Highbrow Hippie Blog

Highbrow Hippie started as a blog in 2012 but our story began long before that.   Our friendship began nearly three decades ago, during our time at Spelman College, when we were sales associates at the same clothing store in Atlanta. As life would have it, we both went our separate ways after school, with Myka heading to Paris for grad school and Kadi heading to the Aveda Institute in NYC and eventually, working at Frederic Fekkai. 

The other day, we were reading the comments and questions left on the blog and felt warmed by all the insightful input. Whether it was a question about aligning your period cycle to the moon phases or stories left by an old friend about the days, of living and working in NYC, we felt grateful for the reciprocity of this community.  

We’ve been talking about awareness lately and what it means to hold presence and incorporate conscious living into our daily lives.  For us, that extends to the choices we make around the brands we choose to support, the products we use, and the rituals we engage with.  Making these choices takes extra time and conscious effort and requires a certain kind of strength to stand strong in protection of our values.  It requires us to ask questions.  Why am I buying this product?  Are the ingredients thoughtful and health conscious? How do I decipher a product’s EWG rating?  Does this brand practice what they preach?  Does this company support the integrity of the planet?

This month, we’re discussing the third pillar of our brand, the one that ties our ethos and values together: conscious living. It’s the lens through which we filter both the world of beauty and wellness and how we, as a brand, remain connected to a greater sense of community.  For us, conscious living is about the choices we make as individuals and the self-awareness that we bring to each of them. It’s about deciding who we are in each moment and living with integrity - in our thoughts, our words, our actions - as best as we can.  

Last night, after 3 long years, we were finally able to again have our annual gathering and in-person patio chat in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.And what a special evening it was. As often stated, we view our atelier not as hair salon, but a space that is a ‘salon’ in the true sense of the word. A gathering place, a safe space to share and talk, openly and honestly, and sometimes that means having hard conversations.