New Cathy Howse Book

[chayil0427]

I read her first book, and I was kinda disappointed. IMO her advice only went as far as it needed to to promote her products, and it was really poorly written. Yet, I would still be interested in reading the new book to see what improvements she's made.

Chayil

 

[Honi]

I'm not going to buy it. I'm going to wait for someone to review it. lol

I wonder if she is going to develop a new product line for natural hair.

 

[ladyboo]

Yes, I am definitely buying this book.

 

[1god1]

I just checked EBAY...copies of her old books are being sold...but not new. At least not yet.

 

[karolmel]

How do you get your natural hair so curly? Is this shingling?

 

[cocoberry10]

I started out with her method and I certainly appreciate that she was a pioneer in hair care. However I have learned so much more on the hair care boards.

I suspect her book will probably include some of the wonderful tips we already know and have already been posted on the board.

By the way your hair is very is lovely.

I feel the exact same way as you Yellowflowers! I probably won't buy this book, especially since I'm not natural, but texturized. I also have her first book, and it was a great start, but I have learned so much more by joining this hair board and just learning what my own hair needs individually. There probably isn't a magic formula for growing hair, we just need the basic rules plus whatever works for your own head of hair.

I think she has done a lot of good for Black women in terms of haircare, but I also think there is better info out there.

 

[Legend]

I just looked at her web site for info about the new (which I will NOT be purchasing), and noticed this news item:

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Coming to Circle of Sisters Expo
Personal Appearance by Cathy Howse[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]#
Javitz Convention Center - New York, NY
October 6th and 7th, 2006
Click here to learn more!

***Come see how long her REAL Relaxer-Free hair is***[/FONT]

​

Oh, Man!!!! Her hair is advertised like it's some kind of carnival side show!!!!!! What a hoot!!!!!! ​

 

[B_Phlyy]

"Come see her real relaxer free hair"? Why would I do that when I could just log on to LHCF and see beautiful naturals who give better advice.

I agree, she is a hoot.

 

[princcessnadia]

I just looked at her web site for info about the new (which I will NOT be purchasing), and noticed this news item:


[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Coming to Circle of Sisters Expo[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]

Personal Appearance by Cathy Howse​

[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]#[/FONT]​

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]

Javitz Convention Center - New York, NY

October 6th and 7th, 2006
Click here to learn more!​

***Come see how long her REAL Relaxer-Free hair is***​

[/FONT]

​

Oh, Man!!!! Her hair is advertised like it's some kind of carnival side show!!!!!! What a hoot!!!!!! ​

​

I checked out her website before I joined the boards for information and from what I understand I was better off joining the hair boards.
​

 

[sexibeach]

everyone has a right to their opinion, but i think Cathy has contributed to a lot of woman looking at their hair growth in the right light..and that's all that really is important.. i just find it very discouraging when a black woman is trying to achieve something and can't get the black community to support other blacks. then we want to be mad at the koreans for taking over the black hair care industry, when its easy to see why they are the leader's in this business, b/c we don't support each other.. this is something that makes me go mmmmmmmmh...

 

[so1913]

everyone has a right to their opinion, but i think Cathy has contributed to a lot of woman looking at their hair growth in the right light..and that's all that really is important.. i just find it very discouraging when a black woman is trying to achieve something and can't get the black community to support other blacks. then we want to be mad at the koreans for taking over the black hair care industry, when its easy to see why they are the leader's in this business, b/c we don't support each other.. this is something that makes me go mmmmmmmmh...

I find it discouraging when black folks try to get over on other black folks....something that makes me go hmmmmm as well.

I'm all for supporting black businesses, and I'm a huge advocate (anyone that knows me personally can speak on this and how strongly I feel about it) and encourage others to do so as well as doing so myself when I can. But if I feel something "just ain't right", black, white, asian, alien, or whatever, I'm not going to support it just because the color is right or out of "principle". Don't get me wrong, I wish her the best, we all have to eat, but I feel she's a shady character.

 

[InJesusName]

I have her first book, and though it introduced me to some healthy hair principles, I found LHCF to be a lot more helpful. I too found some of her comments a little rude and arrogant, and the book carried a "My way and no other way" tone. I have achieved healthy hair with lot less expensive products (cayenne and EVOO--HELLO!) and I just don't personally see the need to blow out someone else's candle to make your own shine brighter.

If Ms. Howse maybe took a more collaborative approach to hair care by recognizing that there are numerous products that can contribute to hair growth, I would endorse her product. I just personally don't agree with bad mouthing other products and methods to highlight your own. Wouldn't it be nicer to say "I have made the choice not to trim my ends" than essentially saying someone is DEAD WRONG for choosing to do so?

