IBWO: Precious Lunga, epidemiologist

 

 

Born in Zimbabwe, Precious Lunga is an epidemiologist specialising in HIV prevention in Africa. She was named at the Yale university fellowship in 2008. 

 

Precious made her first public appearance with husband Jon Show, presenter of Channel 4 prime time news, on 25 october at the screening of a documentary in London. 

 

 When Snow, 63, married Precious, 36, earlier this year, the news made the headlines in UK newspapers not only because of their age difference but also because Jon never tied the knot before. Do you think 27 years is too much of a gap in marriage?

IBWO: Willow Smith's 'Whip My Hair 'music video

Willow Smith, nine year old, released the music video of her first single 'Whip My Hair' on 18 October. The daughter of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith shows off the versatility of afro hair with six styles in four minutes. Her song is number 17 on the US R&B Billboard chart.



Willow Smith - Whip My Hair ( Official Video HD )
Uploaded by tyhansofficiel. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

Flowin' braids

Sculptural updo

Mowhawk

 Bantu Knots

Behind the Scenes: Ciara's Photo Shoot for German Vogue

'How I grew my hair to mid-back length' by Ulovemegz

Ulovemegz's Youtube channel is an amazing source of hair styling demos, product reviews,comparisons but also make up and beauty how to's. She is relaxed but her advice can also be useful for natural ladies. It is mainly inspired by the Longhaircareforum. kolkolkolblog caught up with her to find out how she grew her locks to mid-back length.

What is your current regimen?
In my regimen I wash my hair once a week, co-wash twice a week, and deep condition twice a week. I do pre-poo about twice a month and I do protein treatments once a month. I moisturize and seal every single night and also wear heatless styles and protective styles. Moisturizing and sealing helps preventing breakage and defiantly aids in retaining length. The act of moisturizing and sealing helps keep the ends health since its the oldest part of the hair and that's what we want to keep as long as possible.I also stretch my relaxers to 10 weeks and never anything under 10 weeks. I know for some 10 weeks isn't a long stretch but I'm working on stretching longer. I dust my ends monthly and receive trims only when needed in order to retain length. I have been doing this regimen for going on two years now and it has worked well for me and my hair and it has been a successful journey so far with no set backs.

What habits really helped you retain length?
I think my regimen as a whole has aided in retaining length overall. I do believe that oils do help with aiding health and growth to the hair overall, so incorporating oils, regular deep conditioning and moisturizing and staying way from heat helps retaining length. The purpose of doing these things is to avoid any breakage of the hair so that it gets longer. But the priority is sticking with a regimen and having patience and wanting to see results with your hair.

 
Do women in your family have long hair? Have you always had long hair?
Yes I have family members who have long hair. My grandmother naturally had long hair reaching about mid back length as a teen. My grandmother's nationality is mixed with Native American and African American so she had a slight waves to her hair along with her 11 other bothers and sisters. 

How do you know if your hair needs protein or moisture?
I know when my hair needs protein when my hair tends to shed. A lot of ladies experience different things when they need protein but that's how I know when I need protein. When my hair needs moisture it feels a dry or my hair doesn't have a lot of elasticity and that shows when you hair is just try.

According to Kimaytube (a natural Youtube vlogger), water is the best moisturizer. She does co-washing / rinses helped her retain more length. Do you agree?
Yes I agree from my personal experience since I am relaxed. My hair is wet three times during the week when I do shampoo washes, co-washing and deep conditioning. Also doing this hydrates the hair, it keeps the scalp clean with aids to healthy hair. Healthy hair starts within the scalp. Since Ive been getting my hair wet in some kind of way whether it being a shampoo or co-wash it has benefited my hair along with many other ladies who are on hair journeys.

Ladies with neck length hair may find it challenging to do protective styles outside microbraids and plaits. Braid outs, twist outs, buns etc all work better with long hair. What would you recommend to someone with short or medium hair?
I would suggest trying half wigs, phony ponys, and bantu knots. I've seen a lot of ladies do some of these things as protective styles while growing out their hair. I do believe its all about being creative to find a style that suits you.

Watch ulovemegz on Youtube

Celeb kids: Zoe Kravitz vs Montana Fishburne

 Zoe Kravitz

Zoe Kravitz, the 21-year-old daughter of Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonnet, is officially part of the cast of X-Men: First Class. She contrasts sharply with Montana Fishburne, 19, daughter Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix, CSI), who is launching a dreadful career in adult movies, trying to stop on the sale of footage of her 'practicing' for her movie debut and posing almost naked on the cover of As Is magazine.

