Wow! Lace Front Wigs Originated For Medical Purposes (Natural Hair Talk)

Hi, i'm chris james and you're watching a healthy alternative. Today i have a guest from left field, i'm bringing on melody day. She is actually my cousin and she has been working on a a brand that caters towards women with curly or textured hair, and i've been getting a lot of questions from you all about hair and it probably started you know a year or two ago when i Started talking about why i had changed my hairstyle and you know the importance of different products, making sure that you're not putting you know detrimental products and things in your hair. So anyway, you all have been asking me, for you, know a video and where we getting into hair and hair care and all that stuff. So i've got um an expert uh one of my cousins, my family, i'm happy to have her on the show and we're gon na get into all of that. Coming up next, so stay tuned, we're missing a piece of the puzzle. You start getting healthy and you just become a better person. We need to start focusing more on the individuals. Okay melanie, so we've been talking about doing this interview for like three or for a while. Yes, for a while i've been i've been like blown up, your phone like hey like, let's you know, let's do an interview. Let'S talk about this and i finally got stuff together. So i'm happy to be here, yeah yeah. I'M really excited to talk about all of the things that you're doing right now, especially with you know, expanding your brand and your knowledge base, and you know every all the services you have available but to get started off. I want to take it back a little bit because i'm curious about learning like what was the the premise for you. You know um beginning this, this brand that caters towards women with like textured or curly, hair like. Why did you think that that was something that was important so um? Let me just start it this way, so i've been in this. I'Ve been behind the chair licensed for about 16 years right. So when i was in beauty school um before i even started well before i even started bd school, my hair was chemical free. I had no relaxer in it and i had like you know, box, braids or whatnot, but in order for me to comply and to get my 300 practical hours that we have to work on each other, my teacher's like well, you need to take your braids out And i'm like no one's gon na know how to do my hair, because you all don't really teach that so i took that as saying you know i need to. If i want to be able to graduate and get to the program, i should basically probably put a relaxer in my hair, so i was like 17 or 18 years old. When i did this right - and i remember going through my mind like wow like i do - i want to do this, but i kind of have to, and that was the beginning of it um. I knew that i did not want to be the typical black stylist and just only work on just one type of hair. Like our license covers everybody, it doesn't say anything about ethnicity, but it's it's everyone and that's really how it started. Um, like this whole, like for our generation, the natural hair movement was like in early 2000s, but like for our parents, it's always been there, but for our group for our age group it was like late 90s, early 2000s right, so um. Nothing was really on the market and you know things just kind of progressed, and here i am today, but that's honestly how it started wow and that's that's actually not a unique story. I'Ve heard so many women talk about how for school work or otherwise they've had to change their hair, and you know i think one of the biggest issues that i have with. That is the fact that okay and we've heard this before your hair grows out. Curly. That'S how it grows. Every everybody else seems to be okay like if your hair is like has a looser curls or whatever it's okay for your natural hair to come out your head. But if you have tight, curls or textured, really, you know um textured hair. It'S like a problem in in in professional settings or power, his power yeah. So i'm glad that you know we're getting back to you know loving our hair and and understanding it more. So did you so you ended up uh getting the the relaxer yeah. So i remember getting my hair done and the stylist she was like. Are you sure you want to do this? I'M like? I, don't really have a choice and i really wish i had taken pictures of my hair because you know i'm 17. 18. Your body is completely different, then hormones are different, so my hair was obviously different too, was like massive from like, oh, my goodness. If i could go back to that fro and yeah, so i ended up going through with it. Then i grew it out again and i haven't had my hair chemically relaxed since now, i've had color, but i haven't had it chemically altered with a relaxer and what did that? What did the process of so you know you had this because i always remember you. We we we kind of grew up. You know together, we played, but i always remembered you with your braids yeah um. What did it? What did it do to your hair when you got it relaxed like? What did you notice? I mean obviously like. I can't really remember a lot, but i mean it does change the structure of your hair, obviously because it's a chemical um now. What i do remember is like the growing out process that i could tell you about um that i had like these. You know big difference of textures for with my natural hair and then with the relaxed hair. Obviously, that's gon na be really weak, because the natural hair is a lot stronger um. So i did experience breakage with that. But what helped me was that i did. I actually did um, i grew up with. I grew up my relaxer with a sew-in, so i did weaves for like a couple years and braided my hair up, trimmed it every so often and then braided it up again. So that's what helped me to kind of grow out um, but i think it's long like relaxers get a bad rep and even when you have natural hair, you still have breakage. You still have damage. I see it every single day, um it's from not knowing how to properly take care of your hair, maintaining it if you know how to take care of it and know what to do regardless, if you're, relaxer or relaxer-free, your hair can still flourish and and where Do you think that misa stems from like, because it seems to be a common issue that uh women or just people in general they don't know how to take care of their hair? So where do you think that miseducation