2011 Natural Hair Show in Atlanta, Part 1

Hey there everybody! We have a guest poster today, it's Lydia, the owner of Nandikids! She recently returned from someplace any KMC reader would LOVE to go, the Natural Hair Health & Beauty Show put on by Taliah Waajid in Atlanta! WOW! She is going to tell us about her trip to the show, in two parts....here's part 1:


Hi!  This is Lydia from Nandikids.  I’ve posted here once before on Tidbit Tuesday.  I started Nandikids a year after I brought my daughter H home from South Africa.

Being in Canada meant that we didn’t have great access to products needed to properly take care of her hair and skin needs.   I quickly tired of having to spend a fortune to import products only  to find I didn’t like them.   We are a huge fan of Taliah Waajid’s products so when I learned of their annual Natural Hair and Beauty Show I really wanted to go.

The World Natural Hair and Beauty show was held in Atlanta Georgia.  I wanted to attend for several reasons.  First, I wanted to scout out new products for Nandikids and to learn more about caring for Black hair naturally.  Secondly, I wanted to put myself in a situation where I was the minority.  My daughter is the minority every day.  At school, at home, at dance class…..  I thought it necessary for me to experience this first hand.

Attending this show was a terrific experience.  Yes it was a little strange to be one of four non-Black attendees (2 of the others were half of a mixed race couple).  And yes, we did get some inquisitive looks.  However, we were not made to feel uncomfortable.  Some vendors treated us like any other customer explaining the benefits of their product.  Other vendors took a minute to figure out why we were there.  Armed with that information, they were all over us.  This was especially true at the workshop that I attended.  The instructor made the class feel very comfortable asking questions.  My sister-in-law and I were the only non-black, non-hairstylists in the class.  I explained that I had a daughter that was Black and I wanted to learn more about caring for her hair needs and how to style it appropriately with my limited skill.

The next thing you know I was in the front row, then standing by the instructor watching as she worked, asking questions as she went.  Then to my amazement she told me to go ahead and practice cornrowing on her son’s hair.  I am terrible at this and have only attempted it once on H. 
In the end I got some great tips on managing H’s hair (how much product to use, what products to use) and styling tips ( how to maintain locks, how to tighten locks, better cornrowing and twist techniques) and some new cool products (strawllers for example).  I can’t wait to go again.

September show, anyone???

Stay tuned for Part 2 of Lydia's experience at the show!