Portraits of Beauty Hair Studio

2011-05-26T23:29:00.000-04:00

National Cherry Blossom Photo Contest

2011-04-11T18:28:00.001-04:00

I decided to enter the National Cherry Blossom Photo Contest on FotoDC.com and these are pictures I decided to submit..

Click here to see on site.. http://cherryblossom.fotodc.org/entries.shtml

Spring has Sprung and so have the Cherry Blossoms

2011-04-09T22:48:00.003-04:00

I had the great pleasure of working with some of the best women on this photo shoot.. The theme is of course Cherry Blossom with storyline of "Madeline"

Photographer: JaTawny M. Chatmon

Styling: Isabelle Philogene

Hair: Belinda Morton

Make Up: Joie Hayes

Gospel Benefit Concert Held to Promote Prostate Cancer Awareness - Bowie, MD Patch

2011-03-03T09:54:00.000-05:00

My Family's Benefit concert from Feb 27, 2011
Photo Credits by me
Gospel Benefit Concert Held to Promote Prostate Cancer Awareness - Bowie, MD Patch

Cristopher Randolph WF4HC Benefit Promo 4

2011-02-23T10:35:00.000-05:00

Joe Dudley

2011-02-03T12:08:00.003-05:00

Joe Dudley


Dr. Joe Louis Dudley, Sr. Founder and CEO, Dudley Beauty Corporation (Dudley Products)	I Am, I Can and I Will by Joe Dudley's Book	S.B. Fuller, Mr. Dudley's mentor and founder of Fuller Products. He was the richest Black man of his time.

Dr. Joe Louis Dudley grew up in a three room farm house in Aurora, North Carolina with thirteen other people including his parents, ten sisters and brothers and grandfather. He was held back in the first grade, labeled "mentally retarded" and had a speech impediment. People thought, "Now, here's a kid who'll never amount to anything in life." But his mother Clara had high expectations of her son and encouraged him to "prove them wrong!"

He did more than that. Joe Dudley, Sr. founded Dudley Products, a company that distributes 400 professional and retail ethnic hair care products and personal care cosmetics directly to cosmetologists, barbers and beauty schools in the United States and foreign countries including Europe, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Brazil. The company's empire includes: Dudley Cosmetology University, Dudley Beauty School System and the Dudley Brand. Recently, the Dudley products were featured in "Good Hair," Chris Rock's comedy film.

Named for Joe Louis, the prizefighter, Dr. Dudley's climb to this successful plateau wouldn't be an easy one or hard to forget. His trek to becoming an entrepreneur began early. He remembers that his father, a farmer never wanted any of his children to be beholden to other people for their livelihoods. "We believed in working for ourselves. My daddy worked for himself. My granddaddy worked for himself. And of the eight boys in our family, we all became self-employed in some form or fashion," he proudly states.

Determined to fulfill his parents' dream that all of their children become educated, Dudley enrolled in North Carolina A&T State University as a poultry science major with a future eye on owning a farm. Working his way through school, he used the skills learned from his family's farm to collect eggs and feed chickens on the college's grounds for fifty cents an hour.

While pursuing his studies, fate intervened and changed his life forever. It was around that time that he learned about Fuller Products, a prosperous company run by the late S.B. Fuller who was one of the richest African Americans of his time. Seeking out an opportunity with the renowned entrepreneur by journeying to New York, Dr. Dudley became inspired by Fuller's philosophy. He paid the initial sum of ten dollars to join the organization and began working as a door-to-door sales person. "I started working for them in 1957. They talked about being self-sufficient and that meant a great deal to me," he remembers. "On my first day, I made about one dollar and ten cents. My first week, I made twenty seven dollars." However, his sales and confidence soon skyrocketed and he began making $100 a week, which helped him comfortably pay for his tuition. Realizing his success and newly found love of selling, he readily switched his major to business administration.

Once college was completed, Dudley returned to New York to join Fuller Products on a full-time basis and rapidly rose up the company's ladder to success becoming a team member. Along the way, he gained the respect of Fuller who became his mentor and guiding light.

