My Big Chop! ( no more LYE) 2nd September 2012

I've been relaxing my hair for as long as I remember, ( early teens) and my reasons for doing so, were just because everyone else was doing it, plus, I always dreaded getting my hair done, ( I recall saying "ouch, my hair!" and then being smacked with the comb lol! ) the pain the pain, and I always used to beg my mum or sister to hot comb it, because I liked the straight look...so, I've been wearing a relaxer for about 20 years... when I used to get my relaxers, it would only be 2-3 times a year, so if I had one in January, my next relaxer would be ending of May/June...

I'm 5'5 ( OK 5'4 and a half! gosh! ) and my hair here ( this picture was taken a few months ago)  is bra strap length " relaxed" I used to get comments like " what weave is that" "is that all your hair" " you must have Indian in you" one time I was in the hair shop and this lady asked "is that all yours?, your lying! are you fully black?!" then she tried to touch my hair, and this was another black female..

" I  find it sad, that people still believe that just because your black, you can't have long hair" 


The Reason's behind my "big chop"

I have been blessed with a beautiful daughter, and I noticed that when I went to get hair products she would go straight to the wigs and weaves section? whats that about? and she would try and pull at her hair, saying " I want hair like mummy's" by the way she turned 3 this year, and that really bothered me, and I couldn't relax my hair again after that, so I said to my daughter " you want hair like mummy's OK baby, OK"..so, my daughter is the reason why I am Natural today...I want my daughter to understand that her black is beautiful no "LYE"...


The day of my "big chop"

oh my life, people, I was nervous, I'm not even going to lie to you, January of this year was my last relaxer, my goal was to transition for a year, but I couldn't cope with the two textures after 6 months,  it was to much for me, so September 2nd I big chopped!...on my way to the salon I started to get really nervous, and it didn't help when a man said " beautiful head of hair" as soon as I stepped on the bus! I was like "really, really! REALLY!!!!!  and to top it off, I was early! LOL! but as soon as I sat in the stylist chair, I remembered why I was doing this, and the nerves were gone..

The first picture is of me, getting my relaxed ends cut off, 2nd picture, is my hair before the chop, 3rd picture is my hair on the floor of the salon, and the last picture is my natural hair NO MORE LYE!

Final words

I believe that people were shocked at my choice to go natural, because of the length of my hair,  but what can I say, It's just hair, it will grow, but right now I am loving the short fro or "TWA" ( teenie weeni afro) and I am looking forward to my new healthy hair journey, and to be honest I couldn't give a flying fig about what people think, as how I choose to wear my hair, is my choice..and if you are thinking of going natural, do your research watch youtube videos like  "mynaturalsistas" "Haircrush" "nikimae2003"  http://www.youtube/UKnaturals   http://www.YouTube.com/Naptural85 or get some well known books like " the science of black hair" "Grow it long" ...

The best part of my big chop experience was when my daughter saw my hair and said " ohhh nice mummy, you got hair like mines now, cheers!" and we had to cheers afro's...LOL! 

I will keep you posted on my healthy hair journey!

S xx

MAC Matte Lipsticks

As the Kate Moss matte lipsticks are coming out in a couple of weeks (03/10/12) I thought I would review the MAC ones as I have been playing around with two shades over the summer.

The two shade that I have been wearing are:

Ruby Roo - A vivid blush red

I really love red lipstick and had heard a lot about this particular colour, I went in to my local Mac store and tried out a tester, I was a little worried about matte lipsticks in general as I suffer from dry lips so the assistant managed to talk me in to buying a primer to wear underneath and on top (which I have since lost!!!)
For me this is a great pick me up colour, so I do put this on whenever i'm feeling a bit low or if i want to add a bit of glamour to a converse and jeans day and of course for a night out.
They say that every woman should own a red lipstick and you could do a lot worse than this one

Here I'm wearing it with NOTHING!!!!!

So Chaud - A intense reddish-orange

Now everyone and their mum have been talking about orange lipstick this summer especially MAC's "Morange" so after seeing a few swatches I took myself back to my local MAC store to try out a tester.
First of all the assistant was wearing it and I didn't like it on her, but I thought "Hey ho, it might look better on me" it did not. I hated it.
Not one to give up I started looking at some other orange type shades and came across "So Chaud" it looked good on my hand so I had a go on my lips. I'm not gonna lie it was bright but not on the level that Morange was, it looked kinda classy, and plus I could mute the full-on-ness with a brown lip liner if I wanted to. I loved it.

Here I am wearing it with Rimmel's Exaggerate lip liner in "Ultimate"

The coverage of MAC's Matte Lipsticks are great they really do last all day and if you are sans lip primer (like myself) you can always use a clear lip balm.
They can be worn with a lip liner, I know that "Brick" is the one of choice to wear with Ruby woo. but they look perfectly good without.
And as an added extra I feel that both these shades make my teeth look whiter which is not a bad thing!!! #justsaying


Priced at £14 they are not cheap but are well worth it, I can see myself wearing both these colours all year round.
It will be interesting to see how the Kate Moss ones fair, they will be priced at a purse friendly £5.49 when they come out (and I know I have enough Boots points to buy all 5 if I wanted to hahaha!!!)
And if I'm honset both myself and S are really looking forward to trying them.


