The Nigerian Natural Hair & Beauty Show: all the details!

So ... have you bought your ticket yet? If not...why not?

It's just under 2 weeks until the biggest event we've EVER organised, and in between being ridiculously busy, we can't help the snippets of excitement we feel!

Hello 2015! Here’s a flashback to 2014 at The Kinky Apothecary.

Since we’re almost at the end of January 2015, this seems like the perfect time for my procrastinating self to wish all our customers, readers and Kinky Apothecary family a very Happy New Year, and all the best for 2015!

The Kinky Apothecary Pop Up Salon - Saturday 20th December

We can NOT believe we're almost at the end of the year already! As always, no idea where it went! However, rather than lament the passing of time, we're just very excited about the Christmas Season, and getting glammed up is one of our favourite things about it. So this year we've decided to make an event of it. We have teamed up with A Whitespace Lagos and as a collaboration for their annual BIG60 festivities, we will be bringing you the very first Kinky Apothecary Pop Up Salon next Saturday, December 20th!

"Bootcamp" returns at our two mainland concessions!

We keep getting questions on when our next workshops are going to be held, so here we go, finally! Two in one weekend!

The Kinky Apothecary's new Mainland concessions.

Good morning Loves,

As many of you know, this has been in the works for a while, but we are extremely proud to announce the launch of two more The Kinky Apothecary concessions: this time on the Mainland!

Sale extended and further reductions!

Because we love you! *mwah*

Details on the shop page.

January Sale: Happy New Year!

The Christmas decorations have been taken down, the last of the leftovers eaten, the tourists are heading back to their various destinations, we're back at work... yes people, the Christmas season is well and truly over. We know January can be a depressing month, so in an effort to keep spirits up, and to let our customers know you mean a lot to us, we're offering 10% off across the board* until January 24th.

We'll also be staging a variety of giveaways and other surprises during the course of the month, so watch this space!

If you've been to any of our events or headed to our concession at L'Espace over the past few months, you'll know that our stock list has been expanded considerably for a while now. For those who haven't been, you might not have realised that we now stock a wide range of new products from Jane Carter Solution, CURLS, Mahogany Naturals as well as a wide range of ayurvedic powders and clays. These are now all available for delivery. Have a look at the price list for more detail.

Please note the price list reflects pre-sale prices. Discount will be calculated when your order is processed.

The sale price will already be reflected on products at L'Espace.

Happy shopping, and a very Happy New Year!

*Offer doesn't include Neriah Naturals or Bee Mine products.

The Great Kinky Hair Christmas Affair

We've been hinting about this for weeks, and hope you've put December 21st in your diary. You do NOT want to miss this!

Our beloved Geri is coming to town, as is the beautiful Ijeoma of Klassy Kinks. Yup yup!!! So what better excuse to throw the natural hair "end-of-year party to end all parties"!

We've got so much lined up for you: in addition to the hair talk, we've got shopping, beauty treatments, food, a drinks bar (courtesy of Cointreau and Laurent Perrier again), freebies, sponsored giveaways... we could go on and on, but instead we'll just say come down and see for yourselves!

Tickets go on sale this Friday, so get yours, come down ... and don't forget to use the hashtag #naturalsdey.

Have we mentioned we're excited??

See you there...

Enter into the Neno Naturals giveaway for a chance to win $500!

Before we take you back to your regularly scheduled blog posts (yes, even I chuckled as I typed that), just wanted to bring your attention to the giveaway going on at Neno Natural's blog in case you hadn't heard of it already. She is so grateful for the support she has received over the past year, she is giving one lucky winner ANYWHERE in the world a chance to win $500!

The entry details are very simple: You need to be subscribed to the fan list at NenoNatural.com/freeinfo

• If you get their emails, you are already subscribed
• If you don't get their emails but you think you subscribed, check your SPAM folder
• If you unsubscribed you would need to re-subscribe to be eligible
• Payment will be via PayPal unless you are in a country that doesn't have PayPal in which case we can do a wire transfer to your bank (bank charges may apply)
• Anyone from anywhere in the world can win
• Competition closes on 19th November at midnight New York time (6 a.m. November 20th Lagos time)
• The winner will be selected and announced on 20th November

How will the winner be selected:

• All subscribers will be downloaded into excel and their position on the list randomized
• A number will then be picked using a random number generator and whoever has that position in the excel spreadsheet wins the entire $500 in time to buy Christmas gift or to pay down that annoying debt!
• Neno Natural will then email the person to ensure it's an email that is still in use, ask them for their phone number and call them to tell them they have won
• All this will be on video so everyone can enjoy the process

So what are you waiting for?? Such a generous offer so head over to nenonatural.com/freeinfo and make sure you're subscribed!

