Carlie: I like your idea of weaves and flowers in your hair but I have to say I am disappointed in the execution. This is a modeling competition who takes the best photos and you say this:
Unfortunately, because of the darkness of my hair, the flower does not show in the pictures.
That doesn’t make sense to me.

I don’t see the creativity of the style in your photos but your steps are clear. The overall style does not do it for me.  Although your lightening is better, the rest of the criticism is the same as last week. Your photos aren’t sharp. In your first photo I can see that your complexion, your skin and your teeth are beautiful and your pose is nice but it’s just not a good enough photo. You have to raise your level. Find either a better camera or a better photographer because it’s not you. I see a beautiful woman in average facebook-like photos. These photos are not representative of a model.

For your next challenge, keep the frames tight but keep the camera still. Look at the Iman photo and try to take a clear shot that show your makeup.

Jalita: Your makeup looks great, your hairstyle certainly shows creativity, your steps are clear and I even like your poses and your overall style but unfortunately there is no good shot where I can see your hairstyle. The goal of the challenge was clearly “a creative hair”.

I think you are very versatile, you show range as a model with your beautiful short hair what not many models can pull off but your shots could be a lot better. Your hair blends in the darkness of your background and you need to put in a little more effort.

The leafs are distracting and miss some good tight headshots where we can just see your face and your hair. Cropped your photos look better and you should be able to take that tight shot. So there is much room for improvement.

For your next challenge, please give us that tight shot with just your face up to your neck and a bit of shoulder but that is all we will need for a makeup shot.

Desyray Your style is certainly creative, your steps are ok but I don’t really get a sense of your overall style. Your are photos are good but and the background is too dark to make your beautiful creative hairstyle pop out. You look beautiful, your makeup is well done, your poses are attractive but the execution is not there yet. You need to crick up your photographer or photographic skills so that you can shine.

For the next challenge, a black dark background may not be a bad choice but you really need to make sure that the light falls perfectly on your face. Also make sure that the photos don’t show the borders of where your makeup starts.

Kala: I like your hairstyle. Very nice, very nice! I like the colors as well. Here I get a clear sense of your overall style and your steps are clear.

Your photos are again an improvement compared to last week. The tree in the background is not bad but you can see you much better with the white background. Some of your shots are too much of a closeup and I like your accessories but I wish there was a photo without the flower so I could clearly see the full style.

For the next challenge, keep improving. Try to be a bit more expressive when you take a shot. Relax your face mussels and make your eyes smile or show more emotion.

Chassity woman: You are clearly in it to win it and I love that! Your steps aren’t really clear, I have no idea how you created that style so that is a minus but your style is creative and I get a good sense of your overall style.

For the rest of the ladies, this is how you take a photo if you have a busy background full of leafs or trees. You make sure it’s blurred. It takes a skilled photographer to take shots like these I know but you have to realize that every bit of distraction in the background, moves the attention away from you the model. And that is not what you want.

Your series is very good because you kept to the instructions. You show your hairstyle and you also pose to show the overall style. I love the shot where you can see your reflexion in the water. Very creative shot and you look lovely.

My only criticism is that I wish there was a shot without the flower so I could get a good view of the hairstyle. Well done though. You show your skills as a model and my compliments to your photographer. You are a good team.

Reshonda - Reshonda! You listened carefully and let the camera capture your beauty, completely. Love your shots! Just beautiful.

I love the fullness of your style. Your close ups make African hair look desirable, your instructions are very clear and you clearly show an overall style.

All I can say is not just keep it up, make us proud and take it to the next level.

Natasha
I like your style. Very creative and I love your approach to the idea that short hair is not as versatile. Your makeup is also very creative and I love how colorful your shots are but the photos are too busy.

In your first two photos you get lost in the leafs. That is a pity, you should be the center, miss model. I do love your 3rd shot though. It’s very creative as if you are one with nature. Somehow it makes me think of Avatar. Your 4th and 5th shots are also good. I can see your creative hairstyle and I get a sense of your overall style but still feel that the leafs take away from you being the total center.

For the next challenge, keep doing your close-ups. You pose well. Your camera feel is very good. Just make sure there is nothing distracting in the back.

