THE HAIRPOLITAN MAGAZINE VOL 5 APRIL 2017
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FREECOPY<br />
<strong>VOL</strong> 5: APR <strong>2017</strong><br />
Bloggers<br />
Edition<br />
#BloggersEdition<br />
1
<strong>THE</strong> <strong>HAIRPOLITAN</strong>S<br />
LAYOUT & DESIGN:<br />
Akshi Sura<br />
akshi@octopusdesignske.com<br />
IN HOUSE WRITERS:<br />
Ciku Wamae<br />
ciku@hairpolitan.com<br />
Karimi Kagwe<br />
karimi@hairpolitan.com<br />
Nali W. Imende<br />
nali@hairpolitan.com<br />
GUEST WRITERS<br />
Faith Kathoka<br />
Kirigo Mwaura<br />
Njeri Wangari<br />
Nyawira Njoroge<br />
Sheila Ndinda<br />
Vikky Wambui<br />
COVER PHOTOGRAPHER<br />
Mumbi Muturi-Muli<br />
AD SALES<br />
sales@hairpolitan.com<br />
PUBLISHING, MARKETING<br />
& DISTRIBUTION<br />
Idea Agency Limited<br />
wambui@ideagency.co.ke<br />
QUESTIONS & FEEDBACK<br />
talktous@hairpolitan.com<br />
COPYRIGHT © <strong>2017</strong><br />
The Hairpolitan Magazine is published by<br />
Idea Agency Limited. All articles, interviews,<br />
photographs, artworks and/or designs of any<br />
nature or description appearing in this publication<br />
are exclusively reserved for the management and<br />
team of The Hairpolitan Magazine. The contents<br />
and opinions expressed in this publication do not<br />
necessarily represent those of The Hairpolitan<br />
Magazine or of Idea Agency Limited.<br />
Therefore reproduction, in any form, in part<br />
of whole, without the written consent from<br />
the publishers is strictly prohibited. All Rights<br />
Reserved. All Advertisement claims in this<br />
publication are the prerogative of the Advertisers<br />
and in no way reflect the views of The Hairpolitan<br />
Magazine.<br />
EDITORIAL<br />
I started blogging in 2005 and I can’t quite remember<br />
what made me do it. All I know is that I was very very<br />
far away from home and I had stories, experiences<br />
of interest that I wanted to share.I can safely say<br />
it was my way to mass email my family and friends<br />
who were at home and in other countries. My blog<br />
at the time was called Violas Iris and was initially on<br />
Blogspot then Wordpress.<br />
Over the years I’ve had peak moments where I would<br />
post almost every day; to low creative moments<br />
where I would end up not blogging for years. I am<br />
currently going through a slump and even lost the<br />
rights to my website www.wambuijl.com, any IT type<br />
person willing to help me recover it?<br />
As we were putting together the Bloggers Edition, a<br />
beautiful thing happened. Hairpolitan got nominated<br />
for the Best New Blog in the Bloggers Association of<br />
Kenya (BAKE) Awards <strong>2017</strong>! It’s been such exciting<br />
news! It feels even more fantastic because as we<br />
soar we get to carry those we feature in this issue<br />
along with us.<br />
The aim of this issue was to showcase the number<br />
of blogs in the natural hair and living space that<br />
have been making great strides in taking care and<br />
informing of our community.<br />
Gracing our covers is Shazz the creator of Queendom<br />
Blog. She is by day an Interior Designer, by night<br />
a singer; and everyday an all round creative spirit<br />
who shares more about herself in COVER GIRL’S 21<br />
QUESTIONS on P4.<br />
Then we get into the journey of blogging with Njeri<br />
Wangari, of AfroMum, and her experience through<br />
the years in INDUSTRY on P21-23. We’re also joined<br />
by another veteran blogger James Murua in GUY<br />
on P42-43 as he shares his experiences of setting<br />
up and running various blogs to being a newspaper<br />
columnnist.<br />
In CREATE we ask Sharon Malonza, better known as<br />
MyKenyanPuff on YouTube on how she goes about<br />
putting together her vLogs on P39-41.<br />
Wachu Wanjaria, who runs a blog of the same name,<br />
shares her LIFE story with us on P6-9, read to find<br />
out things you might not have known about the Kurly<br />
Diaries Founder. Not far behind is Carol Oyola in<br />
RAISE where she sits with Karimi Kagwe to give her<br />
a snippet of her life as a mother to her two adorable<br />
children on P14-15.<br />
Nyawira Njoroge, of Natrella Life, candidlt tells us<br />
how she quit smoking to live a natural life in TOPICAL<br />
on P44-45. In ENJOY Faith Kathoka breaks down<br />
for us her thinking behind creating the event Project<br />
Baby Shower on P34-35. In the same segment Kirigo<br />
Mwaura tells us about her day out at the Hairitage<br />
Chronicles that took place in the month of March<br />
on P36-38. The Nurtured Knotts team showcase the<br />
images they took of the fun day out.<br />
In REVIEW Silvia, of Nywele Natural, breaksdown<br />
the thinking behind the #KinksontheStreet concept<br />
in word and pictures on P10-12. While in WEAR the<br />
vivavious Anita Mogere of From Curves with Love<br />
explains to us her curvy fashion sense on P24-25.<br />
Our FEATURE story is by Nali W. Imende, where she<br />
interviews Wanjiku Nyoike-Mugo about her journey<br />
from a blogger of TDS to a fashion entreprenuer in<br />
the prestigious Two Rivers Mall on P16-20. Vikky<br />
Wambui of Napspiration dazzles us with her long<br />
hair and tells us how to care for it in KNOW HAIR<br />
on P26-28.<br />
We’re happy to have Sheila Ndinda, of African<br />
Tresses and Treats, sharing with us her favourite got<br />
to do in HAIRSTYLE on P5. We reintroduce the EAT/<br />
MOVE segment by chatting with Musavi of Kenyan<br />
Fitness Foodie as she explains to us her healthy<br />
eatig concept on P29-31.<br />
Finally, our resident skincare expert enlightens us<br />
on natural ingredients that can brighten our skin in<br />
KNOW SKIN on P32-33.<br />
Remember to vote for us on vote.bakeawards.co.ke<br />
Thank you for your continued support!<br />
Yours,<br />
Wambui JL<br />
2 3
COVER GIRL’S<br />
21 QUESTIONS HAIRSTYLE<br />
WE ASK <strong>THE</strong><br />
FEATURED COVER<br />
GIRL 21 QUESTIONS<br />
WITH AN AIM TO<br />
GET TO KNOW HER<br />
BETTER!<br />
Cover Girl: Sharon ‘Shazz’ N’deritu<br />
Photographer: Mumbi Muturi-Muli<br />
Make up: Dorothy of Daughty Artistry (IG)<br />
Jewelry: Embody Accessories<br />
FOLLOW SHAZ ON HER WEBSITE:<br />
www.queendom.blog<br />
1. Once I wake up and reach out for my glasses as<br />
I have shockingly bad eyesight.<br />
2. In my handbag I always have a tape measure<br />
and gum.<br />
3. My blog is my playground.<br />
4. My perfect pizza topping is sausage, mushroom,<br />
mozzarella and avocado.<br />
5. I’d rather be ugly and live forever or look<br />
attractive and die in a year. I’d rather be ugly<br />
and live forever – ugly like beauty is relative<br />
and in the eyes of the beholder. Being ugly<br />
is not the worst thing that could happen to<br />
someone.<br />
6. Best compliment I’ve ever received was, you’re<br />
still my favourite person.<br />
7. I returned natural because I was just done with<br />
retouching and wanted a big red afro.<br />
8. My favorite book of all time is Aarrrrgh! That’s<br />
a tough one, ‘Voice in The Wind - Francine<br />
Rivers, Wouldn’t Take Nothing For My<br />
Journey Now – Maya Angelou and Tuesdays<br />
With Morrie – Mitch Albom.<br />
9. If I could have one meal for the rest of my life it<br />
would be fresh bread and mbuzi boiro!<br />
10. My secret wish is to be a dancer in a Lingala<br />
music video.<br />
11. I would never leave my home without flat shoes<br />
and jewelry.<br />
12. Sneakers or sandals? Bare feet! But if I must –<br />
Sandals.<br />
13. A social media platform I totally get is Instagram.<br />
14. A habit that I really want to break is none, I like<br />
my habits, even the bad ones.<br />
15. My current hair goals are to rock my natural<br />
gray hair.<br />
16. The scariest day in my life was when my younger<br />
sister and I were hostage during the Westgate<br />
terrorist attack in 2013.<br />
17. What I know about myself for sure I AM<br />
BEAUTIFUL.<br />
18. The last movie/series I watched was Married at<br />
First Sight.<br />
19. My zodiac sign is Gemini/Cancer. I‘m June<br />
21st, I’m on the cusp, so I read both and pick<br />
the one that reads best!<br />
20. I have or don’t have tattoos because I prefer<br />
body piercings and I am too capricious.<br />
21. The best advice I would give about living would<br />
be use Life up! Life loves the liver of it.<br />
My favorite hairstyle is two strand Twist outs, you<br />
can never go wrong with a twist out!<br />
I recently started adding a Bantu knot at the tips of<br />
the twist for a more curl definition- This completely<br />
changed my twist outs game.<br />
I have also mastered the art of making my twists last<br />
a week long which relieves me from the stress of<br />
having to re-twist every night.<br />
To achieve this style (The hanging Bantu Twist Outs)<br />
you will need:<br />
1. A moisturizer like water or a water based<br />
leave in conditioner<br />
2. A sealant which can be your oil or shea butter<br />
3. A styler<br />
4. Afro pick<br />
5. Clips<br />
PROCESS<br />
Sheila Ndinda:<br />
Loving the<br />
hanging bantu<br />
knotout<br />
Start on dry hair. (After washing, air dry your hair<br />
for an hour or overnight). Styling on dry hair will<br />
minimize shrinkage.<br />
Section hair and spritz with water to add moisture.<br />
Apply your sealant to lock in the moisture and follow<br />
up with your cream styler.<br />
Install two strand twists on each section and secure<br />
the ends with a Bantu knot.<br />
Unravel the twists the next morning when they are<br />
100% dry. Use an afro pick to fluff the roots for more<br />
volume.<br />
To preserve the style, you can sleep with a satin<br />
bonnet or on a satin pillow case. You can choose<br />
to re twist your hair overnight – it’s absolutely up to<br />
you! But remember over manipulation of our natural<br />
hair leads to breakage.<br />
FOLLOW SHEILA ON HER WEBSITE:<br />
ww.africantressesandtreats.com<br />
4 5
LIFE<br />
Wachu Wanjaria:<br />
Being<br />
Wachu<br />
Wanjaria<br />
“The way we<br />
grew up, we<br />
had to create<br />
our own<br />
entertainment<br />
“<br />
Images courtesy of Wachu Wanjaria<br />
Image by Tafaria Photography<br />
6 7
Image by Eva de Vries<br />
Wachu is our very own Naturalista reality star that we<br />
love to watch. We’ve fallen in love with her dynamic<br />
hairstyles, her eclectic fashion, her travel posts, her<br />
vibrancy and even her wall. Yes, you read right, she<br />
