I am a lucky lady indeed. At the Lollapalooza festival here in Chicago, I got to see Erykah Badu take the stage and bring her feminine power and unique energy to this traditionally rock, electronic and male-dominated festival. Click here for a review, complete with video!

Despite a late beginning and some sound cross-over at the end of her set, Badu was flawless and had the crowd completely under her spell. And her bold new hair and bangin' new earrings -- excuse me, Earwings -- stole the show!

Erykah is normally recognized as an icon in the natural hair community, but she's also always been known to rock a wig, extensions, and whatever else she feels like rocking! Her hair is provoking some interesting debate over at Black Girl With Long Hair regarding her status as a natural hair icon.

Grown and harvested in the southwest region of Morocco, the argan tree has provided a beauty secret to women of the region for centuries. Moroccan women use the oil harvested from its kernels by applying it to their dry hair for styling and overnight moisture treatments.

This ancient Moroccan secret has found quite a receptive market here in the United States. Argan oil is now the hot new ingredient for women seeking softer, silkier tresses. Here are some of the hottest new argan-oil-infused products!

As an adult, you're within your rights to get just about any kind of hairstyle you want. Braid it up, loc it up, relax it, get a weave. Whatever makes you happy, go for it. But what about when you're a kid?

I've asked the question before, and I must ask it again: How young is too young for a certain kind of hairstyle? I ask, because this clip from popular TLC reality show 'Toddlers and Tiaras' -- via Clutch Magazine -- left me feeling all kinds of disturbed.

It's summer and your hair is doing its best to handle the weather. But with that heat and humidity, your hair might as well ask you -- what have you done for me lately?

If you aren't taking the time out to show your hair love with weekly deep conditioning treatments, I gotta ask why not?

Make it a Sunday thing, your Sunday beauty ritual, if you will. And your hair will be happy, healthy looking and good to you.

There are great deep0conditioning hair treatments available for every texture, at every price point. Allow us to break down some of our favorites and restore life to your tresses.

They measure 19 feet, 6 inches long. When dry, they weigh four pounds. When wet, at least 10 pounds. Asha Mandela has the longest dreadlocks in the world, making her an official Guinness World Record holder.

For Asha, it's more than just a hairstyle. It is a way of life and an expression of self.

"When I started growing my locks, I suddenly became very overprotective of them, as I felt they beheld all my energy, wisdom, knowledge and understanding and my over all strength. So I twisted, groomed and maintained them for myself... to the present," she explained in a recent e-mail interview.

Caring for hair of that length requires a lot of time, and a LOT of products. Check out how many bottles of shampoo she uses to wash her hair!

Naomi Campbell does not come across as cuddly or approachable. She's beautiful and fierce. I'm thinking the people around her hesitate to mention the obvious, so I'll take a shot.

Naomi, it's time to leave the weaves be and let your hairline live. When I caught sight of these photos on the gossip blog Miss Jia of Campbell at a New York City photo shoot on Monday, my heart went out to her poor scalp. It doesn't deserve this kind of abuse!

When did you first discover your chosen profession? Most of us wait till college, while some of us never manage to find that special thing we're meant to do. And then there are the lucky few, like celebrity barber Maurice Manley, who found his calling at a young age.

"I started cutting hair when I was 12 years old. When I started, it was on my own hair. I used to sit and wait for my dad to cut my hair and this one day I kept asking and he kept putting me off, so I did it myself. And I messed my hair up -- badly! But I kept going because I was determined to learn how to so I wouldn't have to ask him anymore," he explains.

The temperatures are sizzling, and so are the popular hair colors! Red hair is back with a vengeance, and you're more likely to see women of color with russet, scarlet, or wine-colored streaks in their hair this season. But what about women with natural hair, or for those of us who may be concerned about the damage hair dye can bring?

For us, there's henna - the flowering plant that's been used to dye everything from skin to cloth since the Bronze Age. Henna has been embraced by the natural hair community for being natural, potent, and a generally beneficial treatment for hair that needs strength, shine and color. But if you're a newbie to henna, where do you begin? There are some great online resources for anyone with questions. Here are BV's top favorites.

As we move into a new season and the weather grows hotter, your hair's needs will probably change. Now may be the time to shelve some of your heavier winter-into-spring moisture products and move on into some light summertime products to keep your hair protected from the elements. Here are some new products out there that will keep your 'do looking well done!

You're probably well familiar with Carol's Daughter Hair Milk - the product has been a shining star of the Carol's Daughter line for a long time now. The original formulation is loved by many, but there are others who don't care for the scent. Now some new Hair Milk products are about to hit the shelves! The Carol's Daughter Hair Milk Curl Perfecting Shampoo, Conditioner, and new, more lightly fragranced Hair Milk Lite are absolutely wonderful for anyone with natural textured hair that has the tendency to curl and coil easily. If you're looking for a complete line of products that will give you soft curl definition - sign up to find out when these new products will be available (hint hint, they're coming soon)!

The litany of complaints about American Apparel's advertising and hiring policies are so long, someone could write a book about them.

The company is known for chic, trendy, affordable locally made clothes yes...but they're also known for being sexist, judgmental, and discriminatory based on the aesthetic attractions of its owner, Dov Charney (who, by his own standards of appearance, probably wouldn't be welcome to work in his own store).

If you want to work at American Apparel you've got to meet the criteria. You've got to have the right look. You've got to have a strong fashion sense. And if you're black, you need to have the right style of hair. Several ex-employees recently wrote into Gawker about their experiences, and one former manager said she was told this about what types of black women to hire during the American Apparel's open casting calls:

"none of the trashy kind that come in, we don't want that. we're not trying to sell our clothes to them. try to find some of these classy black girls, with nice hair, you know?"