Natural Hair Curl Overload Central New Jersey Recap

As September comes to an end I have to recap all my readers on the Natural Hair Curl Overload Central New Jersey experienced these past few weeks. Most are familiar with the very popular Curl Fest that happens every year in Prospect Park located in New York City, for those who are not Curl Fest is an all day festival bringing together the natural hair community. The day is packed with venders showcasing the best brands for our tresses, music Q&A’s and just a day to celebrate bring comfortable in your own skin! As much as I love Curl Fest and New York it was refreshing to discover similar events right here in my home state of New Jersey. I discovered the events while scrolling on Facebook and immediately got excited.

The Recap

                        Event 1: NJ Curl Friends Pop up Picnic

NJ Curl Friends a social group out of Elizabeth, NJ, hosted this event. NJ Curl Friends was established by Lynette Batiz, salon owner of International Hair Design (Elizabeth, NJ).  At the Pop Up Picnic, Lynette shared with me during her career in the beauty industry (15 years +) she experienced the different trends of beauty and when more woman showed interest to walk away from the perms and other damaging styling it was important to help her clients through the transitioning period. The transitioning period is when African American women who normal chemically straighten their hair allow the hair to grow out without use of chemicals and without cutting off the processed ends. A lot of women find this period difficult, not being used to seeing the beauty in the way there hair naturally grows or just not knowing how to properly care for their hair after leaving the salon. With the passion to support these women Lyneette created Good Hair Academy with the DIY client in mind.

“GoodHair Academy™ connects the experience and knowledge of licensed beauty professionals with the creative, You-tube subscribed, wellness forum informed, product savvy, and beautiful clients of today (https://www.facebook.com/njcurlfriends/).

The NJ Curl Friends & Family Pop up Picnic was just another way of bring the community together. Not only was the burgers grilling but the day included hair care tips and education led by Ahava Felicidad AKA The Holistic Hair Healer owner of Felicidad Hair and Body (Montclair NJ) music, games, raffles, and a full product give away from Curls Organic Hair Products! Look out for LivinLifeProductions one on one interview with Ahava Felciadad chatting about her Felicidad Hair Sugar and more!

Event 2: Curlpalooza 

Curlpalooza was the 2^nd event LivinLifeProductions attended. This event not only had some great vendors and food trucks but some awesome entertainment as well. The first 50 ladies received a swag bag full goodies packed with some of the products from the vendors of the day. The day included live performances from Inspira Dance Company (New Brunswick, NJ), live hair demos, and Q & A Sessions on building business social media presence and natural hair styling tips. Global Celebrity Hair stylist Tameeka McNeil-Johnson Aka The Curl Whisperer was also a featured guest at Curlpalooza.  Attendee's were able to watch live hair demos done by Tameeka, ask any questions, and learn more about Curl Crush, Tameeka exclusive hair product line. Despite the rainy weather the day was a success! Look out for Exclusive interviews and more about CurlPalooza in the next released issue of In The Spotlight Magazine

@jadedtresses

@howdelishhd

@mycurlytemple

@StanhopeAfrica

       

Event 3: New Jersey Natural Hair and Beauty Expo

The 2^nd Annual NJ Natural Hair and Beauty Expo (Woodbridge, NJ) wrapped up the curl experience in Central New Jersey. As promised the place was packed with Vendors and the room was filled with excited consumers.The day covered everything from the worlds of fashion, beauty, hair, and health and its safe to say mostly owned by African American women! The African American commuity are the top consumers in retail and it was extra special to support those who look like me! Look out for Full Interview with Kei Reeves Event Planner and Creator of The Expo in the next released issue of In The Spotlight Magazine Check out some shots I captured of a few of the vendors below!

@lilcreations_lili814

@dovelovehanddesigns

@melsbutterblends

S.H.I.P The Collection: An Innovative Brand

Photo Credit: @shipthecollection

The fashion industry can be such a saturated market but you can come across Brands with individualistic swag.  One Premiere Brand well on its way is SHIP The Collection Clothing. The name in its self is intriguing as SHIP is an acronym for |S|top| the |H|ate & |I|gnorant |P|eople. Designer and CEO Shaquille MaccDeez  Bynes often explains his vision for the line by bring attention to the fact that in today’s world most youth and young adults pay more attention to Hip Hop, Sports, Ignorance and Fashion then anything else. Generation Y (born between 1984-1996) and Z (Born after 1996) are flooded by these messages across all social media feeds. “The Vision of (Ship The Collection) is to push positivity through smooth garments, why not push something positive through something everyone wants to be, and everyone wants to be fly and fashionable,” Shared Shaquille. He himself looks up to past leaders such as Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr and President John F Kennedy and he feels that type of leadership is missing in the 2000’s. Ship The Collection wants to take the lessons and experiences learned from the past and bring them to modern day to keep moving the world forward socially. “Anyone can rock (SHIP) positivity has no color,” said Shaquille