has a wall that she’s posed in front of for the last<br />
5 years and we in the Natural hair community are<br />
hooked. Sadly, she moved recently and we’re yet to<br />
collectively approve the next surface that will serve<br />
as her backdrop. Tune in next episode to see how<br />
this all goes.<br />
When I meet her as scheduled, Wachu is donning<br />
an awesome 70s inspired wig. She claims she made<br />
it for her Mother and was only test running it. I<br />
chuckle! As one of the Founders & members of the<br />
Kurlly Diaries, a natural hair Facebook group, she<br />
keeps us quite entertained and active in the group.<br />
However, the natural hair vixen actually has a day<br />
job, and one that she is keen to point out is not all<br />
glamorous.<br />
DESIGNING SPACES<br />
Wachu works as a Museum Designer & Developer at<br />
the National Museums of Kenya in Nairobi, “I build<br />
museums and exhibitions. What that means is that<br />
if someone has an idea or concept that needs to be<br />
translated into a museum or exhibition I help them<br />
conceptualize and execute.” The Judiciary of Kenya<br />
Museum is one of her most recent projects. Wachu<br />
and her team converted the holding cells that were<br />
in the basement of the Supreme Court building, into<br />
a Judiciary Museum open to the public. “The project<br />
took three and a half years. We removed years of<br />
debris, remodeled it and rebuilt it with a contractor.<br />
As that was happening there was conceptualizing,<br />
research, developing the story and benchmarking<br />
with similar museums in the world. So there is a lot<br />
of work.”<br />
Interior Design. However, getting to receive her<br />
degree didn’t come easy. She first enrolled in<br />
Business School at the USIU, Nairobi campus;<br />
where she quit after a year. Business was just<br />
not the right fit. She then took a sabbatical to<br />
find a design school in South Africa but wasn’t<br />
successful. Eventually she found the American<br />
World University where she eventually attained<br />
her Degree. “I was great! They got me a lecturer<br />
from the University of Nairobi. So it was my<br />
lecturer & I working privately for two and a half<br />
years.”<br />
When she joined the National Museum, the<br />
Director saw potential in her and seconded her<br />
to go Seoul, South Korea. There she learned<br />
everything she needed to know about designing<br />
for museums. As she talks about her experience<br />
there I realise that is perhaps when her love for<br />
what she does set in. “What I love about the<br />
Museum is that with every new project is the<br />
immersion into a new world,” she explains.<br />
HAIR GURU<br />
Interestingly, Wachu has another day job. She<br />
works as a Natural Hair consultant and in charge<br />
of the Client Experience at Amadiva Beauty. I ask<br />
her how one can get a styling consult with her,<br />
and she advises one set an appointment at the<br />
salon. Otherwise she can be found at Amadiva<br />
loosely on Tuesday afternoons and Saturday<br />
mornings.<br />
The partnership with Amadiva Beauty all started<br />
with her chance encounter with Maureen<br />
Murunga (Founder of Amadiva) at the Naturals in<br />
Nairobi event held in 2015. They hit it off and in<br />
January of the next year, Maureen requested her<br />
to take up creative direction for the inaugural<br />
#30DaysNaturally campaign. The project was<br />
quite a success and it made perfect sense when<br />
Maureen asked her to take up a permanent job at<br />
Amadiva. Wachu highly considered the offer but<br />
declined. “I was having a downtime career wise and<br />
felt that I had stagnated in life. I had lived in the<br />
same house for 9 years and had the same job for 10.<br />
But I didn’t want to ever translate my passion [hair]<br />
to something that would become a chore.”<br />
WACHU’S CHILDHOOD<br />
I enquire who Wachu was at 6 years old and how that<br />
affected the woman she is now. She explains that she<br />
had a deliberately creative childhood. “The way we<br />
grew up, we had to create our own entertainment.”<br />
Her siblings and her grew up without a TV, “My Dad<br />
would hire a projector when he wanted us to watch<br />
a film that he felt was necessary for our wellbeing.”<br />
They had lots of books and even a life size playhouse.<br />
At the tender age 4 she knew how to sew and even<br />
made her own ‘Naturalista’ doll. This in effect gave<br />
her no other choice but to be the creative being she<br />
is now. I enquire if she would raise her children the<br />
same way her parents did.<br />
I DON’T WANT TO HAVE KIDS<br />
I won’t lie; I did a double take when she responded.<br />
I really want to understand what would bring her to<br />
such a decision. She is quick to make it clear that her<br />
childhood was great and her parents are awesome<br />
so let it be clear that her decision didn’t stem from<br />
anything negative. “I think the responsibility of<br />
raising kids, requires for one to be so intentional<br />
about it; and I don’t have it in me,” she explains.<br />
The decision came to her at the age of 20. She says<br />
she wants to get married, even have pets but is<br />
certain she doesn’t want children. “My parents know.<br />
My girlfriends, especially those who’ve known me<br />
for long, know and understand. But there are those<br />
who are still waiting for me to change my mind. If I<br />
am dating I tell them on date number one.”<br />
However, she does go on to explain that in the initial<br />
years she struggled with explaining it to herself, let<br />
alone anyone else. But as she’s grown older, she<br />
realizes she doesn’t need to do so. “When I was<br />
younger I really struggled. Initially, I felt the need<br />
to explain it to people. I studied existentialism<br />
because I thought I needed to have a deep reason. I<br />
went from one phase of explanation to another, but<br />
now I am at a place where I don’t need to explain it<br />
to anyone.”<br />
At the end of the day, I realise that she’s comfortable<br />
in her life choice; and a personal choice is just that,<br />
personal.<br />
It’s been quite a revelation to me and as we wind<br />
down the interview I asked her what’s in store from<br />
her in <strong>2017</strong>. She lets in on a project that she’s working<br />
on but that we can’t reveal. All I can say is watch this<br />
space for the great things the mind of Wachu that<br />
she has planned for us.<br />
FOLLOW WACHU ON HER BLOG:<br />
www.wachuwanjaria.wordpress.com<br />
Image by Studio Photogeric<br />
I’d like to know what one would have had to study<br />
to take up such a job, the answer is very simple –<br />
8 9
REVIEW<br />
Silvia Mwendia<br />
Approaching<br />
kinks on the<br />
street<br />
When Makena and I started Nywele Natural (Nywele<br />
is Kiswahili for Hair) a little over a year ago. It was<br />
basically to have an outlet to obsess over our new<br />
found love for natural hair. I had been a natural for<br />
few months at the time and when I learned that<br />
she was also a Naturalista, I could not wait to start<br />
sharing tips and knowledge; I had finally found my<br />
curlfriend!<br />
Veronica Capossela @ Viale Regina Margherita, Rome<br />
Rubi Ndwiga @ a Bustop on Hospital Road<br />
Gigi @ Tom Mboya Street<br />
In the months leading up to the launch of Nywele<br />
Natural, we thought of various types of content. We<br />
hoped to show black women that it was absolutely<br />
acceptable to wear their hair in its God-given natural<br />
state; and that there was nothing wrong with it. Our<br />
sisters across the Atlantic in US were doing a great<br />
job at this and here back home; and in Kenya, the<br />
natural movement was also growing. We wanted to<br />
create this visibility about Kenyan women wearing<br />
their hair natural in a manner that made it seem<br />
normal, viable, that anyone could go natural (more<br />
like return to natural because that is where it all<br />
began, right?). All this without it to seeming like an<br />
unreachable and exclusionary club.<br />
Linda Langat @ Mama Ngina Street<br />
Betty Wachera @ River Road next to Koja Roundabout<br />
Then that’s when it hit me. Why not take pictures of<br />
women with natural hair on the streets of Nairobi.<br />
What could be more normal than that? I already<br />
saw so many of them of my daily commute to and<br />
from work. I had always desperately wanted to<br />
complement them on their hair but not being one<br />
to put myself out there, I did not even dare to try it.<br />
However, now because of the blog, I had no choice<br />
but to approach them; and so in December 2015,<br />
#KinksOnTheStreet was born.<br />
Sheilah Kimathi @ Agip bustop on Haile Selassie Avenue<br />
Since then, I have had quite a number of interesting<br />
experiences. One of the hardest things about the<br />
project, is to muster up the courage to walk up to<br />
complete strangers and ask to take photos of their<br />
natural hair. There are a number of times I have<br />
started to approach someone but then just backed<br />
down. Also to note that the the trickiest time to try<br />
and get a photo is in the morning. Everyone is such<br />
a rush-and rightfully so. However, when you do get<br />
that photo, it gives you such a high making the next<br />
Eunice K @ Sapienza University, Rome<br />
Juni Jaber @ Maragua Lane in the CBD<br />
10 11
“I can actually<br />
see how<br />
bizzarre my<br />
request sounds<br />
“<br />
Image credit:Silvia Mwendia<br />
Farida Tou @ Euroma2 Mall,Rome<br />
ask much easier. There are a few who say no, and<br />
that’s quite a downer, but I suck it right up as the<br />
hashtag must go on.<br />
In Nairobi, when I appraoched people, I always<br />
have this feeling like they think I am mad! Looking<br />
back, I can actually see how bizzarre my request<br />
sounds. Once, I did meet two women who declined<br />
because of monetary issues. One was of the opinion<br />
that she had to pay for the photo and despite me<br />
explaining that it was absolutely free, she still didn’t<br />
get it. Another insisted on being paid stating that<br />
I just could not use her photo for free. Her friend<br />
tried convincing her but to no avail. I don’t know<br />
if it was the salesperson in her but she would not<br />
budge. I vowed to keep off saleswomen. There have<br />