If you can not wait until October 3rd you can get the Kate Moss ones via Rimmels facebook page.

MAC Matte Lipsticks are priced at £14, you can get them in a stand alone store or a concession or online at www.maccosmetics.co.uk 

M x

YSL Touche Eclat - "Luminous Amber"

I think it was last year that YSL launched this product for darker skin tones, I did have a look when I was in Debenhams but wasn't drawn to pick it up until the end of June that is.....

Whilst in Ibiza with my good friend C, she whipped this bad boy out and her skin looked amazing!!!!!

Two weeks later I found myself in Debenhams, and they were doing an offer of duty free prices on various different items including Touche Eclat, so I played around with the testers and settled on number 6 "Luminous Amber"

What I love about this is the brush applicator, you click the bottom and can control how much of the product comes, its blends real easily, it also comes with a handy leaflet explaining how and where to apply it if your not highlighter savvy.

Also the size is fantastic to fit in your make up bag, this is an overnight bag essential.

 

The one thing I don't like about it is the price, I got it for £21.50 but as I said before it was on offer, it normally retails for £25, but that said it is a high end luxury product so the price matches the brand.

And the cap is a bit rubbish, you may need to put it in a little food bag to make sure it doesn't cover everything else in your make up bag.

Once this runs out I will be buying it again if anything this has made me want to try the foundation which launched a few weeks back.

Here I am wearing it with:

Sleek BB cream in "Medium" (review coming soon)

Mally volumizing mascara 

Sleek blush in "Sunrise"

NYX Lip liner pencil in "Nude Beige"

MAC lipstick in "Hug Me"

HD Brows pallet in "Foxy"

You can get Touche Eclat at Debenhams for £25, if you are a beauty club member and want to buy it online you can get free delivery www.debenhams.com 

M x

My big chop is tomorrow!!! Nervous much!

Tommorow is the day, no more LYE!

I so rate females for long term transitioning, me, I can not do it, you really need to have a lot of patience in regards to dealing with the two textures, I am sure that this time tomorrow I will be pacing up and down in my front room, taking a swig from a bottle in a brown paper bag (just saying!) in one hand and frantically smoking from the other, and just to let you know, I do not even smoke! Hmmmm nervous much!

Right now I do not have a laptop as mine decided to breakdown on me! So I will try to get the pictures up of my "BC" ASAP! So please bear with me, thank you...

Will keep you posted!!!!

S xx

Make up Show Live ( at the cumberland hotel marble arch)

If you could just go back in time, ( when the angels were singing, violins and harps in the background) lets say, to around a month or so ago, when I was ranting and raving about "the make up show live" event that was going to take place on the 26th August at the plush " Cumberland Hotel" in marble arch, OK, stop right there, let me break it down for you like this, today ( yes today!) is the 26th August 2012 ( just visualise me saying that slowly! it, is, the, twenty, sixth, of, august, twenty, twelve!) it is now 11pm, in London, and if you haven't guessed already, I've been to the show already...( yesss I've been) ...errhmmmm.

I had bought a VIP ticket, ( which would've been £45) from "wowcher" which cost me £17.50 ( OK yeah) and if you were to go on to the "make up show live" website, it lets you know what you are entitled to when you buy a VIP ticket, one of those things were you could attend a certain workshops, "eye makeup master class"  " introduction to makeup" and the other thing was the "goodie bag" down below is a photo of the so called "goodie bag" and its contents...

 A White paper bag with red tissue paper inside

 

 

A Packet of eyelashes, Jane Carter's nourish & shine, The Body Shop's "Japanese cherry blossom body lotion 60ml, "The Body Shop's " high shine lip treatment, Eye Shadow brush from "mink London", and a colour pack by Natur Vital...

 

 

Really?! Really?! REALLY!

 

I mean, are they having a laugh, is this what buying a VIP ticket gets you, People have departed with £45 of their hard earned cash, only to come out with this, goodie, bag!

 

 

"what a bag of crap"

 

I was so excited to be getting this goodie bag, and was fuming when I saw its contents!

 

Believe it or not it wasn't all bad, I did attend a makeup workshop, which was very very good, and my note pad is filled with new knowledge, I also met the wonderful lady who created "gidore" Lukwesa Burak" she was giving me natural hair advice..

 

Would I go again, NO..and even though I paid £17.50, for something that would've cost £45, I think £17.50 was far to much to pay for an unorganised, event....

 

I was meant to stay until 4pm, but left at 2pm, as I was shocked to find that there wasn't even Major make up brands there, from when you don't have even @sleekmakeup, at a make up show, there just wasn't any point...

 

big huge massive let down!

 

S xx





Are you, the nice friend?!

