Leela James is fierce. She’s beautiful, and she’s redefining R&B. She speaks from the soul, and I only see big things coming for her. I adore her voice, she’s got a beautiful, bruised melodious instrument that really captures the listener’s ear.

For proof, check out her soulful cover of No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak”, or my favorite video of hers, “Good Times.”Just let it do what it do, baby!

But I wanted to highlight this video for a different reason (unfortunately my video embedding software is acting the fool, so click on the link above to see it). This was the video that made me realize – ding, ding, ding! That fabulous mop of curls apparently isn’t Leela’s real hair. **

That just goes to show what was so obvious in my Conya Doss post – I am wig and weave illiterate.

Although, let the record show that in this interview with VH-1, Leela says “I started growing it out two years ago. My hair has pretty much always been either braided up or something that’s really easy to maintain. One of my stylists wanted to play around with doing something different and I’m always open to whatever’s funky and free and fly. It’s easy to maintain. There’s nothing to do.”

I want to make it clear, I don’t have an anti-weave agenda! But I am kind of fascinated that women who could well have beautiful curls of their very own would choose to wear artificial hair. I really hope to hear from some weave-wearers today, share your experiences and explain the natural-looking weave phenomenon to me.

Now I don’t mean to take Leela James to task at all, I just love big hair and I think she wears it so well. She reminds me physically of a young Chaka Khan, a petite dynamo with a righteous mane. But I see her picture posted in many of my readers’ Fokti pages as a “natural hair inspiration,” which got me to thinking – what exactly does natural mean, anyway?

I know many women who define themselves as natural also wear human hair extensions, braids, sisterlocks, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

I had a friend in high school who insisted that her hair was natural, even though she admitted to getting it “texturized” with chemicals every three weeks. Um, ok. To this day I can’t figure that girl out. (I stopped trying years ago).

But perhaps natural is more than that. Maybe natural is a state of mind that only begins with shunning chemicals. To me, natural has always meant no chemical fire cream, no purchased locks to be attached, just the hair that grows from my head. To me, natural means no additives or preservatives.

So I want to know how my fellow afrobellas define natural. What does it mean to you?

** edited at 8:00 a.m. on December 1 – Some readers are asserting that Leela’s hair is 100% her own. I personally do not know either way, but if the opportunity presents itself to interview Leela James, I would love to! Holla at your girl, Leela!

You’ve got the shoes, the accessories, the pretty makeup… now all that’s left to complete your holidazzle party look is the perfect dress. But wouldn’t you know it – most of the prettiest holiday gowns are either backless or nearly there. For example, peep this beautiful lace babydoll number that I spotted over at Urban Outfitters’ website.

She looks flawless. But if she was suffering with a noticeable case of backne, that would throw her entire look off the second she turned around. Back acne is probably the most difficult kind of acne to get rid of. Several factors can contribute to the dilemma.

Hair products that drip down your shoulders, sweat and abrasive clothing, and plain old genetics can play a role in recurrent backne. The location (usually across the upper back and shoulders) makes it difficult to apply products. The skin there is less sensitive and therefore, your everyday face washes and ointments might not have an effect. Especially for black women, hyperpigmentation can leave a veritable constellation of backne scars scattered across prime backless dress property.

For the holiday party season, you want to make a graceful exit as well as a dramatic entrance. Nobody wants to walk around wrapped in a shrug all night. What’s a bella to do?

Start out with a quality 2% salicylic acid acne body wash, for starters. There’s Phisoderm Clear Confidence, which works gently, but well. Neutrogena Body Clear Body Scrub is a popular choice, and is an Allure Best of Beauty award winning product.

Follow that up with a daily treatment, like Nature’s Cure Body Acne Treatment Spray.

This stuff is amazing. It’s affordable, it helped to  clear up my upper back, and the spray bottle sprays from any angle! So you can reach those hard-to-reach places with no problem.

The discussion on this message board revealed that acne creams that might be too harsh for facial use can work wonders for the back. Retin A Micro might be too drying for your cheeks, but could be the right product for your shoulders and back area. But if your backne is at the point where you think you need Retin A, then you should already be seeing a dermatologist.

