Where are you from?
E: I now live in Montpellier, South France where it’s always sunny. I was born and raised in Paris, then studied 2 years in Cocoa Beach, Fl when I was in high school. My mother is Cameroonese and my father Italian. I’m 25 and happily married to Alister, a half Cameroonese half Jewish Moroccan. We have two wonderful little girl Kélis and Naïa. I have a degree in sociology, after that I got a beautician’s license and now I’m a professional baker. We’d like to open our own bakery, and hair is a family affair.
What is the natural hair scene like in France?
E: Well, it’s a little tricky because of the France’s past. We have two main black populations, the West Indians, from Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion, and the African. The West Indians are former French colonies, and their ancestors were slaves. Then you have the African from the old colonies, some come directly from Africa, and some have been here for 2 or 3 generations.
For my final study to receive my sociology degree I decided to focus on the “globaliasation of occidental beauty”, and I’ve found a lot of very interesting things. I’d say, based on my studies, West Indians in France categorize hair by texture, from the most beautiful to the less (or ‘the straighter to nappier’.) I think the way they see hair is similar to African Americans.
On the other hand, African culture is a little different, they do braid a lot themselves, and see no problem with wearing wigs or extention, and are more exuberant with their hair styles. But natural hair is mostly worn by West Indians. Africans can generally appreciate curly hair on bi-racial girls for example, but few wear it themselves. For bi-racial girls, I’d say it’s half-half.
Why did you go natural?
E: I should start by what made me straighten my hair. It was back in 2000, just before my big trip to the US. I really wanted to look like the girls on videos, like Aaliyah, because I was a big fan. Plus everybody was telling me I would look so much better, so I did. I’ve been raised by my Italian family side, so my image of beauty was based on what I saw everyday, which was straight hair, plus I thought it would be so much more convinient at that time. My hair was always tied up, and hidden, and people were making fun of my large forehead all the time (which is very significant of my mother’s ethny, the Bassa). I figured that way I could have “longer” hair, a bang and untied hair.
I had a lot of success abroad, my hair looked pretty good there. But then I came back to France for holidays, and it was impossible for me to take care of it. My curly hair was coming back, and the straightened hair was starting to look like rat tails to me. I had breakage, and my hair wasn’t shiny at all. A pure nightmare. I realised my natural hair was so much better and I really missed it.
I was kinda scared to do the big chop, because I was afraid of my white American boyfriend’s reaction, what would he say? So I did nothing, and came back to the US, it really looked messy. I braided my hair a lot, and back in France I really couldn’t stand it anymore. So one day I was undoing the braids, my cousins where over, I told them to cut anything that wasn’t curly. T’was a pleasure to them, as I watched my poor hair falling on the floor, I told myself it was the first and last time I would do such a massacre.
It is really funny, because I always thought girls with natural hair were so pretty, and I was telling myself I would look like a clown if I did. I had to fight against myself to accept it, and find it beautiful and attractive. I remember that day I came out with my natural curly hair to go to school, I was so scared, but everyone liked it, and I had a tons of compliments for a month or so. Wearing my hair natural affected me in the way it made me shine and reveal who I was inside, it’s like I just realised I was multicultural, and that I had to be proud of it.
How would you describe your hair?
E: Curly, fluffly and healthy. I think it is the best part of me.
What’s your regimen?
E: Well, I wash my hair with not too hot water every 7 or 10 days with aleppo soap, or an organic shampoo with shea butter, avocado oil and orange zest. Then I spray a mix of mineral water, avocado oil, tea tree essential oil and cider vinegar to remove the limestone in the water. I apply a homemade cream my brother-in-law makes. I make my hair a beauty mask simply with coconut and jojoba oil once a month. I also like to use Lush products.
What’s the best/most effective thing you do for your hair?
E: Untied it, and not wash it too often. It is also important to me for my daughters to see that I like my natural hair. Yes, the most effective thing to do with my hair is loving and respecting it.
Is there a blog/webpage where we can find you?
E: Sure, here is our cake blog: www.ladinette.net
Or my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1072083286
Her hair is beautiful, but her style is amazing! Love the photos.
🙂
Nice interview! I love the family pic!!!
^^
wow! what a beautiful family!
I’m glad you enjoy our family! Thank you!
Yeah this woman should be a style icon! She puts herself together rather nicely.
I really appreciate the comment, and about the clothes i like to buy on sales, because here in France prices are crazy!
Tres jolie!Beautiful woman and family.
And in French!! Thank you!!