 

Montana Fishburne

By popular demand: Chantal Biya's fashion statement

Cameroon's first lady Chantal Biya made a striking impression during her visit to France for the 14 July celebrations. Her taste for flashy colours, designer bags and lioness hairstyles have certainly been noticed over the last few years and commented in the press. After several requests to feature her in kolkolkolblog, here's our top 3 of her outfits and hairstyles. Is it bad taste or fashion statement? You decide...

n.3 The Green dress

 n.2 THE hat, visit to the Pope, March 2009

n.1 The lioness

IBWO: Leela James in London

Leela James will be performing in London on Thursday 29 July to promote her latest album My Soul. The singer born in 1983 in California is also known for being a natural hair inspiration. She's never relaxed her hair thanks to her mother's influence and hasn't felt any pressure from the music industry to do so. However, she's not an afro activist and believes that one shouldn't give too much importance to somoene's hair style:


"Hair politics are so stupid. I wish somebody would say that if I straighten my hair, I'm not as "Black" as someone with a natural. A hairstyle doesn't have anything to do with how conscious you are. India Arie said it best with her song "I'm Not My Hair." And listen, some people wear afros and loc their hair, but they're just as Uncle Tom as they can be. Everybody knows somebody that's like, "I burn my incense, I'm so righteous, I'm so spiritual..." Give me a break!"

Read the full interview n Essence magazine

She maintains her hair with a very simple hair regimen including shampoo and braids as a protective style: "I usually wash and condition in the shower, but I've been known to flip my hair over into the kitchen sink too... old school style, LOL! It all depends on my mood. I deep condition and apply hot oil treatments regularly. I recommend everyone do this, at least once a month."

Here's how she creates the mega afro above: "On wash day, I apply a leave-in conditioner and create 5 or 6 braids or plaits. I braid on damp hair and allow it to air-dry. Once it's fully dry, I take the braids down, comb them, and then tease it out using a pick or a wide tooth comb. Sometimes I'll lightly blow it out with a dryer, but that's really it! In between styling sessions, I dampen the hair, re-braid and repeat."

Read more on curlinikki.com

IBWO: Necole Bitchie

Founder of urban celebrity blog necolebitchie.com joins our list of inspiring black women. Starting from nothing, she created the dream job that she couldn't find on the employment market. Here's her advice to suceed:


Quote: "Two words: DO YOU! I think a lot of people fall short of achieving their goals or doing what is true to them in life because they are scared of what other people may think. We get tied down by jobs we hate and see no real progression because of the fear of failing and people telling us “I told you so”. You are going to have people that tell you that what you want in life can not be achieved only because they are envious that you are even trying when they may have given up. You will have people that tell you that you shouldn’t go for it, just because they care about you enough that they don’t want to see you fail. But at the end of the day it’s about what is real to you and what you want. Don’t let anyone live your life for you. Do what’s real to you. Last but not least, Never Sell Your Soul for a Dollar.

Watch her life story here.

CF5WU56C6RUS

Spotted: the Serenas

Serena Williams appeared at the Wimbledon Gala Dinner in a Burberry dress on Sunday 4 July after winning the championshiship for the fourth time. She was also interviewed by Harper's Bazaar and confesses that she has long been envious of her sister Venus' slimmer figure. Read the full interview here.


Another Serena (aka Blake Lively) was spotted filming Gossip Girl season 4 in Paris, near La Sorbonne University, wearing a classy pink outfit.

Celebrity Hair Style: Solange Knowles

Solange Knowles went through many hair stages, like many black women.

Before 2009, she was wearing long black a hair, either straight or curly. This hair style made her a clone of her sister Beyonce and she seemed to lack of a true personality.

Relaxed hair before the Big Chop

She decided to go natural and shaved her head in July 2009 (also know as the Big Chop in the natural afro hair jargon) to cut down on her astronomic haircare spending ($40-50,000 per year!) and free herself from weaves and extensions.

This became one of the most popular Big Chops of all times. She's been compared to Amber Rose, Cassie and Britney Spears, made the cover of several magazines and was even invited to Oprah's TV show to discuss her decision.

2009 after her Big Chop

She said in Honey Magazine: "As a society we equate beauty with the images that have been placed in front of us since we were little kids. Every Disney movie, every fairy tale, every pop star typically has a certain aesthetic and look. I think that anytime we see something different, it freaks us out.

"The more people warmed up to it, and they saw more images of me with it and dressed up with my earrings and a little something, something on my face, I think then people were more willing to conform and accept it.