With a combination of regular cleaning, spray-on skin care, and perhaps some light mineral foundation applied by a loved one before your grand entrance, you should be ready to go backless just in time for the holidays!

I get so many e mails and messages about Miss Jessie’s products. It’s one of the popular search queries that brings people to my site. Let me tell y’all something – Miss Jessie’s might be great stuff (I don’t know yet because I refuse to spend that much money on a hair product), but instead of asking me about reviewing that, I have some helpful advice. Get Kinky-Curly instead!

I got in touch with the company through their MySpace page, and they sent me wonderful, full-size samples of the product line.

I am blown away by the results. I started out by trying Knot Today, a scentless “creamy herbal conditioner” that made my hair slick and smooth. I used it after already combing my hair out in the shower with my regular conditioner (I was advised to wash my hair first because the products are made with aloe gel, which doesn’t blend well with oils from other hair products. The site offers helpful advice on product use) – but Knot Today made my curls sleek and long, kind of like Chili from TLC’s hair back in the day. Love that.

The product most afrobellas might need is Curling Custard. This thick tub of clear goop looks a bit like gel, and has a mild vanilla scent. I applied Curling Custard a bit too liberally at first, whoops! I wound up with super-defined, crunchy ringlets. Over the course of the day, my curls settled into shiny, moisturized spirals. I slept with a stocking cap, and the next day I wet my hair a little in the shower. I didn’t even need to apply more Curling Custard the next day – my curls sprang out soft yet defined. I am in love with this stuff, and I’ve used it almost every day for the past two weeks!

Even better, the ingredients are all natural. Curling Custard’s first five ingredients are “botanical infusion of water, horsetail, chamomile, organic aloe vera juice, agave nectar.” Same goes for the other products, which use wild cherry bark extract, slippery elm, marshmallow root, sage, and lavender water as their primary ingredients.

Kinky Curly Spiral Spritz comes in a spray bottle, but because of the thickness of the product, I spray it into my hand and apply it to my hair by gently working it into my curls. I really like the lavender scent of the spray, but I think this product would work best for women with type 3A and 3B curls, whereas the Curling Custard and Knot Today are ideal for my mop of 4A hair. Spiral Spritz worked great to refresh my curls fresh out of the shower.

According to the Kinky Curly FAQ, the products also work great for women with silkened or texturized hair. I know my sister and mom would flip for the Gloss Pomade, a small tin of lemon scented stuff fortified with avocado, borage, black currant, jojoba, pomegranate, soybean, safflower, and meadowfoam oils. I used it around my hairline for slickness and to reduce flakes. My straightened-hair family members would love this stuff for flyaways.

My favorite thing about Kinky Curly is the price. An 8oz bottle of Knot Today costs $12. A heavy 16oz tub of Curling Custard cost $22, and knowing what I know now, I would gladly pay that much. Spiral Spritz is $9 and the Gloss Pomade costs $7. The products are available in some stores but not many. Currently, Kinky Curly is available through their internet store. But I think this stuff could wind up becoming more popular, and who knows – maybe someday Afrobellas everywhere will be able to buy this stuff at their neighborhood beauty supply store. Lord knows it worked better for my hair type than half of the chemically-laden crap cluttering their shelves!

Look out for more hair reviews in weeks to come!

Back in 1984 MC Lyte released 10% Dis, a hard-hitting track that destroyed her then-rival, Antoinette. Lyte’s boasts proved prophetic:

Others write your rhymes, while I write my own,

I don’t create a character, when I’m on the microphone,

I am myself, no games to be played,

No script to be written, no scene to be made.

I am the director, as far as you are concerned,

You don’t believe me, then you’ll have to learn,

This ain’t as hard as MC Lyte can get

And matter of fact, you ain’t seen nothin yet!

For real.

Lyte didn’t just leave her rivals in her dust, she cemented her position as a hip-hop legend early in the game. I was proud to see Lil Kim, Da Brat, Remy Ma, and Yo Yo pay homage at the Hip Hop Honors, but the performance just underscored a sad point in my opinion.