Eloïse, you’re so beautiful! I’m loving the hubby-wife swag you and your husband got going on.…too cute!
Thank you so much, we’ve been knowing each other since 10 years, and are together since 7, yes, i hope i’ll spend the rest of my days with him!
Love, Love, Love this post! What a cute family with great style!
^^ thank you!
that pic of her and her family is so cute. i love her daughter’s fro.
Yes, Naïa has nice hair, but trust combs aren’t her bestfriends! Thank you for the sweet comment!
Oh! You make such a beautiful family! I’m loving the style that you and your hubby (and your daughters) have. Plus, your hair is absolutely gorgeous.
Great interview! I love that there was a discussion about cultural awareness among those from French-speaking West Indian nations and French-speaking African nations. Very insightful!
I’m really glad you appreciated the social issue!
Oh wow. Vous est tres jolie! Et votre famille aussi. J’adore vos cheveux. Beautiful!
All in french, wow! Thank you!
Off to look for that hat? fascinator?…whatever she has on her head in the 3rd picture. Very nice.
Lol, yes it’s a fascinator, i purchased it at Accesorizes it’s an english brand, you can find some nice ones at Modcloth.com or even Asos.com .
Thanks…luckily we have an Accesorize in Sweden so I’ll look for it 🙂
Wow, I love this! Beautiful family.
Glad you like it!!
Hi Eloise!
Luv. Luv. Luv. Your family looks so beautiful, and happy. Your hair is just fabulous. Also love your style. Could we hear some more about that?
Which products from LUSH do you use? How easy is it to get products in France or do you stick to your brother’s mixology?
Could we hear some more about your research on West Indians and Africans in France? Really curious. Do you have a link to your work?
Thank you thank you thank you!!
Yes, i’d be glad to share with you anything you want to know!
About Lush products i’m using the H’suan wen hua mask and also the coolaulin conditionner.
Hair products aren’t hard to find, but chemical products are what you’re gonna see in all Afro Hair stylist. I like to buy hair care from Melvita, it’s an organic brand, i used to work for them, the products are really effectives.
Unfortunatly, my computer broke down two years ago, and all i had in it is lost, but i’ll be really glad to tell you what i know.
I’m from the english-speaking West-Indies, and I’ve always found it so fascinating that to a certain point, there was a similar origin, colonization history and experiences in the french‑, english- and spanish Caribbean. The differences however are so striking and I wonder sometimes at how that affects culture and mindset of the following generations. I cannot assume that someone from the French West Indies would have the same culture/cultural values as I would. What sort of cultural value differences (esp about beauty, femininity, etc) did you find? Another burning question that I have is about your husband: Did he grow up… Read more »
Ok, well, i didn’t go very very deeply into that part, because i accentuated my search on french spoken countries and the US. But at the begginnig of my search, it appears that french West-Indians have more problems with identity especially about beauty. Cause there happen to be more categorization, based on skin tone and hair. About Alister, i was born in Cameroon, then they all came to live in Ivory Coast untill he was 12, because his father taught maths in french high schools. When he came to France, eveything was difficult, he had an african accent, he was black… Read more »
Problems with identity,categorization based on skin tone and hair…Excuse me? Are we to believe that none of that is commonplace in Africa,right?
I said more in west indies, i didnt say none in africa.
Thanks so much for the product tips! This is awesome, I try not to drown in product-envy when I see how many lovely things the US-sistas can get.:-)
I’ve seen that Melvita has just opened a shop where I live, in Germany and was a bit unsure about what they had to offer. What would you recommend?
Yes, i had good results with Melvita’s, that shampoo for extra dry hair is just fine and teh conditionner works for me as well. But don’t buy their oils, because it WAY too expensive for what it is.
You can check the Aromazone.com the oils are great, and it’s full of tip, i think it is now trnaslated in english!!
Where do you love in Germany??
I live and love 🙂 in Karlsruhe… about 30min from Strasbourg. Thanks again for the tips and for sharing your and your husband’s stories. There used to be a lot of classification of skin type too (we learned this in History class), so even though the names aren’t used generally, the same idea is all around the Caribbean. It’s been all about light skin and long silky hair for a long time. Rastafarianism and Black Power/Pride have changed things some… My little ‘hobby’ used to be looking at who countries chose as their beauty queens. What does x‑country think of… Read more »
Really? My aunty lives in Hoenneim which is so close from Starsbourg, if i go there maybe we can meet someday??
I’d like to know more about you’re talking about! Do you have a facebook account??
