Style Speaks

I came across this quote a year ago and I totally agree with it. The way we dress shows our personality. We can attract people to give us attention or take us seriously (in a professional setting for example) just by our appearance.

That's why it's important to invest in this part of who we are. I'm always looking for ways to update my look. As I develop and grow as a person, so does the way I dress. For example, when I was very insecure and didn't care about myself, it showed in the way I took care of myself. But when I started to love myself and gain confidence, I started to invest in my appearance and started to become hold and creative in my style.

I like searching on Pinterest, fashion blogs and websites to get ideas. I know not everything I see is for me due to my body shape, skin tone, age, height etc.., but from looking around and trying different things, I get to see what suits me and what doesn't.

At the moment I'm following Pop Sugar's style hacking challenge and it's been very interesting. I've tried new styles and I've definitely become more creative. Each night I can spend 30-45 minutes just trying different outfits and figuring out what I'm going to wear the next day.

However, more than making an effort with my appearance and wanting to look pretty, is making sure I put double the effort into developing my inner self. Working on ensuring I'm just as 'pretty'  inside than outside. That my heart is not habouring a resentment or grudge towards anyone. Double checking I'm not putting myself down and allowing doubts, fears and complexes that try to creep to influence me in a negative way. Nor becoming proud, thinking that I am better than others or doing things to show off and do people.

 We can we wear the most stunning outfit and look our utmost best but if we have these things lingering within us and they manifest through out facial expressions, the words that come out of our mouth, our attitudes or actions, all that outward beauty will not compensate for the ugly traits inside.

That's why working on our inner beauty is paramount, in fact I believe it deserves more care and attention than the outer beauty because as we start to invest in becoming beautiful inside, it naturally shines through and is evident outside, through the way we smile, look and treat people.

Modern DIY: Sugar and Oil Exfoliate

This week I tried a DIY exfoliate using sugar and oil. I was actually supposed to use olive oil but I had none left so used normal cooking oil this time.

The purpose of this was to scrub off the dead skin from my hands and feet. I left it on for about 15 minutes before washing my hands and feet.

My hands and feet had been feeling rather dry and "rough" but afterwards my hands in particularly, we super soft. I was really amazed, I even asked my siblings to feel my hands!

My first attempt doing a Bantu Knot Out

Last night was my first attempt to curl my hair with Bantu knots. I know of few people who curl their hair this way and it comes out beautiful. 

I want to go as long as possible without straightening my hair (so far I am on day 3) and thought this could be a way of keeping my hair curly and presentable without having to apply heat to it.

I followed a YouTube tutorial I found after searching through a few and voila, below is the final result. 

Some parts were a bit frizzy because I didn't use a product that controls frizz which was recommended so I'll ensure to buy one when I can, but despite that, I really liked the volume the style gave my hair and I will definitely be doing this more often. 

Embracing my hair

So, Sunday night I washed and conditioned my hair with the plan of straightening it in the morning. Morning came and I looked in the mirror and decided that I would leave it out natural. I combed it out into a little afro (or at least tried to lol) and didn't think anything of it. In fact I thought it looked cute. However, the moment I set off on my journey to work, I started a feel a little vulnerable and insecure.

I don't even know where it came from but all of a sudden when I caught the bus and saw people looking at me, thoughts like how ridiculous I looked; I shouldn't be sporting my afro hair like this because it's ugly; it's not 'normal'; it's not nice and sleek like when it's straight and so many other thoughts bombarded my mind. However, not one to feel sorry for myself (finally overcame this annoying trait haha), I became ruthless towards the thoughts and eliminated them quickly.

I liked the way my hair looked. I did not see a problem with it (and neither did my mom because if she did she would have told me straight away - momma doesn't sugar coat things lol). Yes it may not be everyone's cup of tea but I don't care. I was not about to go back home and straighten my hair so I didn't look the odd one out and neither was I about to walk around feeling insecure all day.

Constantly straightening my hair only damages it because of the heat. So I want to keep it out natural (ish) for a least two days in the week before I straighten it. The less I strengthen it, the better.

  This experience actually inspired me to have my hair out natural more often. Kind of like a statement of embracing my afro hair and not being ashamed of it. Letting young girls know that they don't have to have long straight hair to be beautiful and cute.

  I wash and treat my hair on Sunday evenings and until I put them back in braids, which will be soon (the weather is getting colder so it needs protecting) , I'll be leaving it out and doing different styles at least twice a week (I'll try and stretch to thrice.

