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.  

After years of being known as a blonde, right before my summer break I was recently tasked with creating a new hair color for the gorgeous and talented Tori Kelly. The directive from her team was to give her new, deeper brunette some dimension, and a little lift.  When returning to a natural darker color, it’s always important to think of the approach- as going too dark can sometimes dull the hair. The ideal landing place is a happy medium that incorporates lightness and movement, and mimics the nuances that hair would have, if left to its own devices. The goal was to have a mix/blend of Tori’s new and old looks, so she still felt fresh and youthful, and most importantly, like herself.

As you get older, you accumulate new scars, both invisible and obvious, that are reminders of all your life stories. On this trip around the sun, I got a few more stories and scars than bargained for.On the 3rd day of my annual bday vacation, while in Italy I hit a slippery spot and went face down on extremely sharp rocks. My face and entire left side of my body was a MESS. I was in shock when it happened and I’ve been kind of processing it quietly (and dealing with doctors etc) ever since. And though it was/is less than ideal, I’m thankfully, gratefully, fine.

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?