Written By Unknown on Tuesday 4 October 2011 | 07:40
#Teamnatural Do Dalston!
Last Saturday Natural Hair vlogger Stacey TheNaprika and I met up to check out the African Marketat The Open Gate in Dalston. It was a wonderfully bright and sunny day so I was looking forward to the equally bright and lovely African prints etc....just 1 little problem...The African Market was CLOSED! (LOL!)
The Open Gate
Oh Well! Without letting such a minor detail stop us, we headed straight to the regular Dalston Market and had a peak in the big PAK store, rumbled through some random accessory stalls.
Dalston Market
I really liked some of these Black Art Pics that were being sold.
The stall next to this one was selling natural products including pure shea butter, various oils such as tea-tree and castor and even whole aloe vera plants already potted.
When looking for Vegetable Glycerin, we got some very varied responses and in the end were unsucessful, but witnessing some of the "wotless"(for want of a better word)alternatives they tried to sell us instead was pretty entertaining.
Before leaving the market, we did pick up a few accessories, bracelets etc and a new pair of boots for Stacey (below).
Left: Stacey's new boots. Right: Centerprise Bookshop
We also managed to pick up some cheap applicator bottles and spray bottles from another hair shop not far from the market, before heading up to the Whole Food Market Shop in Stoke Newington. On the way there I noticed we passed the Centerprise Bookshop which is also worth checking out for books and art etc relating to Black culture.
New Art Deco Braclet & Pink Spray bottle
Although I knew about the Whole Food Market I hadn't realised they sold Giovanni's products until earlier this year in July, and I had even less idea that they had a branch in Stoke Newington, so big thanks to Stacey for showing me where it is.
Full Size AND Travel Size Giovanni's Products
Before the end of the afternoon, Stacey also introduced me to a BRILLIANTHerbalist shop which sells various raw ingredients. It was a total hidden gem, as it's quite a small shop but is stacked with great natural products and herbs, and even sells the raw ingredients in the good old fashion way of weighing out how much you want. It was Great!
Stacey was able to pick up marshmallow root and also some Cassia(aka "neutral henna"). I was really excited about this little shop of natural treasures because I'm planning to try out some Ayurvedic hair treatments and recipes in the future and this place is brilliant for picking up the ingredients.
All in all it was a wonderful afternoon and before leaving we had a quick chat about preparation for Naturally Fabulous coming up this weekend (Have you got your ticket?). Hopefully we'll both see you there too.
Many Thanks again to Stacey TheNaprika - check out her #NaturalHair Channel on YOUTUBE here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Cw2O3KKniE&feature=colike
Stacey was able to pick up marshmallow root and also some Cassia (aka "neutral henna"). I was really excited about this little shop of natural treasures because I'm planning to try out some Ayurvedic hair treatments and recipes in the future and this place is brilliant for picking up the ingredients.
