in the corporate world. L'Oreal was found guilty of racism. In France they purposely set out to hire all white salespeople to sell Garnier Fructis shampoo in French supermarkets. If you don't know L'Oreal is based in France, so I am sure they have a pretty strong presence there, like they do here. What makes it bad is that there was a fax sent in 2000 from an executive which said that "Garnier's hostesses should be aged 18 to 22, wear size 38 to 42 clothes and be "BBR"."

So in order to sell supermarket brand shampoo, you should be under 22, because anything older is gross and geriatric, you should be 4 to 8 in US sizes, because if you are too fat the effects of the shampoo are limited, and you need to be white. For those who don't know "BBR" "stands for "bleu, blanc, rouge" (blue, white, red) — the colours of the French flag — and is a well-known code for white people, La Cour de Cassation was told."

Asians, arabs, and blacks don't fall under the category of "BBR" and we all know that they couldn't possibly use Garnier Fructis shampoo. It is only made for "white hair". All other races need not apply.

This is what I worry about when I talk about racism. Not the KKK, or being called the n-word, or even folks telling insensitive jokes. I am concerned about how this racism directly impacts minorities. Being excluded because you are not considered presentable due to the color of your skin is an issue. Being denied a job because a company has an ideal image to uphold, and your color isn't considered an ideal, but rather unacceptable.

I say since L'Oreal can't get right, I can't get right. I will throw out the very few products I have that are owned by L'Oreal, and I will make sure I will no longer purchase anything from this company. They need to know minorities and people over the age of 22 buy their products, and that without minorities and "old people" buying from them, it affects their bottom line. No more of these products for me, as I am too black and old to use them.

L'Oréal Paris, Garnier, Maybelline New York, Softsheen Carson, CCB Paris, L'Oréal Professionnel, Kérastase, Redken, Matrix, Mizani, Shu Uemura Art of Hair, Lancôme, Biotherm, Helena Rubinstein, Kiehl's, Shu Uemura, Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren, Cacharel, Viktor & Rolf, Diesel, YSL Beauté, Vichy, La Roche Posay, innéov, Skinceuticals, Sanoflore, and The Body Shop.

L'Oreal owns way more things than I ever thought they could.I have more stuff than I thought owned by them. No more Body Shop for me, I guess I will have to settle for Lush. L'Oreal seems to own a lot of well known brands. Brands I won't be buying, not that I bought much of the stuff anyway, but it is shocking to see how much L'Oreal actually owns.

If I am not good enough to work for L'Oreal on the basis of my age and color, I sure as hell am not good enough to buy the products, right?

I want to know how Beyonce or any celebrity is sitting up smiling as a spokesperson for L'Oreal while all this stuff is going on? What does that say about them and if these celebrities are promoting these products, do they promote racism and ageism? Are these minority and model celebrity endorsements L'Oreal pandering to the minority market, or are things changing in the L'Oreal workplace? It seems to me, they are pandering while maintaining the status quo.

Let's look at the celebrity spokespeople that themselves would be excluded from ever selling Garnier Fructis in French supermarkets:

Penelope Cruz, Andi McDowell, Milla Jovovich, Gong Li, you gals are all too old. Andi you haven't seen 22 in a while. Penelope, Milla, and Gong 22 is becoming a distant memory for you. Penelope isn't even white enough. Gong has the audacity to look Asian.

Diane Keaton, she is white, but she is WAY over the hill, she couldn't possibly sell shampoo.

Beyonce has the audacity to be black and old.

Linda Evangelista needs to go sit down, after all old women can't sell shampoo, not even old supermodels.

Eva Longoria and Kerry Washington, both of you know you are too dark and too old. Eva isn't white, Mexicans apparently don't use Garnier Fructis. Kerry, you are darker than Beyonce, you should know better than to think you have any selling power.

I mean if these women aren't even good enough to sell to French supermarkets, why the hell would you make them spokespeople L'Oreal?

OK You guys, this is my rainbow bright look.This is not the look you want to wear to work, but since it is summer, I wanted to do something fun and use literally every color in the rainbow, sans red. I have on shimmery orange, yellow, green, purple, and a shimmer brown to tone it down a bit. This is a fun look for a CASUAL day wearing bright colors. Do not wear this to the office thinking this is cute. Please.

This palette was really inexpensive. I bought it so I could play with and experiment with colors fairly inexpensively. More videos to come.

I am so excited. I bought some pigments of ebay. I also bought an eye shadow and a lipstick palette. I should be set for life on eye makeup and lipstick colors. I thought it would be fun to play with them. I will be giving a review on all of these things as they arrive.

OK For all those who don't know. I have very fine, almost non-existent eyelashes. Fake lashes were made for folks like me. Unfortunately for me, I am horrible with fake eyelashes, so I rely heavily on mascara for daily makeup use. Now both of these mascaras were supposed to plump up my eyelashes, something I desperately needed, since without mascara, I look like I have no eyelashes.



The first product I tried was the Covergirl Lash Blast. I put it on, and it worked as a mascara, but I didn't notice any big difference between that and my regular mascara I use. Before purchasing Lash Blast, I was using E.L.F. Earth and Water duo mascara. It worked ok, but honestly, it was a $1, I don't expect much. Plus for some reason the mascara on the "water" side always seems to dry up. Of course, it is a $1, what do I expect? The problem with Covergirl Lash Blast is that I paid more than a dollar for it. I paid over $8 for it. Like I said, it worked ok, but considering it was supposed to give me long, lush, lashes, I expected more. One positive is that it is waterproof, but other than that, not really the best mascara I have ever used.