Five years later, Dudley returned to North Carolina and started a Fuller distributorship. However, there were difficulties during this time with getting those products for his sales force. He bought a small cosmetics company as well as set his sights on owning a much larger business. "I was already selling products and knew what customers wanted. So, that wasn't a big problem. And Mr. Fuller gave his blessings."

And with that important support, he was on his way to starting Dudley Products. "The problem was that I had to learn how to manufacture and formulate products. But Mr. Fuller had shared some of his technology with me. And I just remembered how he did it. I went to the library to research and also bought some formulations from other companies."

Determined to make it despite the overwhelming odds, the struggling entrepreneur began an inspirational journey to making Dudley Products a reality. And it's the kind of story of which successes are made. He explains those modest company beginnings: " I started making the products on my kitchen stove. I didn't have the money so I went to beauty salons and they gave me their old containers. Then I would take old milk jugs and make shampoo. We just took what we had. My wife Dr. Eunice Mosley Dudley would type the labels. My kids would put the tops on the containers. I would make the products by night and sell them during the day."

With that kind of drive and determination, his company mushroomed to one with almost 500 employees, a chain of beauty salons and the college. But just when he was having the most successful year, Joe Dudley put his life on hold and rushed to the side of S.B. Fuller, whose company was experiencing financial difficulties. In 1976, sales at Fuller Products had plummeted from 1962 sales of $10 million to $1.5 million. Answering his mentor's call for help, the enterprising Dudley packed up everything and relocated to Chicago. Using his expertise and business savvy, he helped boost Fuller Products' sales to $2 million, was glad to do what was necessary to help his old friend, mentor and inspirational leader. "Everything I know came from that man. There's no question that he changed my life. He is gone now but I still follow his program," he says.

After doing what he could to resurrect Fuller Products, Dudley returned home to continue building his own company. And that success is due in part to a unique philosophy of marketing and selling his products directly to the cosmetologists and eliminating the middleman. "We had several beauty salons and I decided to make some great products for my own shops. And the people liked them and they kind of caught on."

An astute businessman who strives to help others, he always seeks out ways too motivate people in his own company. Like a true leader, he gives his sales managers the latitude to operate, as if running their own organizations. He inspires his other employees with an incredible, catching team spirit slogans like "We are Job Makers, Not Job Takers!"

Besides being a business entrepreneur, Joe Dudley is a humanitarian who is very generous with his time and money. He has regularly sent about forty students to college at North Carolina A&T and Bennett College. For many years, his Dudley Fellows Program has been renowned for helping high school students learn leadership and life skills. And he launched the ComPass program to help college-bound students prepare for careers in accounting and at the same time help to increase the number of African American professionals in the field. In the future, Dr. Dudley plans to make 250 millionaires which was the dream of S.B. Fuller.

Joe Louis Dudley, Sr. not only started a business, he helped other African Americans in their ventures. "I made an early decision to strengthen the revenues of African American beauty salons: " I decided that we would do a lot with the cosmetologist. The manufacturers would use them to introduce the products. Then after the items caught on, they would take the products and put them in the retail stores. So, I wanted to help the cosmetologists to become more successful, create a line exclusively for them and make a better quality product. In this way, they wouldn't have to compete with the drug stores." And thousands of cosmetologists are thankful to him for doing this.

For his business acumen and humanitarian work, Dr. Joe Louis Dudley has many impressive honors and awards. In 1991, President Bush honored him with the 467th "Point of Light" for his Dudley Fellows Program, a mentoring program for high school students. He is the recipient of the prestigious "Horatio Alger Award", an honorary doctorate from Edward Waters College in Florida, the "North Carolina Master Entrepreneur of The Year" award presented by Inc. Magazine, Ernst and Young, and Merrill Lynch, "The Maya Angelou Tribute To Achievement Award", "the National Beta Gamma Sigma Medallion Award" and "Award for Excellence" from Minorities and Women in Business, the Direct Sales Association's "Vision For Tomorrow Award", a "Non-Merchandise Supplier Grant Award" from J.C. Penny and an induction into the National Black College Award Hall of Fame and many, many other awards.

