Video: The Braiding "Trend???"

Glasses

Yes I got glasses, not personality glasses, Reading glasses.They are by Elle. I don't like the idea of having glasses by a magazine band. However the details on the side are what sold me over. I don't know how I lived this long without getting them (not that I am really old, but still). My vision is only slightly blurred. With the glasses on the words jump out at me. It's so odd to have to learn to distrust my eyes lol. Anyway here are they. Take a good look because you

 won’t be seeing these alot. Even though 

they are cute...

I herby denounce any accusations of typos, sentence fragments, and incorrect punctuation on this blog. I simply did not have my glasses on guys...

The Minute Out Twist Out

 

 

 

Story and Procedure

I have done this style many times when I HAVE to go out with wet-ish hair (I hate going out with wet hair. I usually wash my hair before I sleep to avoid this). It is a great, fail proof, fast, & cute style. 

After I rinse out the conditioner I apply my moisturizer & oil of choice while two strand twisting one to one and a half inch sections of my hair (without parting! I don’t like the comb look in my afros.). After I finish I wait about two minutes, then I take out all the twists without separating them. Wait about two more min than separate sparingly and pull out a little. This style is amazing especially if you don't like the way your wash n goes look!  This style lasts up to a week depending on your preference. I wear a scarf at night and in the morning spray hair with spray bottle, apply moisturizer, oil, pull out and go! That’s it!

Word to Wise

You must try this style. It’s amazing! 

(I will be making a video about this within the month.) 

Over all

I love this style because it is a fast fall back style. I never have to do a wash n (no) goe because I am in a rush. 

Two videos of the day: Weight loss resistance and DIY lipstick palatte making

Enjoy, I know I did!

Wonderful Articles: Do Black Women’s Features Look Better On White Women?

An AMAZING article from nachalooman.wordpress.com that I HAD share. So true!

I remember back in the 1970s when the movie “10″ with Bo Derek first came out. She had her hair braided in cornrows which was the first time I had seen the style on a white women. I didn’t actually see the film, but saw the ads and Bo’s pictures everywhere. I remember that she was celebrated for being a beautiful woman, but when she came out with her black girl cornrows and beads, she became a goddess to untold millions of white men. Back in those days, posters were all the rage, and women like Bo Derek became millionaires just by having creative control over the posters that they did. Bo Derek had that exotic thing going on with her braids and no doubt sold millions of her posters. BTW, it was her husband who encouraged her to get the style he saw on the sisters in LA.

Ironically, during that same time period, I also remember reading in Essence Magazine I think, about black women who started showing up at work in the beautiful cornrow styles. Not surprisingly, the same style that was so beautiful and exotic on Bo Derek, was considered unkempt and unprofessional on black women in corporate America, no matter how conservatively the braids were done. Sisters who were stewardesses, or who had broken in to corporate America were now being harassed or even being fired for daring to show up at work wearing the cornrow hairstyle.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. These days, we see a change in things only in that white women are more aggressive in going for what they desire. 

Click HERE to read the rest...

Nail Care and Maintenance 101: Nail Polish Removal and Upkeep Pictorial

My (REAL) nails the next day

 In this post I will go though part of what has become my nail routine. I have always loved nails! Nail polish I confess is one of my few toxic beauty vices. I am in the process of switching over to only using and buying nontoxic/less toxic nail polish bands (like OPI, Zoya, No Miss, and many others). But anyway lets talk about how I take care of my nails...

fresh nails the day after application. The this color "Midnight in Moscow"
 is by OPI. Amazing! 

I have been experimenting with not touching my cuticles with nail polish (this leaves a little space before the color starts)  simply to see if I like the way it looks.  In about three days my manicure looked like this.

 

but this was the straw the broke the camel's back!

Need I say that I absolutely (!!!) hate nail polish chipping? When I polish my toes my pedicure lasts for three weeks to a month easily. My nails are lucky to get three days without a noticeable chip. Especially since I currently wash my hair twice a week. however even when I am not washing my hair as much I use my hands alot. Because of this I usually stick to shear neutral better aging shades on my hands but I digress...  

So I am removing the polish

(yes, I take labels off of EVERYTHING.) 

Quick tip: next time you are out of nail polish remover buy a smaller bottle for travel. When the smaller bottle becomes empy purchase a regular or large one for refills.

 cotton rounds no, cotton balls? yes!

and thanks to the power of blogging...

 

My nails are clean and chip free! 

But wait! There's more!!!

there is still some nail polish on the inside of my nails.

  



 To get under my nails I take the edge of my cotton ball (soaked with remover) and cover a wooden nail stick.

 Next I oil my cuticles.

 

I have a cuticle oil bottle that I fill 90% with my carrier oil of choice (extra virgin olive oil, no particular reason I just have it at home) and 10% with rejuvenating essential oils such as rosemary, peppermint, and tee tree ect. 

I don't push back my cuticles right away! I give the oil time to loosen them up while I file my nails to prefect the shape and make sure my nails do not have any jagged edges which can catch and cause a tare.  

I am experimenting with using a crystal nail file. I use regular ones for my toe s. 

I file all finger nails with slow long strokes in the direction

of my thumb, and I file my thumb nails with slow long strokes in the direction
 of my finger nails.

 Simple right?

 Now my nails are already in the right shape. However as the nails grows minor shape imperfections become more and more noticeable. That is why longer nails tend to look less manicured. Nail shape is very important to maintain beautiful nails. A good nail shape is what takes "wow her nails are long!" to "are they real?!" Another equally important thing is to keep all your nails the shame length.  Buy that I mean if one of your nails breaks cut all your nails down to the same length (then file of course)! It happens to everyone but we must still keep our nails the same length! It looks so much better. This goes back to the simple wisdom of being gentle with your hands (something that I still struggle with!) to prevent breaking a nail. When you do have to cut your nails to make them all one length, do it and than STOP thinking about them. Thinking about how long your nails where will only make them grow slower. Trust me.  

Now, how I get my nails to grow long? Other than the fact that I don't use nail hardeners (not I that disapprove of them but I now that the wrong one will hurt more then it helps) It is a combination of three things. 

My diet

My natural nail shape and thickness

My nail bed size

You diet will effect your nails in every way and the shape of your nails will effect the way they look. I have a naturally medium to large nail bed size which means that when my nails are cut down as low as possible I will have an ok amount of space to polish. My nails are neurally strong, but that changes if my diet become bad. The shape of my nails (which can be determined at the starting point) is a wide oval that's not perfectly circular. All these things contribute to the way my nails look and the way I file my nails.  It has taken me awhile to find the nail shape I like best. More about that in another post.

Now to push back my cuticles

 Firmly and gently push back the cuticles. 

 That's it! 

I don't do anything else (if I wanted to polish my nails I would run the cotton pad with polish remover over them again to remover excess oils). I leave the oil on my cuticles and let it absorb. 

I hope this was a helpful post about basic nail care I will uploading a videos about nail care and nail polish in the coming weeks...