Category: african hair braiding

african hair braiding, black voices, braidery, braids, corn rows, feed-in braids, miss naturale, miss sixx, no-knot braids

Modern-Day Slavery at Hair Braiding Salons Driven By Greed

The Lupie Chick

Article from Black Voices — A New Jersey man from the West African nation of Togo is behind bars after forcing at least 20 women to work without pay in hair braiding salons. According to the Associated Press, 47-year-old Lassissi Afolabi, a citizen of the Togolese Republic, was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison after he admitted to smuggling Togolese women and girls into the U.S. from 2002 through 2007 and making the young women, in effect, modern day slaves at hair salons throughout Newark and East Orange, NJ.
The Star Ledger reported that the women suffered beatings, psychological torture and sexual abuse. A federal judge in Newark described Afolabi’s crimes as “horrific” and ordered him to also repay his victims $3.9 million in restitution. But Afolabi didn’t act alone; he had help. His ex wife, Akouavi Kpade Afolabi, and her son were also convicted in the scheme. The former wife will be sentenced in September for her wrongdoing; her son has been given 55 months prison time. The trio snuck the women into the U.S. using fake visas, authorities said.
african hair braiding, almond oil, au naturale, avocado oil, cornstarch, crisco, dry skin, emu oil, face, grapeseed oil, jojoba oil, miss sixx, moisturizer, natural oils, sealant, vitamin E

Old School Making a Comeback- Crisco

The Lupie Chick

We’re all familiar with the blue can – it was probably a staple in all our childhood kitchens. Lately, there has been a lot of chatter about the benefits of Crisco for your skin and hair. Sounds rather bizarre, doesn’t it? Let’s look at the ingredients of Crisco: Soybean oil, fully hydrogenated cottonseed oil, partially hydrogenated cottonseed and soybean oils. Because the oils are partially hydrogenated, they are solid at room temperature and have a fatty consistency that is lighter than butter (made up of saturated fats). So, basically, natural oils hydrogenated to turn them into solid form. I use natural oils on my skin and hair all the time-Jojoba Oil, Vitamin E Oil, Almond oil, Emu oil, Avocado Oil, and Grapeseed Oil. Because it is made up of oil, Crisco is not a moisturizer, but it’s a great sealant!!!! You dont’ need to use a lot of it to get great results either (a little goes a LOOOOONG way). If you’re heavy-handed with product though, then you can add cornstarch to your Crisco to keep it from feeling too greasy.

I have read that Crisco is used in hospital settings to treat burn victims and those with severe eczema. It has also been used on skin tears caused by edema (severe swelling due to fluid accumulation).

Through some internet research I discovered Julia’s Goat Milk Soap Company http://www.juliasgoatmilksoap.com/ . Julia create and sell Herbal and Vegatable Based Soaps with Crisoc as the base for an Homemade Eczema Treatment.

Outside of the medical community, countless women (and probably a few men) are using Crisco on their faces, bodies and hair – and reporting great results. And it’s cheap. Under $5 for the small can which should last a really long time.

Does anyone use Crisco on their hair presently, in a past life, or all of the above? Inquiring minds want to know.
ada's Salon, african hair braiding, au naturale, cornrows, feed-in braids, hair style, miss sixx, no-knot braids

Salon Spotlight: Ada’s Hair Braiding Salon

The Lupie Chick





Ada’s Hair Braiding Salon
6429 Landover Rd
Cheverly, MD 20785-1402
(301) 583-0430

Its the weekend before back to school and I’d promised my daughter she could get her hair braided. I had no idea how taxing the task would be to find a salon. I started calling salons Monday and I was not impressed by the lack of customer service and the inability to answer basic questions ( i.e. what price does your corn rows start? Is the price the same for a child vs. an adult, etc). It was very annoying for me to call salons and there was no answer, I left messages as instructed- no return phone call, I emailed a few salons requesting an appointment- NO RESPONSE. I had almost given up on getting her hair braided when I mentioned my problem to a co worker and she recommend Ada’s Salon. I went back to my desk and immediately called Ada expecting the same or similar treatment I’d received from other salons. I was pleasantly surprised. She took the time to answer all my questions, and fit my daughters appt at the last minute. I arrived at the salon 20 minutes early- and it was PACKED- a sign of good business. Ada greeted me, she told me someone would be with me shortly. 5 minutes later the braider came over, introduced herself, ask me if I knew what style I wanted for my daughter. I’d picked out a style on the Internet and I brought a copy of that picture into the salon. The stylist looked at the picture twice and pretty much copied the picture braid for braid. The entire style took 2 hours to complete. I was most happy that I learned of a new style called ” feed in braids” aka ” no- knot braids”. You start the cornrow without adding any extensions. You add the hair in the middle or towards the end of the cornrow. This method gets rid of the usual bump at the beginning of a weaved-cornrow and gives the appearance of a natural cornrow. Ada’s fee for this style on my daughter was $65.00 ( a bargain considering others quoted me $80- NO STYLE). My daughter is loving her hair, and we will re visit the salon again for all of our braided hairstyle needs.