"Now, it’s interesting how the first day I had it, I had nothing but negative, evil, cruel things in my inbox and then yesterday [after Oprah aired] I had 300,000 people saying ‘Oh my God, you looked amazing, so beautiful, and you made us proud.’ People were able to hear my reasoning, which is good and bad because we should be able to just express ourselves."

Eleven months later, Solange had an amazing hair growth. She was spotted on 24 June in a New York club with a free style afro.

June 2010

Career advice from Kelly Cutrone

Kelly who? You may not be familiar with Kelly Cutrone if you don't watch reality television. Kelly is the founder of People's Revolution, fashion PR agency based in New York and Los Angeles. She became famous as the mentor of Whitney Port in The City, MTV's reality show focused on career.

Whenever she appears on the show, Kelly reminds viewers that women do not have to do office politics, drama and be sensitive at work as it is expected from them. She now has her own reality show Kell on Earth on US network Bravo and recently published a career advice book entitled: "If you want to cry, go outside".

On her company culture, she said: " [...] the office atmosphere I cultivate is nothing like the cultural stereotype of striving women clawing each other to death to get the queen bee’s job. Women have been taught that, in order to get ahead, we have to be secretive and plotting and manipulative, because a straightforward route to the top hasn’t always existed for us, and in many industries it still doesn’t. But I don’t believe in playing into these stereotypes. We don’t have to stab each other in the back, we don’t have to take things personally and break down when we’re criticized, and we don’t have to advance at each others’ expense."

Here's her top three career advice:

1. "If you have to cry, go outside"

2. "You'll find as you set out to follow your dreams that most people don't really want you to transcend into what you were born to do. Perhaps they are scared for you, perhaps they don't believe in you, or perhaps they're just nasty, negative naysayers. Whichever it is, I advise you to stop sharing your dreams with people who try to hold you back."

3. "You need to appoint yourself manager of your own personal brand. Don't blend in. People who are out making a difference in the world, are not like everyone else. Good brands are authentic, focused and consistent."

Read more career advice from Kelly on AOL Jobs.

http://www.peoplesrevolution.com/

Interview with Wendi Levy, co-founder of Mixed Chicks

kolkolkolblog met Wendi Levy(left), co-founder of Mixed Chicks, the curl-defining system for multi-cultural people. Wendi is a key player in the rise of natural hair care with her associate Kim Etheredge. She attended the Afro Hair and Beauty Live Show in London on 30 May 2010 to prepare the arrival of her range in the UK. She tells us her tips to maintain curly hair.

http://www.mixedchicks.net/

Essence Black Women in Hollywood 2010

Stunning Joy Bryant

Jada Pinkett Smith

Vanessa Williams

More...

Off The Endz

They're young, black and ambitious. David, Kojo and Sharon all want to succeed after growing up in a London estate. But they have different views on the road that will lead them to success. Will they comply with the system or go off tracks?

Off The Endz is a play written by Bola Agbaje, 28, who was recently listed in the Independent's brightest new stars to watch out in 2010. She grew up in one of London's most notorious estates in North Peckham.

Bola said: "People say they're inspired by what I do. I have a responsibility as a role model. If I put something out there, someone needs to learn something from it. Even if it's just one person - that makes a difference in this world." Read the full interview here.


Off The Endz
Thu 11 Feb - Sat 13 Mar, 7.30pm
Royal Court Theatre
Sloane Square,
London SW1
020 7565 5000
£12 - £25

How to find a man like Barack Obama

Ladies, you've been waiting for this info for a long time... Here's Michelle Obama's advice to find the perfect man:

"Cute’s good. But cute only lasts for so long, and then it’s, Who are you as a person? That’s the advice I would give to women: Don’t look at the bankbook or the title. Look at the heart. Look at the soul. Look at how the guy treats his mother and what he says about women. How he acts with children he doesn’t know. And, more important, how does he treat you? When you’re dating a man, you should always feel good. You should never feel less than. You should never doubt yourself. You shouldn’t be in a relationship with somebody who doesn’t make you completely happy and make you feel whole. And if you’re in that relationship and you’re dating, then my advice is, don’t get married. Get out of it and find that person that brings you complete and utter joy with who you are at the moment."

Celebrity Hair: Keke Palmer

Keke Palmer grew up on our screens and we saw her hairstyles change along the years. In Akeela and The Bee (2006), she was wearing curly micro-braids that gave her an young and innocent look. She has now opted for long and sleek hair for a more sophisticated style. The 16 year old actress is currently foused on the successful kids' TV show True Jackson, VP on Nickelodeon.