comes from? I think it's from you know. That'S that's a really good question um. I think a lot of it could come from maybe like maybe we didn't get all the information we needed when we were growing up or maybe like from school or products. You know different whatever our situation was growing up, because i i see that a lot at work, um clients will come in and they'll tell me yeah my mom or my sisters, my granny or auntie, whoever they um. They told me how to do my hair, or vice versa. They like no one, really knew how to do my hair when i was growing up, so i've always struggled with it, and here i am today and i still struggle with it, and i have a daughter - and i don't want her to feel some type of way About her hair, so that's why she's here and i want to help teach her, so i think it starts at an early age yeah. I agree. I think that you know we as we as um. You know parents, we drop the ball with our children, because we we don't know and and and sometimes we don't even know what we don't know. You know and then also there's like the the the different industries, the health and beauty industry is, is putting a lot of false information out there or information that is catering to one particular group of people and doesn't include the rest of us and uh. You know because of these different processes and and then just like you know, um being forced to change your hair and and not not society, not accepting your hair. It seems to just be a big problem that has different layers right. We have to kind of unpack, so the education at an early age is is something that i would say is definitely important. So what is it now that you know that you are doing well first, before we get into that? Can you outline some of the issues that people are having with their hair? Like you said, proper education is kind of the key. What what how like? What are we doing wrong yeah? So i think the other thing is um is and i'll say this as a hairdresser and as a black stylist. We need to take our industry back and because i put along it's like we've, gotten a bad rep for not being professional for not being this. For being that, and so a lot of a lot of black women would be like you know what i'm not going to shop anymore, i can do my own hair um. I, why pay all this money when i can go onto youtube and find all this information? You all aren't treating me right, you're, not respecting my time, so i'm just going to do this and the industry has suffered because of some stylist inability to be professional, to respect the client to respect their time, to treat it as as a profession, not a hustle And people realize that, and so now we're seeing with with youtube all of this tons of videos on here and as stylists we're like wait, a minute, hey we're right here, you all can come back and people like no we're good. I'M gon na follow such and such here because she knows - and i i love the following so for me, that is what i wanted to do - was to take the industry back in the sense of hey. We went to school, we're trained for different things, we're not just saying stuff, because because a company has given us free products or because i had this great experience with my hair, but it's definitely art it's definitely science and there's a lot that goes with it, and I want to say this too that um you touched on. You know different types of discrimination with the hair there's currently a bill, that's being passed, it's called the crown act. Um is going around nationally. I can't remember which date it started. It might have been california. Everything starts in california um, but it's basically going to cover um, you know not being discriminate. Um discriminates against based on your hair, for black women and for black men and for kids, because we're seeing that even in schools in louisville um a few years ago, they had an issue with one of the schools there with their dress code. And it was particularly towards um, basically black kids and how they wore their hair. So that's the crown act, that's being passed um, but also another thing would be education in cosmetology schools and what we're seeing is that's really where it starts. You ask me: that's really where it starts. If salon professionals aren't getting trained from day, one in beauty, schools when they go out into the real world, they're going to be terrified or not really sure of how to work with everyone. And then then they'll say you know what i'm not really comfortable and then they'll just not do it. So we live in a society where everybody has is everything you know every it's, our it's. Everyone is coming from different backgrounds and hair, and you see it with hair um. So everyone, you know: you've got ta, you got ta get with it, so society society needs to adapt to the fact that we're all unique and not cater to just one hairstyle or one type of hairstyle that they consider the majority. But we we need to really be teaching. How do we take care of everyone's hair, because that that you know it's a trickle-down effect yeah yeah? That makes a lot of sense when um i've talked to girls who, who like have done modeling or just, are in that industry and they oh that's, yeah right. They always talk about how the the style is. They don't know how to do their hair, and you know i. I have felt like part of the reason why um women, with with curly hair, mainly black women, it seems like they moved more towards you know doing sew-ins and wigs is because, like people, don't know how to do their hair, and maybe they don't know how to Do their hair and it's easier to do you know a sew-in or a wig or whatever the case would be you you hit the nail on the head and i think that's where the power comes back. You know, that's where the power lies. When you teach a person how to do things for themselves, then they're not no longer reliable, relying on everyone else and i think that's such a powerful statement because um, so many women have spent years in the chair. They don't know what type of product. What type of calm i don't like yeah, i just told her, do whatever i don't. I don't really know what she does and then, when they come see me and i ask questions - i don't know she just. I trust her. She just does whatever, and i want women to know like hey we're in this together. I want you to know what i'm using, how to use the product, because, in light of what we've seen in the last eight months