by
Kelsey
Curls & Cocktails, Natural Hair Shows, Luv and Learn Your Hair are all just a few of the awesome natural hair events I’ve attended. The natural hair community is steadily growing and natural hair events are a great way to get out and meet some amazing people who already share something in common with you. There are so many different things you can get and learn from different types of events.
Make New Friends
My favorite event, Curls & Cocktails, is hosted by one of my favorite curlfriends @halfietruths (Kenya Patterson). It is a monthly event held every other month in Atlanta or Nashville where a bunch of amazing naturals (mostly from instagram) come together to hang out, mingle, talk about hair and have a cocktail or two. She started it so that we could all meet some of our favorite instagramers and also bring women together that share a common mindset. So many great connections and friendships have been built because of Curls & Cocktails.
Education and Exposure to products and Techniques
Natural Hair Shows are amazing places to find a lot of information about haircare and also discover new haircare lines. I owe a lot of my haircare knowledge to hair shows and sitting in on some of their classes and workshops where instructors go into detail on various haircare topics. I also found some of my favorite hair products at natural hair shows. There are also hair events that serve as a happy balance of both education and networking, like Luv and Learn Your Hair, hosted by Taren Guy. This particular event was amazing because there was time to socialize with everyone there and network with one another. Afterwards, there was a panel segment where we all talked about different issues in the natural hair community and ways that we could all change to make it the best community possible.
Overall, I think that attending natural hair events will help you to enjoy your journey so much more because you will be able to meet and connect with so many amazing people who can not only help you with your hair journey, but also inspire your life journey.
Have you ever been to a natural hair event? What did you gain from attending? Have you made any new friendships from going?
31 Responses
Here is a website that post national and international Natural Hair events/meet-ups:
http://www.mynaturalhairevents.com/
Thanks for the shout out Kelsey, I really appreciate it & you know I love you right back:)
Some of these comments are a total bummer! If you don’t like what is going on, do something about it! I didn’t like attending trade shows or natural hair shows bc they don’t interest me. I just want to get cute, have drinks and meet new people…and not have to pay for it! So I created an event that catered to what I was looking for.
You don’t have to be a huge blogger to have a meet-up. I didn’t start Curls & Cocktails as a blogger with a following. I was a natural woman who posted an open invite on IG, about 30 women came & it was amazing! You don’t have to live in a natural mega-city to host or attend an event, I currently live in NASHVILLE, TN and I host my event here & I attend a lot of events that other naturals host, here…in Nashville. I’m not rich & I don’t charge for my event, so I don’t get paid. Trust me, I get that you can’t afford to travel like that, neither can I! But, I continue to make trips to Atl and host bc it’s what I want to do. I made the trip to host in NYC bc I wanted it. If I want something, I make it happen & so should you.
Of course women with short hair were allowed in the picture. That picture was taken in NYC & a lot of amazing women, with all types of hair, came out to meet one another. These happen to be the women that were left when we took the ritual group picture. If you would like to see more beautiful pix, of all kinds of women who come together in positivity & light and leave the negativity at home, please check out #curlsandcocktails on IG. I also have a FB page & IG account just for the event: curlsandcocktails.
xok
If you live in a smaller city, you could always get together with other naturals in your city and host your own natural hair event. I live in a small city in Mississippi and that’s what we did. The event was great and we had an awesome time! Around 75 naturals attended our event. Now, we are in the process of planning another event!
I love going to natural hair events. Especially when workshops are involved. I learn so much. I love seeing all those beautiful black women, all shapes, sizes hair lengths and skin complexions. Black women are truly beautiful. I live in Philadelphia and have been to shows in ATL. It has really helped with my process.
Unfortunately I live in south Florida and if there were any natural hair meet up outside of the state, I ain’t funna go. It takes 8 hours just to get out of Florida from Miami! Maybe I should take the above advice and use Google as my reference lol
Were naturals with short hair not allowed in the picture?
I noticed that too. All of the women are beautiful, but I find it interesting that there was little representation of different lengths and styles in the photos. Would it be wrong of me to feel like there’s a lot of pressure to have big, defined, long hair at these events?
I agree. That’s one thing that I don’t appreciate. Any pics from the curly girl “events” seem to be only of long, thick haired, highly defined, lucious curled blah blah blah heads. Its a little off-putting.
You might want to look at the first picture again. I saw at least 3 short hair naturals.
There are a couple did you really look?
As one of the participants of Curls and Cocktails who happened to be at this particular one and featured in the first photo (purple sweater), there was no exclusion of short haired naturals. The picture was all in good fun and not exclusion.
I find this hilarious. Because unless you live in Chicago, ATL, NY, DMV….You’re not going to a hair event. And when you are a blogger yourself, and attempt to get help, product, and these people don’t help you, I’m so not inclined to support them. I do my own research and do what works for me.
As for the natural hair community……I’m officially over it
I live in RI & there’s never any here. 🙁
Lol that’s my hometown and nothing happens there haha you might have to travel outside to Massachusetts to find a good natural hair meet up
There are several natural hair events in the Baltimore/DC area. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to make it to these events due to not having the means.
Plus, I’m suffering from two chronic pain issues. Even though I am not paralyzed, it’s so difficult to have to walk around for so long.
Although I’m into natural hair, I’m not so much into glam and beauty stuff. I always thought events were more beauty focused. I could be wrong.
How can we be informed of the differents events nationwide?
Google is your friend. If you find any events in your area, there might be a mailing list if there is a website available. 🙂
Here is a website that tracks a majority of Natural Hair events national wide and globally:
http://www.mynaturalhairevents.com/
Went to my very first event last week “Curls For A Cause”.