Do you mean Hoenheim? Great. That’s only about an hour from me. 🙂
Don’t worry, sometimes I don’t know what I’m talking about! Lol!
I’m not on facebook often enough (coz I would rather check in on bglh!), but you could drop me an email at bookbutterfly@web.de anytime.
Wow! What a beautiful & stylish family. They all look like models 🙂 great post!
Oh you’re too sweet! Thank you!
what a perfect little family!
🙂 you’re sweet!
What an adorable family! Tres jolie! 🙂
Merci beaucoup!!
everyone looks so lovely and cute!
Yoli, you’re so nice!
Pretty girl, nice pics. I really like the international interviews that you do.
^^, thank you. I as well like iternational interviews, so great to learn about other cultures.
what a cute and fun looking family!
Merci!!
Nice photos. Love her hair color. I am always saddened when I read black people explaining so much about their ancestry as if an explanation is needed. It is almost apologist. As if they are saying, “I have this melanin because.…” I simply do not see other skin colors feeling the need to justify or explain their skin color. For the many blacks claiming Jewish, Irish—I just never see or read about Jews or Irish people claiming black ancestry. In any event, everyone obviously should be comfortable and whatever self identification to make their life easier—but really. And historians say The… Read more »
Um.… I think she mentioned those things because they had relevance to her story. She mentioned at one point that she loved straight hair because she was raised by her father’s Italian side, and that going natural, for her, was an embrace of her multiculturalism. I sensed no malice or condescension in her words. I think that black people take it to far when they demand that bi-racial people can’t mention the “other side” of them. Like, the FACT/REALITY is that she is half Italian and half black. Why is it seen as a problem if she states the facts of… Read more »
jasmine, i couldn’t have said it better myself. co-sign.
varnisha or whatever: WTF, dude?
Thank you Jasmine, you totally understood me!
lol i agree, i dont understand why being jewish was even mentioned.. it’s a religion : /
Vanisha, if you’re talking bout me, mentionning Alister was Maroccan Jewish, it’s because it is not the same culture at all, and they don’t live in the same place in Marocco. Even if it is a religion here, it is really part of a culture.
judaism is not seen as “just a religion” like other religions (ex. christianity, islam etc that you just join if you believe in it) because they believe that the “jewish-ness” is passed down genetically through the mother’s line.
that’s why people often refer to judaism as an ethnicity.
Right!
Hey Honeybee! Did i mentionned my skin color? I’m seriously not talking about taht but just about my hair. You’re from the US right? Just know that it’s really different livig in France in the US because we don’t have the same culture or past. Just like the West Indians, African-American used to be slaves. You don’t ask a West indian his origin, because you suppose by definition his ancesters are Afrcans. Just like you in the US, even if you’re black, they won’t ask you from where, refering to your origins, because again that’s what is, by definition. My mother… Read more »
I appreciate your honesty in explaining what you meant. There is absolutely nothing wrong with talking about your roots either in reference to skin or hair. It’s who you are. You’ve understood and embraced your heritage. That’s the most important thing.
You’ve got a great looking family.
Thank you, and i’m glad you appreciate it!
Absolutely fabulous style and a gorgeous family to boot! Love this feature 🙂
I’m glad you like it! Thank you for your sweet comment!
great interview!
eloise-you, your hair, and your family are beautiful. thank you for sharing.
Thank you! I really LOVE this blog and i love to read about the others, so it’s a pleasure and honnor to be featured here!
She is one busy lil bee, from sociology degree, to beautician, to baker now. I wish her continued success. You can tell she is someone who enjoys life and is up for the next challenge. Great hair story!
Thank you so much for this adorable comment and wish you made for me! I hope this time i’m done with studies, and that i’ll stop at cakes!
People from Cameroon are Cameroonian not Cameroonese
Thanks
lol, i was coming on to say the same thing. Seeing that i am a proud Cameroonian myself.
I didn’t know, thank you, i’ve been taught that! You made me smarter!!
That’s right.
I am happy to see a camerounian sista on this blog
😉
Oh my! A beautiful family! Lovely hair! So much style! These pics just made my heart happy!
What a sweet comment! Thank you ^^!
[…] {Source} […]
beautiful family…her hubby is fine…
Thank you and lol, Alister has a lot of brothers 😉
Thank for this post!!!! Gorg family and her hair from her wedding— i almost died. I have finally been inspired for a hairstyle for a wedding. i will be a bridesmaid for my sisters wedding
I’m glad it inspired you, my brother in law is such an artist, he was only braiding since 6 months at that time! Hope you’re going to share the pictures!!