or so um we've had, we've had to become more dependent on ourselves because of not being able to go to certain places. And if you're relying heavily on other people, then you'll see you may not be able to to do certain things right, so we really. We really have to take ownership, and this is why i i felt like this. Would you know this would be a great topic for the the show, because you know what we teach on a healthy alternative is taking back your power instead of relying on a healthcare professional to treat you, you need to learn, you know how to take care of Yourself so, along with you, know, dealing with a hair stylist or something like that, there's some level of education that really should be involved, because we we are so unknowledgeable about how to take care of our hair, and i feel like that doesn't happen. I mean i've been i've been before my hair was long. I would get it cut right and you know that's a whole different process. We weren't talking about tremendous edges and health of the hair. We would put dax wax on our head, so we could lock our waves in like we were doing anything. But then, when i started dealing with you know, uh hairstylists not not barbers, it was. It was a whole different vibe, but i didn't feel, like educated, i felt like i had to ask you know i felt like the the person who was taking care of my hair didn't care about my hair. They didn't care like the energy around, so i had to find friends who did hair, who would kind of respect me a little bit and like it's, it's very, very off-putting. You know having to deal with that and um. So i agree with everything that you're saying we need education and we need people who care about what they're doing yeah and, as i was saying earlier, you know taking the industry back. You know that's why we've gotten a bad rep for for so long because of that and now um i think stylists are recognizing, like you know, wait a minute, no um, that's not how it should be, because clients are now taking things in their own hands and, Like hey like well, if you're not going to treat me the way that you should i'm just going to go somewhere else and do something different, let me let me ask you uh about like like sew-ins or weaves. You know uh in general. I i listen. You know, i'm not i'm not a woman. I only know a little bit of what i hear so you you help me out, but i hear that um, you know by getting your hair done a certain way um. You know, there's all these different things. People do glue, and i don't know just all these things they do to their hair uh. It damages their edges, it damages their hair. What are your thoughts, or what have you found to be the case as far as like different things you do to your hair, like is putting a weave in your hair damaging? Is it about the application like talk to me about that yeah? So i think that's. That'S a great one because, especially you know we're in the season of um. The air is getting drier. A lot of black women want to do protective styling, and you know kind of put your hair up for for the season and let it kind of rest um. So a lot of us are doing braids um, you know, lace, fronts doing you know 360s. You know weaves all different types of things, so i think, depending on the method, depending on your scalp, because for some people, if you have a severe scalp issue like if you have seborrheic dermatitis, if you have psoriasis, if you have atopic dermatitis, there's just certain things That you should not do because your scalp cannot handle it. You need to your scalp needs to breathe um, you know or if you have really, if you're really sensitive to you know to um to chemicals into hair and things like that, if you're getting extensions well more than likely it's highly treated with chemicals and you're going To have some type of reaction which i've had reactions to in the past, and you itch for like a solid week and you can't take your insole out because you just spent good money on it, you're going to suffer through and you want to get your um. You want to get your rat cell calm and kind of go through and tap tap tap. You know all of that, but i think it depends on your stylist. You want to find someone who really educates themselves, not someone who's getting a degree in youtube, ology and you know free free videos like oh yeah. I can do that. No, you want someone who spends good money on their craft and who spends good money on themselves. Who invest heavily in themselves and who values you and i would say, to the consumer: do your homework. Do your homework on the styles that you're going to go to ask questions if you feel a certain way um, you know what that's okay! If, if you know ask if they, if they have a referral like for me for me personally, i don't really do a lot of sew-ins, but i can refer you to other stylists that you know that can do a great job but um i'll say with wigs And with braids and with different types of applications, you can have too much of a good thing. It just depends on how, where you are in that certain stage, and what you're trying to do um say, for instance, a lot of people are doing like lace fronts. In blue and things like that right originally, that was meant for for people who don't really have a hairline i've. I'Ve actually met people who shave their hairline off, because you can't have you can't have hair right. You know like they'll, actually shave the hairline off, so they can adhere the glue wow. No, that means so lace fronts were it was medical purpose first and for hollywood right, medical purpose first and for hollywood, and then it came onto the scene for for for everyday people wow, but we're misusing it and then we're causing other problems because of not knowing How to use it or what it was originally meant for, makes a lot of sense, yeah that makes that makes a lot of sense. So, basically, what i'm hearing is it's it's not as it's not as cut and dry, as one might think. It'S it's really a a conversation that you need to have with your stylist. It'S really something that you kind of have to get more knowledge about, like you have to learn about your scalp, learn about your hair and yeah. You know what i mean do do some research like put some time and effort and energy into this thing. Okay, so let's, let's talk about like an alternative right, so it's getting cold out and you know you want to protect your hair or whatever. What'S a style or what is