Natural Blast from the Past: Bob Marley

I think we all pretty much know Bob Marley. He was a great musician, singer, and songwriter. My favorite songs by him are "No Woman, No Cry" and "I Shot the Sheriff". I mainly like his greatest hits but, I'm not a gun ho fan that know all his songs. But, I can appreciate great reggae music.

His locs are the bizness. Thick, long, lucious. They perfectly complimented that gorgeous chiseled face with those hypnotic sunken cheekbones.

Natural Blast From the Past: Nina Simone

Nina Simone. She is beautiful. I love her features--those full lips and intense look in her eyes. Of course, her natural hair is on point. I wanted to feature her after hearing my sister sing her song so beautifully at her concert. That song, Why? (The King of Love is Dead) is really moving.

Bonus: Video of my sister, Auset, singing her song Why? (The King of Love is Dead)

Aretha Franklin - I Say A Little Prayer

I simply adore this video! Aretha's natural hair is on point. And because her dancers are all wearing wigs, it makes her natural beauty stand out even more. I love looking at old images and videos of Aretha Franklin when she was rocking the natural 'dos.

Her voice is out of this world and I love to hear it on this song. Enjoy:-)

I Can't Believe I Wore My Hair Like This

Do you ever think back or look at old pictures of yourself and think "I can't believe I wore that?" Well, I was thinking of some of the many hairstyles I have worn over my lifetime and so, I went to old photos of me on facebook to see what styles I used to rock. Check them out...


HOOK-ON BUNS - I used to own about five of these buns in different designs and different sizes. I wore them religiously. We even wore them in my probate show:-) However, I have been embarrassed a many times by having these things fall off. I started to get hip and secured them with bobby pins. I don't see myself wearing these agains. And what's crazy is I still have one at my house.

HOOK-ON PONYTAILS - So, I found this pic of me and my LS's at a social. I remember getting ready for this night and I do believe that was a new ponytail I was rocking. I had these hook on ponytails in different lengths and different styles. I even had an afro puff one that I rocked briefly. I just knew I was the stuff whenever I attached these to my head. I especially liked the long and straight ones. I really don't know what the appeal was.

THE GEL AND SWIRL - Now this was the hairstyle that made me feel so fierce. I usually rocked it right after I had a fresh perm. I would part the hair, apply my black gel, and swirl the hair. I must admit this style received quite a few compliments and I even put this hairstyle in friends' hair. However, this style was so HARD. The gel in addition to the spritz was just crazy! My hair was hard, stiff, dry, and itchy. You can see that I would usually hook-on a bun or ponytail with this style. The bun in this pic was a HUGE one, kind of like a dome. lol


RUBBER BAND TWISTS - This style is just unfathomable to me! I am blessed to still have edges!! I started rocking this hairstyle in high school and wore it in college quite a few times. I usually wore this style when it was time for me to get a re-touch of my relaxer. I would part the hair in little sections and connect these sections with rubber bands. Its kind of hard to explain but, I hope the pictures give you an idea. My first college roomate loved this style and had my put it in her hair on a number of occasions. I definitely won't ever be rocking this.

MICRO BRAIDS - I used to get micro braids religiously. My sisters and my mom would travel about an hour to go to Phenix City, AL to this African shop and have them put in for $180. The thing about micro braids are they are cute initially but, the edges start to get stressed and white bulbs would appear or bumps. Also, they were the biggest pain to take out. If I want a version of micros now, I would just put some mini braids in my hair.

FALL WIGS - I had a number of fall wigs. They are really 1/2 wigs that you put in 1/2 of your head with combs and/or drawstring. For some reason, I liked the idea of only flat ironing the front section of my hair and then putting the wig on the back. Weird.

Well, that's all the past pics I could find. I've actually worn way more hairstyles than this but, I couldn't find them all.

Natural Blast from the Past: Pam Grier

Foxy Brown!

She was so beautiful with that afro! She showed the world that our natural tresses could be gorgeous, sexy, elegant, and so much more.

Of course, she now wears her hair straight or with wigs. However, it is nice to reminisce on her past style. Also, this is her most popular hairstyle--kinda what brought her to the map. To this day, people will still say to a pretty lady rocking an afro "I see you Foxy Brown".

So, today I feature Pam Grier as the Natural Blast from the Past. Beautiful.

Natural Blast fromt the Past: The Temptations

Oh how I love their music!! Well, their music from back in the day. If you look at images of The Temptations over the years, you will notice the many hairstyle changes the group went through. When they first came out they were all wearing "the conk". However, as time went by they all switched to their small afros. I think they all look so handsome with their natural hair. It amazes me how each of them had a slight variation of the style yet, it fit each of them. Many times I wish guys still wore their hair like this.

Natural Blast from the Past: Lauryn Hill

Ok, so I know that Lauryn Hill is not that long ago. But, I decided to put her in the Natural Blast from the Past because she used to rock locs during the climax of her career. Simply put, Lauryn Hill is beautiful woman. In middle school, I thought her locs were out of this world. They were so beautiful! She doesn't have the locs anymore, but everyone has the right to change.

Every stage of her locing process was so pretty. If I ever decide to loc up my hair, I can only hope that I rock them as beautifully as she has.

Natural Blast From the Past: Nikki Giovanni

Nikki Giovanni is a great poet!

She has been natural in every single picture I've ever seen of her. Presently, she rocks a short TWA. But, back in the day she was wearing her hair much bigger.

I have decided to leave post a poem by her below. Love it!


Nikki-Rosa
By Nikki Giovanni

childhood remembrances are always a drag
if you’re Black
you always remember things like living in Woodlawn
with no inside toilet
and if you become famous or something
they never talk about how happy you were to have your mother
all to yourself and
how good the water felt when you got your bath from one of those
big tubs that folk in Chicago barbecue in
and somehow when you talk about home
it never gets across how much you
understood their feelings
as the whole family attended meetings about Hollydale
and even though you remember
your biographers never understand
your father’s pain as he sells his stock
and another dream goes
and though you’re poor it isn’t poverty that
concerns you
and though they fight a lot
it isn’t your father’s drinking that makes any difference
but only that everybody is together and you
and your sister have happy birthdays and very good
Christmases
and I really hope no white person ever has cause to write about me
because they never understand that Black love is Black wealth and they’ll
probably talk about my hard childhood and never understand that
all the while I was quite happy.

Natural Blast from the Past: Aretha Franklin

Aretha, the Queen of Soul!

Aretha is a very talented singer who is still standing strong in the music industry. I love that she still possesses her beautiful voice. I am so typical because my favorite song by her is "Respect"--her signature song. But, I love it nonetheless.

Currently, Aretha wears the straight tresses, but back in the day she was rocking her beautiful natural afro. Simply put, I adore it and she looked beautiful:-)

Natural Blast from the Past: Michael and Janet Jackson

A new segment on the blog will be "Natural Blast from the Past".

I must start off with the beautiful Michael and Janet Jackson. I simply adore the Jacksons...