Oh my goodness what a gorgeous family, the oldest daughter is a mini version of dad, and the youngest is the mini version of mom. I’m surprised that you don’t do any modeling as well because you really could do it. Your hair is gorgeous, all the pics came out really good.
Yes, Kélis is just like her dad, when she looks at his child picture, she thinks that’s her, it’s funny.
Thank you for the comment.
The little one are mini models for La Princesse au Petit Pois which is a retro inspired clothing company.
eloise, what a beautiful family you have! the girls are so cute. and you, my dear, are gorgeous! so glad you rose above what your culture was telling you you were, because the truth is that you and your hair are so incredibly lovely and unique! i loved this feature, and the fact that you are conscious and able to share details about where you come from and the societal challenges. everyone won’t understand that. 😉 thanks for sharing your story!
It was really important for me to share my story,plus telling the others how its like to be black and white. Of course we all have different backgrounds,im really glad you got and appreciated that. Thank you for your beautiful comments!
Absolutely gorgeous pics, lovely lady, family — the whole nine yards. And how sweet are you for responding to all the comments as well! This may be the first time I’ve ever seen a featured natural do this.
This is so random, but Eloise’s mention of using LUSH products sparked this question: is it true that parabens are banned in Europe? I heard this somewhere, yet I continually see parabens in products — including LUSH (and many others). Just curious…
🙂 i think id like people to answer mine,so i do, and you guys are so sweet its a real pleasure to reply! Thank you for the adorable com.
About paraben,it is forbiden is some european countries but not in France. Well what you say is interesting because lush products in France are manufactured in the Uk and ive never seen paraben on the tag.
LOVE THE FAMILY SHOTS!
Thank you, a friend of mine took this picture,what a bad friend am i , i forgot to give her the credit for that, her name’s Marine,and here is her blog: theindefeasible.blogspot
This is absolutely the most stylish family I have ever seen.
Love your comment, thank you! My family is my greatest treasure on earth,hope we’ll stay together!
Eloise,
Thank you for sharing your story. Your hair, you and your family are beautiful…stunning really. Our story for natural to straightened to natural is similar.
“I should start by what made me straighten my hair. It was back in 2000, just before my big trip to the US. I really wanted to look like the girls on videos, like Aaliyah.” That is EXACTLY why I straightened my hair in 1999 in college. I wanted my hair to swoop to the side like Aaliya, and I wanted to cover my big forehead as well…then cut it like Mary J. Blige.
You are so welcome and thank you for your comment!
Thank you for sharing yours as well,you really made me laugh! And i really remember the state of mind i wad into at that time. Now i think about my babies wondering what they will get inspired by. Im kinda blaming the princess and the frog of disney cuz they all got re
laxed hair.
Très jolie famille et style vestimentaire!
C’est réjouissant et inspirant de voir une femme noire comme toi qui assume un tel style (pour une jeune femme de 23 ans comme moi qui vit aussi dans le Sud de la France et métisse de deux cultures). J’ai lu avec plaisir cet article et quelle bonne surprise d’avoir une Style Icon française 😉
Par ailleurs, les études que tu as faites paraîssent très intéressantes.
Bisous de Marseille
et Bonne continuation !
Salut,
je suis bien contente d’avoir pu t’inspirer ^^ et merci pour les gentils compliments!! J’espère qu’on pourra te voir ici aussi!!
Bisous bisous
Et bien, le monde,enfin internet, est vraiment petit 🙂
Et oui, tu es magnifique et ta petite famille a la classe
Bisous ma belle
looool ben qu’est que tu fais là???
T’as pas envie de te mettre au naturel??
Merci ma poulette!
Des bisous!!
Lovely Hair! Lovely Family!
Thank you ^^
Oh yeahh a french girl (I live in france) lol ! Your hair is so beautiful and your baby girls are adorable!!
ps = “La Réunion” is not a west indian island 😉
LOL yeah i know it is the Indian Ocean area, but it was to simplify the French portrayal, and not too confuse the American readers that aren’t used to the french particularities. This is excatly why, i don’t remention it after. I have a very good friend from there, and my cousin is married to one ;).
Thank you for your nice comment! Vive les frenchies, d’ici ou d’ailleurs ^^
One of my favorite Style Icon profiles by far! Eloise, you, your hair, your fashion and your family are absolutely precious, and belong FRONT AND CENTER in an international clothing campaign. Trop mignon!!!
I wish you all the best of luck!
