Get to know more about PLBG in this Q&A!
Hello Beauties!
This month's Beauty Spotlight is casted upon Eboni Stephae and Ashley Brown, founder and co-founder of Pretty Little Brown Girl. I am thrilled to bring this to you all as an educational and inspirational source. Stephae is a 32 year old mother of 3, published writer, blogger, and contributor to various magazines and media outlets. She is a 'Hip hop music enthusiast and lover of all things BEAUTIFUL!'. Brown is from Queens, NY. She currently resides in Fredericksburg,VA and has been natural since May 2010. "I big chopped in February 2011. This is actually my 2nd time going natural the first time I broke down after only 3months."
*'S' will represent Stephae's answers and 'B' will indicate Brown's answers*
1.What is Pretty Little Brown Girl? What does it mean/represent?
- S: "Well, Pretty Little Brown Girl was sort of a play on words; Being that both me and Ashley's last names are BROWN it stands for that but it mostly represents Girls/Women of color. There are different shades of BROWN in all of us whether we're African American, Native American, Hispanic etc. We're all Pretty Little Brown Girls!!"
- B: "Pretty Little Brown Girl is our little natural haired baby. Both Eboni and I are friends who happen to be natural and she came up with the idea after we were having a natural hair chat. PLBG represents woman, our beauty and of course our hair. To me a pretty little brown girl is the core of who we are as African American woman. It shows our youthfulness and the fun side while still being informative.
2. What made you decide to start PLBG?
- S: "I started PLBG after I made the decision to go natural in November of 2010. I spent SO many hours watching YouTube videos and SO much money trying new and different hair products I thought it would be helpful (for myself as well as others) to start a page where I could ASK and ANSWER questions about natural hair, fashion and makeup choices for BROWN girls such as myself."
- B: "After Eboni told me about the idea I was immediately excited and wanted to be apart of this project. Before PLBG I would swap tips with my friends as well as give hair advice so to be able to do it in a large forum seemed like the next step. I was already a year plus post big chop and I wanted to discuss hair journeys with other woman who could understand my experience. Another great part was that I big chopped and Eboni transitioned so we are able to give different points of views and reach a broader range of 'naturalistas'.
3. For readers that do not know, what does it mean to go natural?
- S: "Going natural (for me) means to stop using chemicals such as relaxers, texturizers, perms, etc in your hair. Allowing your hair to return to it's NATURAL state. Some people who are naturals only use all natural hair products as well, but I'm not as pressed about the product being necessarily ALL natural as long as it doesn't damage my hair."
- B: "To me, to go natural is to either do the big chop or transition your hair so that it is no longer chemically altered to change the texture. I think everyone has there own definition of what exactly going natural is and what it includes. I don’t like constricting myself with hair rules so as long as it's not a perm its ok for me [lol]."
4. I've heard of going natural as a process/journey. Would you define it as one or the other? Or both?
- S: "I would consider it both!! It's a process and it takes patience but it's also a journey because you learn so much about yourself AND your hair along the way."
- B: "I definitely consider going natural a journey rather than a process. A process makes it sound so limited and uneventful. A journey is something that is limitless and exciting. This hair journey has been everything but limited [lol]."
5. How can PLBG help young girls and women?
- S: "PLBG can help young girls and women by teaching them to be confident in their own skin. It taught me that no matter the texture of my hair or the tone of my skin I am just as beautiful as the next woman. Many young girls don't identify beauty with BROWN skin and CURLY/COILY hair, but once you see beautiful women who look like "you"; it helps you recognize the beauty in yourself."
- B: "PLBG can help woman and girls by showing them two woman who look like them can team up and show love to ourselves as well as other woman. On reality shows we see so many woman dogging each other and being shady. Not that I don’t love the ratchet TV because trust my dvr is set for it. But its not often you see positivity and mutual respect. Eboni and I have it with each other and all the woman we chat with on PLBG. We don’t have all the answers but we share our knowledge amongst each other and along with our readers we find solutions. To me its almost like a sisterhood and I love it."
The best part about PLBG is that women of all ages and different stages of life can come to one place and connect. Share advice, tips and have a chance to interact with others as a support system.
Don't know where? Need recommendations for good beauty products? Want to share your story? Find PLBG on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PrettyLittleBrownGirl or email your PLBG questions to prettylittlebrowngirls@gmail.com
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