maybe a a procedure or something you could do to to give you a that protection without necessarily using like wigs or just you know, lace, fronts or whatever so um i mean i i like wigs and i think it just depends On how you, how you use it and there's different ways that you can put a wig on um a lot of times like if you're, using like a lace front, that's more of like a it's, not like a daily wear! It'S not it's not like something! You can take one and and take off late front is more like you know, i'm gon na keep it on for a few weeks a week or something like that and wear it every day and it's not coming off um. I personally like crochet, braids and crochet styles, because you can actually get to your scalp um and your scalp can breathe. I was actually in a conference with a few derma black dermatologists and they're they're, actually, researchers too, and they were sharing their top styles for black women that have scalp conditions and that are trying to um. You know have the goal of healthy hair and scalp, and basically, what they're saying is: don't use a lot of styles that are putting a lot of tension on your scalp um. You know look for things that you can leave in for, like maybe a few weeks or a week or so and then take out um and i think we've been for me. I remember it's like you know i want to keep this in, for i don't know four weeks, and i want this to last and i'm gon na do everything i can to make it less, and you know i'm not going to. I don't want to get it wet because i don't want my braids to fuzz up. You know like we've all been there, but when we take our hair down what usually happens like our scalps and flames, because we've got so much build up, we haven't been treating our scalp properly, while we've had our style in um. So i think we have to kind of change our mindset and think about how can i take care of my hair underneath and i like to equate our scalp to the soil in the um, the hair, to leaves in a tree right. So if you have a good foundation, then your your hair will flourish, but that also comes from the inside too a hundred percent. Well, you know i'm um yeah yeah. I think i'm actually so far to the left on that where it's like. I almost almost will neglect my actual hair and i'm just working on all the internal stuff. So i think balance is key in everything you do. You know so that i'm learning that you know as i go along, but i i agree with your points that you know um. We have it's like the psychology. We have to change how we, how we kind of perceive things and what's important to us uh, because i feel like we've been manipulated. Like you know, you you got ta, you got, ta have the tightest braids like everything has to be perfect right, and let me - and let me say this too - is that pretty should not hurt and what i mean by that is that you should not be taking An excedrin or a tylenol before or after you get your hair done right and if you have to, then you need to go to another braider. You need to go to another stylist, another optician whatever, because you are not going to have hair later on right, because what what that's causing would eventually be traction alopecia, which is actually pulling it's basically pulling hair out. And it's going to get to a point to where the fog will be damaged and it's nothing's going to grow, and i have this story for myself where i went got my hair braided and she did yarn locks on me. I don't know, i don't know like if you know what yeah the yarn locks but like she platted my hair, then she took yarn and the more she whipped wound the hair around like the tighter it got, and so i like i had to hold the root. So, like the tension wasn't so bad chris when i got home, i, like i, i felt like i had like this face, lift because, like i look surprised the entire time like i couldn't like, i couldn't pull my hair back up. I couldn't like take a shower because i it was just i couldn't lift my hair up. It was horrible, it was so. The pain was just so bad. I felt sick wow. It was that tight, so y'all, if you all, if your hair is ever that tight and if they, if you have a braider, that just wants to get every nap every edge, don't let them because you won't have a hairline. I promise you won't, have a hairline me and my friend were just just talking about that. You will not have a hairline, maybe trying to snatch every little, because, like my hair now uh, when i got my hair caught, you know coiled or whatever they were there. I have i have i'm touching it right now, like there's so much hair and you probably could put another coil, but it's like nah leave it alone. Like it's fine, you know what i mean like we don't everything doesn't have to be all tight and crispy and uncomfortable um, because so so with me having this this healthy hair journey for myself, i've learned that you know certain styles. If they're too tight, it makes you itch at least, and you get bumps you actually break out like you'll, get bumps yeah, i get drums yep and so look i just want to. I just want to be pleased with how my hair looks. I don't got to be the tightest curly, i don't think i'd be all whatever so um i got. I got a style with my locks where they, you know they braid them or whatever and um it made me itchy and i i i left it in, for you know maybe uh a week or so i can't remember, but eventually i was like look. I can't do this, i don't care if i paid that money, it's not worth itching every day, constantly trying to get in there and yeah. You know my my mindset is i'd, be willing to try it again, but i would need that person to do it looser like we, whatever we need to change it, because i'm not going to deal with that. So it's kind of like taking a stand and saying that your your health, the health of your hair and scalp is more important than the look. Yes and i i i love that you said that because i feel like we're kind of getting there. You know slowly but surely we're getting to that mindset of i. I want to look good, but at the same time i don't want to sacrifice the health of my hair and whatever else, because of this style that i have and not realizing the long-term effects of it, because by the time you go see a dermatologist they'll say: Wow, like you, actually waited too long to see me if you had come in, maybe like a little bit sooner, we could have done something or we could have caught this before. It actually progressed to something worse, yeah and - and that's the thing this - it's the lack of education and understanding. We don't know the type of damage we're doing. It looks good today, but 10 years from now, you're not going to have any hair or you're going to be dealing with some type of scalpel, and it's not worth it to have a style today, um one of the things and this this may be controversial. I don't know, but one of the things we'll see is that hair is not just. For you know, aesthetics there are, there is a purpose for the hair. You know it has a job and i think that we are completely oblivious to the fact that your hair means something bigger than just you know. Oh girl, that looks good. You know what i mean like like it. It has a purpose and a job, and so i think that we should focus more on that or, if nothing else, creating the balance between the aesthetics and the actual purpose, like i think you know, growing your natural hair and and having your hair be as healthy As possible should be the priority, i understand some people want to wear like the low cuts and stuff like that and that's everyone's prerogative. But if, if you know i i feel like this from a guy's point of view. You know if i'm, if i'm talking to a woman or whatever or interacting with a woman, and i never see her real hair, i'm gon na be like what is going on like, like i never they'd, be like oh i'm keeping it protected. But from what and when are you ever going to like, let us see it like when are we actually going to see your hair? It'S like it's cold. So let me right. Let me let me speak on that because for women i think, there's a lot of there's a lot of different reasons. Why we do what we do right for some of us, it's it is because it's more convenient, i don't want to mess with my hair. I have a very busy lifestyle. I'Ve got kids family work whatever this is, and i have to look a certain way all the time. There'S that, then, you also have the health side of things where you may have someone who has really bad rheumatoid, rheumatoid arthritis right in their hands. They have a lot of hair, but they can't do their hair, and so the easiest thing for them would be to wear a wig right or on the other end of the spectrum. You have someone who um, who is struggling and suffering with a form of alopecia, and it's so debilitating emotionally right that this is what i have to wear on a regular basis. So they would love to wear their. They would love to have their natural hair out. But because of how severe their hair loss might be, this is the only option for them right for for the moment right which those all make sense, but i guess they don't often explain that, because i've i've almost never heard that type of response. It'S always. You know just oh just protective style. Oh i just like it like this. Some women be like. Oh yeah. You know it's easier to manage like i don't that's, probably the most prevalent one like oh, you know it's just easier to manage, but does but does the um upkeep like like with you maintaining that type of style or whatever the tension? That'S on the hair. You know all the things that we've talked about. Does that then turn into some of these diseases? Alopecia or you know some of the scalp diseases right. So there's there's at least six different types of alopecias right. So alopecia is just like the generic form or generic word for hair loss, but there's different types: um there are some that are like say, for instance, um. We talked about traction alopecia, which is brought on by like tension and pulling and tight styles right. That'S kind of preventative, but then, if you go on the other end of the spectrum, you talk about alopecia, that's more health induced, so that's like from lupus or that's from um thyroid or from cancer, or you know any other type of health-related. Um hair loss that, if they, if say, for instance, a person, a woman who has lupus - and you know that lupus runs pretty prevalent in um, with black men and women and also hispanic communities as well. In asians, we have the highest rates: black people at the highest higher rate of lupus, but depending on the type of lupus that you have, it causes a certain type of scarring alopecia, where your skin gets scarred where the hair just stops growing, where nothing grows. Out of it, you need more right, so uh, most of the time women who have that type of hair loss will be wearing a medical wig of some sort or some type of style that if they still have um, if they still have quite a bit of Hair to where they can camouflage a style that won't irritate their scalp and most of the time in those situations, they're working with a dermatologist because they more than likely have to get cortisone injections and things in the scalp and different different things to treat the inflammation. With their lupus that's affecting their scalp, then they'll be told like hey you. This is what you need to do, so that your scalp won't be inflamed with this type of alopecia that you're experiencing gotcha, so it it sounds like what we really need to do, especially as men is, have um conversations versus like judging or jumping and sleeping. No. Yes, you know yeah and yeah. You know i. I think that it's such a sensitive topic, though you know very, very familiar to be very close or have a guard up about wanting to talk about it. So it's like. We really need to shift the narrative on the topic of hair because it's such an issue - and you know when it comes to the health side of things. Obviously that's more more. You know where, where um, what i do kind of comes into play, we've seen so my mom she had. I don't. I don't know if you were aware of this, but at some point she had like a patch a bald patch. Did you hear about that? She well first her hair. It start like turned like white like white, not gray, not salt white. Almost like a birth patch white. You see people with birth patches that are white yeah. Almost almost like a birth patch white, i mean there was a little black hair. Still, but it was, it was turning white and wow. Then she had one area was, it was a patch, it was just gone, and that was around the time when, when steve well john and i went to we went to cincinnati and we were talking to the family about fasting - whatever i remember yeah yeah, so i Told my mom i'm like look, i said this is not natural, you know you not you're, not that old, to be having your hair falling out and for it to be