I dunno. Maybe I am just sensitive. Just MHO ladies!

 

[nefertitiblack]

everyone has a right to their opinion, but i think Cathy has contributed to a lot of woman looking at their hair growth in the right light..and that's all that really is important.. i just find it very discouraging when a black woman is trying to achieve something and can't get the black community to support other blacks. then we want to be mad at the koreans for taking over the black hair care industry, when its easy to see why they are the leader's in this business, b/c we don't support each other.. this is something that makes me go mmmmmmmmh...

I think she plays an important role because she is out there marketing herself in the "real" world. It's difficult for me to remember sometimes, but a lot of black women do not have a computer or internet access. Or they can not or will not come on a message board. They need access to this information also.

We live in pretty rare air here at LHCF. We see beautiful black hair all day every day. But a lot of black women still haven't gotten the message.

 

[Legend]

everyone has a right to their opinion, but i think Cathy has contributed to a lot of woman looking at their hair growth in the right light..and that's all that really is important.. i just find it very discouraging when a black woman is trying to achieve something and can't get the black community to support other blacks. then we want to be mad at the koreans for taking over the black hair care industry, when its easy to see why they are the leader's in this business, b/c we don't support each other.. this is something that makes me go mmmmmmmmh...

I agree with your opinion about supporting minority businesses. For me, personally, I wouldn’t buy her book simply because I’ve got enough hair books in my library already and really don’t need another. It’s nothing personal against Ms. Howse because she’s out there doing her thing and changing women’s lives, and that’s great. I certainly enjoyed her first book (which is in my library) and benefited tremendously. I've even encouraged other women to purchase it!

I support black entrepreneurs (I’m a burgeoning one myself), but I’m not going to purchase a product/service I may not need JUST to be supportive. With grad. school payments, I only have so much money to go around so I have to be a savvy consumer. I’ve used the UBH products before and raved about them, but the formula, quality, and consistency changed over the years, so I stopped. I’m not going to continue to purchase something that doesn’t work, regardless of who made it or is selling it.

 

[Jenai]

From her site:

Having healthy hair for the rest of your natural life is defined in Thinning Edges. With this book you are not limited to straight hair styles and you are not limited to natural hair styles. You decide daily what your look will be whether natural or straight. This versatility is not realized when you loc your hair or chemically relax.

Thinning Edges takes you beyond locs and relaxers to individuality.

Something about this new book just doesn't rub me the right way...

 

[Denim And Leather]

Another thing that bothered me about Cathy was how she spoke about Wanakee. I get the impression that she's bitter to have had the competition and it's not right for her to assume how much Wanakee knew or did not know about hair care, she comes off as very arrogant.

ETA- Found what she wrote, from her site:

Wanakee is a beautiful black model with waist length hair (which looks to be type 3 instead of type 4) that for many years was used as a celebrity model to sell products created by a company called HairOil.com (the website was then under Wanakee.com). The products even carried her name making people believe they were products she created and used and they helped her get her long beautiful hair. Sistahs bought it thinking she had some majic in the products to make her hair grow like that. (a marketing ploy used since before Madame CJ Walkers times) A small pamphlet was put together that was given away free that said trimming was necessary for the hair to grow! Obviously she was not knowledgeable about hair to suggest that trimming has anything to do with hair growth. Beverly Johnson is currently HairOil.coms celebrity and according to a page on their website, they have cut ties with her now and are removing her name from the products. It was quite humorous to use Beverly Johnson because everybody knows Beverly Johnson wears wigs! Now sistahs are mad because they thought Wanakee used these products! People know we want hair and they will sell you what you will buy. Wanakee did NO research nor product development. She was just another celebrity model that was used to market a product based on her looks and celebrity status and people bought into.

http://www.ubhpublications.com/HairTips/GeneralA.html

 

[ThickHair]

I went to her site expecting to see pictures. Boy was I dissappointed. Let me know when she post natural pictures. Her site is going to be an oxymoron if she is preaching natural hair care now and still has all the photos with her relaxed hair.

Hey, that's just me though.

 

[mightyisis6874]

I went to her site expecting to see pictures. Boy was I dissappointed. Let me know when she post natural pictures. Her site is going to be an oxymoron if she is preaching natural hair care now and still has all the photos with her relaxed hair.

Hey, that's just me though.

I agree. From a marketing/messaging perspective, her site does need an upgrade. If you go to the "hair tips" section, she says "Relaxers arent harmful unless they are misapplied or left unmaintained." If she's had a change of heart, fine. She just owes it to the people who purchased her book/products/hype to explain. Acting like she never said it will make would-be consumers avoid the book (and her message).

 

[texasqt]

Any updates ladies? For those of you who purchased the book or went to the convention, what's your take on "thinning edges"?