been some LOL moments as well. There was a time I<br />
almost got off at the wrong bus stop just because a<br />
natural had also alighted there.<br />
Nzilani Muya @ Khoja Stage<br />
I moved to Italy late last year. Obviously<br />
#KinksOnTheStreet was not going to end, only<br />
expand; and true to my words it has! Despite the<br />
language barrier (Google Translate is my friend), I<br />
have found out that the women I approach here are<br />
able to understand me just as well. Perhaps we should<br />
add natural hair to the list of global languages.<br />
It has been fun doing #KinksOnTheStreet. We have<br />
seen alot of beautiful manes from TWAs to afropuffs,<br />
well laid edges to kinks that dance to the beat of<br />
their own drum. We also cannot forget the variety<br />
of Locs coming in different colours and lengths. The<br />
more I do #KinksOnTheStreet the more I valued the<br />
world wide growth of the Natural hair community.<br />
FOLLOW SILVIA & MAKENA ON <strong>THE</strong>IR WEBSITE:<br />
www.nywelenatural.com<br />
Tebby Vena @ Tubman Road<br />
12 13
RAISE<br />
Image by Leon Muli<br />
Carol Oyola:<br />
Sharing her<br />
Kenyan Mama’s<br />
Tale<br />
with Karimi Kagwe<br />
Every so often in life’s journey you come across<br />
a kindred spirit. This is how I felt after meeting<br />
Carol Oyola about two years ago. It’s funny how<br />
social media can make one feel like you have met<br />
someone in person. Having ‘seen’ her severally in<br />
the same Natural Hair groups on Facebook it felt like<br />
we shared the same interests; and over time after<br />
meeting in person, I can confirm that we do. So, it<br />
was without hesitation that I agreed to take on the<br />
assignment to feature her for this Bloggers Edition<br />
of Hairpolitan.<br />
been married for 5years, are dotting parents to a<br />
3-year-old girl and 4-month boy. I remembered a<br />
while back when she shared photos on Facebook of<br />
her maternity photoshoot with her beautiful family.<br />
I admittedly admired Carol and her daughter Zara’s<br />
natural hair as I have a daughter too and was curious<br />
to know how she managed her toddler’s hair.<br />
“<br />
I began to<br />
share my<br />
experiences<br />
and what<br />
worked for<br />
me<br />
“<br />
Carol Oyola with husband: Fred, son - Xander<br />
Christopher & Daughter - Zara.<br />
Carol confessed that as a working mum and a new<br />
baby, it has been difficult to keep up with their<br />
normal hair regime. She finds it convenient to have<br />
her daughter’s hair treated and plaited in cornrows<br />
that can last up to 3 weeks or so.<br />
Her own hair, which has been natural since 2012,<br />
started off as an experiment, “Returning natural was<br />
starting to kick off in Kenya. I thought of trying it<br />
out to see if it would make a difference to my thin,<br />
relaxed hair. I must say I’ve never looked back!”<br />
As we both wear our hair natural I realise it is possible<br />
to digress further into endless discussions about<br />
hair products and general maintenance. I bring our<br />
interview to a close by asking about her future for<br />
her blog. Carol shares that she hopes to grow her<br />
blog to be an online resource for all Kenyan mums<br />
and mums-to-be. In addition, she would like to<br />
create an avenue to have open conversations about<br />
the highs and lows of motherhood. “I look forward<br />
to highlighting more stories of other mothers as well<br />
as host community dialogues and events geared<br />
towards celebrating motherhood.”<br />
FOLLOW CAROL ON HER BLOG:<br />
www.kenyanmamatales.wordpress.com<br />
Her blog Kenyan Mama tales has been in existence<br />
for 3 years now and is based on Carol’s shared<br />
experiences through motherhood. After the birth<br />
of her daughter she experienced Post-Partum<br />
Depression. This led her to start the blog as an<br />
avenue to vent the different emotions she was<br />
experiencing. Her experience as a first-time mum<br />
made her feel alone and led her to wonder if anyone<br />
else had gone through similar challenges.<br />
“As the years progressed, I began to share my<br />
experiences and what worked for me, and so far,<br />
it’s been an amazing journey. It’s fulfilling to have<br />
mothers email me saying my blog has helped them<br />
a great deal in voicing issues close to their heart,”<br />
she says.<br />
Browsing through her website one can understand<br />
why mothers find her platform relatable. She covers<br />
topics that go across the parenting spectrum from<br />
breastfeeding as a working mum, toddlerhood,<br />
potty training, the differences between a first and<br />
second pregnancy just to name a few. It is easy to<br />
get lost in her writing as she writes the same way she<br />
speaks - with endearing openness and a great sense<br />
of humour. As you read you feel like you are sharing<br />
a conversation with a close friend over a hot cup of<br />
chocolate.<br />
The mother of 2 and her husband Fred, who has<br />
14 15
FEATURE STORY<br />
Wanjiku Nyoike-Mugo:<br />
Journey from blogger<br />
to fashion entreprenuer<br />
by Nali. W Imende<br />
Image on previous page: Wanjiku Nyoike-Mugo at her store The Designer’s Studio (TDS). Current Page: stocks a wide<br />
variety of Kenyan designers including Ikonn, Koroo, Deepa Dosaja among others.<br />
“<br />
I had always<br />
wanted to<br />
start a shop<br />
where we sold<br />
Kenyan stuff!<br />
“<br />
Image Credit: Nali W. Imende<br />
What’s most impressive about Wanjiku Nyoike-Mugo, of course apart from how smart she is - and I’m telling<br />
you she is smart - is how super organised and driven she is. In 2011, before starting her job at the United<br />
Nations (UN), she had already written down the name of the store that she dreamed of owning. It’s now<br />
<strong>2017</strong> and she is the owner of The Designers Studio (TDS), a Kenyan fashion store in the newly opened Two<br />
Rivers Mall situated in Nairobi’s Upmarket Gigiri environs.<br />
So how did a young woman working in a dream job for many, find herself running a fashion business? It<br />
all took root during her time at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa a.k.a Wits. Wanjiku studied<br />
Law and though she enjoyed her classes was always a creative at heart. “The way Wits was, you had West<br />
Campus, which was the white collar job people, commerce, law; and then you had East Campus which was<br />
the fun artsy one. I went to West campus to do classes but I hang out at East campus, I always had creative<br />
friends. My friends were like drama students, music students and I was in the choir as well. It was like having<br />
a day job and part time job...I was just between the two,” she explains.<br />
It was while she was in South Africa that she came across one of her main inspirations, The Young Designers<br />
Emporium (YDE). YDE sold clothing made by emerging South African designers thus giving them a platform<br />
to sell their clothing to South Africans. “When I would come back to Kenya one either went to Toi, Gikomba,<br />
Woolworths, Mr. Price to buy clothes which didn’t make sense because then it’s like...but where do you buy<br />
‘our’ clothes, what exactly are we doing for ourselves?”<br />
16 17
She has always been pro Africa at heart and believes<br />
the continent consistently gets a bad rap, which<br />
Africans themselves have been sold into hook, line<br />
and sinker. “We have not really believed in ourselves<br />
as a continent because we just believe that out there<br />
is better and I’ve been out there, it’s not better, it’s<br />
actually a lot more difficult than people think,” she<br />
says.<br />
Chasing the dream<br />
Wanjiku quit her job in 2013 to pursue the dream of<br />
owning a fashion store that would represent Kenyan<br />
fashion and change the perception of Africa not<br />
having good products. “I had money from the UN<br />
and I used part of it to buy a laptop. Eating? There<br />
was not much of it happening, it took a lot of faith<br />
for me to just get out and I prayed a lot, my faith<br />
kept me going. Because when you come from the<br />
UN, it was comfortable,” she recalls. She plugged in<br />
the money slowly and to save money she opted to<br />
build the website herself, learning as she went.<br />
where you are starting and where you want to go,”<br />
says Wanjiku. She would write down her goals for<br />
the year and put it in road map form. “The beauty of<br />
a road map is that you don’t get distracted along the<br />
way, it keeps you focussed,” she explains.<br />
She also advises would be entrepreneurs to spend a<br />
lot of time building their brand, knowing what your<br />
brand is about do a lot of research and find out all<br />
you can about your industry. “I remember watching<br />
every fashion documentary there was, I have done<br />
online courses on fashion and design, manufacturing<br />
and production, while people were out having fun,<br />
I studied and did online exams and stuff like that.”<br />
Initially, Wanjiku wanted to open a store at Garden<br />
City on Thika Road. But when she came across a Two<br />
Rivers pamphlet at her lawyer’s office she felt her<br />
gut tell her that this was it. She booked her space<br />
before the mall filled up and she went in hoping to<br />
get a good location.<br />
Right at the beginning of setting up she realised two<br />
things: One, mall space was very difficult acquire and<br />
two, she did not really have thorough knowledge of<br />
local designers; and neither did Kenyans. Wanjiku<br />
decided to start off with a blog which was not only<br />
a way to educate herself but also the Kenyan market<br />
of what was right at their doorstep in terms of<br />
fashion and style. “I started off with an excel sheet<br />
where I wrote down the name of the designer, the<br />
location, the telephone number and email and I just<br />
remember going through and ticking the people I<br />
wanted to interview,” she says.<br />
Navigating the cliquey Nairobi fashion scene as a<br />
newbie was a challenge onto itself, she would attend<br />
events but nobody would know what TDS was or<br />
what she was doing there. Luckily all the designers<br />
and people she met were always more than willing<br />
to share their stories. Her blog grew from interviews<br />
with designers to photographers and to make up<br />
artists. She intentionally made sure to do in depth<br />
