Customer Reviews

Where Beauty Touches Me

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I enjoyed reading this book. I learned a lot about how to care for my hair and my daughter's hair. I was surprised to learn that many of the things that I was doing to our hair was unhealthy for our hair and prevented hair growth. After reading this book, I immediately threw out the shampoos that were wrong for our hair, stopped by a beauty supply store and purchased the right kinds of shampoos, contioners, and moisturizers.

The only reason I did not give this book five stars is because I believe that there was too much emphasis on braids. Braids aren't the only style of choice for wearers of natural hair. I would liked to have seen more photos of women wearing their natural hair NOT in braids.

The book offers lots of braided and 2-strand twist styles and how-to's for black women who want to wear the natural texture of their hair, especially those who are sick of chemically and heat-frying their hair. The styles vary from formal to every day wear, and many are suitable for the office. I'm already wearing one of the twist styles to work (I'm a full-time corporate internal auditor), and my 9-yr old daughter is wearing one of the cornrowed styles. The only thing that made me rate the book a 9 instead of 10 is that too many of the styles feature extensions--the book said they were needed to add length or fullness to the models' hair. Both my and my daughter's hair is really tightly curled, but our styles were done without extensions. My daugther's hair reaches the middle of her back, so it is as long and full as the model's extended hair in the picture we followed. Perhaps Ms. Ferrell couldn't find any black women who hadn't chemically- or heat-fried their hair off. There are a few of us out here who haven't! Although I must admit I'm saddened when I see my female relatives and friends continuously make the trek to the salon to chemically relax their hair; yet they always marvel at the length and thickness of my and my daughter's hair. About 2 years ago I quit relaxing my hair and went to texturizing (I never relax my daughters, just occasionally hot comb). Then in March of this year I learned from the "For Colored Girls..." books that texturizing is just as bad--so I stopped that. Although both our hairdo's were sometimes fuzzy and rough-looking, I held my ground (and believe me I've had to fend off bad-hair comments). I began perusing bookstores and surfing the net--hoping to find help on how to style natural hair in other than an afro. I live in Omaha which has a small black population, so I figured the chance of finding any viable solution was pretty grim. I finally found Ms. Ferrell's book one day on the net. And I am so grateful!! Thanks!! Just one more thing--if Ms. Ferrell wants models that don't need hair extensions, just get in touch with me. Bye!

I thought this would be a good companion to another book I purchased through amazon (No Lye by Tulani Kinard). But I was a little disappointed. It gave a history on hair, and why one should consider going natural. It also covered the negative feelings many blacks have towards their own features and hair due to racism and the after-effects of slavery. It rang true, but not every person who occasionally puts in green or gray eye contacts suffers from the racial self-hatred. It almost seemed like a salon photo book. It had a lot of extension how-to pictures, but just plain natural hair was what I thought would be showcased. It gave only one page of information about locks and their care. Overall this book would be good for someone who knows nothing at all about their african hair.

I was very impressed with the variety of hairstyles shown. The comments by the authors concerning black hair where very uplifting and expressed the beauty of black hair that has been overlooked and ignored in our society. I did think that the book could hav included more instruction as to how to create these lovely works of art, but all in all I found the book inspiring.

the only thing that i did not like about this book was the poor quality of the photographs. that is okay...i guess that kept the price of this book down. my mom use to wash my hair every weekend and oil my scalp with sulphur 8 OR bergamot. do you remember that? she did not let me get an relaxer until i was 15. I did not like it and let it grow out immediately and went back to pressing my hair until i turned 23. my cousins used relaxers in elementary school, way back in the early 70's when the choice of relaxers was probably 1 or 2 brands and the relaxers then were ultra harsh. they grew up with short, damaged hair that refused to grow past 3 inches and i did not. the worst thing that i did was overpress mine as a teen. i think pamela is going back to the days when our mom's use to gently comb our hair and oil our scalp while we sat between their legs. now...i go easy on the relaxers and the braids...i have been wearing a fake ponytail for 10 years or two braids squaw style and i wash my hair with creme of nature shampoo...i use a light oil
like ultra sheen, no heat and a regular alternative relaxer. brush hair with a soft brush. for color washout rinses only or i will use a light color hair piece...the results? MY HAir is down my back...let the fake hair take the abuse...want light colors? use extensions...that is what they are for to enhance and protect your fragile hair...the book is great...it does mention the light use of relaxers...relaxers are fine...moderation is the key...

This book featured my Great-Grandmother who died at the age of 105. She was very special to the family. This book really did touch me. I gave it to my mother as a gift for Mother's Day.