Do you read black hair magazines?

If so which ones?  I personally like Sophisticates black hair.  They have sections in every issue for every type of hair

I usually look at SBH for the styles-- but the hair advice and product recommendations aren't all that great IMO  They always say the same thing-- do a hot oil treatment and clip your ends-- no matter what the issue you are having is.  Oh and not to forget-- see your stylist EVERYDAY  I would also like to see them use more real hair pics-- I really don't care to see a long, tailbone length weave all the time.  Its especially on the celebrities-- I mean I know they don't wear their own hair much because of the abuse it takes-- but I mean in a hair magazine you want to see hair-- not wigs and weaves 24/7.  Oooops sorry to rant.

^ I agree. In addition to the same old advice and 'tips' it just annoys me how they recycle the same celebrity photos. Its more of a 'hair fasion' magazine than an informative one.

I read all of them and look at the styles- i rarely see any good advice but i do enjoy the styles- i wish they would show more natural styles as well as realistic styles (minus the weave). carameldiva38704.4267476852

I totally agree on the hair tips and  the stylist thing.  I was reading an advice column and a woman was saying she couldnt affords to go see a stylist and the were still saying she should go see a stylist.  Its a mess.

Hi all,

This topic tickles me. 

I write a monthly column for 101 Celebrity Hairstyles (HairDoctor) and Short Cuts (Hair Rx) plus I write a column for Total Image Beauty (a salon only mag) and just did a special series of hair care & advice articles for Meredith (Redbook & Good Housekeeping).  I am amused at the topic because my editor from 101 and Short Cuts and I talk every day and it drives her NUTS that some of the hair magazines just recycle over and over.  And they recyle articles as well.  She thinks it gives all hair mags a bad rap.  I can tell you for a fact that 101 and Short Cuts use fresh images and articles for every issue.  Unfortunately they don't have an African American title.  I wish they did, they would do a good job.  They are very picky and make me submit fresh new topics every month (which is a lot of work - trust me).

I will tell you though that I get literally hundreds of emails both to my HB.com AskKaren column and to 101 & Short Cuts.  People have unbelievable hair problems and there really is no easy way to recommend that they fix them w/out seeing a pro but they say that they can't afford a pro or won't go to one.  So it is very frustrating for me at times.  I don't know what to tell them.   Especially when the problems are really terrible (and boy do I hear some awful hair nightmares).

Of course I don't write for the African American mags but I am currently doing a free lance piece on men's hair trends and I asked the editor if I could include African American men's cuts and styles in the piece to give it a good balance.  They said OK but now I am going nuts trying to find male celebs (it is for a celeb mag) with the different representative styles.  UGH.

So if any of you have suggestions of African American male celebs with hot hair cuts and styles...I would appreciate it very much.

Nah, don't read them.  They just don't appeal to me and the advice in some of them is questionable.

Karen- i always love Ludacris's hair and they tell me that Bustarhymes has a great new caesar cut, Henry simmons and Dorian Gregory have nice hair cuts too- hope this helps a little.

Hi Karen!  Piggybacking on carameldiva I'd add, Kanye West-- he does some pretty interesting things to his hair too (intricate designs in his fades).  Also Bone Crusher (wild and free), Snoop (braided, pressed) Usher (waves), John Legend (bob), Lil Wayne (dreds) . . .

Thanks for the insight Karen.  I can see how you'd have to end up sorta recycling hair articles because topics like washing, moisturizing, and deep conditioning will always be washing, moisturizing, and deep conditioning today . . . and ten years from now.  I can understand that.  I don't know how true it is with white magazines and celebs sporting weaves and giving tips (I'm sure many do)- but it seems that most black magazines always show the celeb with cascading weaves to the floor giving up tips on how they care for their real hair.  We can't see their real hair so we don't know if its busted and damaged or what under there!  For instance, this month's issue of SBH has a feature article with Nivea wearing a tangerine orange sew in weave.  She's giving tips on caring for her real hair-- but we never see it-- we only get the orange tangerine sew in weaveThere are so many black women with gorgeous hair that is 100% theirs-- I would just like to see more articles on them and hear from them what they are doing.

 

 

I love Sophisticate's Black Hair and I agree with Sistaslick, they need to stop showing so many weaves and wigs.  I would like to see some real hairstyles that I can get some inspiration from.  I don't care how good the hair weave is, I can usually always tell.  I also read Hype Hair but they don't  have many articles, just pics.

Lol, Nivea's orange pumpkin weave was too much for me.