turning white like this. I was like this is this: is your health, and so you know we threw a lot of her stuff out of her cabinet long story short. You know over this period of three months or whatever uh we were able to rectify that issue and her hair started growing back and it started turning back black, oh wow yeah. So you might, you might want to talk to her about it. You know yeah, but she you know she she she did something that is is commonly, and you correct me if i'm wrong, it's commonly thought to be impossible right, um, when you have those patches and bald patches and stuff, i mean: do people tend to grow, that Back and do you see people go from gray to white or um that not so much but the patch yes, and so that um was it slick? Was the patch slick i don't know, i didn't inspect it. Oh okay! Well, i'm just i'm just saying, because if it were more than likely, it was um, a type of hair loss called alopecia areata, and it's it they. No, it's normally like a like a coin size. They they come in different sizes, but for some people it more than likely it is um. An autoimmune thing is triggered by autoimmune or stress triggers it. Then i've seen it quite a bit with clients. Um they'll they'll have a section back here. They and it might just be like a tiny like a pinhead and i'll, see it and i'll say well, um not to alarm you or anything like this, but i do notice like the spot back here. You didn't have an injury of any of any sort. Anything! No, i didn't have an injury, okay. Well, you know because i can't diagnose, but i can say it appears to be. You know go go to your dermatologist just to verify, but most of the time, if whatever deficiency in the body or whatever type of issue, that's causing it or that's trying to start is, you know, taken care of then most of the time it comes back. But for some people it could be like a regular thing that happens every so often in a certain season of their life right. So i mean well that i mean that just kind of gives a little hope right, like yeah you're dealing with some type of spot or whatever it doesn't yeah all is lost. No and that's why i say like when you the earlier you check on something most of the time, it's the better, because you have you have time on your side, but when you let things go for too long. We just don't know like how long things have been um and that that really makes a difference. And that's why i feel like for me as a stylist that i'm more than just a stylist, because for a lot of people i might be the only person that they talk to. I might be the only like semi professional that will inspect or ask certain questions and might find like hey. I'Ve actually had dermatologists contact me and say you know this is this? Is the summer time um? We know that a lot of women are getting their hair done, and these are some things that we just kind of want you to look out for as far as different type of skin cancers, because skin cancers help happen on the scalp. But most the time people aren't checking on their scalps like we are because we can actually see so it's um, it's really important to have those conversations because we're kind of like the pulse of our community. Like hey, you know, i noticed that your hair is shedding more than normal um. Has this been going on or have you changed medication um uh? You know like, for instance, like high blood pressure, medicine and also um. If you happen to be diabetic, um those we all know like they cause well, especially with diabetes, is inflammation issues everywhere right, so it's it affects your your metabolic. It affects your system and how your hair is working and the cycles, and all that so definitely seeing the side effects of diabetes and also with hair. That makes a lot of sense. That'S very! I love that perspective. You know because even just for me obviously like i said, i'm new to like getting my hair done by a stylist, but that that that really takes the responsibility. But the impact that a stylist can hear have on your life to another level. Yeah yeah yeah and that's what i was saying, especially like within the black community, because i mean even with barbers, you know: barbers black barbers are kind of the same because it's like you know guys are different, but you know it's like you may not open up About certain things, but you feel comfortable in this in this surrounding because you're around people that you know and people that look like you or whatnot, and it's like hey, well we're having this conversation about this well, maybe i should get. Maybe i should get that checked out um or i know like for myself with clients at work. I'Ve actually referred them to different specialists that i know if it's like mental health export if it's um a dermatologist, if it's you know a holistic practitioner, whatever that's out of my realm, that's why i like to have a network of professionals that i work with, because It'S it's more than just one thing: it might be a multi-disciplinary thing that gets them where they need to be true, very very true. I agree, 100, and and on that on that subject, you you've you you've developed, um, an academy or you know, yeah what? What exactly are you offering, because i mean you've opened my eyes and i knew you would having this conversation. But what are what are some of the resources that you're offering to help people on their their hair journeys yeah? So what i've developed and it's kind of been a labor of love, but what i've developed is called in living, curls, hair care academy and basically, what it is. It'S um a platform for women of color that are experiencing hair loss, but also, at the same time, trying to figure out and manage their their hair at the same time, because that's both very overwhelming i'm experiencing, like this emotional trauma of losing my hair or my Hair thinning or just not behaving the same way, and then i got to go out here and go to work and go to school and be badgered by people and like oh, you switched your hair up or your hair is different. I mean that that's enough on a on a good day um, so i developed this program because there's still so much misinformation out there and women are are just looking everywhere and not really finding the resources that they need and my goal is to create a community Like a really like, you know, sisterhood caring community, where people where women can get support, they can get answers um. They