articles three to four pages long, which would then<br />
be cut down to three pages when posted. She<br />
wanted something akin to Vogue in terms of quality<br />
and depth so they could give the people working in<br />
the fashion industry their due respect.<br />
From the very start she knew that she wanted TDS to<br />
stand as a business on its own instead of being about<br />
her. She opted for writers and kept the attention off<br />
herself so that people could absorb the content for<br />
what it was and not who she was. “I think people<br />
like bloggers because they look pretty and they take<br />
good photos, - not that they are not good - but there<br />
is a big element of getting distracted by the person<br />
and then it takes away from the content” she says.<br />
The shop features well curated clothing<br />
from local designers.<br />
The sacrifice<br />
“It’s not that I was just blogging, I was also working<br />
on the shop, I was working on what I needed for it,<br />
getting contacts, starting to draft the list of things<br />
you need for a shop and it meant a lot of sacrifice, a<br />
lot. There were many times I thought, ‘what the hell<br />
am I doing?’”<br />
It was not easy. She had to cut out unnecessary costs<br />
from her life such as dinner with friends, opting to<br />
spend the Sh5, 000 at a pricy restaurant to pay for<br />
Internet for a month. “The sacrifice also meant that<br />
I couldn’t go and be as social as I used to be,” she<br />
says. People think you are so weird and it’s hard to<br />
explain to people because they think she is just a<br />
blogger, sitting at home, what could she possibly be<br />
doing ” recalls Wanjiku.<br />
Her friends and family would flippantly enquire<br />
about “her fashion thingy” because most people<br />
could not understand how she would leave a well<br />
paying job to blog. Wanjiku ignored the naysayers<br />
and kept going.<br />
Staying focussed<br />
One of the ways she has been able to keep on track<br />
was by using a road map, something that her fiancé<br />
advised her to do. “The road map actually shows all<br />
“I always used to pray about it and I kid you not, I<br />
would say that I would like my shop to be next to<br />
Woolworths and all these other international brands<br />
so we can pull people to buy Kenya instead and also<br />
by being next to them we show Kenyans that we are<br />
Wanjiku and her fabulous TDS team<br />
Hat creation from Drop of a Hat Milliners<br />
18 19
INDUSTRY<br />
Njeri Wangari:<br />
Sharing my<br />
blogging experience<br />
I have been blogging since 2005. My first blog was<br />
kenyanpoet.blogspot.com, which was about my<br />
poetry initially. With time it grew to a platform for<br />
news and information on arts & culture in Kenya. In<br />
January 2014, I started AfroMum.com. I had been<br />
contemplating starting a blog on motherhood,<br />
parenting and family technology for a while after I<br />
had our first baby. My career was in the tech space<br />
then doing network support. I had noted that most<br />
parenting blogs focused mostly on motherhood thus<br />
I decided to focus on tech, lifestyle, issues affecting<br />
women and entrepreneurship as well.<br />
just us good...and then that happened (her shop is<br />
right next to Swarovski) and I was just like…Guys!<br />
Guys!”<br />
The Designers Studio was not a fluke but rather the<br />
result of a series of well-planned steps executed<br />
to perfection. The shop stocks a wide range of<br />
local designers including; Adele Dejak, Nawalika,<br />
Le Collane di Betta, Canvas and Kangas, Akinyi<br />
Odongo, Deepa Dosaja, Urban Artefacts, Penny<br />
Winters, Njema Helena, Ikojn, Kooroo and Drop of<br />
a Hat.<br />
She is happy with how business is going and she has<br />
been pleasantly surprised by customers who come in<br />
and buy without even looking at the price tags and<br />
loves it when they mix up the different brands, which<br />
was what she always wanted. “It’s been fun. It’s been<br />
really cool, seeing how the shop has turned out. It<br />
just goes to show that you have to keep working at<br />
it because a shop like that does not appear out of<br />
thin air.”<br />
Jewelry curated by TDS<br />
economy. I would I feel that I would be doing more<br />
rather than just pushing paper in the UN and I had<br />
always wanted to start a shop where we sold Kenyan<br />
stuff!” she concludes.<br />
FOLLOW WANJIRU ON HER WEBSITE:<br />
www.tdsblog.com<br />
When I was starting out in 2005, we only had<br />
Wordpress and Blogger. Wordpress was quite<br />
technical thus most of us preferred Blogger, as it<br />
didn’t require any coding skills. Blogging was not<br />
as easy back then as we didn’t have all the fancy<br />
themes, plugins and widgets available now. It was<br />
very manual. Sharing content was especially hard<br />
because twitter came much later.<br />
However, back then we were few bloggers in Kenya<br />
and we knew each other by name so we read each<br />
other’s work. I came across blogging purely due<br />
to frustration. I had put together collection of my<br />
poems, which I hoped to publish. Despite attempts<br />
to get a local publisher, all I got were regrets. A<br />
friend mentioned blogs and how one went about it<br />
and I just set it up and put up my work.<br />
It was pure magic. I had never shared my poetry with<br />
the world beyond my close friends. Having the ability<br />
to publish my poetry on a site I owned and have the<br />
whole world read it was a surreal experience. Initially<br />
it felt like un-dressing in public because my poetry<br />
is very personal (all poetry is actually) so sharing my<br />
feeling with the world, open to criticism was and has<br />
always been a bittersweet experience. I still get that<br />
feeling everything I publish my poetry or thoughts<br />
on a topic of interest in blog form.<br />
She may have started out as a blogger but the brick<br />
and mortar shop was always part of her plan. “I<br />
felt that the business would contribute more to the<br />
Sharing one’s thoughts, feelings and opinion on<br />
things they care about is a very honest and selfless<br />
thing to do. It takes guts. To be willing to lay yourself<br />
20 21<br />
Njeri Wangari
create diverse content on and about Kenya online.<br />
As one of the founding members, I went on to<br />
become the director of training and outreach. My<br />
role was to ensure that BAKE took blogging beyond<br />
Nairobi and beyond the ‘Elite blogger group’ as<br />
it was viewed then. This was through speaking<br />
engagements, training workshops, and university<br />
outreach programs where we set out to introducing<br />
blogging clubs in various universities.<br />
The rise of blogs has been a mixed bag of fortunes, I<br />
love the variety that is there now, the are all manner<br />
of blogs on any topic of interest you can think of.<br />
I love that. However, with growth, a lot changes,<br />
blogs are about free expression and thus, we cannot<br />
dictate what people can and cannot write.<br />
That said, I am really proud of how far blogging<br />
has come in Kenya. That now the term ‘blogger’ is<br />
not viewed as a disdainful one associated with idle<br />
youth but instead it’s now become cool to say ‘am<br />
a blogger’. It’s really a huge achievement and I am<br />
proud to have played a role in changing the public’s<br />
perception of what blogging is all about.<br />
HOW TO JOIN<br />
BLOGGERS<br />
ASSOCIATION OF KENYA<br />
(BAKE)<br />
STEP 1:<br />
Go to www.bake.co.ke/<br />
member/auth/register<br />
STEP 2:<br />
Register an account.<br />
Check your email for a<br />
confirmation. Click on it.<br />
Come back to this site and<br />
log in to your account.<br />
Add your blog(s)<br />
out there open to critique, praise and indifference<br />
in equal measure, is important to a writer and<br />
performer. Not everyone will love your writing. What<br />
makes it worth it is when someone who has gone<br />
through a similar experience feels that your words<br />
have spoken to them. That’s why I do it.<br />
My content creation varies. There are times I will<br />
write a whole blog article or poem in one sitting and<br />
publish it (this doesn’t happen as often as it used<br />
to). More often than not, I write bits and pieces in<br />
“Initially it<br />
felt like<br />
un-dressing<br />
in public<br />
“<br />
Images courtesy of Njeri Wangari<br />
The Wanjohis at the 2016 BAKE Awards<br />
my Evernote App then compile them into a blog<br />
article over time.<br />
The greatest challenge over the years in my blogging<br />
journey has been writing. Its funny how most people<br />
think that writing is an effortless thing. Going<br />
through a writer’s block is the worst thing a writer<br />
can ever experience. The other challenge is coming<br />
up with relevant content that not only piques your<br />
interest but also is true to you and your believes<br />
or outlook on life. Being able to strike that balance<br />
is never easy. The other big challenge that I am<br />
going through right now is how to handle growth.<br />
AfroMum has grown from a personal blog to an<br />
online publication requiring as content daily. I have<br />
therefore recruited a team of writers. Getting writers<br />
who understand your vision is not easy. Thankfully I<br />
currently have a team of awesome writers who are<br />
able to write content that stays true to the AfroMum<br />
brand.<br />
In and around 2009, I together with fellow bloggers<br />
started having discussions on forming an association.<br />
As I mentioned earlier, we were a handful and so we<br />
used to meet up for drinks and to catch up. Out<br />
of those meetings, Bloggers Association of Kenya<br />
(BAKE) was formed and formally registered in 2011.<br />
It’s a community organization that set out to change<br />
the face of blogging in the country by creating<br />
awareness on the benefits of blogging as well as<br />
The future of blogging will be an interesting one. I<br />
see it taking a dichotomy. There are those that will<br />
serve as alternative media becoming source of news<br />
and information on specialized topics. There are<br />
those that will become citizen journalism platforms<br />
delving into investigative or researched based<br />
writing. I could be wrong!<br />
FOLLOW NJERI ON HER WEBSITE:<br />
www.afromum.com<br />
STEP 3:<br />
Send Ksh. 1,000 or Ksh.<br />
