Natural Hair: As Compared To...

When I first began my natural hair journey, I compared it to losing weight. It was no longer a habit. It was something I had to turn into a lifestyle. And everyday my mom saw me carting in a few more bottles of oils to try on my hair, was the more she understood that I was no longer turning back. And it was the same with my weight loss. Now I kow I haven't lost a drastic amount of weight, but I haven't gained any either.

When I left High School, I was a whopping 192lbs. Not my best look and definitely not my best feeling. But I got into college and without really putting into perspectiv the hills I had to literally climb everyday to get to class, I slowly dropped weight. Yes ladies and gents. I wasn't one of those girls who gained their freshmen 15. I, in fact lost it, and kept it off throughout school because I eventually (though late) made it a secondhand lifestyle. I say secondhand because though I want it to be a first priority, my healthy has still taken the back burner amongst other things in my life. Anyway, let me stop ranting.

I got inspired to write this blogpost because of a recent video I saw on my YouTube subscriptions list entitled "Natural Hair: It's A Sport". This vlogger has a thing with the [natural] ladies in the YT community but he also spits a lot of truth. And I thought I would share. You can watch his video below or click the link in the line above.

Nevertheless, I completely understood where he was coming from! Just like a lot of Natural sistahs see it, he was able to grasp the concept of having natural hair and what it partially means. A sport you may ponder?... hmmm... I know. But what's the diff? He calls it a sport, I call it a lifestyle.

Enjoy!

It's All About: E.L.F. Products!

Night out with the Besty!

So about a week ago, I sent off for some make-up products, seeing as how I am trying to become better versed in using make-up. Not saying I'm going to using it on a regular basis but it is always good for a woman to know a few tips & tricks up her sleeve when it's time to really get down to it. I must say I am still new at this whole world of make up. I have done a few looks, like the one to the right (I'm wearing the leopard scarf). However, that "smokey eye" didn't turn out as smokey as I wanted it to... and I realized that my finger was obviously not the only tool I should be using when I apply makeup. So I began my search!

 NC 45 Concealer

First I went to MAC with my girl Netchem and splurged (or what I call "splurge") on their "NC 45" Concealer and their "Spiked" eyebrow pencil. These can be seen to the right and below. All together, I paid a whopping $40 for just these two trinkets but I am happy to announce that I definitely didn't have any buyers regret when it came to MAC! Anyway, the next task at hand was to find good tools. At first I was all focused on a brush that would jazz up my eyebrows--the one asset on your face that makes AND breaks your look depending on how you treat them. However, after being realistic about 1) my money flow and 2) my skills, I settled for a brand we all know about.  I went over to the Eyes. Lips. Face. website, surfed their site for brushes that they have in stock and went nuts when I realized E.L.F was a God send!!! Their brushes--almost all of them range in price from just $1 and can go up to $5-$8.

"Spiked" Pencil

When you think and compare, yes the other brands may use real fibers and hair, or wrap their strands more securely to prevent shedding but that's nothing a bit of Shampoo and conditioner can't take care of! So my main goal! Find a good Angled brush to use on my eyebrows ...even if it happened to be at their top price of $8 and that was an easy fix! Then I added a few more brushes, a pencil or two, a $10 100-pallet eye shadow kit, a powder to the bag and I was ready to check out. Now, I know myself better than anyone. Looking at the checkout price of $40, I was very impressed with myself but I KNEW I could find a way to get that bag lower.

So what did I do? ...

I went to trusty GOOGLE and found a site that housed E.L.F. coupon codes. Many didn't work but one did give me like $5 off of any purchase $25 and up. Just when I thought I was set and ready to go, my brain told me to take another look through at the coupon codes and out of nowhere up popped one link that would give me 12 free BRUSHES with my $20 or more purchase! I instantly plugged the code into my shopping cart and when I found out it worked, I knew it was time to adjust. First I searched for the free model that the code was giving you. Yes they turned out to be the cheaper set but who cares! Like I said, I am NO professional. So I went back to my cart, removed all the individual brushes I had added and then went back to boost my cart up to the $20 amount so I could get the 12 free brushes! Along with what I kept, I just had to add one more kit to the bag and what better than an eyebrow-ready kit.

*sigh*

I have NEVER been more proud of myself! And I believe I did very well. For now, I guess my advice to new make-up"ers" out there would be:

• Identify what you would like to enhance on your face, like how I wanted to enhance my brows and play down my blemishes
• Focus on ONE thing at a time. If you try to get EVERYTHING, you'll most likely lose a good bargain!
• You also want to start little. Don't feel like you have to get all the best brands out there. What's the point in paying for them if you'll end up using them only once a year, or at all at that!

...Pics are below to check out! And I hope this inspires all the ladies like me that are trying her best to show UP and show OUT!!

Packaging really does matter!

My 100-pallet eye shadow kit

The colors!!


MY 12, FREE BRUSHES

My eyebrow kit

My Pressed Powder

My Angled Brush (for my brows)

My turquoise shimmer pencil

Weekend Tunes: Changing the World

Writing my paper with the music blasting in my ears and I don't care HOW many people disagree with me. I just get this beautiful aura around me as soon as T-Pain's "Change the World" comes on. So beautiful I had to blog about it. Adapted from Eric Clapton's awesome original "Change the World", I could not be more proud of adaptations. All joke aside, the auto-tune can get on my nerve sometimes but this just really gave it a better feel. I don't know if it was the Harmony or Akon's alto in the back, but this song will always be a favorite of mine. Give it a listen below!

T-Pain feat. Diddy, Akon & Mary J. Blige