Being natural is … a great buffer from sorting out the troll boys from the keepers. Why waste your time with a man who is too invested in your hair and wants you to have a Naomi Campbell weave so he can run his fingers through? **rolls eyes** DECLINED!
BGLH: Where are you from?
AULELIA: I always say that I am a Tanzanian. Because of my parents jobs, my family has lived all over the world from Russia, Switzerland to Sweden and then my parents sent me to boarding school in the UK. I came here [UK] when I was around 11, and have had my secondary education here. I am on a journalism masters course at the moment in London. So I would say that I live in London, but I am from Tanzania, East Africa woop!
BGLH: What’s interesting about the place where you live?
AULELIA: I think the most interesting thing about London is what surrounds you. I live in east London, and there are so many quirky things all around. One day, you can be walking down the street in Walthamstow and see a derelict cinema that the local community is trying to save, and then you can come across bustling markets with people vying for your hard earned money. London is a crazy juxtaposition of old and new, fashionable and crumbling, toughness and grit, yet the gloss of the aristocracy is also still visible. It’s a great city to live in if you are interested in history, because the history of the city is literally cracking off the cobbled streets everywhere.
BGLH: What is the natural hair scene like?
AULELIA: LOL, this is a sensitive topic. I bang on and on about natural hair. I know this will sound controversial, but I think natural hair in London is just coming to the mainstream. I have been natural since ’04 and I can say that only since this year have I seen representations in the press on natural hair. It has always seemed to be an afterthought in black magazines here, and whilst there is some change in the media, I don’t think the natural hair revolution as such has happened in London. Yes, there has been growth and there are natural-headed women, but not to the extent as seen in the United States of America. I’d also like to add that I have noticed a lot more natural headed men who wear big afros etc more so than women in London. This is just from my personal experience, so I don’t know about other women who live in London.
There are a few natural hair salons – there is one in Hackney called eftal or something but they cater more towards people who like locs which is great. I also think it has to be said that, it also depends on where you live in London. I don’t want to make it a postcode issue, but I do live in east London and I must say, I have never seen so many beauty shops that sell relaxers in one area. I do think where you live makes a huge difference as to whether you see relaxers or not. In the more creative, fashionable areas like Shoreditch, Hoxton, I think it would be more likely to see girls with natural hair.
I would not say natural hair is normal though! LOL! That would be going too far. It is still something seen as ‘different’. I was in Sainsburys supermarket the other day in north London and the cashier told me he liked my hair (he was a black man) and he just said how much he liked it. I was flattered as it is always nice to receive compliments. What is odd is that I receive compliments on my hair a lot from white people, and some black people, but definitely more from white people. That is one reaction to natural hair that is surprising, just because on the surface, you’d think black people would give compliments as well.
BGLH: When did you go natural? Did you transition or big chop?
AULELIA: I transitioned and to be honest, I wish I hadn’t. I do think it slowed down the growth process a great deal for me, because I became so impatient. I remember specifically starting my journey in autumn of 2004. Watching the relaxed strands grow out was bizarre – my hair was half kinky and half straight so I started experimenting with styles a lot, doing ‘Geisha’ style uploads, doing 60s style hairstyles as well. As my hair reverted to its natural state, I started to do Afro styles more and twists. But yes, I wish I had done the big chop and watched it grow organically.
BGLH: Where do you buy your hair products?
AULELIA: I must be one of the only birds who is not big on products LOL! I don’t use them a lot, but when I do go and buy some, I normally go to one of the beauty shops down the road from where I live. It is crammed with relaxers, but they do have an oil section where I buy West Indian Castor Oil. My hair is really liking it at the moment, and bizarrely, even when it rains and after it rains, it still leaves my hair feeling supple and moist which is wicked. It’s also cheap, less than £2 so it makes sense for me economically.
I used to use a lot of beeswax but that was before I knew what nonsense was inside there! Eek! I also love the IC Hair Polisher.
BGLH: Do you have natural hair ‘meetups’ in your country? Do you think they are necessary for your country?
AULELIA: I think Cherry Lola does meetups and I must confess, I really want to go to one. L says~Cherry Lola’s site: http://www.cherrylola.com/ I just have never set aside time to do it yet but it is something I should do because it would be great to be around other black women who are naturals and not have to explain myself around the relaxed army all the time! Anything that is a support group for a cause is fantastic so I love the idea of a meetup.
