You know what makes twitter amazing? The fact that you can listen to a conversation and not ever be called nosy or inquisitive. Twitter has given us a platform as consumers, bloggers, vloggers and business people to share our ideas, experiences and colorful opinions sometimes despite there validity.
I am not a consistent ‘tweeter’ myself but I do read twitter posts and blog posts quite often. Last week the beautiful Bella of Afrobella wrote a blog post that was titled ‘The 5 Hair Blogger Falsehoods Debunked‘ and of course it caught my attention especially since I am a blogger and in her introduction I thought she posed an interesting question.
Bella asked
How do you really know you are following a sensible regimen if it is not routed in hair science and acquired education?
The premise of the question was based on her interview with Camille E Reed details of which are on her blog. Camille Reed is the creator of Noire Design Concepts salon in Silver Spring MD and apparently on Twitter she has had alot to say about bloggers providing misinformation to women who seek knowledge about natural hair care.
I read through the post and honestly I felt that some of the comments were not quite sound in some cases and in others downright unfair. What Ms Reed has termed as falsehoods are actually things that in my own personal experience has lead to my own hair success. With that in mind I felt obliged to debunk the debunker, so here goes . . .
Bella wrote
Meet Camille E. Reed, the creator of Noire Design Concepts salon in Silver Spring, MD. She’s a genius with natural hair and an expert in hair color. She is licensed, she is professional, and she is frustrated with some of the misinformation that’s proliferating on the internet.
Camille sees it on an ongoing basis – the women who come into her salon with hair damage resulting from following bad advice they found from an unprofessional source. She’s here to debunk what she sees as the top 5 hair blogger falsehoods. Take it away, Camille!
Camille said:
Hi everyone, my name is Camille E. Reed. I am an educator, licensed cosmetologist and natural hair stylist of 14 years and also the owner of Noire Salon in Silver Spring, MD. During the course of my career, I have estimated that around 17,000-26,000 heads of hair have sat underneath my hands and have been scrupulously tended by them. So it’s a bit startling to hear some of the natural hair bloggers spreading misinformation about hair care. I am sure they meant no harm. However, what most stylist and pros know cannot be Googled or passed down as second-hand information, without a great deal of both practical wisdom and a keen understanding of cosmetic chemistry. Here I am going to assist many of you back on to the right path. My concern is that some of this misinformation will cause your strands to behave in a way that causes your home hair care to become troublesome, over time. There have been terms that the hair bloggers are using or have created, that are neither scientifically sound or are what professionals use (and have been using) since the onset of Modern Cosmetology in the 19th and early 20th century.’
Ouch!
Camille E Reed says
Greetings,
I just recently became aware of your article while a relative was doing a web search. I stand by every word that was written in Patrice’s (Afrobella) blog. Please, by all means stick to what works for you and I will continue in my extremely successful 14 year career as a professional natural stylist, educator and state board licensed Cosmetologist. Noire Salon has been booming since we opened our doors in 2006, and continues to set the bar quite high enough to have been recently recognized by the Smithsonian Museum of African Art.
Here are even more important question for each to ponder as each of you consider who is deemed qualified to advise you:
The person sitting in their bathroom, experimenting without proper research or understanding of hair science or chemistry? Or the many experienced natural stylists out there who do anywhere from 20-40 heads a week, who treat the whole client holistically, who have spent many years giving sisters the tools for healthy hair and self empowerment?
Do you go to a plumber for dentistry? Do you ask your Physician to prove the value of his years of accumulated skill? I’m so sorry that many have been LITERALLY burned by bad stylist. However, they don’t represent all of us. Look into and research the Masters. Diane C Bailey, Maria Thompson, They were honored this year in October in Brooklyn.
Have a peaceful day!
Emily CottonTop says
Hello Camille, let me first say thank you so much for commenting, I have heard about your salon and about your work and can appreciate the fact that not all stylist fit the category of ‘poor’ or ‘unprofessional’ . However there are many stories of disappointment from women who have sat in the salon chair over the years. While we can’t all come and see you at Noire Salon or any of your colleagues that you know are great at their work, we depend on our local shops to do the best with our hair. We all just want a great experience and after years of trying to get that many of us start researching and figuring this thing out ourselves.
I personally do not think that there is anything wrong with that and as social media technology would have it we are now more engaged with the girl in the bathroom experimenting with her hair. Hair science can be understood by anyone as long as you seek the information. This however does not take away from the years of study or work that professional cosmetologists have done
Instead of asking the question of who is more qualified, I would rather ask you as the person qualified for ideas on how we can bridge the gap between the girl who has faithfully gone to a salon, paid hard earned money only to watch her hair get shorter and shorter every year, or the girl who goes to the stylist only to find herself with bald patches the following day (that was me) and her stylist. How do we build trust again and how can we get educated on our own hair so that we can know how to spot bad advice and avoid a bad experience. With that said I would love to extend an invitation to you for an interview which will be published publicly here where you and our over 150,000 plus readers can dialogue about what we think is a real issue. Let us know if you think that would be feasible for you and we can exchange contact information.
We think it would be great for our readers who have a ton of questions daily. Thanks again for commenting!
Sincerely
Em
Camille E Reed says
I think it’s a great idea, let’s put it into action. My email is above. Thanks so much!
Andrea D Brayboy says
Both ladies provide good information based on their own experiences.
Ileah Collins says
Lol ok I get sock of these “hair stylists” hatin’ on natural hair bloggers who put them put of business. Step your game up and be the change.