[QUOTE=carameldiva]Karen- i always love Ludacris's hair and they tell me that Bustarhymes has a great new caesar cut, Henry simmons and Dorian Gregory have nice hair cuts too- hope this helps a little.[/QUOTE]

Hi Carameldiva,

Yes...this helps so much.  I guess the confusion is that I know about the 360 Waves look and what the Caesar is, but there are so many modified versions it is hard to figure out what is what.  According to the Hair & fashion forecastors the Afro (is that the PC term? If not I apologize in advance) is supposed to be coming back but I don't see it.  I see a lot of the very short and very neatly groomed looks.

At any rate, I am going to see if I can download some of the celebs you mentioned. 

Thank you soooooooo much.

 

[QUOTE=Sistaslick]

Hi Karen!  Piggybacking on carameldiva I'd add, Kanye West-- he does some pretty interesting things to his hair too (intricate designs in his fades).  Also Bone Crusher (wild and free), Snoop (braided, pressed) Usher (waves), John Legend (bob), Lil Wayne (dreds) . . .

Thanks for the insight Karen.  I can see how you'd have to end up sorta recycling hair articles because topics like washing, moisturizing, and deep conditioning will always be washing, moisturizing, and deep conditioning today . . . and ten years from now.  I can understand that.  I don't know how true it is with white magazines and celebs sporting weaves and giving tips (I'm sure many do)- but it seems that most black magazines always show the celeb with cascading weaves to the floor giving up tips on how they care for their real hair.  We can't see their real hair so we don't know if its busted and damaged or what under there!  For instance, this month's issue of SBH has a feature article with Nivea wearing a tangerine orange sew in weave.  She's giving tips on caring for her real hair-- but we never see it-- we only get the orange tangerine sew in weaveThere are so many black women with gorgeous hair that is 100% theirs-- I would just like to see more articles on them and hear from them what they are doing.

[/QUOTE]

Hi Sistaslick,

Thank you so much for your help.  I really appreciate all the celeb names.  I am going to check all of them out and try to include as many as possible.

I agree about wanting to see hair that is not specifically weaves.  That is a problem I have with the African American hair mags from England.  I buy them to see what is going on across the pond and there does seem to be a lot of focus on weaves or lots of braids.

And yes I agree that the way ALL the hair magazines work, they don't really address real hair.  Whether white or African American.  So many people are fooled into thinking that Jessica Simpson has long blonde hair, when she is wearing extensions and that Beyonce has gorgeous long natural hair, when her hairdresser told me she wears lots of wigs, extensions and half wigs.  It is hard to know what is real and what isn't.

Even the celeb hairdressers sometimes won't tell me or won't let me write the reality.  There is one major TV star who appears to have really nice hair but her hairdresser told me that her real hair is fried and burnt off because she had it Yukoed.  But he won't let me write about it because Yuko would be upset and the celeb would be upset and then he would get fired.  And then of course none of the hairdresser would ever talk to me again.  So when they ask me to keep it "off the record" I really don't have a lot of choices.

I think that extenions are fine but consumers need to know that celebrities don't have hair that is perfect without a lot of work, add-on hair and the best hairdressers at their disposals.

 

 

 

Karen Shelton38705.5150115741

[QUOTE=Pokahontas]

I love Sophisticate's Black Hair and I agree with Sistaslick, they need to stop showing so many weaves and wigs.  I would like to see some real hairstyles that I can get some inspiration from.  I don't care how good the hair weave is, I can usually always tell.  I also read Hype Hair but they don't  have many articles, just pics.

Lol, Nivea's orange pumpkin weave was too much for me.

[/QUOTE]

Hi Pokahontas,

I think that part of the problem is that there are so many diverse hair styles for both African American women and white women.  And the magazines try to cover everything.  At least the white hair magazines break it out by short hair vs color and style vs celeb.  That is why MMI does 101 Celeb Hairstyles and a separate Short Cuts and then they do seasonal specials like magazines devoted to Prom Hair (updos) or Blondes.  Harris does the same thing.  Sophisticates doesn't have as many titles but they have the biggest African American hair title for women.

So if you try to combine all the different African American hair interests into one issue, you get weaves and wigs with cornrows and braids and some natural hair thrown in.  It gets complicated and I think no one is happy in the end.

I do know that the magazines struggle with finding the right balance.  A lot of the white hair mags get criticism from women in their 40s, 50s, 60s because the mags tend to feature younger women models.  And there is a reason for that.  It is hard to find women in their 40s-60s that are willing to be hair models.  Consumer testing also shows that certain models will sell more mags.  And afterall, that is what they are trying to do.  Sell mags.

