This year’s annual Naturalista Hair Show, which took place at the Silver Spring Civic Center on Sept. 27 in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland, was the event’s third opportunity to showcase a collection of diverse local talents, vendors and hair enthusiasts. Creator, stylist Angela Walker of N Natural Hair Studio, appointed none other than natural hair and beauty blogger NapturalNicole as moderator, while NkenLife.com’s dynamic duo lifestyle bloggers provided live feeds to social media.
During the festivities, there were plenty of options to choose from. Attendees were pampered at a one-stop spa and salon, listened to panel discussions on both the main stage as well as in the lecture hall, and even attended Natural Hair 101 classes. Classes specialized in hair tutorials that ranged from naturals with kinky-curly hair to locs for both men and women. There was even a unique hands-on instructional workshop with a live demonstration on creating and applying your own flaxseed gel by YouTube sensation Loccrush.
While out-of-town guests were featured, this event kept locals at the forefront. The majority of the vendors that shared roots in the DMV area were Shea Butter Like Whoa, Shamreed’s Body Oils, Gemdrops and Glamrocks and I am Kokomade. Baltimore native Kriss Mincey contributed her vocal talents with background guitarist Ish, after alerting the crowd to her fall tour launching on the East Coast.
If you were a VIP (yes, there’s levels to this!) the experience started after crossing the threshold of the entrance. Your event bag contained just a few more goodies than the standard ticket holder. One being a box that included a ticket for a free glass of wine from the open bar. After learning about holistic living with bohemian Keynote blogger Francheska Medina {HeyFranHey}, guests were greeted in the VIP lounge with hors d’oeuvres and a separate DJ from the main event to mix and mingle with the natural hair and beauty bloggers of the day while exit interviews were given (watch here). Here are just a few: Courtney of Curls and Couture, Curls_Unbothered, LocCrush, Your_Curlfriend, Candice of MyCandiShoppe.com, ItsDaynaDane, Rock_Yo_Rizos, MissBMonet and blogger manager Jonna Scott-Blakes of Naturally Glam graced the event. This gave the VIP guests open season to pick the brains of the featured bloggers, which provided this event a nice element that most hair events don’t offer.
The experience didn’t stop there. While leaving this naturalista paradise, attendees were gifted with a goodie box filled with full size products as well as samples from their established sponsors. The box of giveaways enclosed products from Shea Moisture, JBCO, Uncle Funky’s Daughter, Jessicurl, Taliah Waajid, EDEN Body Works and Miss Jessie’s. Now the bar has been set high, let’s see if the event’s fourth anniversary can raise it.
In hair we trust.