 

[texasqt]

bumping...

 

[Princess Pie]

I'm done with Cathy Howse. I still have her old book, but I won't be buying any new ones. When I need info, I search the board. I don't think her book can offer me anything I can't find here or on another board. I have no problems with her transitioning, but it does seem like she's contradicting herself. JMO

 

[leleepop]

Has anyone purchased this yet? Bumping for reviews.

 

[KhandiB]

I wonder if every other word will be dew

Im not buying it, but her book was the catalyst for my hair journey

 

[navsegda]

What bothers me is not only did she spend years talking about how you can have long healthy relaxed hair, it's the fact that her "transitioning" book is based of off the idea of relaxers causing damage...

Like you said.....

She's full of.....

If that wasn't her "selling" point, OR if she pulled her old books off the shelves because of her "new findings" on the damaging effects of relaxers, I could appreciate the existence of this book coming from HER
I guess she figured she couldn't make too much more money off of re-releasing updated editions of the same book....and with the surge of black woman transitioning to natural, what better way to make a buck. I'll give it to her, she's a smart one.

Very well said.

 

[bgsix]

I wonder if every other word will be dew

Im not buying it, but her book was the catalyst for my hair journey

What she said.

 

[msdeevee]

Well, I just ordered the book. I have her first book also...no It wasn't a great read and I was disappointed that the 1st book seemed to imply that you can only get the best results with her products. Ok, that being said I agree with a lot that you ladies have said but I am curious as to what she has to say about natural hair . I am becoming a natural hair fiend and I want to eat up as much info as I can about the care and feeding and then I take what I can use and leave the rest .

I don't find it contradictory that she was touting having healthy long relaxed hair (which I had) and now for whatever reasons health , aging, styling she is transitioning to natural hair. I loved my relaxed hair too but I got to a point that I saw my hair starting to thin on the top and decided that I wanted to stop the chems and cultivate and learn how to work with my natural hair and it takes a lot of work but I've never been happier with my hair. Bottom line is isn't everyone in business to make money? I hope this isn't just a re-hash of her old stuff but this won't be the last dollar I wasted reading about peoples miracle claims and prolly won't be the last.

I've never bought her prods but one of my natural friends did send me a good size sample of her moisturizer and it was pretty good. I purchased that along with the book. I'll let y'all know what I think of the book.

 

[texasqt]

bumping for MsDeeVee - what did ya' think?

Has anyone else read it yet?

 

[msdeevee]

Well, ladies I still defend her right to make money like every one else in America but with that being said ....I wasted another 20.00plus shipping.

The book I thought was about natural hair but for that amt. I got a 78pg. book containing 7 chapters , the 1st about the history of hair care basically a pic of Madame CJ walker (nothing we don't know) in that chap.she says that she loves her relaxed hair but she realized that having relaxed hair could result in serious consequences and she made a choice not to take that chance. 2nd chap is all about chemical relaxers, how safe are they (this is supposed to be a book about natural hair) next chapter is about Have great relaxed hair! (again this is supposed to be about naturals)finally the 4th chap.is Transition to natural hair which is sorely lacking , very simplistic method that has already been talked about here and some of her methods are questionable and not thorough enough and just too general . I did not learn one new thing. This one chapter about transitioning is 4 pages (8pages back to back) .The 5th chap. is Value-added transition tips still talking about extending your relaxer and straightening your hair with other methods ,nothing new and that you haven't read here .The 6th chap.is called Sister Talk a whole chap of Q&A mostly about relaxers and redundant info. about extending relaxers , why are my edges thinning? do I have to base my scalp ? can I go no-lye to lye? Like I said nothing new and not one thing that has not been answered here for relaxed heads.The 7th chap.is survey results (?) of on avg.1,000 people that are random and don't prove anything. The last 3 pgs are pics of her prods.

That is an honest wrap-up of her book. I would not recommend it to anyone the info is not thorough and sometimes questionable. I did not learn anything about natural or relaxed hair that I did not know before.
As to why she made the decision to stop relaxing her sister noticed that her edges were thinning and she was afraid that her next relaxer would permanently damage her hair ,so she decided to transition w/o cutting off her hair that she worked so long to grow. Save your money.

 

[texasqt]

Wow! Thanks, MsDeeVee - that's exactly what I needed to know. I'm surprised she didn't have 2 or 3 chapters on transitioning. I enjoyed reading her second book, but of course I purchased and read before finding LHCF. Anywho, thanks for saving me some $$$!

 

[InnerSoul]

I plan on buying it.. because I am curious as to what her information is. I have her other book which helped me greatly with my hair care.. so I def. want to see what this new book is about! I also want to get Carolyn Grays book to see what tips she has in it.