Turn on your local urban radio station and try to find a female MC lyrically equal to Lyte. You’ll find yourself listening to the same twenty five, mind-numbingly misogynistic tracks all day long.

That’s a far cry from the late Eighties and Nineties, when female MCs like Salt n Pepa, Queen Latifah, and Lyte reigned the radio.

Lyte addressed the gender gap in a recent interview with Essence magazine : “Most record companies don’t even want to sign a female MC if she’s not down with a male camp. And as women, we’re still in an era when what you look like is very important. You can be lacking in other areas as long as you make up for it in looks. The way women are being portrayed reflects what’s really going on in our community. You have to teach a younger generation of women about self-respect and self-esteem;that they can separate themselves from what they see and hear on television and radio. And they have to see enough variety in the types of portrayals of women to know they have a choice.” So true.

As illustrated in my original Hip Hop Heroines article, Dr. Dionne Stephens identified specific stereotypes in the genre. Well it seems right now, the only types getting airplay are freaks, gold diggers, and divas. In the Essence interview, Lyte continued to say: “When it comes to the misogyny in hip-hop, Black women haven’t been able to change things because we’re not standing together… It’s going to take one of these really respected directors to say to an artist, “I won’t have a woman dressed like that in a video,” because that challenges the artist to say, “Okay, what other ideas do we have that would be exciting to watch?” There are ways to be sexy and classy without being borderline disgusting.”

It’s great to hear a pioneer in the game point that out.

I would love to see any of the female MCs today show the evolution and range that Lyte showed. She started out so Brooklyn tough on Paper Thin and street smart on Cha Cha Cha. She revealed her knack for storytelling on Cappucino, and came out Cross Colors bucket hat chic on I Go On. (Check it out! That clip is from Video Soul. I grew up watching Donnie Simpson and Sherry Carter). Cold Rock a Party was the jam! When Ruffneck came out I was with Lyte all the way (Since then I’ve come to realize that a ruffneck dude can be a whole lot of fun, they don’t typically make marrying material. I bet Lyte would agree with me on that). Her guest verses are always tight, and I love when Lyte comes out spitting hard, sexy rhymes, like she did in one of my favorite Janet Jackson videos, You Want This. (That video takes me back to when Janet would wear clothes and be sexy. I miss that pre-NFL boobgate Janet).

Nowadays, Lyte is older, wiser, and looking more beautiful than ever. She proved her value as an actress on the now defunct UPN series Half and Half. When she isn’t accepting accolades or doing charity work, she’s out on tour. She wrote a poetry book that’s available through her official website, and homegirl even owns her own boutique.

Do yourself a favor and check out the first single off her overdue and upcoming LP, Back to Lyte, which she discusses in this great interview with Nobody Smiling. “The Wonder Years” with DJ Premier takes a fierce look back and labels Lyte “the ghetto Joan of Arc.”

I sincerely hope that this is the beginning of her major comeback. Lord knows she’s looking better than most of the current crop of hip hop contemporaries (ahem… ahem!) and I for one would love to hear her spitting fire over some hot Timbaland beats.

Lately I’ve been feeling nostalgic for early Nineties jams. Whatever happened to groups like Brownstone and Zhane? I miss the fast slow jams that SWV, Xscape, and Total did so well. So here’s one of my fave smoothed-out MC Lyte jams from the Nineties, “Keep On Keepin’ On” featuring Xscape.

Congrats, MC Lyte! You’re Afrobella of the Week.

Happy Monday, y’all!

Here’s a great reason to have cable, and an even better reason to set your digital recording device well in advance – on Thursday November 30 at 9, the Sundance channel will premiere Iconoclasts: Dave Chappelle and Maya Angelou.