As strange as it may sound it's quite liberating.

Using Mayonnaise for beauty treatment

Mayonnaise! Oh how I love my mayo. I know it's quite fattening but I do like to use it when making tuna sandwiches or when eating fries! When a fiend of mine sent me a list of beauty treatments using mayo, I raised my eyebrows while reading her message lol! Straightaway I thought about food because that's what I always associate mayonnaise with.

A few weeks later, I decided to do a few DIY beauty treatments using Mayonnaise. I searched online and found out the benefits of using mayo for my hands, nails, feet and face. 

My feet: As the back of my feet has been feeling quite dry recently, I used the mayonnaise to exfoliate whatever dead skin may be on my feet. I simply put mayonnaise all over both feet, slipped on some cotton socks, and tied two plastic bag over both of my feet to prevent the product from seeping out and get all over the floor (hence why my feet is covered in plastic bags in the picture).

My face:  I applied the mayonnaise on my face as a facial mask and let it set for 20 minutes before washing it with warm water. I did this to remove any dead skin cells.

My hand / nails: I slathered mayonnaise all over my hands and massaged them. Not only is this good to soften dry cuticles but it also helps to strengthen our nails. 

After the treatments I noticed how softer my skin felt. It's definitely a cheap and cheerful way to take better care of our skin without having to spend lots of money. As DIY homemade treatments are the trend nowadays. It's worth a try :)

Friday look: Double Denim

Two weeks ago at work we were invited to dress up in double denim. We usually dress smart or business causal so I tool this opportunity to wear casual clothes to work.

The last time I wore double denim was in my last in my teenage years , 10 years ago. I likes wearing it so much that it has inspired me to invest in more denim clothing.

Why I love the modern day dolls.

When I saw this photo I remembered my love for dolls as a child and the different collection we had in our house. Every year in my city we have a family fun fair called Goose Fair and each year, my mum would buy a new porcelain doll. I remember one year seeing a black doll for the first time and getting all excited when my mum brought one home for us, to add to our collection. 

I grew up in a predominately white causation neighbourhood. There were only 3 black families in the area and in my school there were only a handful of black kids. My sister and I were the only black Africans, while the rest were of West Indian / Caribbean descent. I faced a lot of racism, received snide comments and felt left out. I had no identity at all and I remember how ashamed I used to feel about being Black African because it didn’t seem as cool as being from the Caribbean. There wasn’t anything around us, outside our house, to promote our culture, help us be proud of where we came from and feel part of society.

I remember when I used to play with my dolls, I would put a pillow case or t-shirt over my head and move my head side to side, wishing that I had nice long hair like my dolls. I wanted to have fair light skin and look pretty like my dolls. I remember one day being a shamed to go to school with my natural hair when my grandma cut it. I used to hate having my natural hair out and my mum putting pig tails or those four parted twists in my hair. I wanted to wear curly extensions all the time because they were long and moved like my dolls’ hair.

It was a very painful experience, that took years to heal from, and it was only when I went to university when I started to embrace my ethnicity, my roots and feel part of society.

Times have changed and I am happy to see black dolls, Indian dolls, South East Asian dolls - dolls of different races, looks, with added features such as afro curly hair, wearing, glasses, dressing in traditional clothing and to show the realistic image of our multicultural society.

 Young girls have this opportunity to learn that you can wear glasses and still be beautiful. You can have big afro curly hair and be beautiful. You can have fair skin or dark skin and still be beautiful. No matter what you look like or where you come from, you are beautiful and you don’t need to wish to be something else because in simple things, like a doll that reflects their own image – they see how they look and where they come from as beautiful.

Easter Sunday Style

Happy Easter everyone!

 Today is a special day, so I made an extra special effort and picked this outfit to wear for church this morning!

My Friday Look

This is my look for Good Friday! The weather isn't great here, it's wet and chilly! However, today is a special day because it symbolises the day Jesus gave His life for us on the Cross, so we wouldn't have to live a burdened life of shame, misery or constant unhappiness.

When you are going somewhere special, it's good to make an effort and dress nice. With this in mind, I thought very carefully about what I was going to wear to the special Good Friday Service at church.

This outfit wasn't what i was going to wear initially, but after much deliberation I decided to go with it.

 It's modern, it's chic and it shows my personality -  creative!

I wore chunky heeled ankle boots which you just about see in the picture!

Make-up Monday: Eyeliner Application Tips