Holiday Beauty Bazaar
When
12-4pm Saturday, Dec. 7
Where
Kroc Community Center
1250 W. 119th St Chicago, IL
Going natural is a journey, especially if you’re the first of your friends or family to do it. Our curly community online has made the journey easier (and way more fun”> for thousands of women, so we love seeing it manifest itself in the real world in the form of meetups and events!
The Chicago Natural Beauty Meetup is Chicago’s largest natural hair community with over 2,000 members, and this December they will be hosting their third annual Holiday Beauty Bazaar. Not only is this event a fantastic way to gain knowledge and inspiration for yourself, but this year you also have the opportunity to give back to the children in the Chicago community as well.
Beauty vlogger and entrepreneur Rachel Odem, who founded the community, sat down to talk with us about what both new and seasoned naturalistas can expect from this year’s Holiday Beauty Bazaar.
What can new naturals expect to get out of going to the event?
We always try to provide a lot of inspiration and education. I often hear that people come to our events and see different ways that they can wear their hair, they also get a chance to talk to other women who have been natural for a while.
Obviously since we partner with professional hairstylists and other professionals in the industry they can get great education there. And also we have our gift bags which we’re really well known for, because sometimes you go to an event and they’re just sample sizes. We’ll have products from CURLS, Cream of Nature, As I Am, as well as samples from NaturallyCurly.
What about women who’ve been natural for years, what does your meet up offer for seasoned naturals?
The number one thing women get is examples of different ways that you can style your hair. But it’s also very encouraging to be in an environment where everyone is embracing their naturally curly hair. It’s basically like a celebration of being natural and being proud of that, and celebrating the uniqueness of multicultural women in natural hair.
Tell me about the donations you’re doing for the children this Christmas!
We partner with a daycare center located in Chicago and the children that attend the daycare are primarily coming from single parent homes and parents living in poverty. So we’re doing a toy drive to help give back to families around the holiday season since unfortunately, most of them don’t have a lot of disposable income to purchase gifts for the kids. We’ll be making a financial donation as well as giving the toys that people bring to the event. So don’t forget to bring toys with you to the event!
This event is an extension of Rachel’s meet up organization, ChicagoNaturals.net and it’s the largest natural hair meet up in Chicago. They host four events a year and it’s a great wider community for people to get connected if you would like to attend natural hair events on a regular basis.
You can purchase your tickets to the Holiday Beauty Bazaar for a special online price of $15, or for $20 at the door.