Celebrity Hair: Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey is natural. She's had the same hair stylist for 24 years: Andre Walker, creator of the hair classification system and author of Andre Talks Hair. In his book, he explains that he washes Oprah's hair every morning, deep conditions it, and then rolls it with rollers (this is nearly impossible for the average woman). She wears weaves in the summer to protect her strands.



In April 2009, she revealed a picture of her raw hair: "Am I wearing a weave? Everybody's like, 'Oprah, we love your weave.' This is not a weave, this is my hair."

However, she said she wears weaves as a protective style: “In the summer, I braid my hair. I wear weaves. I’ve worn weaves on the show. I’ve worn weaves on the magazine covers,” she says. “I have done pretty much all of it because in order to keep your hair, you can’t put heat in your hair every day.”

In the past, she burnt her scalp with a relaxer. Read her bad hair day story.


Andre Walker gave his tips for healthy hair on Oprah's website:

Oprah credits you with keeping her hair healthy for the past 24 years. What can women do to keep their hair healthy?

AW: Healthy hair is always clean and conditioned. Make sure products such as sprays, gels, waxes, etc. are cleaned from your hair—otherwise you can create buildup, which is very damaging.

Apply heat such as flat irons, curling irons and blow-drying at a minimum, maybe once or twice a week, as this is very drying. Try pin curling or roller setting in between.

Excessive shampooing can strip the natural oils from your hair, which is very important if you chemically treat your hair with color or relaxers. Natural oils add nutrients and moisture.

JW: What's the most common mistake women make when it comes to their hair—and how can they fix it?

AW: The most common mistakes I've seen are overcoloring or relaxing. These two processes are very damaging and should be done only when needed. I recommend every six to eight weeks. When you use these processes, you must condition, condition, condition.

source: www.oprah.com
Read the full interview here.

November IBWOS

Celebrity Hair : Tracee Ellis Ross

Tracee Ellis Ross gave her hair secrets to Black Hair and Braids magazine. Read them here:

"I wash my hair once a week. I use a couple different shampoos. Once a month, I use the Aveda Shampure and at the same time I'll also rinse with the Rene Furterer Vinegar Rinse.

But if you don't want to spend that much you can use apple cider vinegar and cut it with water. Your hair will shine, but you can't use it all the time because it will dry your hair out. On a regular basis, I use the Gold Wells Conditioning Shampoo.

On a weekly basis, one of my beauty secrets is that I steam. I go to one of the Korean day spas. I fill my hair up with Gold Well Kerasilk Conditioner-that conditioner is fantastic for conditioning hair under a heating cap, which I do if I can't get into a steam room. With the Kerasilk, your hair will not curl up. My hair gets so soft that it doesn't curl up, so I have to use another conditioner.

The other is very expensive but you get a lot for your money. It's called Hair Mayonnaise. It is a growth enhancer. It's an organic company. It comes in a big tube. I's a really good deep conditioner.

Then, when I want my best hair I'll use Denman D-4 brush or the salon industrial heavy brush. I am an advocate of Denman brushes. It is a rubber brush. The older it gets the better because it has gotten softer. I also use the Cherry Almond Burnt Conditioner by Aveda. I mix with a little of the Deep Penetrating Conditioning from Aveda for the smell.

And, I separate my hair into six sections in order to brush it out. So, I don't break my hair. And you start from the bottom. The way your mom taught you. I do this in the shower. I put more conditioner in my hair, shake my hair so my curls can find each other, and take my hair up with a big clip.

Leave it in for a while, then, I turn off all the hot water and turn up the cold water. Put the cold water on low pressure because the high pressure will break up all the curls that just found each other. The low pressure cold water keeps it shiny and keeps the curl."

Tidjane Thiam, first black boss of a FTSE 100 company

Tidjane Thiam was today named by the Evening Standard, one of the 100 most influential Londoners. Born in 1962 in Ivory Coast, Tidjane received degrees from three of the most prestigious engineering and business schools of France: Ecole Polytechnique, Ecole des Mines and INSEAD. He is an ex-minister of planning and Development of Ivory Coast and is today Chief Executive of insurance company Prudential. He's also the first black boss of a FTSE 100 company.

He is a member of the Africa Progress Panel with the likes of Tony Blair and Kofi Annan.

When asked about how it felt to be the first black CEO of a FTSE 100 company, he answered: "I don’t see myself as being particularly different from anybody else. I focus on being successful.

"It’s actually funny that when I was appointed CFO that nobody said first black CFO of a FTSE 100 company. One of my worst jokes has been to say well I’m also right handed and I’m also six-four and these are in the same bucket of things that have nothing to do with what I do."

Read his interview in the Financial Times