Today, the Dudley family members who helped him in the early, unpredictable days are still involved with the business. Ursula Dudley Oglesby, a Harvard Law School graduate has taken over the company's day-to-day operations as president.

"I took a little bag of ten dollars. I didn't have to borrow money and it kept on growing," Dr. Dudley says of his initial investment in Fuller Products. And I know that if S.B. Fuller as well as Dudley's parents and grandparents are looking down from heaven, they have to be proud of the man who people thought would never make it.

Dr. Dudley's book is entitled I Am, I Can, I Will: Walking By Faith. I encourage each of you to get it.

Madam CJ Walker

2011-02-03T11:57:00.003-05:00

Madam CJ Walker

Madam C.J. Walker: A Brief Biographical Essay
by A'Lelia Bundles
For more details, please read the book On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker

NEW!!! Audio & Video Interviews about Madam Walker
Click for Natalie Cofield's DC Commission for Women Panel Interview with A'Lelia Bundles

Click for HGTV video history of Madam Walker

Click for Chris Curtis's Web Business Ownership Radio Interview with A'Lelia Bundles

Born Sarah Breedlove on December 23, 1867 on a Delta, Louisiana plantation, this daughter of former slaves transformed herself from an uneducated farm laborer and laundress into one of the twentieth century's most successful, self-made women entrepreneurs.

Orphaned at age seven, she often said, "I got my start by giving myself a start." She and her older sister, Louvenia, survived by working in the cotton fields of Delta and nearby Vicksburg, Mississippi. At 14, she married Moses McWilliams to escape abuse from her cruel brother-in-law, Jesse Powell.

Her only daughter, Lelia (later known as A'Lelia Walker) was born on June 6, 1885. When her husband died two years later, she moved to St. Louis to join her four brothers who had established themselves as barbers. Working for as little as $1.50 a day, she managed to save enough money to educate her daughter in the city's public schools. Friendships with other black women who were members of St. Paul A.M.E. Church and the National Association of Colored Women exposed her to a new way of viewing the world.

During the 1890s, Sarah began to suffer from a scalp ailment that caused her to lose most of her hair. She experimented with many homemade remedies and store-bought products, including those made by Annie Malone, another black woman entrepreneur. In 1905 Sarah moved to Denver as a sales agent for Malone, then married her third husband, Charles Joseph Walker, a St. Louis newspaperman. After changing her name to "Madam" C. J. Walker, she founded her own business and began selling Madam Walker's Wonderful Hair Grower, a scalp conditioning and healing formula, which she claimed had been revealed to her in a dream. Madam Walker, by the way, did NOT invent the straightening comb or chemical perms, though many people incorrectly believe that to be true.

To promote her products, the new "Madam C.J. Walker" traveled for a year and a half on a dizzying crusade throughout the heavily black South and Southeast, selling her products door to door, demonstrating her scalp treatments in churches and lodges, and devising sales and marketing strategies. In 1908, she temporarily moved her base to Pittsburgh where she opened Lelia College to train Walker "hair culturists."

By early 1910, she had settled in Indianapolis, then the nation's largest inland manufacturing center, where she built a factory, hair and manicure salon and another training school. Less than a year after her arrival, Walker grabbed national headlines in the black press when she contributed $1,000 to the building fund of the "colored" YMCA in Indianapolis.

In 1913, while Walker traveled to Central America and the Caribbean to expand her business, her daughter A'Lelia, moved into a fabulous new Harlem townhouse and Walker Salon, designed by black architect, Vertner Tandy. "There is nothing to equal it," she wrote to her attorney, F.B. Ransom. "Not even on Fifth Avenue."