2,000 for Corporate blogs<br />
to Paybill number 865850<br />
Use “Account number:<br />
membership”,<br />
via Mpesa to complete<br />
your membership.<br />
STEP 4:<br />
Request a blog tracker<br />
(right hand side). A<br />
tracker will be set up &<br />
a notification sent when<br />
ready. Add the tracker to<br />
your blog<br />
For more information<br />
email: info@bake.or.ke<br />
22 23
Girl Goss Outfit<br />
WEAR<br />
Anita Mogere:<br />
Fashion advise<br />
from curves<br />
with love<br />
You aspire to help curvy women be comfortable<br />
in their own skin, how did you achieve this<br />
for yourself first? I don’t really see it as an<br />
achievement but more of a work in progress. It<br />
really isn’t something you achieve but something<br />
you work towards constantly and consistently. I<br />
used to wonder why I hated people seeing the<br />
stretch marks on my arms or the cellulite on my<br />
thighs. Then I realised that I only had one body<br />
and after all, I did not choose it.<br />
How has been a Naturalista affected your sense<br />
of style? Being a Naturalista has made me more<br />
confident in myself as a person. It came right about<br />
at the time I was teaching myself to constantly<br />
love my body and having natural hair helped me<br />
become more confident in my own skin.<br />
My sense of style is way bolder than before - I love<br />
wearing vests and short dresses/skirts without<br />
feeling the need to hide the body parts that I<br />
am not 100% comfortable with. I no longer wear<br />
tights or stocking with dresses because of feeling<br />
the need to ‘hide’ my cellulite in case it makes<br />
people feel uncomfortable. Natural hair has made<br />
me be myself in more ways than I thought I ever<br />
would.<br />
What’s your staple and must have outfit style?<br />
My must have outfit style at the moment is a<br />
white tee, black jeans and a jacket, either denim<br />
or leather. However, I am inclined more to<br />
denim jackets than leather. You can dress them<br />
up or down and still look out together, which is<br />
something I go for because I tend to have a crazy<br />
schedule and transitional outfits are always the<br />
best option.<br />
Your attitude to every situation counts how you<br />
react to it. I slowly learnt to celebrate little<br />
achievable goals over a period of time. In my<br />
case I went from covering my arms in no less than<br />
3/4 way sleeves. Then I started plucking up the<br />
courage to wear shorter sleeves, cupped sleeves<br />
and then sleeveless. I am yet to wear something<br />
strapless, but that is dependent on if I ever find<br />
a bra that will support my boobs really well. One<br />
thing I’ve learnt from it is that the more you love<br />
yourself, the less the stress. Love you body and<br />
it will love you right back.<br />
What’s on trend in terms of curvy woman’s fashion<br />
right now? I don’t really follow trends but I would<br />
definitely say body suits, body-con dresses and<br />
generally anything that is figure hugging is<br />
definitely a plus for curvy women. I personally<br />
love wearing form-fitting clothes that flaunt my<br />
body shape.<br />
FOLLOW WANJIRU ON HER WEBSITE:<br />
www.fromcurveswithlove.com<br />
Lady in Red<br />
What’s your body shape? Do you think it’s<br />
important for someone to understand their<br />
body shape? My body shape falls between pear/<br />
hourglass. Yes, it is very, very important for<br />
someone to understand his or her body shape.<br />
The more you do, the better and easier it is for<br />
you to dress it well and in a way that flatters you<br />
the most.<br />
When and why did you return natural? I sort of<br />
stumbled upon returning natural. My relaxed hair<br />
was thinning out, so I decided to grow it out with<br />
the intention of relaxing it again to have it back<br />
to its original volume. At a point when I was ready<br />
to cut the relaxed ends off, I stumbled upon the<br />
natural hair world and all the information that<br />
came with it. I took it up from there. The journey<br />
has been quite bumpy but I wouldn’t trade it for<br />
anything.<br />
“Love you body<br />
and it will<br />
love you<br />
right back<br />
“<br />
Images Courtesy of Anita Mogere<br />
Neon & Black<br />
24 25
KNOW - HAIR<br />
Wash Day<br />
Vikky’s Bi-weekly<br />
regimen:<br />
STEP 1:<br />
Cleansing with a<br />
sulphate free shampoo.<br />
STEP 2:<br />
Detangling under<br />
running water (in the<br />
shower) with a silicone<br />
free conditioner<br />
Vikky Wambui:<br />
Inspiring you to grow &<br />
care for your long hair<br />
May <strong>2017</strong> will mark 5 years since my Big Chop. 5 years of learning, unlearning and re-learning my natural<br />
hair. I say this because I started this journey with pre-conceived ideas of what to expect but as I quickly<br />
found out, natural hair can be as unique as fingerprints and one should never compare or expect the<br />
same results. Also, as the journey progresses, your hair’s needs change and you need to be keen to<br />
detect the changes and adapt accordingly.<br />
In this article, I’ll summarize the top 3 lessons learnt that have helped me grow my hair & retain length.<br />
Simple regimen<br />
Twist Outs<br />
Experience had taught me that it’s not so much the products that I use that matter, but rather how<br />
consistent I am with my regimen and also how well that regimen fits into my lifestyle.<br />
As my hair has grown longer (it was 18 inches last length check last year) I have had to tweak my regimen<br />
STEP 3:<br />
Deep conditioning<br />
(for at least 30 min)<br />
with a moisturizing<br />
deep conditioner that<br />
is mineral oil free &<br />
silicone free<br />
STEP 4:<br />
Moisturizing using the<br />
LOC (Leave-in, Oil,<br />
Cream – in that order)<br />
method<br />
STEP 5:<br />
Finally I twist with a<br />
butter to seal in the<br />
moisture even further.<br />
so that I still I provide it with proper care &<br />
nourishment without spending excessive amounts<br />
of time on it.<br />
I will normally wear my hair in 2 strand twists for<br />
about 3 days, then in a twist-out for 4 days and in a<br />
bun or a “roll, tuck and pin” style for the another 7<br />
days before its time to wash again.<br />
In between washes, I will spritz my hair lightly<br />
with some water and seal with oil if it feels dry.<br />
However, this rarely happens, as I am able to<br />
retain moisture for up to 2 weeks without having to<br />
moisturize again.<br />
Low manipulation<br />
Contrary to popular belief, natural hair is extremely<br />
susceptible to breakage due to its curly nature.<br />
Therefore, if you want to retain your length it is<br />
critical that you refrain from over-manipulating your<br />
hair. This includes excessive brushing/combing,<br />
wearing tight hairstyles and using heat/heated<br />
tools.<br />
26 27
EAT / MOVE<br />
“Be patient with<br />
your hair, do<br />
not compare &<br />
do not despair<br />
“<br />
I strictly use my fingers to detangle & style not use<br />
any combs or brushes expect when I need to make<br />
a clean parting. I also do not braid or twist using<br />
extensions and I use heat only once a year when I<br />
straighten my hair for my annual length check and<br />
trim. This has helped me retain at least 4 inches of<br />
hair every year over the past 5 years.<br />
Patience<br />
Images Courtesy of Vikky Wambui<br />
If there is one thing this journey has taught me, its<br />
patience.<br />
Be patient with your hair, do not compare, and do<br />
not despair. Always allocate enough time to take<br />
care of your hair; try not to detangle, wash or even<br />
style when you are rushed or upset.<br />
TIP<br />
Do not skimp on your<br />
products if you want to<br />
your hair to be properly<br />
moisturized. Using<br />
adequate amounts of<br />
product ensures that your<br />
hair remains moisturized<br />
for longer.<br />
Also, remember that no 2 days are the same with<br />
natural hair. You may follow the exact same steps<br />
and get different results every time. Accept this<br />
as part of the journey and embrace both the good<br />
and not so good hair days.<br />
Embrace the shrinkage, the knots & tangles and<br />
accept that there will be days when you doubt<br />
yourself, when you want to give up...but don’t! All<br />
good things take time; nothing worth having ever<br />
comes easy. So be patient, your mane will thank<br />
you for it.<br />
May your ‘fro Grow!<br />
#beinspired #napspiration<br />
FOLLOW VIKKY ON HER BLOG<br />
www.nappy-glam.blogspot.co.ke<br />
Two Strand Twists<br />
Musavi:<br />
Taking on<br />
healthy food<br />
& fitness<br />
Tell us about blogging on FitFoodie254? I have<br />
been blogging for a few years now. However, in<br />
the past, I would start a bog and quickly forget<br />
about it. I have run The Kenyan Fitness Foodie<br />
for about 15 months now; the longest I have ever<br />
stuck with a blog. I have taken all the lessons I<br />
learned from my previous attempts at blogging<br />
and used them to make this one successful. I have<br />
come to learn that blogging takes a lot of time<br />
and is serious work.<br />
Why the focus on Fitness & Food? My main<br />
reason for starting the blog was to hold myself<br />
accountable in my weight loss journey. However<br />
over time, it has turned into a healthy food blog.<br />
When I started there were many great food blogs<br />
in Kenya but none that focused purely on healthy<br />
28 29
that if I went running, I could burn calories. The reason I like running is because you do not need to<br />
pay an expensive gym membership or have fancy equipment. All you need is some running shoes and<br />
anyone can do it. I am addicted to the runner’s high, the surge of endorphins after a good run leave<br />
you feeling like you can do just about anything.<br />
“<br />
There is<br />
a lot of<br />
misconception<br />
in Kenya about<br />
healthy foods<br />
“<br />
Images Courtesy of Musavi<br />
as making a few changes in the way you prepare<br />
your meals. You do not have to deprive yourself<br />
completely from the foods you love. All you have<br />
to do is make a healthier version of them.<br />
Why did you return natural? I went natural about 6 years ago when I still lived in the States and for<br />
me it was about political and social awareness. Being black in a predominantly white country made<br />
