My Crowning Glory

On April 1, 2017April 7, 2017 By dancingpalmtreesIn Afro Sheen, Afros, Amla, Amla and Olive Heavy Creme, Castor Oil, Coconut Oil, Crowning Glory, Denman Hair Brush, Essential Oils, Jojoba Oil, Lavender Oil, Mineral Rich by Maximum Living, Shikaka, Tea Tree Oil, Uncategorized, Vitamin E-Oil5 Comments

Mineral Rich

These are some of the products I used for my Crowning Glory, my Mane, to remain forever Afro-Delicious!! Most of the Essential Oils I use on my hair can also be used on skin. African hair tends to be dry and if you live in a cold climate like New York the cold, wind, ice, sleet and snow can cause your hair to break. Going from the extremes of ones heated home out into the freezing weather can damage ones tresses. Wool hats are a no-no for Black hair as they wear away the edges and can pull our hair out. If you must wear a wool hat or any winter hat use a scarf or plastic conditioning cap to protect your hairline. Also moisturize your hair at night by applying the oils, putting on a plastic conditioning cap which can be purchased in beauty supply stores or drug store, a silk wrap sleep cap or a scarf. When you wake up in the morning either wash or rinse out the excess oils.

Menopause can affect your hair adversely. It’s great that you no longer have a period but that hormone Estrogen is one of the things that keeps the hair strong, glossy and growing. When I was young meaning prior to Menopause I had thick dense hair now my hair is still somewhat thick but not as dense. That’s why I must pay extra attention to my hair now that I’m older.

Like men many of my women friends have complained of breakage and thinning hair. You can combat this through keeping the hair moisturized and avoiding chemical perms, too tight braids, weaves and any styles that puts tension on the hair. I choose to wear my hair natural and only wear braids if I’m going to a function or for a special occasion. Most times it’s just easier for me to go to my barber and get my hair trimmed to get rid of the split ends which will also damage your hair.

Sometimes I do blow dry my hair because as it grows it tends to get tangled. I use blow dryer and a Denman hair brush or a wide tooth comb as I have a tight curl pattern of many small tight spirals. The hair in the front and top of my head is not the same texture as the hair on the back of my head. The hair on the top and front is a looser curl pattern.

I watch a lot of Black Hair Care videos on YouTube. Black Women have a variety of hair types and textures. Black people are probably the most varied people on earth. We are a grand mosaic.

I also enjoy watching the hair care videos from Ladies in India not that I’m every gonna have their type hair but Indian Women use natural products that keep their hair healthy and strong. Despite the race and hair texture there is always something to learn.

Here are some of my healthy hair products.

Share Your World – February 27, 2017

On February 27, 2017February 27, 2017 By dancingpalmtreesIn 58th Birthday Celebration, Afros, DeBorah, DeBorah Ann Palmer, Mable Elizabeth Palmer, Mable Palmer, Manic Panic, Red, Ruby Red, Share Your World – February 27, 2017, Stephen, Stephen Vincent Palmer, SYW, Uncategorized, Vampire Red18 Comments

Share Your World – February 27, 2017

February 27, 2017 Cee Neuner

Ever ran out of gas in your vehicle?

No. Never. When I was able to drive I always made sure that I had a full tank of gas.

Which are better: black or green olives?

Neither one. Olives are too salty and I cannot eat them. High Blood Pressure. Pass the grapes or blueberries instead.

If you were a great explorer, what would you explore?

Africa. For me it would be like going home since that is where my ancestors are from. Not so much explore as it would be a Pilgrimage. Return to the Motherland. Fortunately I’ve made many friends from Africa via Blogging so I will go to Africa some day.

Quotes List: At least three of your favorite quotes?

Habakkuk 2:2

King James Version (KJV)

²And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that reads it.

Proverbs 4:7

King James Version (KJV)

⁷Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

And anything my parents used to say. Here are three from my Dad Edward G. Palmer:

I complained because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet.

It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.

Get something in your head not just on your head.

And from my Mom Mable Palmer:

If you mess up. You clean up.

God don’t like Ugly.

What goes around comes around.

Optional Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Grateful that today is my Birthday and God has allowed me to see another year of life. Happy to be 58!! Looking forward to my upcoming vacation starting Friday. Planning to spend time with my brother Stephen and relax.

HaGgard into the Mist

On October 13, 2014 By dancingpalmtreesIn Banshee, Crone, Hag2 Comments

HaGgard into the Mist

Unkempt and Disheveled I emerge from my Hot shower looking like an African version of the Irish Banshee. If I stopped coloring my wild woolly riotous mane it’s changing vivid Red hues it would regress to its natural white state and along with accompanying screams from my arthritic joints I could become the daytime version of the Wailing Woman spirit. With every crack, creak, pop and snap of pain points in back, knees and ankles I shamble my way towards Cronehood. Aging rapidly before my time hobbling into the oncoming week which slams into me like a tractor trailer truck on a dark misty slick road. I’d do well as one of many Female apparitions in Shakespeare’s plays. Whose dreams shall I haunt tonight?

