April 12, 2014 will go down in history as the day that Columbia South Carolina will forever be changed. The pageant celebrated the beauty and confidence of the lifestyle that comes with being a woman of natural hair. The founders of Quench Natural Beauty Boutique, founded the Miss Naturally Crowned Carolina in an effort to raise money for columbia’s first natural hair boutique owned and operated by natural sisters. The purpose, natural hair is more than a fad or trending topic it is a way of life, to revert back to natural is to embrace our hair the way it naturally grows out our scalp. How can going natural be wrong when we were all born this way?
The pageant took place at The S.C. Department of Archives & history, located in Columbia south carolina. The doors opened at 4:00 pm for audience members to shop the many vendors that came to support this momentous occasion. The vendors included; Paul Mitchell the school, Lamik cosmetics, Fig Columbia, Raw Foods Training Academy, Black Wear Co./The Black Box, Coco Curls, Avah’s Closet, Black Expo, MyAvana and Star-light creations. Each vendor thoroughly supported and embraced the natural lifestyle.
As time neared for the contestants to finally grace the stage beautiful naturalista’s of all ages filled the auditorium. During The opening segment the natural ladies in waiting we’re dressed in handmade African print skirts made by Avah’s Closet and custom jewelry borrowed from House of Gems.
The next segment featured the contestants in business dress specific to their chosen career at this time the girls answered pageant questions in which they displayed their confidence in the versatility of natural hair. While many others have held to the belief that natural hair is unprofessional the contestants each one by one debunked that theory. The final segment was of course evening wear, each lovely lady wore a dazzling evening gown. At this point it was an understatement to say that the judges had their work cutout for them.
The first award was given to the MyAvana fan favorite which was awarded to Ms. Alyssa Eskew. Second runner up is Ms. India Hill, First runner up is Iman Edgers and Miss Naturally Crowned Carolina is Chanelle Johnson. To see backstage photos of all the girls throughout the pageant download the pageant sponsored app “MyAvana” and follow “Miss Naturally Crowned”
The entire pageant was truly a beautiful event and I am proud to be a part of this historic movement in the making.