Next is Rimmel London Glam'Eyes. This stuff is truth. I swear it looked like I had some full thick lashes!! The best part about this is I spent less than $5 on this mascara and the tube is cute as all get out. It is pink and black with a little fishnet design. The only downside to this, it this mascara is not waterproof.

All in all Rimmel is the best of the two I tried, if you actually have lashes the Covergirl might suffice, but for those of us with invisible lashes, Rimmel is the way to go.

Crossposted from Siditty


So over at The Coil Review(might have to scroll down or up to see part I or II), they have an interesting concept going on. They have a white guy writing about his experiences with his black girlfriend while she transitions from relaxed hair to natural hair. As you guys all know I am a natural head. Finding these articles were double gold for me.Interracial relationships and natural hair? You don't find stuff like this to blog about often. Most black women are still relaxing or wearing weave. Now over at the Coil Review, they are pretty strict about what they consider natural hair. Folks who flat iron on a regular basis, wear weave or wigs, or use texturizer per them are not truly natural heads (scroll down the page over at the Coil Review to see the article "A Natural Technicality" to get a full understanding of what I am talking about). So I think this guy is learning the whole, dirty, truth about natural hair.

My husband had some clue because I wasn't the first black girl he ever dated. He knew about the concept of weave and relaxers, although not completely. He once asked me why my hair never grew, and I had to explain to him it does and that I give it a good blunt cut every three or four months, about an inch or two each and every time, I just did it in the bathroom, instead of at the beauty shop. He truly just didn't know. Then he moved in with me (or should I say I moved in with him, it was his apartment before it was mine). Just to start it off, I can count on one hand how many times in my life I have been to the beauty shop. I grew up with a cheap momma who did at home relaxer kits, had the hot comb heated on the stove, and trims were done in front of a bathroom mirror. I continued to do that as I left the house. It was then he learned what a "perm" truly was as he saw me put my own Just For Me perm (yes I used kiddie perm, I hve a sensitive scalp). in the bathroom of his apartment. He then saw my chemical burns the next day where I didn't wash it out good. He then asked me why I permed my hair if it was all that trouble. I couldn't really give him an answer. That was my last relaxer, and then for years after that I became a flat iron queen. It was time consuming and damaging to me hair. Then a few years back I said to hell with flat irons and went for the gusto with rocking my curly hair. I've been a natural head ever since.

A lot of men, black, white, or the other really don't understand the relationship black women have with their hair. He didn't understand why I was scared of humidity or had to mentally prepare myself for swimming. He didn't understand why I swore that flat ironing my hair was an invitation for a rain storm and how I hated rainy days. Or why after doing my hair I didn't want him playing in my hair. It isn't his fault, he is a guy with relatively short hair, he goes to pro-cuts, he washes his hair daily in the shower and all he does when he gets out is comb it back and throw in some gel. His hair dries in 10 minutes tops. Most men don't think to do hot oil treatments. It isn't their fault, they don't have to deal with it.

Black women have a unique issue when it comes to our hair. We have pretty much been told it was a burden. It is a bit time consuming. You can spend all day or several hours putting a relaxer in your hair. You are told in order to look acceptable it must be straight. That people assume if you don't have straight hair, you are making a political statement. Or that you are just too lazy or cheap to get you hair "done". The concept of swimming can be frightening. So can the concept of rain. As you know after these activities are done you will be fighting with your hair to get it back to it's straightened state.

When a white guy has to see the transition, it can be a bit daunting, and like this guy learned, he can come off as insensitive. Yeah,the hair doesn't always look pretty when transitioning. My husband for years thought the only hair styles I could do is a bun or ponytail. I didn't know to do the big chop back in 1999. So I transitioned by way of trimming over time. I remember feeling my hair was ugly and him hounding me to take my hair out of a bun. It can also be frustrating because the concept of length is skewed.

My husband prefers longer hair. When my hair was straight it looked longer, but with curls you get shrinkage, taking way that length. Most people never truly realize how long my hair is until they see it flat ironed, with is rarely if ever. So that is another obstacle, to explain to people the concept of shrinkage, I wouldn't think I would have to, but I do. Not to mention the whole "you should wear your hair like that more often" comments. Don't you know straight always equals better? ::sarcasm:: I as per usual, digress.

One thing I did notice was with white people they didn't seem to be repulsed by my hair, they thought it was odd, but they didn't ask me when I was going to go get it "done". My husband actually likes it because I spend less time in the bathroom and I am less inclined to fear rain or humidity. That and he can actually touch my hair without fear of drawing back a nub. I think guys overall still prefer the straight look, but white guys who are open to dating black women seem to be more open to the concept of "natural hair".

Overall understanding and accepting black woman's hair is a big task for black women, it is nice to see a white man at least trying to understand black hair and the black woman's relationship with it.

The Coil Review Re Launch from Tricia (T. Mezz) Messeroux on Vimeo.

This is genius!!!!! I get a monthly newsletter from The Coil Review, but I was emailed and asked to review this.I can only say it is awesome. I absolutely love it!!!!!! A win for us natural heads everywhere!!!!!! Surfing the site, it has a whole new look, and it could be a great resource for natural hair.