Walker herself moved to New York in 1916, leaving the day-to-day operations of the Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company in Indianapolis to Ransom and Alice Kelly, her factory forelady and a former school teacher. She continued to oversee the business and to work in the New York office. Once in Harlem, she quickly became involved in Harlem's social and political life, taking special interest in the NAACP's anti-lynching movement to which she contributed $5,000.

In July 1917, when a white mob murdered more than three dozen blacks in East St. Louis, Illinois, Walker joined a group of Harlem leaders who visited the White House to present a petition advocating federal anti-lynching legislation.

As her business continued to grow, Walker organized her agents into local and state clubs. Her Madam C. J. Walker Hair Culturists Union of America convention in Philadelphia in 1917 must have been one of the first national meetings of businesswomen in the country. Walker used the gathering not only to reward her agents for their business success, but to encourage their political activism as well. "This is the greatest country under the sun," she told them. "But we must not let our love of country, our patriotic loyalty cause us to abate one whit in our protest against wrong and injustice. We should protest until the American sense of justice is so aroused that such affairs as the East St. Louis riot be forever impossible."

By the time she died at her estate, Villa Lewaro, in Irvington-on-Hudson, New York, she had helped create the role of the 20th Century, self-made American businesswoman; established herself as a pioneer of the modern black hair-care and cosmetics industry; and set standards in the African-American community for corporate and community giving.

Tenacity and perseverance, faith in herself and in God, quality products and "honest business dealings" were the elements and strategies she prescribed for aspiring entrepreneurs who requested the secret to her rags-to-riches ascent. "There is no royal flower-strewn path to success," she once commented. "And if there is, I have not found it for if I have accomplished anything in life it is because I have been willing to work hard."

Order On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker from our website store: SHOP

BLOGGERS, STUDENTS AND WEBMASTERS: We are happy for you to use this biography on your sites, but please do the right thing and include the following website and author information in your credits (www.madamcjwalker.com and A'Lelia Bundles).

We also recommend
1) Harvard Business School: Madam Walker Case Study (June 25, 2007)
2) U. S. State Dept: "Business Savvy to Philanthropy" (March 1, 2010)

"I am a woman who came from the cotton fields of the South. From there I was promoted to the washtub. From there I was promoted to the cook kitchen. And from there I promoted myself into the business of manufacturing hair goods and preparations....I have built my own factory on my own ground."

Madam Walker,
National Negro Business League Convention,
July 1912

YouTube - AM Radeo: The History of Black Hair.avi

2011-02-03T11:40:00.002-05:00

YouTube - AM Radeo: The History of Black Hair.avi

Madam C. J. Walker - greatfemaleinventors.com

2011-02-03T11:19:00.000-05:00

Madam C. J. Walker - greatfemaleinventors.com

Madam C. J. Walker was born Sarah Breedlove on December 23, 1867 in Delta, Louisiana. She was the daughter of Owen and Minerva Breedlove, former slaves who worked as sharecropper. Both of Sarah's parents died when she was a child and thus she moved from household to household until she was seven years old and moved in with her sister Louvina and her husband. Louvina's husband was abusive to Sarah so she ran away and married a man named Moses McWilliams in 1882. Three years later, Sarah gave birth to a daughter Leila but two years later Moses was murdered by a white lynch mob.

After the loss of her husband, Sarah and Leila moved to St. Louis, Missouri where Sarah worked as a cook and house cleaner. Unfortunately, all of the stress and hardship took is toll on Sarah and she found that clumps of her hair ha begun falling out. After trying several products which claimed to stop hair loss failed to work, a solution came to Sarah in a dream. In her dream, "big Black man appeared to me and told me what to mix up for my hair. Some of the remedy was grown in Africa, but I sent for it, put it on my scalp, and in a few weeks my hair was coming in faster than it had ever fallen out." Sarah tried out her her formula on a group of her friends and discovered that their hair grew back as well. She further realized that there were very few Black hair care products on the market and she saw an opportunity to develop business, selling products to Black women. In 1905, Sarah brother died and she moved to Denver to live with her sister-in-law. When she moved to Denver she had only two dollars in her pocket but rather than give up her business dreams she worked as a cook during the day and worked on her business at night. She met a newspaperman named Charles Joseph "C. J." Walker and married him on January 4, 1906. Mr. Walker was known as a great marketer and the newlyweds set up the "Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company" and placed advertisements in Black newspapers throughout the country. The two worked successfully but had different views regarding the growth of the company. Sarah had placed all of her heart and soul into building the company and wanted to continue doing so. As such she divorced Charles in order to apply all of her attention to the business, but kept him on as a sales agent for the company, a testament to his capabilities. Using many of his ideas and principles (including using a door-to-door sales program) Sarah increased sales and eventually brought on her daughter Leila (a recent college graduate) as a manager.