Was really nice.
Loved seeing lots of beautiful black women with beautiful hair 🙂
I would love to come if there is one in LA but as a very pale skinned mixed race girl I worry that I would feel unwelcome, honestly
I’m not saying your fear isn’t a legitimate one, but the fact that it is even a consideration is so ridiculous to me. We are all mixed race to some degree or another. I really don’t understand who these Black people are that antagonize mixed/light-skinned Black people or why.
Though it may seem unfair, the onus is upon you to approach every scenario with an open heart and an open mind. Different meet-ups will be composed of different people and it’s not fair of you or to them to treat them like they’re all the same. It’s important to keep in mind that outlooks tend to be self-fulfilling. If you look for negativity (unwelcomeness, jealousy, ill will, resentment, hostility etc), you will find it, every single time, EVERYWHERE. That’s not to say you’re ENTIRELY imagining the negativity, but for sure whatever isn’t real your imagination will compensate.
As the only brown person (let alone DARK person) at many a scientific lecture/trade show/event, I can honestly say that there have been a few times where I genuinely felt unwelcome and a hostile energy directed towards me. But my experiences have been overwhelmingly positive, and I believe it’s mostly due to my positive outlook and hopefulness about each different scenario.
People will ostracize one another for reasons that go beyond race, complexion, hair type, hair length, and other physical characteristics. They will even do so for reasons that are not inherently negative. I can honestly say I actively avoid people who seem to have a chip on their shoulder. It’s an energy that’s difficult to describe but whether some realize it or not, many tend to shy away from it too (or avoid people who seem angry/fake/corrupt/whatever). So you may also want to think about what kind of energy you radiate that may send the wrong message about who you are. If you are comfortable in your skin, and comfortable in your knowledge that you belong, and have an open mind and heart, that goes a very long way towards having a good experience at an event.
It’d be a shame if any of us miss out on experiences that have the potential to enrich our lives just because we’d had bad experiences before or because we’re too afraid of a negative experience to even try.
Yes, thank you for the vitriol for something that was quite hard for me to talk about but you actually don’t know anything about me or my experiences 🙂 i was raised in mostly around black people and mid-eastern people and felt sort of a culture shock coming to an all white environment for school etc. where I was teased relentlessly for being mixed. Then, coupled with that I met a few balk women who said they would never want a kid like me because i wasn’t any specific ethnicity (??) just last week I was walking through downtown LA and a group of black men told me I wasn’t black enough and to ‘be more black, bitch’.
Understand, these are founded fears. The women on these forums seem to be overwhelmingly intelligent and positive, but it’s still a challenge for me. You might want to recognize the hypocrisy in your self-righteous ‘avoiding anyone with a chip on their shoulder’ diatribe when you clearly have very little capacity for empathy.
There was no vitriol in my comment. I feel empathetic towards anyone who is mistreated. My comment specifically said, “I’m not saying your fear isn’t a legitimate one,” as in, “your fear is legitimate, valid, and has a possibility of happening.” I also wasn’t trying to tell you about your experiences, just attempting to encourage you to experience something that may be more good than bad.
There was neither hypocrisy nor self-righteousness in my comment either. I was just offering an alternative perspective on why people avoid one another. And specifically in regards to myself, I try to make a positive impact on those around me, but when I feel that’s not possible, I at least attempt to not be negative. That is what I meant by avoiding people who seem/are negative (whether that’s those who are prejudiced, close-minded, misogynist, or those who hold fast to grudges).
You are free to assume the worst in any/all aspects of your life, as that is your right and I’m not in any position to tell you or any other strangers how to live.
However, as your comment was on an open forum, I didn’t consider my advice entirely unsolicited. And my advice, essentially, was “Give people a chance. Everyone is different. It’d be a shame to let negative experiences/the fear of negative experiences deter any of us from having positive/enriching experiences.” Somehow, you read “vitriol, hypocrisy, and self-righteousness” in my encouraging comment, so I’d definitely think twice about your ability to read people. But again, I’m not you, and you’re free to think and behave however you please.
Peace. ??
seriously tho…almost half the women in those photos up at the top are visibly multi racial…….so, if pictures are anything to go by, i doubt you’d be alone. not that i’ve ever been to one of those events, but…like what the poster who responded to you said, keep an open mind. you never know til you give it a try.
…I don’t see why not? There are plenty of fair-skinned naturals that are popular on youtube. I don’t see why you would think that you would be “unwelcome”. There are women of all different colors, hair textures, and hair types within the movement. If anything, darker-skinned, kinkier-haired sisters have more to worry about considering the hierarchies present in the natural hair community.
I would definitely go when I relocate to Atlanta but right now where I live, there are no types of events unless u travel. By the time I tend to find out its at the last minute.
I’d go if there were more in my area. I agree with Tabitha about lack of funds to travel to a major city, where the shows are more frequent. There was 1 this year and it wasn’t well advertised. If I hadn’t been looking for a hard to find product on a local BSS website, I would have never known.
Well unless it’s in my city I can’t go. Money is tight, so I don’t have the luxury (at the moment) to take a trip, pay for my hotel, food etc. But if it’s in my area then sure I’d go.
So much this. A lot of naturals don’t live near large cities like Atlanta and NYC, so it’s not really feasible for us to go to big natural hair events.
Same thing I was thinking. I’d love to experience an natural hair event; but however they only take place in popular cities. Considering I live in Kentucky I know that’s a wrap, those type of events don’t even exist here.