Ship The Collection has evolved tremendously since establishment in 2014. The idea for the line actually came from a good friend of Shaquille’s name G.P. G.P noticed a social group from a neighboring high school making T-Shirts and selling them to lots of Piscataway High School students. This did not sit right with Shaquille's best friend and G.P wanted something to represent himself and his crew that was created by Piscataway Naïve’s.  SHIP clothing was born and the response was so massive the rookie clothing designers could not cover all the orders and had to return all the money they had collected.  Later that year G.P passed away unexpectedly and the T-Shirt idea came to a stand still. His death really effected Shaquille and the Community; It was not until 7 years later that the idea of SHIP came up again. In casual conversation  G.P’s younger brother Stevie came to Shaquille and mentioned bringing SHIP back. After more discussion, encouragement from Stevie, motivation to share positive messages with his peers and wanting to honor the life of G.P birthed the official launch of Ship The Collections as a registered business.

Photo Credit: @shipthecollection

 Currently SHIP has grown to include Smoove Garments a supplementary line to SHIP The Collection. The Smoove Garments line includes one of one designs exclusively sold with Ship The Collection. Recently Smoove Garments released introduced The Freaknik Collection in hopes to capture good times of the historical event.     “(Freaknik) was a time a bunch of young black folks came together, and had the time of their lives for a decade, I think that is impactful,” stated Shaquille. 

- Be sure to Follow @shipthecollection on IG and visit the webpage  www.shipthecollection.com

Shaquille MaccDeez Bynes

New Jersey Natural Hair and Beauty Expo 2018

*Attention system glitched for this post prior to posting! :( Updated coverage of the event soon to come! Hope you Dreamers did not miss it!                           


                               NJ Natural Hair and Beauty Expo 2018

We are 3 days away from the 2^nd Annual NJ Natural Hair and Beauty Expo being held at the Renaissance Woodbridge Hotel(515 US Highway 1 South in Woodbridge, New Jersey). Come out and Shop with 40+ Vendors, experience live hair demos, and get to speak one on one with natural hair professionals and connoisseurs!  This event was created by Keisha “Kei’ Reeves with the natural hair community in mind. Since about 2007 the transition into “going natural” has been an experience for most. More and more woman have walked away from the creamy crack and embraced their natural tresses but not without the trials and tribulations. Keisha “Kei Reeves seen the importance of education and support amongst those choosing or thinking about the Natural Hair Journey.

The NJNHBE is committed to providing New Jersey and the surrounding tri-state area with an event that allows them to learn more about their natural hair and beauty, promotes self-love and mental wellness! (Credit: https://www.facebook.com/events/1783101475057443/)

This Years event will be hosted by Spencer St Fleur @CurlyEmpress.

The event will also feature appearances and Q&A sessions with

Jenelle B Stewart -http://JenelleBStewart.com/

Mildred Bean aka “ Natural Sliver Sista”

Ariane Williams- Women in Business Panel

Tressenoire

Be sure to purchase the Next issue of @inthespotlightmagazine to read about everything this years Expo had to offer!!!!

Artist Kay Melodies: Rated Next

Photo Credit: @Kay_Melodies

Photo Credit: @Kay_Melodies

 








       






     



     
      Artist Kay Melodies is rated next by LivinLifeProductions. We were able to catch up with the talented vocalist after the Smooth Sounds R&B concert last month. Long Island native, Kay Melodies musical roots started in the church. Singing since the age of two, many have complimented Kay Melodies on her enchanting voice. Kay truly took music seriously around her sophomore year in High School after a local talent show. She preformed “And I am Telling You I’m Not Going” originally performed by Jennifer Holiday and tore the house down. Family and friends encouraged her to get in the studio and start recording. Soon she connected with a young man by the name of Row who had a recording studio and created an official Sound Cloud. After various recording sessions and performances Kay began writing her first studio Album “INTRO” which was released November 19, 2017. The Album is a perfect mix of R&B and Neo-Soul.      “I grew up on 90’s hip hop and R&B but as I got older I fell in love with Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu. I definitely love Neo-Soul and I think unconsciously I am inspired by (Neo-Soul Music),” shared Kay. The Album gives party, love, and an unapologetic INTROduction to the Artist known as Kay Melodies. Some of her favorite tracks include Bio, You Got Me Like, and Come Over (inspired by Come over- Aaliyah)

     Before the release of “INTRO” Kay had put out two singles and actually only planned on releasing a few more tracks. That plan was not meant to be because once the singles dropped producers started connecting with her through Instagram and started sending beats. With all the attention and positive feedback Kay Melodies went into over drive in the studio and birthed an album.     “I just started writing and it just became more and more natural,” shared Kay. 

How to find more on Kay Melodies:

All music can be found on streaming platforms (Apple Music, Tidal, and Spotify)
Album: Intro
Apple Music ← Click Me!
Tidal ← Click Me!
Spotify ← Click Me!

Follow her on Instagram: Kay_Melodies 

Sound Cloud ← Click Me!

Make sure you pick up the Next issue realase of In The Spotlight Magazine the  to learn more about this awesome Artist!