Hi Guys!
As you know I was super excited to attend my very first natural hair meet-up on Saturday. The event was hosted by Natural Nigerian, Sherese Ijewere and Screwy Haired Girl at the picturesque Omenka Gallery in Ikoyi. Of course being the person that I am, I got there late and missed all the talks but I was able to meet with a lot of amazing women, share styling advice and even buy some products.
Here’s what I wore :
 |
| Pink sundress (Topshop), Silver chain necklace (Thrifted), Orange patent quilted bag (LPM) |
 |
| Vanity Oils and Olori stalls |
The product stalls brought their A-game. Vanity Oils is amazing because they sell almost every single carrier and essential oil you can think of right here in Nigeria. Their prices are very reasonable and they were even offering 10% discounts and free shea lip butter samples on Saturday. Olori was my greatest find of the day because they sell Miss Jessies, My Honey Child and Kinky Curly products starting from N3,000! She told me that they’re working on expanding their product range and I think I managed to convince her to make Shea Moisture the next one so fingers crossed. Olori has an online store and a pretty cool blog too.
 |
| Vanity Oils |
 |
| Nature Zone Goat Milk Soaps |
The Natural Nigerian stall was another favourite. I picked up some Jamaican Black Castor Oil (N1,750) and Bentonite clay (N1,350). They also had henna, flaxseeds – all sorts of great stuff. They’ve got an online store where you can pick all this up. Namaste Organics has some great smelling whipped shea butters and essential oil infused bentonite clays also. I’ve seen some of her products in Ebeano supermarket, Lekki.
 |
| Nigerian Natural and Namaste Organics stall |
 |
| Fashion Strings Hair Accessories |
 |
| The Kinky Apothecary |
The Kinky Apothecary had some pretty cool products. They had Eco Syler gel, oils, Giovanni and Aubrey Organics products. They even had some satin bonnets and pillowcases!
Another self-made cosmetologist turned CEO was Dami, the founder of Neriah Naturals. She had the most amazing, down-to-earth vibe about her and I really enjoyed hearing about how she started her product line. We swapped stories about having “long hair envy” growing up and we found that we could both remember the names of the girls that had long hair in our secondary schools from like 12 years ago! (But this is a topic for another post I think lol) Her products smell amazing and she uses natural active ingredients.
 |
| Neriah Naturals |
Besides all the shopping I had to get some pictures of all the amazing hair styles on display.
 |
| Hairspiration: Nanette |
Nanette’s been
natural for 3 years and what we have here is a two-strand twist out on
stretched hair (she used a blow dryer on low heat) swept up into this
gorgeous up-do. Simple, elegant and I can’t wait till my hair is long
enough to try this!
 |
| Hairspiration: Chidi |
Chidi cut her hair in March after her third attempt going natural. What made third time lucky for her? “Finding out the right information on how to care for my hair”. She was super friendly, and bubbly and I cannot BELIEVE how much growth she’s had in only 8 months. Its so exciting! This is a braid-out by the way.
 |
| Hairspiration: Sahara |
Sahara was a little relunctant to have her picture taken but she agreed in the end! And I’m so happy because I had to show you her beautiful hair. She’s been natural for 2 years and this is a wash-and-go.
Gorgeous.
I can talk about hair all day but I don’t always have people that want to listen so for me, being able to talk to these women was gold! When I told them I’d only just cut my hair a week ago I got a lot of “Congratulations!”, “Oohs” and “Awws”. It felt great to be in a place where people understood. There were a lot of ladies that were relaxed and didn’t plan on going natural. They just wanted more information on how to have healthier hair and I thought that was pretty interesting. At the end of the day, you don’t have to go natural to use any of the “natural hair techniques” – moisturising, deep conditioning and minimal heat and manipulation is good for everyone’s hair.
Walking away I was filled with a sense of empowerment and positivity. For me the whole experience was about more than just hair. Since I started my hair journey I’ve overdosed on information and I pretty much know black hair can grow and what I have to do to achieve it. What was most useful for me was being able to have a real-life forum to see for yourself and ask questions. All the women were so open, warm and just there to share information and help each other. It was truly amazing and I’d just like to thank the organisers for doing such a great job:)
 |
| Me and all the beautiful ladies. Can you spot Kate Henshaw? |
Love,
Ifeyinwa
This event seems awesome! So jealous – and all those products, how did you contain yourself?? Great post Ify 🙂
It was awesome! And trust me if they took cards, I would've been in trouble lol xx
Lovely post! You took some pictures! I hope you don't mind if I use them on my blog. I was all over the place and didn't manage to take as many as I would have loved.
I saw the little note you left me too! Next time, please come up and say hi!
Hi Natural Nigerian! I was hoping to but there was quite the crowd around you by the time I was leaving but next time I most definitely will! And yes of course you can use the pictures. Please just make sure you use the watermarked versions with my blog name on them. I'd also appreciate if you credited my blog somewhere in your post. Thanks x
Ify you're absolutely glowing <3
Awwww thanks hun x
That’s a good product. I also stumbled across another online store where you can get whipped cocoa butter, 8oz jar for N2500 only. My children love this blend cos of the chocloate smell. My dark scars are gone and the great thing about why I bought this body butter was due to the greasiness of shea butter.
While the one I bought at http://www.hairsage.com has shea butter as a base, once I rub it on the skin, it feels like a cream and it’s instantly absorbed. No darkening of skin as they incorporate Hazelnut oil for women like me who prefer even toned and firmer skin.
So many nice products. But, with me Vanity Oils is best product.
It is great when you had come to that event and met the wonderful friends. Your hair and the pink dress attract me at the first look. It is so regretted that I do not live in Nigeria. I will surely visit this event and buy some products for myself if having a chance.
helenblog