Yes, there are a lot of politics with hair, even in the mag world.  :-)

[QUOTE=cmesweet]

I'm late

I like to read the magazines, I use to collect Sophisticates until I realized that some of the pictures were the exact same over and over and over. Sometimes, they used the style years apart or sometimes they used it months apart. Recently, I saw a picture in the magazine which is also in my 1999 issue and 2003 issue.  However, I feel that they sometimes give simple advice and be informative at the same time.   I agree...I wish most of the styles included real hair of the person. Usually, they suggest to add weave, like that is the only answer out there to get long hair. Then they tell the women heat is bad in an article, yet some of the styles are called for blow dried, defuser, pressing comb, and flatiron, all at the same time...they really need to keep a consistant message.

[/QUOTE]

Hi Cmesweet,

Those images are very expensive.  I know because HB.com has to pay for any images that we use in our galleries.  Most mags have a production budget based on what they know an average issue will net.  So often, they don't have the budget to buy new photos and hair looks.  If they do their own photoshoots, it is even more expensive but you have to pay the photographer, the models, hire hairdressers, makeup artists.  So they hope that most people won't remember the images that clearly and they rerun them a lot because of the high costs involved.

I totally agree that it would be nice to see a lot more natural looks, which I know so many people are interested in.    And yes, sometimes there are conflicting messages.

Thanks for all your help & feedback.  I appreciate it very much.

 

[QUOTE=Karen Shelton][QUOTE=Pokahontas]

I love Sophisticate's Black Hair and I agree with Sistaslick, they need to stop showing so many weaves and wigs.  I would like to see some real hairstyles that I can get some inspiration from.  I don't care how good the hair weave is, I can usually always tell.  I also read Hype Hair but they don't  have many articles, just pics.

Lol, Nivea's orange pumpkin weave was too much for me.

[/QUOTE]

Hi Pokahontas,

I think that part of the problem is that there are so many diverse hair styles for both African American women and white women.  And the magazines try to cover everything.  At least the white hair magazines break it out by short hair vs color and style vs celeb.  That is why MMI does 101 Celeb Hairstyles and a separate Short Cuts and then they do seasonal specials like magazines devoted to Prom Hair (updos) or Blondes.  Harris does the same thing.  Sophisticates doesn't have as many titles but they have the biggest African American hair title for women.

So if you try to combine all the different African American hair interests into one issue, you get weaves and wigs with cornrows and braids and some natural hair thrown in.  It gets complicated and I think no one is happy in the end.

I do know that the magazines struggle with finding the right balance.  A lot of the white hair mags get criticism from women in their 40s, 50s, 60s because the mags tend to feature younger women models.  And there is a reason for that.  It is hard to find women in their 40s-60s that are willing to be hair models.  Consumer testing also shows that certain models will sell more mags.  And afterall, that is what they are trying to do.  Sell mags.

Yes, there are a lot of politics with hair, even in the mag world.  :-)

[/QUOTE]

Hey Karen.  I understand what you're saying.  I don't know much about the mag world but I see that there are a lot of politics in it.  I know it's a struggle to try and make everyone happy.  In the end, I know that is probably impossible though. 

I think Sophisticate's Black Hair is doing a good job overall.  I still remain a loyal fan. 

I've been trying to think of some AA males for you but I'm having brain freeze, lol.  I did come up with D.L. Hughley, Mario, Andre 3000, Will Smith, Lenny Kravitz and Shemar Moore. HTH

[QUOTE=cmesweet][QUOTE=Karen Shelton][QUOTE=cmesweet]

I'm late

I like to read the magazines, I use to collect Sophisticates until I realized that some of the pictures were the exact same over and over and over. Sometimes, they used the style years apart or sometimes they used it months apart. Recently, I saw a picture in the magazine which is also in my 1999 issue and 2003 issue.  However, I feel that they sometimes give simple advice and be informative at the same time.   I agree...I wish most of the styles included real hair of the person. Usually, they suggest to add weave, like that is the only answer out there to get long hair. Then they tell the women heat is bad in an article, yet some of the styles are called for blow dried, defuser, pressing comb, and flatiron, all at the same time...they really need to keep a consistant message.

[/QUOTE]

Hi Cmesweet,

Those images are very expensive.  I know because HB.com has to pay for any images that we use in our galleries.  Most mags have a production budget based on what they know an average issue will net.  So often, they don't have the budget to buy new photos and hair looks.  If they do their own photoshoots, it is even more expensive but you have to pay the photographer, the models, hire hairdressers, makeup artists.  So they hope that most people won't remember the images that clearly and they rerun them a lot because of the high costs involved.