can have accountability partners, because i think that always makes things nice. When you have someone, that's kind of like can cheer you on in the process, but the thing is: is that um, like i was kind of alluded to this earlier? We spend so much time going through like social media feeds and all of this and that's tiring. That'S almost like a full-time job. Looking for answers right, you know, and i mean, but at the same time it's actually it's saved a lot of people because they found answers that they need. They need it at that at that particular time. But my point is: is that if i can make that easier for you right, if i can be a one-stop shop and bring those resources factual, not just any information but factual information and um experts under one umbrella, to help you reach your goal and that's that's What i'm here for so um i have lined up dermatologists. I have holistic holistic practitioners um. There is, you know: mental health experts, i'm working with there's clinical nutritionists that um interviewing will be interviewing tomorrow so because everything goes hand in hand and everyone's goal might be different. They may not be ready to work on the hair side of things, but the nutrition part hey. You know, like i kind of want to tweak my diet, but if i tweak my diet wow my hair changed or you know, there's this medication that i'm on and i didn't realize that the side effect was. Was this right um, you know: how can i either get get myself off that medication, or how can i lower the dosage if i absolutely have to be on that medication um it's it's kind of where i'm at with it nice yeah yeah. So i i've developed that, but for um for right now, i'm doing like a seven day love your hair challenge. Hence the shirt love your hair, love yourself, so this is going to be like on the facebook group and each day i have like a different daily challenge task that you will kind of see nothing hard, nothing. You know anything that you really have to stress about, because it's just seven days, but it just kind of gets you um thinking about certain stuff um and this kind of thing, like you know, how can i do things a little bit differently, and this is so. This is a fledgling group, so we're starting we're kind of we're starting and growing. So you get to be a part of something that is going to impact a lot of people and how you can share what you learn with other women and your friends and family group too. And one of the benefits that i can attest to because a healthy alternative used to be a little embryo you get to talk to you know some of the people who are are founders or creators of these things on a more intimate basis, because it's just group Size, so you get a little bit uh more intimate and then, as as the group grows, you kind of become. You know one of those individuals who who has some of the information you could pass that information on from the experience you've had it's a really really beautiful process growing those groups, small groups are made yeah. I i'm really excited like i, i mean i love what you've done with the healthy alternative, just like over the years. I just remember the initial conversation that we had and just the questions and just um. You know like if i did this, you know what what would this be like, and it's just it's great what you've done in these last few years and the impact that you've had on people. That'S it's. You know that's phenomenal and i one thing i appreciate about our family is that we come from a family of people that care about one another um and wants to give back and help. You know in different ways that we can and we all have different gifts. I think that we're using to help you know to help in that way we kind of found our own voice and on lane um to help that, but as a collective, like our grandmother like i love us like she has a um a plaque or like a Thing at her house and it's like it's a tree and it's like a family. It'S like we may it's a branch. We all go in different directions, but our roots are all the same. I'M like i love that because we're the same family tree, but our roots are still the same um so that that's the cool thing about that, but yeah, but anyway this this is i'm not wanting it to be huge, um wanting it to be very intimate because, Especially with hair loss um and for some people are just very shy by nature and not really wanting to share their experience, and you know, go on there and post pictures or you know, do this or this or that um, i'm wanting it to be where everyone Feels comfortable to where they can share, if they want to you don't have to, but if you want to, you can and you have and you have access like you said you have access to me, um and other people that will kind of be guests, uh experts Or guests panelists, or what have you right and that's, and you know i would encourage people to step outside their comfort zone. I'M i'm confident that melanie is going to create a space. That'S you know comfortable and safe for everybody, but stepping outside of your comfort zone. So, if you're shy about sharing that sort of thing, because a lot of the benefits going to come from sharing your story - and you don't know how what you have experienced or what you will experience - will help someone else. So yeah you're starting the process of getting your mind in a place where you feel comfortable sharing, and i think a lot of growth will happen like i get so much benefit from the people in a healthy alternative group. Sharing their story either with me personally or with the group as a whole, like we actually um so steve steve, just sent me a picture of his feet right, weird, like what okay did he do like the um, the uh, the the foot detox thing, because i've Done one of those he uh? No, he just went to the like one of the the the um. He had a pedicure all right, pedicure right, oh okay, yeah! I need a good one, so he tells me this picture of his feet and his feet. Look so healthy, so amazing, but what i don't know is steve used to have this. This terrible foot fungus like athlete's clothes, fungus, uh one. I don't think it was athlete's feet. It was like it was like a. It was just like this nail fungus he's. Had it since he was a child, you probably would have never seen it. He was very uncomfortable showing people his feet. So he would, you know traditionally wear socks. He will wear. You know we, you know around us, we would see