Heeeeey, I'm in Suriname where the sun is shining and my dear dad who is turning 80 this year, still lives there. Reason enough to be completely happy.
What makes my arrival this time super special, however, is that I have come to launch my own product line, Going Natural Hair Care. It has been a lot of work. I have had to work really hard, really hard to be able to realize this, which of course gives a satisfied feeling, but that is not yet the feeling I am talking about.
A look back
Since 2002, the year kroeshaar.com went live, I have done everything in my power to change the perception of kinky hair styles for the better, with the goal of healthier hair for Black women.
For me it was an unacceptable injustice that frizzy hair was seen as unrepresentative by definition, with the result that we suffered so much from hair breakage and hair loss. This was also the basis of my inspiration to show and promote the beauty and versatility of our hairstyles via kroeshaar.com. I have spared no expense or effort to pursue my goal.
In 2003 the very first book was published : Kroeshaar wat je moet weten en meer . Later that year I started photographing hairstyles, when for the first time in my life I came into an environment where the vast majority of women did not wear relaxed hair, but hairstyles that made me dizzy; so beautiful, so gorgeous, so intriguing, so impressively frizzy. I could not resist capturing the hairstyles because I knew that these unique hairstyles had to be shared with the rest of the world.
This project has now become BAD Hair Uprooted , an exhibition that highlights the beauty of afro hair with hairstyles that started the online afro revolution and a book that chronicles the unwritten history of afro hair.
In 2004 , Going Natural How to Fall in Love with Nappy Hair was released and the eponymous site going-natural.com went live. The site now has over 38,000 members, 40,000 followers and fans.
To make it all even more fun I started America's Next Natural Model in 2008 followed by Miss Kroeshaar two years later. It was the very first Miss Kroeshaar election ever held and I had the great pleasure of organizing America's Next Natural Model until 2013.
In 20013 I also started the Going Natural Video diaries, a documentary that shows the natural hair movement in motion.
Meanwhile
What I never stopped doing was experimenting with ingredients, investigating what our problems really were, where they really came from and what the possible solutions could be. As a true IT nerd, I dug up, analyzed and worked out everything I could find. Because a half solution is no solution for me.
Closing the circle with products through a holistic approach
The reason I feel so deeply grateful now is because Going Natural Hair Care gives me the opportunity to bring together all my experiences as a total solution for the care of frizzy hair.
What sets the products apart is that Going Natural Hair Care first highlights the known problems with an exhibition, uproots them with the accompanying book Bad Hair Uprooted and then offers solutions through Going Natural Hair Care, workshops and a documentary.
And just when I thought it all came together so beautifully, in Suriname where I grew up and was able to hold the very first Sabi Wiri day in 2003, my father told me that Spice Quest, the location where all the events are held, is the address of his parental home: Dr. Nassylaan 107. Do you understand what I mean now?
Now that everything seems to be coming together perfectly, I hope you will not hesitate to attend at least one of the events. You are cordially invited! I would love to see you in real life. Check the program and see you there.
Thursday 7:00 Exhibition Opening, Book Presentation and Lecture
Friday 7: Documentary Going Natural Video Diaries and dialogue
Saturday: Workshops Curly Hair Care with Going Natural Hair Products
Registration for the workshop via:
info@orga-nice.org / 8956440