SN: And because we love a good giveaway, we'll also be doing a (much smaller and much less significant) giveaway of our own today on Twitter and Instagram, to mark the end of Natural Hair Month (how is it already October 31st?!) So make sure you're following us on both (we're @kinkyapothecary on both Twitter and Instagram) for a chance to win. 

Good luck!

Natural Hair Month continues with the Kinky Apothecary Pop Up Shop

If you haven't been down to our pop up shop yet, there are still 6 more days to go.

We have all your favourite products in stock, including a couple not available for online order yet (such as Jamaican Black Castor Oil and Vatika Oil). We also have an increased selection of Ayurvedic herbs and powders, some new lines (Jane Carter and Curls), books, tools, hair accessories, etc. Head down, we're waiting for you!

Also at the pop up, make up, makeovers and lash and brow services by Sacred Creative Artistry. Don't forget to have a look at the Gallery Exhibition by Temitayo Ogunbiyi exploring the Kink.

And for anyone in Lagos tomorrow, we have a Zumbathon starting at 1pm by Fuzion Fitness in aid of Breast Cancer Awareness. 25% of all proceeds raised by The Kinky Apothecary, Sacred Creative Artistry and Fuzion Fitness will be donated to the Pink Pearl Foundation.

All this is happening at our Pop Up at The Whitespace, 50 Raymond Njoku, Off Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.

Don't miss it!

Images from the Bootcamp "pilot", August 2012

Hi all! As promised, here are the pictures from the Bootcamp "pilot" last year. We actually took loads, it was quite difficult whittling them down.

Enjoy, and hope to see you at the next one on Sunday.

Whipped Batter samples

 

Oils... pre-branding

The obligatory cupcakes...

...which everyone quite enjoyed, apparently

First everyone had a chance to mingle and settle in

Some of the faces at the event...

Getting down to business: talking through the order of the day, and finding out what topics in particular everyone wanted covered

Any questions?

Talking everyone's ear off

And out comes the cling film. I have no shame!

Showing both how to wash in sections and how to wash in twists

Out comes the cling film again, as I leave the conditioner to marinade

My next victim (Ozzy from the 4Aces) conjures up some Dutch courage with a glass of pink champagne

Gave her a quick shampoo (after DC'ing first) before talking through and demonstrating options for stretching post wash, giving tips on twisting, and moving on to dry styling options

Erm... no Flo, that's not how you use a banana clip

THAT'S how you use a banana clip!

Had a bit of time at the end, so showed a couple of 5 minute styles that can be done with banana clips and bobby pins

Shame we had no black pins

Ah well. Next time

And a great time was had by all!

Lagos natural hair bootcamp this Sunday - May 12th, 2013

Who remembers last year when I referred to a "very public wash day"? I promised to expand later, and while it might have taken almost a year, I always keep my promises!

That day, we were testing out a new format of workshops. After getting feedback from our customers on our past events and other events they had attended, the general consensus was that they would benefit from smaller, more focused workshops so we decided to test this out with a focus group of around 20 of our oldest and favourite customers.

With the help of some very lovely hair models, I talked attendees through building a regimen from start to finish (that's me washing Ozzy's hair in the picture above), and some quick style ideas. I even demonstrated how I wash my own hair, bending over the salon bowl, hence the deep conditioner in public... an experiment best left unrepeated, I think we all concurred.

It was such a fun afternoon, and everyone agreed it was a success. So we have now decided to hold these events every two months, increasing to every month.  Each workshop will have a maximum of 30 people.

I'm pleased to announce that the first will be this Sunday, May 12th. Details as follows:

Date: Sunday, May 12th

Time: 2 - 6:30pm

Venue: Cheveux Beauty Salon, 2 Raymond Njoku Road, off Awolowo Road, Ikoyi

Theme: Building your regimen and styling tips, with live demos. 

You will also have the opportunity for one-on-one product consultations, and to discuss any hair issues and questions you might have

Price: N1,000 redeemable against product sales. Includes light refreshments

If you would like to attend, please send an email with "Bootcamp" in the subject and including your phone number to events@thekinkyapothecary.com.

Again, there are only 30 spaces, and they have already begun to fill up through word of mouth, so don't delay in dropping us an email if you would like to attend. It's first come, first served.

Hope to see you ladies then!

(Pictures of the first event up here!)