With her daughter running much of the company, Sarah was able to travel across the country and throughout Latin America and the Caribbean marketing her products and developing new ones. As her company expanded, she looked to help other women break through the constraints of their own lives in a male dominated society and did so by hiring them for her company. In 1908, Sarah created Leila College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and the school trained women to sell Walker's products door-to-door and within two years she had more than 1,000 agents working for her. With the growth in her in her sales force and in her business, she decided to move her headquarters to Indianapolis, Indiana. Sales continued to surge and remarkably whereas Sarah McWilliams had only two dollars in her pocket nine years prior, Madam C. J. Walker had become worth more than one million dollars in 1914. She had created an industry to supply Black hair care products to a growing mass of consumers. Her products ranged from hair conditioners and hot combs to facial creams made specifically for Black consumers.

After years of suffering and heartbreak, Sarah had looked for a way out of her bleak existence and as Madam C. J. Walker, she not only succeeded, but did so beyond her wildest dreams. In addition to building her business, she also built a huge 34 room mansion off of the Hudson River in New York. Madam C. J. Walker died on May 25, 1919 and was mourned throughout the Black community as a pioneer, and innovator and an inspiration. For society in general, she was simply a great businesswoman.

Marjorie Joyner- Great Female Inventors

2011-02-03T11:16:00.000-05:00

Marjorie Joyner- Great Female Inventors

On October 24, 1896, Marjorie Stewart was born Monterey, Virginia, the granddaughter of a slave and a slave-owner. At the age of 16 Marjorie moved to Chicago, Illinois to pursue a career in cosmetology. In 1916, Marjorie became the first Black woman to graduate from the A. B. Molar Beauty School. Following graduation, the 20 year old Marjorie married a podiatrist named Robert E. Joyner and she opened a beauty salon soon thereafter. Marjorie was introduced to Madam C. J. Walker, the well-known Black hair care products entrepreneur. At the height he fame Walker owned nearly 200 hair salons and serving many of the well-known Black figures of the time. When Madam Walker died in 1919, Marjorie was hired to oversee the Madam C. J. Walker Beauty Colleges as the National Supervisor.

During the 1920's, Black women had a real difficulty with their hair. If they wanted to straighten their tightly-curled hair they would have to use a stove-heated curling iron. In 1926, Joyner decided to make this process faster and easier and ultimately more efficient. One of the frustrating things with traditional curling irons was that only one could be used at a time. Marjorie envisioned arranging several curling irons above a woman's head, they could work in unison to straighten her hair all at once. Joyner remembered that “It all came to me in the kitchen when I was making a pot roast one day, looking at these long, thin rods that held the pot roast together and heated it up from the inside. I figured you could use them like hair rollers, then heat them up to cook a permanent curl into the hair.” Thus, she sought a solution to not only straighten but also provide a curl in a convenient manner.

Joyner approached this solution by connecting 16 rods to one electric cord inside of a standard drying hood. A client would wear the hood for a specified period of time, resulting in hair that was now either straightened or curled. She began working on her invention in 1926 and after two years of trial and error she completed it. In 1928 she received a patent for her device which she called the "Permanent Waving Machine." Her device was enormously successful and performed even better than Marjorie thought. The curl that was added to the hair would end up lasting and staying in place for days. In contrast, a curl from a traditional single curling iron might last only one day. Joyner's success was not limited to Madam C. J. Walker's company (all of the proceeds of the device went to the company as the patents lay within the scope of her employment) but was extremely popular in white beauty salons as well as white patrons enjoyed a "permanent curl" as well.