me acutely aware of my race and culture. I learned to embrace myself and be proud of who I was and<br />
where I came from and for me that included embracing my natural hair. I also remember watching a<br />
YouTube video by Malcolm X and one phrase has stuck with me “Who taught you to hate yourself,<br />
to hate the color of your skin and the size of your nose?” It saddens me when I see African women,<br />
embrace “white” standards of beauty.<br />
Your go-to workout hairstyle? When I am working out, I always have my hair tied up in a top Knot. This<br />
keeps my hair out of the ways and prevents it from getting to frizzy with sweat.<br />
Your hair regimen? I keep my hair regimen simple and easy. I also try not to use too many products<br />
and chemicals. I wash it at home with shampoo after which I do a deep condition with a mixture of<br />
egg and avocado; and I then use the L.O.C (Liquid/Leave-In, Oil & Cream) method to ensure that my<br />
hair remains moisturized. In terms of styling, my hair is usually in Braids. I find it easier to manage<br />
braided hair and it also makes working out easy because I don’t have to worry too much about it. If<br />
I am not getting it braided, I will do a twist out and wear it in an Afro.<br />
FOLLOW MUSAVI ON HER WEBSITE:<br />
www.thekenyanfitnessfoodie.com<br />
What’s your content creation process? I usually start<br />
by thinking about the things I would like to eat.<br />
Then I do a little research to see the nutritional<br />
value of the meal; and try to think of creative<br />
ways I can make the recipe healthier and still<br />
have it delicious. I then create the recipe, and<br />
take pictures of each step post on my blog.<br />
food. So I started Kenyan Fitness Foodie as a way<br />
to contribute something to the blogosphere in<br />
Kenya.<br />
What do you discuss on FitFoodie254? The whole<br />
purpose of my blog is to share recipes that take<br />
ordinary food and put a healthy twist to eat.<br />
I want to show that just because you are on a<br />
diet, it does not mean that you eat boring food.<br />
However, I am only human and from time to time,<br />
I share some “naughty recipes” because I believe<br />
in having a cheat meal every once in a while.<br />
How does your blog contribute to people’s overall<br />
wellbeing? There is a lot of misconception in Kenya<br />
about healthy foods. My hope is that my readers<br />
understand that eating healthy can be as simple<br />
Your blog’s future plans? I want to be a one-stop<br />
shop for health and fitness related issues. Right<br />
now my focus is on creating healthy recipes but<br />
I hope that my blog grows to feature healthier<br />
products for your body and hair. I would also add<br />
more focus on fitness and workouts. However,<br />
the most important thing for me is to grow a<br />
community of like-minded individuals who will<br />
share with each other their personal stories and<br />
inspire others to live a healthier life.<br />
Your favorite meal? I loooove Ugali. If you take me<br />
to eat Ugali with fish and Kachumbari (Kenyan<br />
salsa), you will win my heart. Basically Ugali<br />
with anything is a treat. I think I love it so much<br />
because I don’t eat it as often.<br />
Your favorite fitness routine? My favorite fitness<br />
routine is running. When I first started losing<br />
weight, I knew nothing about working out except<br />
30 31
KNOW - SKIN<br />
DISCLAIMER:<br />
DO NOT self-diagnose. Seek<br />
professional medical advice.<br />
I am NOT a medical doctor<br />
nor am I a dermatologist.<br />
I write based on what<br />
I have learnt by from<br />
various sources including<br />
medical journals as well as<br />
my experience from using<br />
products.<br />
My aim is to inform and not<br />
mislead so if anything I have<br />
written is a bit iffy, please<br />
point it out and I will amend.<br />
I will not be “prescribing”<br />
any products here, as what<br />
works for me might not<br />
work for you.<br />
I have not used to the<br />
ingredients mentioned here<br />
to lighten my entire body so<br />
have no clue how well they<br />
would work for that.<br />
Always make sure you have<br />
a good sunscreen before<br />
embarking on your skin<br />
lightening journey otherwise<br />
it will be an exercise in<br />
futility.<br />
Ciku Wamae:<br />
Natural Skin<br />
Brightening<br />
Ingredients<br />
In last month’s magazine issue, I discussed types<br />
of skin lightening techniques and one that was<br />
mentioned in the chemical section was Skin<br />
brightener. For those who are worried about skin<br />
lighteners, skin brighteners are the perfect option,<br />
especially if you are not fighting demons like<br />
Melasma.<br />
Skin brighteners tend to be “natural” ingredients<br />
that make your skin tone look even, brighter, healthy<br />
and glowing. They do fade spots over time but they<br />
require a lot of patience and continued use. They<br />
also take time to work but are gentler and have little<br />
to no long term risks.<br />
I will discuss some ingredients that you should look<br />
out for if you are interested in skin brighteners.<br />
Vitamin C<br />
I first learnt of the benefits of Vitamin C many moons<br />
ago – when I was in college. The little science I had<br />
told me that Vitamin C is synonymous to lemons<br />
so I quickly went to the market and stocked up on<br />
lemons in a bid to deal with acne scarring. The pain!<br />
Even now I can feel the burn of that lemon juice on<br />
my “cleansed” skin. I sat there tapping my skin to<br />
dull the pain until I could tap no more! I have since<br />
“evolved” and learnt of things like Vitamin C serums<br />
that are safer for my poor skin.<br />
Vitamin C in the form of ascorbic acid has<br />
been proven to be effective in reducing hyperpigmentation,<br />
fights photo-aging, smooths skin and<br />
boosts collagen production. Unfortunately, ascorbic<br />
acid is very unstable when exposed to oxygen<br />
and light hence the use of synthetic versions with<br />
L-ascorbic acid being the preferred. When buying<br />
products containing Vitamin C, make sure they come<br />
in dark jars with a dropper bottle to ensure they do<br />
not lose efficacy fast.<br />
Vitamin B3<br />
Vitamin B3, also known as Niacin is another of my<br />
favourite ingredients. It is found in foods including<br />
eggs, meat, green vegetables and beans. It is<br />
beneficial to the body as it promotes the increase<br />
of good cholesterol and is also used to lower bad<br />
cholesterol in conjunction with statins.<br />
Topically, Vitamin B3 is used in the form of<br />
niacinamide to improve the skin’s texture, reduce fine<br />
lines and wrinkles and to fight hyperpigmentation.<br />
Some studies have shown it to work better than<br />
hydroquinone at the 4% concentration and with<br />
lower side effects compared to the former.<br />
Apart from anti-aging and fighting hyperpigmentation,<br />
another reason I love this ingredient is<br />
that it heals the skin’s barrier which is very important<br />
for those of use that use retinol and acids.<br />
Arbutin<br />
Arbutin is an ingredient extracted from the leaves<br />
of the bearberry plant. Through hydrolysis, it is<br />
converted into hydroquinone, which in turn reduces<br />
the skin’s production of melanin. It has been found<br />
to work the same way as pure hydroquinone but with<br />
less of the side effects that hydroquinone exhibits.<br />
In Summary<br />
This list is not exhaustive as there are other lightening<br />
ingredients in the market. These are the ones I have<br />
found to be most effective in my quest for blemish<br />
free skin. When looking for products, make sure the<br />
ingredients are amongst the top 5 as you are assured<br />
of the highest percentage in the product’s makeup.<br />
This convention does not work if you are looking at<br />
Asian products, as their ingredient listing does not<br />
always follow US and EU conventions.<br />
If you are interested in knowing what products I have<br />
tested so far and their efficacy or you just want to<br />
learn more about the ingredients then subscribe to<br />
my blog.<br />
FOLLOW CIKU ON HER WEBSITE:<br />
www.cikuwamae.com<br />
“Always make<br />
sure you<br />
have a good<br />
sunscreen<br />
“<br />
Image credit Google.com<br />
Bearberry plant from which arbutin is extracted<br />
32 33
ENJOY<br />
Faith Kathoka:<br />
Hosting Project Baby Shower<br />
I had just given birth and the isolation that comes with being a new mom and almost everyone thinking<br />
they should give you space was slowly crippling into my brain. The feeling of being alone and not being<br />
good enough weighed down on me. I wished I had a group of other moms who were going through the<br />
same terrain as me, not so much to show me the pitfalls, but to remind me that we are in this together, it<br />
is not unique to you.<br />
Hospital, GSK, Cakes.co.ke, Crochet Kenya and<br />
Kingdom Business Solutions. We have so far<br />
partnered with Pampers, Snuggles and Bouncy for<br />
our Diaper giveaways.<br />
We hold the event quarterly and we limit it to a<br />
maximum of 30 mums, because we don’t want the<br />
moms to get lost in the group or suffer in silence.<br />
FOLLOW FAITH ON HER WEBSITE:<br />
www.mumbabyandlove.com<br />
Project Baby Shower was born out of personally knowing how much we as mothers need a support system<br />
around us. As a blogger, I put out my life on the blog, the highs, the lows, the challenges and the wins of<br />
motherhood. I would get questions about parenting, pregnancy, motherhood and the need for a support<br />
group was evident.<br />
Our main challenge is often convincing moms that they need the support group, this often changes after they<br />
attend the event and are immediately transformed to our main ambassadors. We have since incorporated<br />
dads and we are amazed at how much they love being a part of the shower.<br />
The idea of a baby shower means we have to look for gifts to shower the mothers with, this coupled with the<br />
information they receive which we felt was often left out in the conventional baby showers where friends<br />
come over to your house give you gift and share the horror stories of labour and half the attendees are<br />
not even moms. So we partner with Eve’s Mama to give the labour and birth talk, Askone Breastfeeding<br />
Solutions for the lactation bit and Shiku Kanyottu & Mavuno Church for the Parenting preparation aspect.<br />