What a sweet sweet comment!! Thank you so much, you made my day!!
Eloïse tu as l’air d’une américaine!! En + tu habites Montpellier?! On dit toujours que dans le sud, les gens sont moins ouverts, niveau “style” est ce vrai? T’as l’air de sortir d’un magazine, belle famille en tout cas 🙂 Quant à ta recherche sur les antillais, les africains, les perceptions etc …, je tique déjà sur le fait que tu considères les réunionais comme des antillais, dsl, mais vraiment, je pense que ce n’est pas la même culture du fait que ce sont pas les même mélanges culturels tt simplement … Et puis, les antillais sont dans la mer des Antilles,… Read more »
OOps je voulais “reply” ici, mais j’ai raté lol, la réponse est le com’ suivant ^^
Oops, i wanted to reply here, but i mistook, the answer is in the next com’
Alors, je reviens sur le passage des Réunionnais, je sais que ce n’est pas la même chose, je les ai cité pour ne pas faire d’omissions, dans le sens où ils sont très largement présent en métropole ( beaucoup plus que les guyanais par exemple). C’était, comme j’ai répondu dans le message précédent: pour simplifier les différent pendants de la France multi-culturelle. Etant née à Paris, j’avais une vision de la province formatée, la réalité est tout autre. D’ailleurs j’étais à Paris la semaine passée et les gens étaient pratiquement tous habillés en noirs..; Merci pour les gentil compliments!! To… Read more »
Hi!!You and your family are so gorgeous and you all have such great sense of style. I didn’t know it was possible to rock red tights past eight years till I saw you :)..I also wanted to ask about you degree Sociology, is it respected in France? I am in Great Britain and the majority opinion here is that it’s not a respectful degree. I am currently studying it and I love it.
Thank you so much, and especially for the red tights, to be honnest i bought them in the first place because it was so cheap, i didnt know how it would turn out lol.
And about my degree, well, no it’s not respected in France as well. I wanted to be a teacher at first…
good to see many other cameroonians on here. My best friend is Bassa and she has a big forehead too. Eloise, I love your story and it’s motivational. Beautiful picture of you and your family. All the best.
Thank you so much, i wish you all the best as well, and say hey to your bassa friend for me ;)!!
Hey!! Aagin, tights and outfit plus family is hot! Thanks for getting back to me about your degree. Its a very open course and you can do a lot. I wish you well with things 🙂
Thank you for the interest 😉
xoxo
I don’t think I can handle that much beauty coming from one person. Seriously, tres belle! Lovely hair as well!
I was in Brussels this summer and most of the women that I saw (particularly from the Congo) had braid extensions or perms. Lots of them stared at my natural hair (which are dreads). I found it quite shocking. Anyway, I wish you and your gorgeous family the best!
Great portrait, your hair is amazing !
There is a little mistake in the article : Nationals from Cameroon, like me, are called in English Cameroonian… Cameroonese is not correct 🙂
Happy to see my sis’ from the “Pays” is featured on my favourite Blog !
Thank you so much!!
Yep about cameroonian/cameroonese, i didn’t know at first at to say it, back in the USA, when i was in high school, i started to say that i was half camerooneese and no one corrected me, so, i thought twas what it was, but shame on me, i should have checked!
Bonjour les filles de paris, France
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Wow! Such beauty. This is the best interview that I’ve read on this site. Very insightful.x
Oh, you just made my day! Thank you so much!!
All the best!
Hello Eloise,
Nice stummbling onto your article. I was pleasantly surprised to read that your family is part Cameroonian because I was born there and still visit my extended family there from time to time. I’m currently transitioning to natural and I’m happy there is a large supportive community online. Going natural is surprisingly difficult within my Cameroonian community as natural hair texture is still not readily viewed as beautiful. That’s not going to deter me though. I know it’s beautiful and that’s what matters. Thanks for your post… 🙂
Hey Lyddie ( it’s actually my second name, how funny is that, but it spells with only one L )
I’m so glas you appreciated the post, if it can helps, its even better! Keep on your natural transition, and don’t let the other turn you down. Shine Lyddie! I know you will!!
Hello there, You’ve done a great job. I will definitely digg it and personally suggest to my friends. I am confident they’ll be benefited from this web site.
Hey! What a sweet comment, and thank you for the support!
Beautiful family! Tres jolie! I have to ask — has anybody ever mistaken you for an Ethiopian/Eritrean? Something about you face just looks like it…
This stuff is down t earth, hats off buds out there.
?op website Julie