While the device was quite popular, the procedure could prove to be rather painful, so Marjorie developed a "scalp protector" to make the experience more pleasant. Once again, Marjorie Joyner met with success. in 1945 Joyner co-founded the United Beauty School Owners and Teachers Association along with Mary Bethune McLeod, the noted educator. Marjorie contribute to contribute to the Black community by raising funds for Black colleges and even founded the Alpha Chi Pi Omega Sorority and Fraternity . The organization for created to bring professional standards for beautician. Joyner was awarded a bachelor's degree in psychology from Bethune-Cookman college in 1973 at the ripe old age of 77. She died on December 7, 1994 having served as a role model and inspiration to generations of beauticians and inventors.

Black History Month

2011-02-01T12:01:00.002-05:00

Annie Turnbo Malone (1869 – 1957) - Famous Missourians - The State Historical Society of Missouri

Annie Turnbo Malone (1869 – 1957)

Annie Turnbo Malone

(click for larger picture)

A chemist and entrepreneur, Annie Turnbo Malone became a millionaire by successfully developing and marketing hair products for black women in St. Louis. She used her wealth to promote the advancement of African Americans and gave away most of her money to charity.

Born on August 9, 1869, in Metropolis, Illinois, Annie Minerva Turnbo was the tenth of eleven children born to Robert and Isabella Turnbo. Her parents died when she was young, and an older sister raised her. Annie attended high school in Peoria, Illinois, but she was often sick and missed class. Though she did not graduate, she did discover she was good at chemistry.

Around the turn of the twentieth century, Annie Turnbo developed a hair product to straighten African American women's hair without damaging it like the products then available. She eventually created an entire line of hair care and beauty products specifically for black women. Recognizing she needed a larger market in which to sell her products, Turnbo moved her business to St. Louis in 1902. The city’s economy was booming in preparation for the 1904 World’s Fair.

As a black woman, Turnbo was denied access to regular distribution channels. To sell her products, she and her assistants went door-to-door, giving demonstrations. Business grew steadily. After a positive response at the World’s Fair, Turnbo’s Poro company went national.

In 1914 Annie Turnbo married Aaron E. Malone, a St. Louis school principal. By the end of World War I, she was a millionaire and one of the most successful black women of her time. Malone was extremely generous with her money and helped a variety of African American organizations and charities, including the St. Louis Colored Orphans Home.

Annie Malone established Poro College in St. Louis in 1918. The cosmetology school and training center offered black women a place to advance themselves. The facilities also housed Malone’s business operations and served as a place for the African American community to gather for various civic functions.

Malone’s multimillion-dollar business empire was put at risk in 1927 when her husband filed for divorce and demanded half of the business. The high-profile dispute resulted in a settlement of two hundred thousand dollars. Seeking a fresh start, Malone moved her business headquarters to Chicago in 1930. Financial troubles continued to follow her. The aftermath of the 1929 stock market crash hit the company hard, as did a series of lawsuits.

Despite these financial setbacks, Malone remained in business and had thirty-two branches of the Poro school throughout the country in the mid-1950s. She also continued to support charities in St. Louis and around the nation throughout her lifetime. She died in Chicago on May 10, 1957.

Annie Turnbo Malone’s legacy as a pioneer in the African American beauty and cosmetic business has largely been overshadowed by the success of her former employee, Madam C. J. Walker. This is beginning to change, however, and Malone is now being recognized for her role in launching the industry.

Malone’s charitable legacy also continues. The St. Louis Orphans Home, which was renamed after her in 1946, is now the Annie Malone Children and Family Service Center. The street on which the center is located was renamed Annie Malone Drive in her honor.