I totally agree that it would be nice to see a lot more natural looks, which I know so many people are interested in.    And yes, sometimes there are conflicting messages.

Thanks for all your help & feedback.  I appreciate it very much.

 

[/QUOTE]

 

Thank you for that information. Sometimes, I go back into my magazines to get ideas of styles...that is how I know about the repeats. Other times I go back to get information on products and see if anyone has great reviews on them.

 

O yeah...the Afro has come back. I don't see it as much on the male celebrities Usher had one at one point. However, many women celebrities wear them in various styles. 

Celebrities with variations of the Afro- John legend, Ludacris,White Boy, Usher (at one point), Maxwell, Steve Harvey, Ben Wallace, Lenny Kravitz

Variations of Locs/twists/braids- Lil Jon, Mario, Omarion, Charles Divins, Daimon Marley, Maxwell, Eric Benet, Jamie Fox, DL Hughley, Jaheim, Lenny Kravitz, R kelly

Variations of Low/Clean cut- Usher, Tay Diggs, Mario, Shamar Moore, Kanye West, Loon, Lenny Kravitz, R Kelly

 

Variations of mohawk- Puff daddy/ Piff Diddy, Lenny Kravitz

 

If I find any  more I will let you k now...some names are repeats but they fit in all of the catorgories.

[/QUOTE]

Oh my god.  You are awesome.  Thank you so much.  I was just now downloading Diddy and Lenny. 

Thank you again.  I will be downloading my little heart out today and I appreciate the help.

Karen

[/QUOTE]

Hey Karen.  I understand what you're saying.  I don't know much about the mag world but I see that there are a lot of politics in it.  I know it's a struggle to try and make everyone happy.  In the end, I know that is probably impossible though. 

I think Sophisticate's Black Hair is doing a good job overall.  I still remain a loyal fan. 

I've been trying to think of some AA males for you but I'm having brain freeze, lol.  I did come up with D.L. Hughley, Mario, Andre 3000, Will Smith, Lenny Kravitz and Shemar Moore. HTH

[/QUOTE]

Thank you Pocahantas.  I was just watching Will Smith last night in Hitch.  I really loved him in that role.  I used not to think of him in a romantic comedy, but he was great. 

Appreciate all the suggestions.  I will be eyeballing black men celebs until my eyes swell shut.  LOL. 

Happy Holidays.

Karen

Karen Shelton38705.5968634259

[QUOTE=Karen Shelton]

 I will be eyeballing black men celebs until my eyes swell shut. 

[/QUOTE]

I would be too if my hubby'd allow it  Thanks for sharing the politics of magazine print

Hi Sista,

ROTFLMAO.  You are so funny.  But I have to look at these men for work...so I have a good excuse.  Hee hee.

 

LMAO@ Pokahontas.  Shes even thinking about getting purple tips put on that mess.  But is it just me or does Keshia Cole look different everytime we see her?

 

I agree with sistaslick they don't give alot of helpful advise and I am so tired of seeing hairstyles that I know clearly used a weave. But I do like looking at the pictures and getting hair ideas. blackhoney11238706.5398842593

LMAO yea Nieva's neon orange weave was a hot mess...but last month's SBH they answered a letter to the editor that asked about the whole weave thing, and SBH said that they don't specifically ask the stars if they use a weave but if they volunteer the info they note it in the magazine so regardless of whether they use a weave or not they post the hair care routines. Which I guess makes sense not everyone is comfortable divulging that info.

[QUOTE=cmesweet]

 

 

and there is a comedian with a straight look but i don't know his name...if i remember I will let u know

[/QUOTE]

I think you may be talking about Katt Williams, the guy that played Money Mike in Friday after Next.  I have the biggest crush on him.  He does have pretty hair. 

yall know of any magazine that talk about how to care for natural hair?

I use to read SBH but stop reading them.  Why pay $5 to see the same people on the cover.  How many times do I need to see Kelly Rowland, Beyounce, and Mary J Blidge on the front cover.  They can't give me hair tips because someone does their hair for them, so why try to fool me into thinking they shampoo and blow dry their own hair. And don't even get me started on the "The Hair Advice" sections. They have the same generic Q&A. They don't cover the real problems black women face with their hair, like bad weaves, hair loss, bad color, dry brittle hair, etc. I am sure some of the stars have experienced it. I am not trying to look like a Video Dancer or look like I am performing on stage because I can't wear none of those hair styles to work.