BGLH: What do you like about being natural in your country?
AULELIA: This is an interesting question. I think what I love the most about being natural in London is that since I have become natural, hair has not become an obsession for me here. I remember when I was relaxed, I would obsess about my hair – I would think about how long it was getting. When I became natural, I would go jogging not worrying about my hair too much – as long as it looked neat and tidy, I was happy.
Being natural is [for me] also a great buffer from sorting out the troll boys from the keepers. Why waste your time with a man who is too invested in your hair and wants you to have a Naomi Campbell weave so he can run his fingers through? **rolls eyes** DECLINED! Natural hair has helped me sort the men I want to talk to, and the ones who are a waste of time. On the whole, the men who seem like they are interested in personality seem down with my Afro. L says~Amen to this!
BGLH: What would you like to see in your country in terms of natural hair care?
AULELIA: I’m obsessed with media , so I would like to see UK magazines like Pride and Black Beauty & Hair cover natural hair more. It does get trite reading European magazines, and seeing the hair section where Beyonce is in the ‘Afro’ section — Hello, Bey’s weave is not natural and this is coming from one of the biggest stans! So I would like to see more coverage in the press, because images do have a huge effect on how young girls view their self esteem. Although The Noisettes have blown up, so Shingai Shoniwa is presenting a stunning image of natural hair.
I would also like to see more black-owned natural hair shops. Most beauty shops are owned by Asian people. Nothing wrong with that, but I would like to see more black people owning beauty shops. It is important we grasp what is targeted to us and try and understand it better from a business perspective. L says~Amen again!
BGLH: Anything else you want to add?
AULELIA: I’m beyond chuffed that you asked me to do this! So thanks Leila – BGLH is a supreme blog to be honest. You should be really proud of yourself. It’s like a congregating space for natural girls, which is wicked. L says~Awww, thanks! 🙂 Final points I’d like to add are for me, I realised that when I started to eat better like eating those dreaded vegetables, my hair has been smiling more. I am on a diet to lose some weight and I am feeling the effects on my hair a lot more, it feels stronger and not as dry and the back of my head, which grows the least fast, is also growth.
As much as I hate to admit it, sometimes going back to basics is what is needed. I think if you try and take care of your insides and body, your hair will follow suit. Products help of course, but diet has been the key for me.
And just quickly, Wakeema Hollis is my natural hair queen. L says~A Wakeema Hollis post is also coming today! Come to think of it Aulelia and Wakeema kind of favor each other. I think her hair is supreme and I love that she is a haute couture model and wears an Afro. She’s wicked. I’ve posted about her on my blog numerous times.
L says~Thanks for the interview Aulelia! You can find more of Aulelia at her blog: http://charcoalink.wordpress.com/
22 Responses
nothing makes me more happy to see black females embracing their natural state of hair. this lady sounds like she is a neighbour of mine i too live in east london. i have to disagree on a few things she has said about naturals in london.
1) you cannot compare the size of london with the size of america so you will probably see more women in the states with natural hair then you would in the capital of england.
2) i don't think natural hair is mainstream anywhere apart from places like samoa, fiji and some parts of africa.
3) there are a lot of natural haired black females in london and across england. i myself have been natural for 18 years and the majority of my friends and family are natural. when i first visited the states in 1995 travelling from conetticut all yhe way down to louisianna i came across just 1 locked girl.
4) the black magasine pride has featured articles on natural hair one of the writters is natural herself. it's always going to be an after thought because the relaxers, weaves and extensions are big business they will always take presidence untill more women revert to what the creator gave them.
5) there are a lot of men who detest the sight of chemically processed hair and weaves. i have always had positive feedback from blackmen some of them thanking me for keeping my hair natural(this is my experience anyhow). what you will find is the youth buy more into the european standard of beauty because this is what is being pushed most in the media especially via music vids.
i'm afraid brixton is the place to be for the black owned shops. and i recommend you check out adornment natural hair salon there too. on my last note i hope you come to realise that being a natural haired female in london is a lot more positive than your experience and when you get the time to visit one the natural hair shows you will be surprised at how many there are of us.
peace x
her hair is sooo beautiful!!