Text and research by Elizabeth Engel

References and Resources

Society & Manuscript Collection Resources

Articles from the Newspaper Collection

"Check That Made History." St. Louis Argus. April 13, 1917. p. 1
"Poro College Grand Opening." St. Louis Argus. November 29, 1918. pp. 1, 4.
"Mrs. Annie Malone, Poro Founder, Dies." St. Louis Post-Dispatch. May 12, 1957. p. 6B.
"Mrs. Malone Buried From Chicago's Bethel." St. Louis Argus. May 17, 1957. pp. 1, 8.
Woods, Howard B. "The St. Louis Woman." St. Louis Argus. May 17, 1957. p. 8.

Books

Christensen, Lawrence O., William E. Foley, Gary R. Kremer, and Kenneth H. Winn, eds. Dictionary of Missouri Biography. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1999. pp. 517-518. [REF F508 D561]
Trout, Carlynn. Notable Women of Missouri. Columbia, MO: Columbia, Missouri Branch of the American Association of University Women, 2005. pp. 13-14. [REF F508 T758 2005]
Whites, LeeAnn, Mary C. Neth, and Gary R. Kremer, eds. Women in Missouri History: In Search of Power and Influence. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 2004. pp. 168-70, 173, 175-179. [REF F590.2 W588]

The State Historical Society of Missouri, Manuscript Collection

St. Louis Black History Project Collection (SL201)
The Black History Project at The State Historical Society of Missouri, Manuscript Collection-St. Louis contains information regarding the life and career of Annie Malone, as well as many other prominent African Americans in St. Louis history.

Outside Resources

Annie Malone Children and Family Service Center
Information about Annie Malone’s contributions to the children’s home and the city of St. Louis can be found here.

TwtQpon :: Give $10 get back $10

2011-01-18T19:10:00.000-05:00

Check out our referral coupons

TwtQpon :: Give $10 get back $10

"Best Winter Activity Photo" contest

2011-01-18T18:11:00.002-05:00

These are two images that I shot and have decided to enter into the
"Best Winter Activity Photo" contest
so if you like them please click on the link below each pic and vote 5
Thanks Belinda


"Tis the season" Click here to vote for "Tis the season"

asnfk
"The ultimate child's play" Click to vote for "The ultimate child's play"

Walking by Faith: I of III Benefit Concerts

2011-01-18T18:07:00.000-05:00

Warriors Fighting for HIS Cure, Inc (WF4HC)~

Invites you to attend a Benefit Concert in Loving Memory of James "Rudy" Muckelvene, the late Co-Founder and President of WF4HC. The I of III Benefit Concert will be Sunday, January 23, 2011 and will be held at Sharon Bible Fellowship Church, 6117 Seabrook Road, Lanham MD 20706. The Concert will start at 5PM and the doors will open at 4:30pm. This concert will be free to the public, and those that wish to make donations to Warriors Fighting for HIS Cure, Inc. May do so.

Warriors Fighting for HIS Cure, Inc was Incorporated December 17, 2010, 3 days prior to James Muckelvene's passing. He had the opportunity and strength to sign the paperwork as an Owner. He also helped with writing up the Warrior Mission (please see below). We thank you for your continued support. If you wish to make a donation, and will not be able to make it to the concerts, please make a check or money order ou to Warriors Fighting for HIS Cure, Inc and mail to 6311 South Osborne Road, Upper Marlboro, Maryland 20772. You can see James's walk on this blog, 4wewalkbyfaith.blogspot.com and if you prefer to make a donation on line (credit card or paypal), there is a link in the article on Bowie Patch, below.

We look forward to seeing you at the concerts

Walking by Faith: I of III Benefit Concerts

This is a special Blog entry please Read!! Thank you!!

2010-11-15T12:57:00.000-05:00

My uncle was diagnosed with a rare type of Prostate Cancer early this year.. We are looking for as many resources as possible for him.. So if you or someone you know have any information or assistance that would be beneficial please click on the link below and read his story and contact them.. Thank you for your support.. Men please get checked!!!

Walking by Faith Blog

Click here to read the blog.. Thank you

I love what I do updated..

