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Via The HuffingtonPost

Last week we loved on our hair, this week we’re bringing sexy back.

Allure magazine polled 2,000 men and women from across the country in an attempt to find out “what’s beautiful now.”

And when African American women were asked about their personal attractiveness, “they were three times as likely as Caucasian women to rate themselves at the ‘hot’ end of the spectrum.”

That may sounds trivial or shallow, but a little self-love goes a long way–especially in the face of those hateful reports that black women are the reason for the falling marriage rates in the African-American community.

Beverly Bond, founder of “Black Girls Rock,” is trying to plant the seed of self-confidence early. Her organization helps create, reaffirm and/or reclaim that self-worth in young girls across the country.

“I want our young girls to be inspired to not settle for being less than their best selves,” Bond told the Associated Press. “I want them to feel proud of who they are and who they can be and who we have been.”

That’s definitely something worth rooting for and thanks to this survey it sounds like we’re headed in the right direction.

Here are a few more interesting findings from the survey:

• Seventy-three percent of women say that a curvier body type is more appealing now than it has been in the past ten years. Still, when asked if they wanted to change their hips, 85 percent of women wanted them to be narrower.

• Thirty-five percent of men and women said that, if there is one part of their bodies they’d like to change the most, it’s their stomachs.

• Eighty-six percent of men said that they wanted to weigh less—as did 97 percent of women.

• When it comes to sexual attraction, women list their top five favorite male attributes as a guy’s face, body type, smile, eyes, and height. And men’s answers, in order? Face, body type, breasts, smile, and butt.

So interesting! Ladies, what are your thoughts?

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by ERIKA NICOLE KENDALL of A Black Girl’s Guide to Weight Loss

I’ve always had a gang of hair. Like, a GANG of hair. There’s actually a very old video of my mother trying to tame my hair as a toddler, and two thirds of the screen was nothin’ but ‘fro.

Me, as a toddler… not a strand out of place.

My mother wasn’t having it, though. Born in the era of straightening combs on the stove, she was good for waking me up at the crack of dawn and burning the hell out of me trying to straighten my hair. I don’t even think I knew what my hair looked like without a handful of grease and a whole morning’s worth of heat in it… because we started doing this routine when I was approximately 4 years of age.

Say what you will about that – especially since it was a couple of decades ago – but I grew up believing that I was supposed to have straight hair, and this suffering was how I was supposed to get it. If ever my kitchen (you know what the kitchen is) was even remotely curly, my Mom was quick on the draw. “Um, what’s goin’ on with your natural? Come here, let me hit those naps real quick.” I never thought twice about it. That was Mom, for crying out loud. I pretty much worshipped the ground she walked on – always well dressed, properly put together, never a hair out of place – surely, she knew what she was talkin’ about.

I, much like most of the little Black girls in my area, grew up coveting straight hair.  Considering how difficult this was to maintain for girls like me with the most all-the-way-live-kinks and coils, this also made us resent anything that got in the way of us ruining that straight hair. Gym class was almost always indoors, and forget about getting us in any kind of swimming pool.

Eventually, all that hair pressing left my hair pretty lifeless. Horribly split ends, breaking off like nobody’s business.. I actually remember people clowning me about it. I didn’t really know any better. I just knew I needed to have straight hair, and I was succumbing to what I needed in order to get it.

It got worse once I entered high school. After having moved to my new neighborhood where all the hair was not only straight, but blond and long.. my mother and I dug all throughout the city to find a hairdresser who could help me at least accomplish the long and straight part. As a high schooler, I was in the salon weekly, spending $40 for a wash/rinse/press… and $80 once a month for my relaxer. Two hundred dollars a month to acquire this look that I had coveted since I was four years old.

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Wendy and Jess use basil, thyme, oregano, and parsley to make four tasty herb infused vegan dips and dishes. What are your thoughts ladies? Would you try any of these recipes?

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by ERIKA NICOLE KENDALL of A Black Girl’s Guide to Weight Loss

When I listen to the different comments and e-mails that I receive, there are sometimes things that I want to say, but wont. Why? Because people come here to share and understand that they aren’t alone in the way they think and feel about certain issues regarding wellness and weight loss.

But every now and again, I read something that makes me want to toss my head against my desk – not too hard, but hard enough – because they’re either mistakes I’ve made before… or mistakes I make now (and realize it while reading someone else’s words)… or mistakes I haven’t made and probably would’ve made in the future if I weren’t thinking consciously.

So.. having said that… consider this my collective screaming, shouting, and fussing from a year’s worth of e-mails and comments where y’all just know you are wrong. You know you are. Hopefully you’ll giggle with me a little, and come on out of the woodwork admitting how you know you’re wrong.

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