Great interview 🙂
I flippin' LOVE her hair!! Even though my hair is poofy, it poofs down.. =/ I love the fact she can rock her hair in a big, lovely and full afro. =]
Lovely post! I'm jealous of Aulelia's hair, it looks so full, thick and healthy! Maybe one day I can get my hair to look like that – amen!
I also live in the UK, and I know for a fact that natural hair is still the exception rather than the norm. When I decided to go natural, I was met by lots of blank stares and questions and comments of "Why natural?", "So you mean you are never going to relax your hair anymore?"
I also agree with the comments about african hair shops. 99% of shops in London stock products unsuitable for natural hair, ie relaxers, wigs, and products containing all the artificial nasties that we try to stay away from. To get good natural products, I have had to search online and often purchase from the US.
I also think there are far too many salons with clueless stylists. Most of them don't know how to treat, handle and care for natural hair. They just want to slap a weave on me or ask me if I want a perm.
And yes, this is the mainstream hair care scene in London.
However, I have to say that as soon as I went natural, a lot of women have told me that they are in fact, natural under their braids, weaves and cornrows, but they don't leave their hair out because they work in professional settings so they are afraid of the reactions from colleagues at work. Or they are scared of looking too different when they are out and about in the street. Or they simply don't know how to manage long natural hair so it's easier to keep it hidden away ALL the time.
@anon June 25, 2009 9:46 AM
Are you trying to say the UK is more segregated than the US? I must be going to the wrong places seeing as I've lived in the UK my whole life, so please tell me where the hell we trump the US on segregation?!
We don't have segregated proms like they still do in the US (we don't have proms in general but we have farewell do's). American's have slave-master issues most black's in the UK should not have because the largest growing black demographic are African's who come here willingly on planes.
OT: London is diverse and anything goes, but if you have weaves etc you are seen as more trendy/fashionable.
However that doesn't mean you won't see many teenage girls with natural hair, and I'm amazed because when I was in secondary school relaxer was the only way to go! Sport anything natural and you were seen as a freshy.
And Aulelia is right, we need more black people to open beauty shops
Loving your post and your hair!
I am a natural, born and bred in London. I have lived in London for 28 years now. I have found that London is so diverse and as they say 'anything goes' in London. I do see some natural heads out there but I think now I am seeing more and more and bigger afros! Oh yes!! I have also noticed that school children are rocking their natural hair more now, so maybe it is getting "fashionable" amongst them. I remember back in the day when I was at school I got teased about my natural hair. : (
I do get frustrated at the amount of hair shops there are in London that do not cater for the natural women (weaves, relaxers, cone/pareben based products). Seeing this I have decided to start up my own business selling 100% natural hair care products to kinky/curly naturals. So watch this space ladies, i,m gonna rock it!! Hopefully I will be up and running in a week or two. As Aulelia said we need more hair shops catered for us naturals and run by us.
What a lovely girl!
such a pretty woman and lei she does favor hollis!
Leila, thanks again for this. I am deeply happy to be featured.
Cheers for all your lovely comments everyone.
For Anon who thinks the UK doesn't have disdain for natural hair, I am speaking of MY personal experience.
I am not saying what I think is the final word for the UK.
Hey guys!
Let's remember to respect everyone's cultural upbringing and nationality as we discuss the thing we all love — natural hair.
~L
@ anonymous,
Honestly what you have described about the UK attitude towards natural hair is completely identical to the USA attitude. It is extremely rare for a child under 10 to have a relaxer and generally this is looked down on and considered dangerous. If I were to go around making uniformed statements about the UK you would cry foul so I would appreciate you showing others the same respect you would want them to show you.
Nice interview. I read Charcoal Ink all the time too. And I LOVE her afro. Beautiful.
Gorgeous fro. Anyone know how to make wavy hair do a fro? Know what I mean? I've tried, but my hair keeps dropping.
i love this interview. Aulelia has very beautiful hair (and is beautiful too). i was in london last week and i did see a lot of women with natural hair (well a lot more compared to where i live). i think there are more naturals in london though i'm not sure if it is accepted or not.
i agree with the anonymous who said that there are several women rocking natural hair all over the city. though i don't live in london, i've noticed this.
This was a fantastic interview. She has a really down to earth personality. As an English major I loved being able to see actual photos of Anee Boelyn's execution site on a natural hair blog. That's what's up!