For the gifts, we have different companies giving us hampers from Johnson and Johnson who also handle<br />
the bath demos, Fidelity Insurance, Chandaria Industries, Winnie’s Pure Health, Weetabix, Nairobi Women’s<br />
Lucy Muchiri, EvesMama, explaining how water breaks<br />
during labour.<br />
Mums after Project Baby Shower, the goodie bags are<br />
amazing!<br />
The hosts of Project Baby Shower with Faith Muturi and<br />
George.<br />
Dad’s during a diaper changing demo.<br />
Eve Kongoro explaining how to breastfeeding.<br />
Shake those hips mama’s a stretch session.<br />
Shiku Kanyottu taking mums through the parenting<br />
session.<br />
A stretch session to show mums how to prepare their<br />
bodies for labour.<br />
What is a baby shower without cake? Thanks to<br />
www.cakes.co.ke<br />
A pre-natal clinic by Nairobi Women’s Hospital.<br />
34 35
ENJOY<br />
Kirigo Mwaura:<br />
A day well<br />
spent<br />
at the Hairitage<br />
Chronicles<br />
It was finally here guys, the event I had been waiting<br />
forever since I learnt of its existence a year ago.<br />
Hairitage Festival is the name. Cool combination<br />
right? Personally I don’t think I would have thought<br />
of the name but Nurtured Knotts community did. As<br />
you can give a guess it obviously revolves around<br />
natural hair and much more than you can imagine.<br />
Beauty products, jewelry, fashion apparels and<br />
natural hair products was the sight to behold when I<br />
got to Jiweke Tavern along Ngong road, Nairobi on<br />
11th March <strong>2017</strong>.<br />
Faith Adhiambo and Prisca Disma –<br />
Founders of Nurtured Knotts<br />
Nzilani Muia (Centre) with friends.<br />
L2R: Beth Ikiara (left) with Lyn Gitahi<br />
– Ndungu<br />
Wanji Mboya<br />
It was both a celebration of African heritage and hair,<br />
natural hair to be exact. A love of culture and Kenya<br />
is greatly seen just by having a glimpse of it all. You<br />
feel right at home and wish you would break a bank<br />
to get every single product available, they were all<br />
natural and the discount you guys was out of this<br />
world. A touch of Africa in your dressing was all you<br />
needed to fit in and of course that beautiful crown<br />
on your head, the attendees did not disappoint.<br />
Ladies looking all fine in their<br />
African inspired outfits<br />
Vanessa Ronoh (left) Nakhulo Khaimia<br />
Founder TrendyB Fashion House<br />
Jeniffer Githae<br />
Marini Naturals, Natrella, Sheth Naturals, Afrolicious,<br />
Horizon Natural by Nature, Harvest of Sunshine,<br />
Mosara, Fluffy Buttah, Akusi Organics, Fashion to<br />
Fine jewelry, Mimi Asili, Vintara Collections are just<br />
some of the vendors that were gracing the event<br />
with their fine products. All are locally made how<br />
proud I was of how far we’ve come as a natural hair<br />
community, finally embracing our natural selves.<br />
The event lasted the whole day as people streamed<br />
in by minute to join the club. Some of the vendors<br />
even went out of stock with their products, that’s<br />
how successful the event was. I managed to leave<br />
with a few goodies myself, if you missed out on it<br />
Carole Tichie – Founder of<br />
Apparels and Accessories Kenya<br />
Sheila Ndida – Lifestyle Blogger &<br />
Creator of African Tresses & Treats<br />
Lucy King’ori – Founder of Bu.ke a<br />
natural hair and skin brand<br />
Amina Jasho rocking it!<br />
36 37
CREATE<br />
consider yourself unlucky, but there’s always a next<br />
time right? Be sure to look out for it.<br />
Hairitage Chronicles, a first of its kind aims to bring<br />
major influence to Naturalistas in terms of diversity,<br />
appreciation of locally produced products and so<br />
much more. I’d highly recommend taking part; I now<br />
aim to be an avid participator in the many events to<br />
come and you should too.<br />
A definite must go for anyone and everyone.<br />
Patricia Munini (right) – Founder Fashion To Fine<br />
interacting with one of the guests<br />
FOLLOW KIRIGO ON HER BLOG<br />
www.naturallynn.com<br />
Guests at Bu.Ke Stand discussing about various products<br />
Nicole engaging clients at the Harvest of Sunshine stand.<br />
Sharon at the Hairitage Chronicles<br />
Sharon Malonza:<br />
vLogging<br />
with the<br />
Kenyan Puff<br />
Vlogging is described as a blog that contains video<br />
content, and no one does it better in our natural<br />
hair space than Sharon Malonza, an 18 year old that<br />
runs My Kenyan Puff on YouTube, Instagram and<br />
Snapchat.<br />
Her natural hair journey started out of curiosity<br />
when she happened upon another Kenyan Blogger<br />
website. “I came across Craving Yellow’s blog one<br />
night and I read all her hair posts from that moment<br />
on. I also started reading up and watching videos on<br />
natural hair. I enjoyed the science of it all plus I’ve<br />
always loved how full and glorious the Afro looks.”<br />
she explains. “I transitioned for 10 months which<br />
gave me ample time to educate myself and then I<br />
big chopped on March 3rd 2016 with about 3 inches<br />
of hair. I’ve been fully natural for a year now and it’s<br />
been such a fun experience,” she adds.<br />
L2R: Wachu Wanjaria and Josephine Wabuu (Founders of<br />
Kurly Diaries) with Patricia Munini.<br />
Ladies at The Girlstuff.co.ke stand<br />
Sharon started her platform with an aim to educate<br />
people on natural hair care from her own research<br />
38 39
and experience. She’d noted that there was not<br />
that many Kenyan YouTubers and she wanted<br />
to provide a local alternative that people<br />
could relate to. “I currently have around 1,300<br />
subscribers which is something I am very proud<br />
of. My viewership is around 80% Kenyan and so I<br />
get the most feedback from Kenyans.” She shares<br />
that it was a tough choice deciding between a<br />
blog (words & pictures) and a vLogs (videos), “I<br />
ended up choosing videos instead because I feel<br />
that with haircare, a video tutorial is a lot easier<br />
to do than trying to explain what I did with words<br />
and pictures.”<br />
She advises those interested in starting a YouTube<br />
channel to start out simply, in her view it doesn’t<br />
have to be an expensive venture. “When it comes<br />
to setting up a YouTube channel, all you need is<br />
a space to record, which can be your room. You<br />
also need content and a camera, even your phone<br />
camera will do.” In the beginning all Sharon had<br />
was a camera, but she’s since invested in a tripod<br />
and plans to get lighting in the future. “What<br />
truly matters is your content. That’s what really<br />
keeps people interested,” she advises.<br />
In terms of putting together her vLogs she shares<br />
her process in the following steps:<br />
Planning<br />
Image Caption: I never start recording without<br />
having written out some pointers on what I plan<br />
to share. It helps to keep me from rambling on<br />
too much and assure that I do not leave anything<br />
out.<br />
Setup & Shooting<br />
Image Caption: Set up isn’t a struggle cause I just<br />
need a chair and some flowers as decor. I rely on<br />
natural lighting so I try to shoot early on in the day.<br />
Shooting takes around 20 minutes.<br />
Editing<br />
Image Caption: This is what takes up most of my<br />
time. When I started off, I would take up to 3hours<br />
editing because I was clueless. Now I’m down to a<br />
maximum of 1hour max. I use Final Cut Pro to edit<br />
my videos; and I have used iMovie in the past. If<br />
you’re looking to learn how to edit, look it up on<br />
YouTube.<br />
Apart from the time and financial challenges that vLogging presents, there is the matter of viewer feedback.<br />
“I’m happy that I get mostly positive feedback. But I had to understand that once I put myself out there,<br />
I had to be open to criticism (both positive and negative).” She describes it as a vulnerable position<br />
as everything one does is scrutinized. “I have to be confident in myself and be as genuine as possible.<br />
People on the internet will jump at anything so I have to remain true to myself always.”<br />
Sharon describes the process of vlogging as very time consuming yet very rewarding, “It is a huge struggle<br />
because I need to juggle this alongside all my other personal commitments. It is worthwhile in the end<br />
though. I’m very grateful to all my subscribers and those who have benefitted from my videos and posts.<br />
It’s a blessing to be a blessing to others!” she declares.<br />
Uploading & Sharing<br />
Image Caption: Once my video is uploaded, I share<br />
it on all my platforms to get the word out to my<br />
followers.<br />
In terms of the future, Sharon doesn’t plan to limit her platform to sharing only on natural haircare, “I plan<br />
to branch out into other aspects of beauty and more importantly promote an overall natural, healthy and<br />
positive lifestyle.”<br />
FOLLOW SHARON ON HER YOUTUBE CHANNEL:<br />
mykenyanpuff<br />
40 41
GUY<br />
2002-2004. “The concept was about sharing all the<br />
information that I had learned in IT. Once I ran out<br />
of my own information I went to IT companies to get<br />
more.”<br />
James Murura<br />
When at first you don’t succeed<br />
As a blogger, people sometimes ask me how I started blogging. I posed the same question to James Murua<br />
as soon as we settled into our interview. He explained that his was out of shear boredom! He was an AIESEC<br />
trainee in the UK in 2001 trying his best to sell insurance without much success. “It was hella boring! You<br />
have to have a certain type of personality to sell insurance; and I didn’t have it,” he quips.<br />
In a bid to let off steam, he started partying with friends. He would then go home, write a little email and<br />
send to his mailing list made up of his friends in London. His friends would be really excited to receive<br />
and read his stories. He decided then to set up a blog, and being a web master he created a website from<br />
scratch. “It must have been called Jamo’s Blog or something like that.” The upside was that when the<br />
company saw what he could do on the web he was moved to the Intranet Division as the Assistant Manager.<br />
He finally started to enjoy his work there.<br />
After a year and a-half of living in the UK and two weeks after the 911 bombings in the US, James returned<br />