Oh, they are adorable together. I can’t wait to see two of my absolute favorite celebrities in casual conversation with each other, discussing deep issues, laughing, and enjoying each other’s company. If you haven’t had a chance to watch Iconoclasts yet, trust me when I tell you that it’s a remarkable show. I bet this will be their best episode ever. Yay!
I’ve been jonesing for Dave Chappelle this week, in light of the Michael Richards incident. I wish he had a show on HBO right now. You know he would have been quick to come up with a racist Kramer sketch. I was happy to see Paul Mooney tackle it, but I just miss Dave. He’s been a friend in my head ever since Half Baked.

And if you’ve never had the opportunity to see Maya Angelou give a lecture or perform (she drops knowledge, then bursts into song. Phenomenal Woman, that’s her!), you need to treat yourself and watch this. Maya rejuvenates the spirit like nobody else can. She’s a wonder to behold.

Heyo!

I got an e mail from Davina, with a question that made me laugh.

“How do I put on/apply false eyelashes? I’ve always wanted to wear them but just haven’t because I didn’t know how. I am going to a Christmas party and want to do something extra to my look.“

Davina, thanks for writing!

To answer your e mail, I had to consult with an in-house expert, so to speak. And I had to make sure she was cool with going on the record, for everyone at home and abroad to know her business. And she said yes!

So Davina, it’s with her blessing that I can tell you that my Mama Bella has been wearing fake lashes every day for the past twenty years. She’s my own personal Tammy Faye. (** edited at 7:48 p.m. – In light of my dad’s comment below and our later discussion, I feel compelled to add the following. Mama Bella is only like Tammy Faye in the sense that she also loves her false lashes, and is a deeply spiritual kind of lady. Is that better, Dad? OK. Love you guys!)

She started in 1987 when a friend made an appointment for her at a neighborhood aesthetician, who I know as Auntie Julie.

Auntie Julie is a hilarious, raucous, say anything that comes to mind, drops the f-bomb every two minutes kind of lady. I LOVE going to her little at-home salon. My mom gets them completely re-done every three weeks. Auntie Julie lovingly calls my mom “Batsley” because she wants the longest lashes. (** edited at 7:50p.m. – Because Auntie Julie is judicious, she uses the medium length lashes on my mother. But Mom thought they were the long ones right up until today when she called Julie to verify).

“They make you feel and look more glamorous,” is all Mama Bella offers by way of explanation. “You need to go to a professional to get them done because those strips don’t work,” she adds.

The first time my mom ever wore fake lashes, she wore the strip variety. Apparently Papa Bella didn’t like them – “He saw them on my dresser early one morning and smashed them. He said he thought it was a spider!” my mom says. As a “professional” fake eyelash wearer, she recommends that newbies pony up to get a professional put on high quality individual lashes. Otherwise she warns that you could wind up like another old family friend. Let’s call her Leslie.

Apparently Leslie wore her fabulous fake eyelash strips out to a cute couples dinner. Mid-entree, she noticed that her husband kept kicking her under the table over and over again and her friends were giving her strange looks, but she had no idea why. Finally he got up, came over to her and whispered in her ear “you need to go to the bathroom.” Well dear Leslie discovered that her fake eyelash strip had unhinged itself from her lash line and worked its way up to right under her eyebrow and nobody knew exactly how to tell her! So let that be warning to you. Many professional makeup artists don’t recommend false lashes to beginners, particularly those with sensitive eyes.

I personally have never worn fake lashes. I plan on giving them a try when I go home for Christmas. But I’ve definitely been eyeing my options at Sephora. So I can’t give you a review of the fake eyelash experience, or advice on wearing them just yet. Davina, I’d advise you to call a few local makeup artists or cosmetologists to make sure they can accomodate your needs. Otherwise, if you’re looking for alternative ways to lengthen your lashes, I definitely recommend some of the new eyelash extending mascaras.

I’m currently using Maybelline Moisture Extreme Volume + Length Microfiber Mascara, and I really like it. My previous experience with duo mascaras was gloppy and unimpressive, but the Maybelline is working great and I plan on buying another fiber lash extension mascara soon, probably Lancome L’Extreme Waterproof or Shu Uemura Fiber Xtension Mascara. I’ve heard great things about both. Hope that helps, Davina!