Breaking it down

OK, let me explain to you what a nice friend is, a nice friend is a person who is always there for you no matter what, a person who will always listen to your ramblings, and not even question why it is you haven't bothered to ask them " so, how are you!". A nice friend is there at the drop of a hat, which is fine, there is nothing wrong with that at all, as i am " the nice friend" ...but ( and yes there is a big huge, massive, BUT!!) be careful, as there are certain types of friends who take pleasure from feeding off of you ( they live for it, as they know, you are " the nice friend" who never says no!) let me break a few of these feeders down for you...

• The "Friend who isn't happy until your miserable" ...meaning that so called friend is only around when things are going bad for you, you know the type, they never called you 6months ago when you told them your engaged, but as soon as they find out your man cheated on you, its all " ahhh babes, he was a d**k head anyways, you want to go out tonight?!" yeah, because, that helps! low and behold you get back together, you will not hear from them for a good while! My advice, do not pick up the phone to them
• The " I know its a lot to ask, but can you" friend...now this type of friend only calls you when they need a favour, ie, money! bearing in mind  they still haven't payed you back the last ten times you loaned them money ( sorry, more fool you) and they've just finished telling you about their two week stay in Barbados, how it was so cheap, blah blah blah! My advice is before they finish off the sentence, tell them, " sorry I don't have it" as one day you're going to need that cash back, and they will tell you, sorry I don't have it...
• The " it's all right i'll pay for you friend"...lets not even go there, all I am going to say is I was bought up not to rely on anyone false stop, if I don't have the cash to go anywhere then I'm not going nowhere! when someone tells me, " I'll pay for you" its goes in one ear and out the other ( i hold no grudges) because I know its not going to happen, hay what can I say, if it makes you feel good! lol! My advice, don't really listen to these people, it's pointless..
• The " you only hear from them when they don't have a man" friend! errrrhmmmmm ( yes i am clearing my throat for this one!) this really annoys me, this type of friend could've called you for the last two weeks twice a day! but as soon as the catch a man, you don't hear from them at all!  it come like, there in the film " misery" so what, is your man locking you up in a cottage somewhere, I mean, are you playing the role of "James Caan" and your man playing the role of " Kathy Bates" is this the reason why, you can't get to the phone, keep breaking comitments?! in my eyes there is no excuse for this kind of behaviour, none..I can not understand people who do this? do you not value your friendships? and do you not think that its insulting, when you only call when you've broken up with you your other half, bearing in mind you were together for two years, oh you suddenly remember , moi! right then, OK. My advice is, you must know how they are by now, just get used to it...when they do finally call you, and are in shock that your now living in Spain, LOL! 

Final word

A real friend will be there no matter what, they will not only call you when they need something, and they will not make empty promises,they will not exploit your kindness, some people are only meant to be in your life for a season, and some people you will have to let go..

Just be careful who you call a friend..

Keep on being " the nice friend" as you shouldn't make no one change your nature..

xx S

Adornment365 ( natural hair salon in brixton)

As of right now, I am on a natural hair journey, from relaxed to natural the last time I relaxed my hair was in January of this year..

So, if you have natural hair or making that big step to embrace what god blessed you with, then I would recommend you go and check out "Adornment365" which is based in "Morleys" in Brixton..

My Experience at the Salon

I was so excited about this consultation that I arrived extra early! when I got there I was greeted very nicely, told to have a seat, and asked if I wanted any tea or coffee! at this point I new that this was the place I wanted to come to over and over again! After about five minutes I was given a form to fill out which had various questions on it such as " how much water do you drink" " how often do you exercise" "what shampoos do you use" etc etc....

When it came time for my consultation, the stylist toke me to a quiet corner took my form and then it began...we spoke about what it is I want to achieve in regards to my hair, any breakage, etc etc...we found out that I am a product junkie ( whoop whoop!) which is not a good thing in the stylist eyes, after which the stylist the assessed my hair and scalp, I was then informed that I have a " whole lot of different textures going on, but I am lacking in protein, I need to drink more water ( hmmm it wasn't a good idea to say that I'd only had a lucazade that day!) and she explained why ( even though I know it all already, I thought that was very good advice!) When I told her about the products I use to moisturise my hair, she was impressed, but told me my hair needs more, like natural Shea butter etc etc, also it would be good for me to have steam treatments...

All in all, I had a fab time, not only is the salon always busy, the staff seem very friendly, and their hair looked good! which is always a sign of a good salon in my opinion..

The consultation is not free ( sorry ahh-bout that!)  it cost £5.99, lasts 20-30mins, but its so worth it, I came out there with a lot more knowledge, and two hair products.. ( so I have so much to give away!) I was told to stop switching up my products for a while, and just stick to a few...for me, that's going to be hard, as I love chopping and changing..

" Adorment365, also sell natural hair products, and make there own also..I bought there famous " the smoothie" and I love it already, but will not review it yet as I've only had it a few days, also there " organic hair oil"... if you want some hands on advice, if like me your going Au-natural, give this place a try, but book in advance as they are always busy."..

The hair salon is in  the huge department store "Morleys "in Brixton, you can not miss the department store as it is across from Brixton tube station...

To find out more go to the website www.adornment365.com

xs