Yeah, anonymous, your "UK is superior to US" tone really is unnecessary. Also, I was raised in the USA by Caribbean parents and NEVER received a relaxer. I've been natural all my life and this was because my mother refused to let me hate my hair or have a low self-image about my natural self. How can you really compare the UK to the US regarding their "Caribbean mothers". Please!
I'd say natural hair is still an afterthought for black magazines here also. The mainstream media has been much quicker to approach natural hair. In magazines like Essence and Ebony and some of the black hair magazines, natural hair is treated like some sort of fad. I imagine that some of the older generation of blacks probably wish it was.
@anonymous, I feel the urge to defend the US here. Only because there was a tone to your post I didn't appreciate. if the attitude toward natural hair is it's for "back whenyou were a kid or not that stylish", then the attitude toward natural hair ain't that positive. & what was with the "we mix over here" comment. I have not seen the level of segregation in the US like I've seen in the UK and lord knows we have our problems here. Also, you referenced Caribbean mothers as if to say that they would have had more of a propensity to let their daughters remain natural. Speaking as a Caribbean born & raised woman who has a circle of friends from all over the Caribbean, I can say with complete certainty that this is not the case. I, and most of my friends, all received our first relaxers by the age of 10 or 11 because our mothers found our hair too difficult to manage. Further, the perming of very young girls' hair is not a common practice here.
Hi Charcoal 🙂 it is nice to see you here. Your hair looks healthy and dense and I like it a lot. I live in London as well (south) and I need to agree with you. There is so many shops selling relaxers in this area, but also I see many, many natural heads, mostly among secondary school and high school pupils, but also few adults’ heads.
Now I am searching reliable natural hair salon. You have mentioned one but do you know more? The stylist in the typical afro shops knows NOTHING about natural textures and it makes me really frustrated as I need good professional cut.
Thanks for any info and keep doing your good job on your blog.
Mo.
Just to comment on the U.K, I see a lot of people on your site who pass through the u.k, were not brought up or born here and live and move in isolated areas of England/London then make the comment 'naturals are near extinct in London/u.k. This is simply not true. There are a lot of naturals in the u.k and it is not looked down upon as I hear it is in the U.S.
Many have chosen 24/7 weaves or relaxers as the easy choice because they don't want to be fussed with hair, that's their thing and the younger generation who are influenced by U.S programmes/music videos have a higher propensity to choose a weave or relaxer above natural hair.
However I don't see a general disdain from black females towards natural hair, more an attitude of it maybe being a little like 'back when you were a kid' kind of hair OR not that stylish. Sometimes people like it but say they can't handle it themselves. Some black males seem not to like natural hair but then if you watch enough hip hop videos and read mens magazines you don't see naturals represented as sexy, more earthy like a sister or friend. Sadly I sense that that's how naturals are categorised. Black males that appreciate your natural hair do exist on the U.K.
i also want to debunk the myth that white people are in love with natural hair as opposed to relaxers and weaves (although extensions/weaves aren't preferred by males of any race on any race of women), they really don't care and most of the time can't tell braids from real hair. I have many white friends living in the U.K (we mix over here) and none of them have ever expressed any preference either way, why should they?
Your interviewee is right, more creative areas i.e shoreditch, east london seem to have a flurry of naturals but I see natural women of all ages above 20-21 who are rocking natural hair, all over the city. Loc'd, twa, dyed natural, twists etc etc.
I don't want people to read this blog and get the impression the U.K is anti-natural. Many of us have Caribbean mothers who made efforts to care for our natural hair until a riper, older age than the U.S with it's 3 year olds sporting relaxed hair. I just don't think there is a massive stigma towards natural hair in the U.K as long as it looks groomed.
Yay TZ!Karibu (which means welcome in Swahili). I liked this interview and the pretty pictures
I LOVE HER AFRO. I HAVE A TWA AND HER BIG FRO IS MY GOAL. BIG UP TO HER REPPIN FOR UK. I LIVE IN MARYLAND AND SHE IS REPRESENTING FOR THE NATURALS.
Fantastic interview, BGLH!! It's extra exciting to read about Aulelia because I will be visiting London in exactly 3 weeks. I love her "turn of phrase" – she has a very fresh way with words.
I want to just compliment YOU in general for these "Naturals from around the world" features. They are informative, fascinating, and entertaining. Keep 'em coming!