Call of the Side-Show: War Paint & Greasepaint

On August 28, 2014August 28, 2014 By dancingpalmtreesIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Call of the Side-Show: War Paint & Greasepaint

Alexander O’Neal

http://youtu.be/Bf-bY0nOTvE

Even as a young woman I was never one for too much make-up but I was curious. When I was a teenager my mother forbid me from wearing make-up because it would make me too “grown” or scandalous! Not something a good Baptist girl should be. Being a 13 year old my plan to get around this was to take the eye-shadow to school and put it on in the girls’ bathroom, then reverse the process taking it off before going home. Well one day I forgot. Went home with electric fluorescent blue eye shadow which only made me look like a candidate for Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus. Well when I got in the house my mother met me before I could remove my Clown make-up. To say she was upset was an understatement. I believe after yelling at me she went through my bedroom and tossed out any contraband make-up hiding in my dresser or closet.

I didn’t really experiment too much with make-up for a while. As a young Enlisted woman on my way to the NCO club with my girlfriends I was always the first one ready because I only used some lipstick and that was about it. Even now I stick with a little lip gloss, lipstick and only use eye-shadow if I’m going out to a party or special event. I see no reason to make Revlon, Bobby Brown or Estee Lauder richer than they already are.

I never tweezed or plucked my eyebrows until my 50s when the onset of menopause means facial hair in places that made me embarrassed thinking I was turning into a guy. Unless you’re in the sideshow mustaches and chin hairs are not a good thing especially if you hope to be attractive to the opposite sex. One of the hot trends now is the fake eyelashes. Not the ones you buy in the store but the ones that need to be individually applied in the salon. Since that involves glue I won’t be doing that ever. I’m lucky in that my own natural eyelashes have a good length and thickness. From time to time I will invest in Mascara to make them appear even longer and thicker. Vanity beckons from the beauty counters.

Many women are into beauty enhancements, some for fashion, and others to fight the aging process. Extensions, hair-weaves, Botox, Restalyne, fake nails, boob and butt jobs, etc… I admit that for special occasions I’ve had fancy African braided styles but then I go back to my Afro. When I was in my late 30s into my 40s I sported my Locs and am thinking of Loc’ing my hair again. I get my pedicures on a regular basis but usually just cut my own fingernails. It’s tacky to have raggedy feet and toes while wearing sandals in the summertime.

As I’ve gotten older most of the men I’ve dated and including my current BF prefer women to be natural. One guy I know calls make-up “War Paint”. Also many men love the natural kink, curl and knaps of Natural hair. Guys really don’t want to run their fingers through your hair in intimate moments and get snagged in hair weave tracks.

Happy to say that my Mr. Geechie Man is very happy with the natural me. No complaints. I’m happy too.

In Praise of Darker Hues

On April 27, 2014January 25, 2015 By dancingpalmtreesIn Acceptance, African American Queen, African Goddess, Brillo, Colorstruck, Colour of Beauty, Damaged Goods, Dark Skin, DeBorah, deception, Deliverance, Ethiopian Goddess, Female Divinity, Feminine Divine, Goddess, Hair, Hair Texture, Kinky/Nappy Hair, Lupita Nyong'o, Natural hair, Negritude, Rejection, Spirituality, Tar Baby, Weaves5 Comments

I’m very glad that Lupita Nyong’o was voted World’s Most Beautiful Woman! So proud to see a Dark Skinned Sister Honored in this Fashion.

I read her Oscar Acceptance speech reprinted in Essence Magazine. It certainly resonated with me. Even though I’m 25 years older than her and was raised in New York City I can still hear the taunts of “Tar Baby”, monkey, Black African (Black was not Beautiful in the 1960s) from my school-mates on the playground. Watu Wasuri Use Afro Sheen came much later in late 1970s. Still light skin was in. There was a saying I heard many times growing up, “If you’re light, you’re alright. If you’re brown still around. If you’re black get back.” From straightening combs to weaves the Self-hatred becomes internalized.

Weaves looking like Davy Crockett hats perched atop uneasy heads marching LocKstep with conformity. Multi-hued raccoons skipping across Jungle Fever Brows missing nesting material in which to snuggle Eurocentric brainwashing.

Even when I went into the U.S. Army my always thick, kinky and Knappy was called a Brillo pad. I was always made to feel so ugly usually by my own Black people. I expected whites to call me the “N” Word after all this was the 1960s and my parents who knew Jim Crow by heart prepared me for rejection as a Black girl in a white dominated society. In a way I was very surprised to hear that in a Black dominated/ruled society/country such as Kenya young Lupita experienced similar taunts, jibes and insults.

Many times I would come home from school crying. I hated my skin color and my hair texture. My father tried to soothe my broken spirit and build my self confidence by telling me, “The Blacker the Berry the sweeter the juice. If the berry’s too light it has no use.” I did feel better for a while but it was not until I was well past age 40 that I began to really appreciate being dark-skinned with coarse thick hair. For one thing now that I’m well past 50 all this wonderful melanin truly means, “Black Don’t Crack”. As for my hair menopause has removed the thick & coarse texture but I’m proud to wear my hair natural since age 36. Over the years there were times when I battled a Eurocentric mindset but as I journey through middle-age and beyond I embrace and am one with my African heritage.

Yes Ladies, “Say it Loud! I’m Black and I’m Proud!”