Justyce - I do get a good sense of your overall tropical natural style and your steps that include your clarification of your simple style are good. I am sorry about your finger. I hope the food was good.

I have to say that I am not convinced by your shoot though. Your first shot is just ok and I don’t know what to make of your expression in your next 2 shots. As a model you have to find a way to look more “modelequesk.” Your poses are not bad but your facial expressions don’t say model to me yet.

Please practice for the next challenge, learn to relax your eyes or smile with them. Then take the camera and shoot.

Nefertiti - Love your creative French Roll with a Twist but I miss your instructions on how to do it. I do get an overall sense of your style but my criticism is the same as the other models: the background is distracting and I miss one good clear shot of your hairstyle.

I think photo 4 is your best shot. I like how the light falls on your face. Shot 2 is nice because of your expression. It shows your skills as a model but you are lost in the picture. You should be center.

So for the next challenge, take your modeling skills to the next level, try to choose a single color background that compliments you and your makeup so that you can be the center of every shot.
This week I have to choose between Reshonda and Chassity. Your shots top the rest but it’s not easy. Overall I like Reshonda’s shoot better because it looks more natural and the two last headshots that clearly show your style are absolutely gorgeous. So congrats, I know you worked hard for it, you are my winner this week. Chassity you are really not far behind.

The two with the least attractive shoots for me are Justyce and Carlie. When I compare the shoots picture by picture I have to say that Carlie has better shots then you Justyce so I am sorry to say, you are the one I choose to let go.

Inspired by his race for the White House, Going-Natural.com offered President Obama the centerpiece of its exhibition “The Pursuit of Nappiness” as a gift for his birthday last year. The colorful framed portrait, chosen as a favorite during the exposition at the Casa Frela Gallery in Manhattan, shows a beautiful woman with a cheerful smile and a striking Afro.

Lurie Daniel-Favors, the woman pictured, is all but a stereotype beauty. While her dense afro strengthens her exceptional natural beauty, her resume underwrites her remarkable intellect. Daniel-Favors, a graduate from the New York University School of Law, was an associate at a well-known Law firm before founding the L.D Favors Law Group – a New York City practice with a partner. As a mother and a community organizer she also serves as the co-executive director of Sankofa Community Empowerment, Inc. (SCE), a non-profit to empower the racially and economically disenfranchised groups.

The picture was taken at the International African Arts Festival in Brooklyn, NY in July of 05 where Mireille Liong, founder of http://going-natural.com was shooting for what she calls her “Pursuit of Nappiness.” Intrigued by the outstanding coiffured heads she encountered at African American summer fairs, Liong started to photograph natural hairstyles in 04.

Lurie’s portrait was chosen for a number of reasons, Liong said. First, Lurie is beautiful and the afro is African hair at its best. Visitors of my exhibition clearly felt the same way but there are more historic and symbolic grounds behind my choice. The afro is a politicized style that came out of the civil rights era then dominated the fashion scene in the 70’s. It is the first hairstyle that ever allowed black women to take pride in their natural strands after believing for centuries that African hair was unacceptable.

Very much like the Afro, the community organizer Barack Obama stood for civil rights. As a candidate, his race for office was groundbreaking in so many ways, as was the Afro. The Afro left a lasing imprint on society and so will Barack Obama’s presidency. As the first black President, Barack Obama allowed African Americans to take pride in being an American on unprecedented levels after doubting for decades whether a Black man could ever be elected to the highest office.

There is also no better symbol than the afro to illustrate his campaign’s motto “Out of many we are one” that brought together so many different people from all walks of life, Liong continued. Like citizens of a nation, no two coils are the same but out of many uniquely shaped strands comes one powerful afro.

About six months after sending the 20 by 24 framed birthday gift, Liong received a note of gratitude from the White House signed by First Lady Michelle Obama and the President. For more information about the photograph, Lurie Daniel-Favors and the Pursuit of Nappiness visit http://going-natural.com. Inquiries about the exhibition can be sent to info @ going-natural.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The uniqueness and versatility of black hair. Courtesy of http://going-natural.com

Teesha Borum

Teesha Borum, an aspiring actress/ model from Atlanta, won the ‘America’s Next Natural Model’ pageant, an online competition organized by Going-Natural.com.