home. He had secured a job with PHAT Magazine to be their Webmaster However, he met a friend at the<br />
airport who convinced him to join an IT company in the sales department. He lasted only 3 months on the<br />
job, as it just wasn’t for him, “It was a really bad job, it had horrible working conditions!”<br />
Thereafter, he landed a job to work with Kelele.com, which he did for 5/6 months. I enquire if this was<br />
another web job but he says, “No. I was doing content. They actually paid me to go out! They put me in a<br />
car on Friday & Saturday. We’d go for the parties and then on Monday I would write out the story. I would<br />
be paid Kes. 2,000/=.” In 2002, someone paying for content and facilitating for the content creation was<br />
quite a fete. Shortly after he left Kelele, and he set up his own blog called Daraja, which he managed from<br />
I ask him why content creation was important to<br />
him in a time when it wasn’t a thing in Kenya. “The<br />
human experience was more interesting to me than<br />
the news experience.” He cites as a blog that he<br />
was inspired during his time in the UK. He says he<br />
knew there was something worth looking into when<br />
the owner of ikissfootball.com, a blog he followed,<br />
was approached by Adidas to do an Ad in his home<br />
country – South Africa. “I was like Damn! This is<br />
where it’s at! I could see the next thing was in this<br />
space.” He had seen the promised land of content<br />
creation and platform monetization.<br />
An interesting proposition came to him from a<br />
follower of his blog. The idea was to start a showbiz<br />
magazine in line with Hello Magazine in the UK. “I<br />
was excited to do this because after doing IT for<br />
sometime I was looking for something new.” After<br />
tossing a few names around, they decided to call<br />
it Miro (slang for Africans) Magazine. The project<br />
duration was two years in which they only released<br />
one printed issue of the magazine. “The first year<br />
we have to get the team, who we were not willing to<br />
pay cause there was no money. We got 6 guys and<br />
agreed that we would be partners,” He explains.<br />
The launch of Miro Magazine was at a swanky event<br />
at the newly opened Casablanca in Kilimani. Sadly,<br />
there was no uptake from Advertisers on whom they<br />
were relying on for capital injection. James and his<br />
partner took quite a hit seeing as they had already<br />
sunk in some money to set up the release of the first<br />
issue. It was back to the drawing board for him.<br />
He landed a job at Mank & Tank, which was an<br />
animation collage, as a sales person. He decided<br />
to celebrate his new job at Java on Mama Ngina<br />
in Nairobi’s CBD. There he met a guy who worked<br />
for a newspaper in the showbiz department. James<br />
immediately started pitching his content creation<br />
idea to him. The acquaintance was excited and<br />
onboard the idea. On the wings of this, James hit up<br />
a friend in the US to help him buy & host a domain<br />
called Afrovibez. “I really loved this site, it was one<br />
of my better ones I ever did.” Sadly, the newspaper<br />
link was promoted and he dumped the project<br />
leaving James high and dry.<br />
It was at this point he got truly frustrated. He<br />
remembers that it was in a cyber café in Tena Estate<br />
where the attendant approved his new name Nairobi<br />
Living. It was then that the blog that James would<br />
become known for was born. Despite it’s fame,<br />
robust mailing list of 5,000 emails and readership<br />
James in 2009<br />
Goofy James in 2011<br />
James in 2012<br />
42 43
TOPICAL<br />
“<br />
The human<br />
experience<br />
was more<br />
interesting<br />
to me than<br />
the news<br />
experience<br />
“<br />
Image Courtesy of James Murua<br />
of 40,000-50,000 visitors a month, James wasn’t<br />
earning truckloads of money that many thought he<br />
was. “I wish people would understand one day what<br />
that website did to me. I was always hungry. I was<br />
always tired. I think there was a month I only made<br />
25k and I did that by selling my mailing list. I was<br />
busy and hustling. But at least I wasn’t sitting in<br />
the house feeling sorry for myself.” He continually<br />
generated content for the website till June 2007<br />
putting out 2-3 stories every week.<br />
In Easter 2007 James says he hit rock bottom. It was<br />
a Saturday night at the Koinange Street Festival and<br />
at 2/3am he decided to walk home drunk. He ended<br />
up being arrested by cops and landing himself at the<br />
Central Police Station; and being a long weekend he<br />
was held in cell until Tuesday. Once released, he got<br />
home, shaved, showered, slept and woke up having<br />
decided to look for an actual job.<br />
That same day he got a call from some guys who<br />
wanted to give him a column in a new newspaper<br />
that was coming into the market – The Star. “I was<br />
told later on that my blog was really popular at<br />
Radio Africa and that PQ* loved it. When they were<br />
starting their website he apparently actually said<br />
that he needed this new content in his newspaper.”<br />
He says that his stint at The Star was the longest<br />
and most fruitful of his career. It was the first time<br />
he was earning an income for years. Despite many<br />
seeing it as ‘selling out’, he explains that he honed<br />
his writing skills and made his name. A year ago he<br />
was unceremoniously shown the door after many<br />
years of service.<br />
I ask him if he thinks his journey was the 10,000hours<br />
he needed to get him to where he is now, “You<br />
know if I had been told ‘You’ll suffer for 10years’ I<br />
wouldn’t have done it! Now I’d be General Manager<br />
of somewhere. I’d be smug, have 2-3 kids, I’d be<br />
on my 3rd car…drinking whiskey.“ But I ask why he<br />
did it, why did he slug through it all? “I hated the<br />
jobs that were on offer for me. I really couldn’t stand<br />
them!”<br />
In the year since he left, has steadily grown his<br />
website in his own name, that has been around<br />
for 4 years now. I ask him what it’s about, “If you<br />
want to know how the African literary infrastructure<br />
is, from writers, publishers, festivals awards, all of<br />
that. I am your guy.” It’s comforting to know that<br />
African literature is back on the rise and someone as<br />
resilient, diligent, creative and passionate as James<br />
is on that tip. We’ll be eagerly watching his space<br />
to see what African literary goodies will be coming<br />
our way.<br />
*Patrick Quarcoo, Founder & CEO of Radio Africa Group<br />
FOLLOW JAMES ON HIS WEBSITE:<br />
www.jamesmurua.com<br />
Funtimes in 2015<br />
Nyawira Njoroge:<br />
Quitting Smoking<br />
& living the<br />
Natrella Life<br />
“<br />
I started<br />
smoking<br />
before I went<br />
natural.<br />
Image Source: Unsplash<br />
“<br />
There is this stereotype when it comes to having natural hair and smoking. You’re expected to be a smoker<br />
if you walk around with a head full of thick kinks, locs and all manner of twists. The expectation is even<br />
greater if you happen to have shaved off the hair on a section of your head. Why does my hair determine<br />
what kind of habits or interests I may have?<br />
A lot of these misconceptions have to do with the notion that to have natural hair, you have to be openminded,<br />
rebellious of the status quo and more unique than most people are comfortable with. You know<br />
who you are, and you’re not afraid to express it. So how can naturals be so easily categorized as rebellious<br />
smokers when they are also some of the most conscious individuals you’ll ever meet?<br />
When I first went natural a lot of people told me I looked ‘artsy’. If the sight of my hair reminds you of art,<br />
well thank you - I believe I’m a masterpiece too. Ironically, I started smoking before I went natural. I loved<br />
smoking. It gave me this sense of freedom and stress-relief that I couldn’t find anywhere else.<br />
My first cigarette was on a cold winter night in a country that I would never like to return to. One of my close<br />
girlfriends was a smoker and I was keeping her company one cold evening. I asked her if it helped keep her<br />
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warm and she said yes. She asked if I wanted to try one, I hesitated but I was curious. I wasn’t doing well<br />
adjusting to the cold and running between classes, across campuses and through the city. If this could help<br />
me cope, I had to try. One year turned into two, then four. My addiction lasted 5 years and I truly believe<br />
that a large part of what helped me move forward was my natural journey.<br />
It takes a lot of personal work one oneself to remain natural. There are a lot of fears to overcome and selfworth<br />
to embrace. Four years later and it became clear to me that self-worth truly is at the heart of any<br />
harmful habit. My natural journey forced me to face my own personal issues surrounding beauty and my<br />
belief in how I should treat myself. This process matured to the point where every single aspect of my life<br />
refused to align with anything that was harmful to me - my body, my spirit and my aura.<br />
A wise woman recently told me that when you change your hair, you change your life. I’ll take that a step<br />
further and say that when you change your hair, you change your perception of your life. As I learned to love<br />
my hair, my consciousness of natural beauty grew. I found myself slowly falling in love with every aspect<br />
of who I am. What do you do when you love someone? Strive to give them the best version of yourself.<br />
Obviously this doesn’t happen overnight but with consistency, mistakes, forgiveness and time, you’ll get<br />
there.<br />
Having evolved so much through my hair, I fail to understand why we as naturals accept to be negatively<br />
stereotyped yet we are dedicated to giving ourselves a much better existence. We do so by embracing our<br />
hair in its natural form and it’s just a matter of time before we take that momentum even further. To many<br />
people, having natural hair may look like a license to do whatever you want but honestly, it’s an opportunity<br />
to discover the best version of yourself, for yourself.<br />
FOLLOW NYAWIRA ON HER WEBSITE:<br />
www.natrellalife.com<br />
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