it, but no one else really saw it. He was very uncomfortable wearing flip-flops. You know what i mean that sort of thing, and you know today to see it come full circle. Uh that his i mean his his feet, look amazing right. They look completely healthy, wow, there's another guy on our group who has the same issue now. Had he not been bold enough to show and share the fact that he had the same issue today when steve showed me his feet, i wouldn't have thought hey. I should definitely tell that guy that he needs to come and join our coaching program, because we can help him with that exact problem right. It was, it was because he was so bold to put himself out there and and share with the group. You know one of the things that probably he's really insecure about and now i was able to see it and now i can say okay, i need to make sure to reach out to that guy. So we can help him mm-hmm. You know, i think, that's the thing that's like people have to see because we're visual creatures right and we get inspired, seeing other people's stories and like we're not the only person in the room that it's no man's an island you know we're all experiencing. It might be a little different um, but we're all experiencing similar situations because we're all part of the human family so we're all we're gon na have we're gon na have a lot of the same things going on in our lives right yeah that that's good yeah. I mean that's just that's really good, but it you just got ta be open, you got to be open and do your best not to be afraid - and you know, um put the energy out there that you that you're looking for a solution and then be willing To accept it when it comes because sometimes it doesn't come in the form that we expected right, i wanted to ask you: were there any other? You know topics or anything that you wanted to kind of touch on before we wrap up um. Let'S see any other type of topics i wanted to touch on before we wrap up. I think that was it oh um for those who join the seven day, love your hair challenge. You also will be eligible for my free download, like hair loss guide, and you can go to my website. It'S in livingcurls.com and there's on the main page you'll see the um tab where you can download that for the information um, but as far as the facebook challenge the challenge it is on. The website like i'll, give chris um the information. So you can go to my facebook page and then the group, because right now i have it marked private, since i was still working on it right i'll give you that info and um, oh and as far as the um, the actual in living curls academy. How? I had that worked out is mainly it's um, i only open so often so i can have not like a boatload of people, but i like to keep it tight um. So i would like to reopen the next one will be like in january, so that will give people a chance to kind of hear about it. Think about it and then be really excited for 21 um and have all these different goals, but in the. But in the meantime, you can still be a part of like the free facebook group, um and kind of take advantage of the conversations and just kind of things that are there um, and i also have one-on-one um coaching, where it's more like a 90-day like a 90 day thing 90 day, hair challenge, so you get to. Basically let me know what your goals are for the next 90 days with your hair, then we can kind of work on that come up with a custom plan. Basically, just for you, you have access to me, um, either virtually or in person, depending on where you're located. So, essentially, it's cheaper than going to the salon and like for one visit, it's what you'll you know, it'll it break it break kind of breaks down to being cheaper anyway, so yeah. So that's that's pretty! That'S pretty much um! That'S pretty much! It is that, but i'm in kentucky, so i'm in lexington, so um yeah, so anybody in the lexington lexington kentucky area yeah, if you're all in the tri-state area, so i've actually the furthest. I'Ve had someone visit me. It'S probably been tri-state. Yes, she was like columbus. Pretty much close to columbus, yeah yeah yeah, so people travel, you know. Yes, you find someone that you click with and - and you know like sure, yeah tickets are cheap right now, where i can drive, i've got family in this area. Yeah i'll stay with them or get a hotel or whatever camping out my car got a camper. Whatever yeah i know one of our members, uh cheryl. She actually travels to atlanta uh. Well, she she she's there's this lady. This girl, who does her locks and oh her locks, are gotten long. Yeah they're they're really they're yeah yeah, but she did a little video and i guess she used to go to new york to get her hair because i i think she only gets it retwisted like once or twice a year, but she flies to new york. And now she flies to atlanta so and and look if i'm be honest, the hair, stylist uh that i deal with the mass majority of them are so bad. I would i would travel too and that's the that's where we're at right now, it's like. That is why i said what i said earlier: we have to take our industry back because we've gotten such a bad rep with how we deal with people - oh, my goodness, yeah we got to do better, that's serious, but um yeah, so uh. I appreciate coming on. I really appreciate it. Yes, thanks for having me nation, uh, we'll we are gon na, have all the links and all your information in the description box. So for those who are interested in taking the challenge and the academy and the facebook group, um that'll all be in the description box. Uh, i've learned a lot you've given me some perspective, which i love, and i love that you are pretty much doing what i'm doing um for for, like the general health and wellness you're doing it specifically for like hair with the mental and the the you know, The um yeah dermatology, like that collaborative effort like that's dope, it's all connected yeah, it's it's i'm telling you chris is all connected and the blood is the light is the is the lifeline and especially when it comes to hair and it's i think it's so amazing Because um, which is like every 90 days, there's like our blood supply, is different. Our cells are different, everything's been rejuvenated, and when it comes to the hair, you actually have forensic scientists that study it say like on a trial or autopsies, and things like that and they'll look at a strand of hair and because the hair goes through a process