The pageant queen, twenty nine year old San Diego brought up model Teesha, lives by the policy of “Do what you love and love what you do. If you don’t know what that is, love the journey in finding out” and has done exactly that in her strive towards going natural.

“I have been natural for 5 years now. I absolutely love it and am proud to wear my crown,” she says.

The annual ‘America’s Next Natural Model’ pageant celebrates the beauty of natural African hair. It shows the world that the preconceived notion of beauty is restrictive and incomplete. It stands up for African women, urging them to shed their inhibitions and go natural.

“We live in a world where many black women wear their hair in styles that imitate European standards of beauty. Although I think that every black woman is beautiful no matter how they wear their hair- it takes a certain confidence and love for ones self to go natural,” said Teesha on her profile on going-natural.com

“The beauty and grace that we as black women possess in our hair alone is amazing. Its course, its thick, its tightly curled, it can take the heat, stand straight up and touch God all at once. How amazingly beautiful, strong and passionate we are! I want all women to see the magnificence in natural hair!” she adds.

Going-Natural.com is a website that strives to develop confidence in African women. It encourages them to be themselves and stay beautiful at the same time.

For bookings visit www.teeshaborum.com.

^Toshia, Christina, Safeeya, Karla, Teesha ^

See the beautiful curls and learn how to create them yourself for the holidays to come.

See the top five models who are still in the race to become America ‘s Next Natural Model

Visit
Going-natural.com
for your natural news

America’s Next Natural Models in the campaign for Jamaican Mango & Lime

As we’ve seen in the comedy documentary Good Hair, African American women with natural hair are an exception so it’s no wonder that you will hardly see Black models flaunting their god-given tresses in advertisements. America ’s Next Natural Model offers aspiring models the opportunity to do just that. Each of the eight participating beauties is proud to show their natural texture to the fullest and proof that African hair can be extremely beautiful and versatile without hazardous chemicals, extensions or weaves. The concept is clearly working.

In this green era where companies that promote natural beauty are on the rise, the search for natural models has also increased as the companies need beauties to match their message. Cyrus Jackson, owner of Rasta Group Professional Products with a hair care line of natural products was so pleased with the contestants that he chose three of America ’s Next Natural Models for his next campaign instead of two. Sula NYC a new comer to introduce natural scrubs was so impressed with the models that they offered the winner, Miss Nappturality of 09 a year supply of their scrubs.

The successful pageant is only in its second year. Last year’s winner, Tiana Tamara Townsel is today’s Miss Black Washington.

America’s Next Natural Models in the campaign for Jamaican Mango & Lime

The goal of the competition is to take natural hair styles beyond acceptance of the corporate world and show the beauty and fashion industry an unexplored universe of hair and styles that they miss out on.

According to organizer Mireille Liong, wider acceptance of natural hairstyles is essential because in their pursuit to meet the standards of “good” straight hair, Black women damage their scalp and suffer disproportionately from hair breakage. America ’s Next Natural Model is an inspiring way to create awareness and acceptance using new technology to spread the message.

A panel of judges shares their professional opinion but users also have a final say in who will win this online pageant. Registered users can vote for their favorite model and leave comments in a social network environment. It’s American Idol meets America ‘s Next Top Model on site at Going-Natural.com. For more information visit Going-Natural.com.

You can already see the models online at http://going-natural.com and read about their motivation. For more information visit the site.

This sponsor wanted the models of America’s Next Natural Model to picture how well their blend of ancient ingredients work and enhance any type of hair that you want to have twisted or locked.

Visit http://going-natural.com to see how well the models pictured Rasta Group wishes.

The Score
After the Sula NYC challenge there is a new top three. With this new top three, the competition is far from over. Stay tuned. Keep voting and commenting. The models need you. Your vote is worth 1 point and your comment 3 points.

