Hey y’all! This weekend everything I’m passionate about sharing here on the blog came together at the Capital City Natural Hair Expo. It’s an annual expo where all things natural hair, fashion, empowering, and creative collide. It’s an event that was founded by Mandisa Ngozi Art and Braiding Gallery, the first natural hair salon in Florida. Valencia and Denise Jones the cofounders of both successful business ventures hosted the expo on the beautiful grounds of the FSU Alumni Center. If you haven’t checked out my little video recap on Instagram it’s never too late to check it out.
Highlights from the Capital City Natural Hair & Health Expo
The Panels
I enjoyed the Welcome to Nappy panel hosted by Simone Hylton the co-founder ( her sister Yanique Hylton is the other founder) of the 1st natural hair salon in South Florida. She broke down the structure of a good natural hair regimen to ensure strong and moisturized natural hair. Now I’ve already got my natural hair regimen down, but it sure was reassuring to have it validated by a professional.
I also enjoyed the Style My Curvy panel hosted by fashion influencer Nikki Free. Nikki shared the ins and outs of styling curvy bodies, her favorite plus size brands, and more. Even after the panel was over Nikki stayed behind with some of us had a long pow wow about all things influencer and social media related.
The Fashions
The fashion shows that I did see were amazing. As you could imagine I was geeked to see all forms of natural hair (locs and fros of all textures) beautifully styled and adorned. I was over the moon to see plus size women working it on the runway in Ankara fashions that I really need to get my hands on.
The Vendors
Let’s not forget all the shopping options. Need a reminder on how resilient and creative we are? Take a look at the products created and sold by these vendors. I snagged two pairs of sunnies from Love My Fab and two art prints from Heeeysugafoot on Instagram. This is definitely going to be me all summer. See that beautiful melanin rich sis in the swimsuit, that’s going to be me all summer! Claiming it!
If you’ve never been to the Capital City Natural Hair & Health Expo please follow them so you don’t miss the announcement for next years event.
Part 2 Recap is all about what I wore from fro to toe. I got loads of questions on everything so if you want the info check out the What I Wore Post here.