2010-11-08T02:21:00.002-05:00

Even tho I love doing hair.. I really enjoy doing photography as well.. So much so that I have decided to sell some of my images on this site and I hope you enjoy them.. Please feel free to share them as well..

Click here to view and purchase prints..

Thank you for your support and encouragement..

Showcase your work..

2010-11-08T01:17:00.000-05:00

Even if you only have your camera phone, you should always take pics of your work..
Click here to join our Portraits of Beauty on Facebook

I love what I do... do you?

2010-06-26T18:24:00.000-04:00

I have been a hair stylist for almost 10 years and I love doing it, but I have also had a love for photography, that I have just recently begun to dabble in.. Last fall I starting taking pics using my point and shoot Nikon powershot camera.. I did a good job with the pics and thought they were good enough to sell as stock photography, but boy did I get a reality check.. I submitted those images to a website and they rejected my submissions because the resolution quality was low and they had enough pics in the different categories..

I did not get discouraged because I LOVE taking pictures, so I decided to invest in a Canon Rebel OS slr camera and have not stop shooting since.. Here you will see some of my work and I would love to hear your thoughts..

Is all hair the same?

2010-06-25T01:13:00.000-04:00

Well as a hair stylist, I know that all hair is not the same.. Hair has different textures, lengths, color and density, but when you are in the field of cosmetology you should never limit yourself to one type of clientele..
I would suggest that even if your clientele is not diverse, you should have knowledge on how to do all textures..

In May I had a Caucasian client come into the salon to get her hair done for a wedding and I could see the shocked look on her face when she walked in and saw all African American faces.. Since I knew she was a little nervous I engaged her in conversation to make her at ease.. Well needless to say, she stayed and I did her hair and this is what she had to say about her experience..

Hi Belinda!

Here is the only picture of me on my camera which I promised to send you. I got many compliments and Bob's daughter did not recognize me...she said I looked gorgeous with my hair! I want to thank you for taking the time to give me such a beautiful 'do'. Bob loved the curls which I kept another day wearing a headband. If only I could produce such curls myself!

I must admit I was a little nervous when I entered the plaza and did not see any "white" people (not sure how to say that...sorry) in the salons. It gave me an appreciation how it must feel when the roles are reversed which happens a lot where I live in PA. However, you made it a very pleasant experience, I had fun, and I consider you a great hairdresser and friend. Thank you!

Any time you need a "blonde" model, let me know. If it's feasible, I'd be happy to be your model. And I will bring my blonde hair pins with me ;-).

Kind regards,

Customer on 5/29

Give to Receive recession Special update 2!!!

2009-12-01T11:09:00.000-05:00

I would like to thank everyone that gave donations for the charity drive.. The special is still going on until January 2010.. So bring in your donations and receive $10 off your hair service of $45 or more.. I had the first pickup on November 30, and I plan to have one more between now and Jan, so please continue to help those in need..

Thanks

Belinda

www.pobsalon.com

Give to Receive recession Special update!!!

2009-11-10T09:10:00.000-05:00

I would like to thank the clients that have brought in donations thus far.. Please continue to donate your unwanted items and nonperishable foods.. This is the time of year that people are without.. Thanksgiving and Christmas is approaching so lets do our part and give what we can..

Thanks Belinda

Portraits of Beauty Hair studio

925 Fairlawn Ave.

Laurel Md. 20707

301-483-8333

www.pobsalon.com

Give to Receive recession Special!!!

2009-11-05T12:44:00.000-05:00

Good morning everyone, cold weather has approached us and I feel it is time to go through our things and donate to people that are struggling now to make ends meet.. Here at Portraits of Beauty Hair Studio I am offering a "Give to Receive recession Special"

The details are that you bring in 5 or more or items ie.. unopened non perishable food, toys or clothes to donate and I will donate the items to a local charity and you will ...receive $10 off of your service of $45 or more.. The special will run from November 2, until January 1, 2010.

Lets do what we can to give what we can.

Thank you.. www.pobsalon.com