“Liming” with Jamaican Mango and Lime!
Jamaican Mango and Lime was the first natural hair product line I used when I made the big chop six years ago. Their entire product line can be found at most beauty supply outlets, including your local Sally Beauty Supply store. I was so delighted to be given the opportunity to review the newest additions to their line. I decided to try “Cactus Gro” to sooth my itchy scalp and twist things up with the “Locking Firm Wax”.
Read more…

Jamaican Mango and Lime

With more than 23% of African Americans (including myself) with natural hair, a recipe from the fertile hills of Jamaica was developed with mango and lime ingredients specifically designed to start and maintain healthy and well groomed locs and twist. Of these products my favorite is the Jamaican Mango and Lime Locking Firm Wax.

Read more…

Jamaican Mango and Lime Products

In our gift baskets are 3 Jamaican Mango and Lime products by Rasta Locks and Twists. The Cactus Leave in Moisturizer, Locking Firm Wax and Cactus Gro. I don’t have locks so I didn’t use the wax. I did try the other 2 products, so here is what happened.

Read more…

Natural Food for Natural Hair
When I received my box for America’s Next Natural Model competition, I was excited to try the Jamaican Mango & Lime products because my sister, who has locs, informed me that she used the Leave in Moisturizer from the Cactus line and that she loved the product.

Read more…

Get it twisted

Mangos nectar in my hands with a twist of lime for my two strands

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Lovely Locks with Jamaican Mango & Lime

Deeply inhale the sweet aroma of mango, and lime in your hair…
Read more…

Jamaican Mango & Lime: Bringing Jamaica Home with you

I’m not new to Jamaican Mango & Lime products, my mother and I have trusted both the Locking wax and gel for twists and twists outs since I went natural two years ago.

Read more…

Wha Gwan Star?
Wha gwan, star?  I grew up on stories told by my Jamaican grandfather and Southern grandmother.  Just as I grew up on their wise tales, my locs have grown up on Jamaican Mango & Lime products.
Read more…

A new side of Naturals!
The new photos of America’s Next Natural Model are up and allow you to see a whole new side of natural models.

So visit the site to read their reviews of Sula NYC products and see the gorgeous photos of this challenge.

The Score
Voting for challenge 1 ended on Sunday. Besides the judges, your votes and comments have also decided the winner. So visit http://going-natural.com to see who is up and who is out and let us know if you agree.

Who’s out?
One of the models is out after the first challenge. Do you know who it is?

Visit Miss Nappturality 09

and invite friends and family to visit Going-Natural.com to choose America’s Next Natural Model before it’s over.

This photo exhibit is a must see for every one who ever thought Black people had “bad” hair. It pictures a hardly exposed world, in which natural African hair is the rule rather than an exception, to reveal the new meaning of “bad” hair.

Struck by the beauty and the versatility of natural styles at the annual BAM Fair in Brooklyn, Mireille Liong realized that this was the first time in her adult life that she entered a community where African hair was so dominant that it seemed normal. She started to take pictures to reveal this amazing experience. The result is an unprecedented collection of over a 1000 photos that illustrates bad hair at its best in the Pursuit of Nappiness.

A compilation of these images will be on display at the Casa Frela Gallery in Manhattan New York from November 1st to November 30th. It’s the photographer’s hope that exposure to her collection leads to more natural choices as well as a broader acceptance of afro-centric hair in a society where straight hair is the norm.

The openings reception on November 1st will be followed by special events scheduled on Sundays. Besides the screening of the award winning documentary My Nappy Roots, there will also be a hairstyling and head wrap demonstration. The Pursuit of Nappiness will stylishly come to a close with a natural hair show on the last Sunday.

Mireille Liong is the author of the groundbreaking book, “Going Natural, How to Fall in Love with Nappy Hair, currently ranked number one at Amazon.com.” She is also the owner of http://Going-Natural.com, a natural hair portal where visitors can learn all about natural hair care, styling options and catch a sneak peek at Liong’s work.

The Pursuit of Nappiness

Openings reception: 11/1/2008 at 7:00 pm
Casa Frela Gallery 11/1/2008 – 11/30/2008

http://casafrela.com/
47 West 119th St.
New York, NY 10026
212-722-8577

Directions:
From Downtown Manhattan by Subway:
Take the “Uptown #2 or #3″ train to 116th Street. Exit onto Lenox Ave and walk 3 blocks to 119th Street.