After a ten month transition, I decided to cut off all of my relaxed ends and become 100% natural. My original plan had been to go at least a year and a half before cutting it because I wanted to keep my length. It took a random burst of courage and frustration for me to cut it off.
For the past two months I considered cutting my hair. I figured that it would be a little easier to manage if I didn't have to worry about matching my straight hair to my curly hair and that my natural hair would be healthier without all the dead weight.
After going through my first week of college life and living in the dorms, I saw how difficult it would be to work my hair into my schedule. It seemed like it would be easy at first because I would be finished with all of my classes by noon everyday. I would have almost all day to do my hair right? The problem came when I tried to work around my eating schedule. Although I would have time to wash and put my hair into twists or Bantu knots, did I really want to walk into the dining hall with my hair twisted up, wet, or in a plastic bag?
I tried to wash my hair after I ate dinner but my hair is so thick that it wouldn't be dry by morning. In a moment of frustration, I decided that when I went home that weekend, I would cut my hair.
After chopping I had mixed emotions about my hair. Sometimes it was like, "I love my hair!" and other times it it was horrible, "I can't believe I cut my hair off!". A few weeks later, I still have moments of regret, but most of the time, I absolutely love my hair. It's easier to manage, and already healthier and now all I have to do is watch it grow.
It has now been eight months since my last relaxer and my hair is getting long enough for me to get a closer look at my natural curl pattern (that's a curl in that picture in case you couldn't tell). Since I have about the same amount of natural hair as relaxed hair, I am unable to continue doing my normal Bantu Knot without my hair looking like a bird's nest. My hair is just to thick! It made me want to big chop right then and there!
After watching a countless number of YouTube videos, I decided to try a simple Twist Out.
I had to add the rollers because my ends dry out easily
What I noticed while twisting my hair was that my relaxed ends were twisting easily but the natural hair was fighting against it and not staying in the twists at all. The result I got the next morning was less than satisfactory.
That's not cute at all
After more YouTube watching I settled on a Braid Out which turned out really well!
I have been doing the braid outs for the past two weeks. I love it because it not only is agreeable with my thick hair but it is also closely resembles my natural curl pattern more than my usual Bantu Knot.
With one week left until Halloween, the mad scramble for costumes is really starting to begin. So what do you do if you still haven't found a costume and don't have a lot of time and money to spend on one?
This short list of costumes can be made from things found in your closet, around your house, and for little or no money!
Take advantage of Election Season and create a costume based off of one of the most talked about terms from the Presidential Debate: Mitt Romney's "Binders Full of Women" Comment! This costume is as simple as finding a big enough cardboard box and getting creative.
Find a big enough cardboard box to cover your torso.
Cut off one side
Decorate it however you want! Don't forget to write "Binder Full of Women" or simply "Women" on the front.
That's it! Wear whatever you want underneath and do whatever you want to your hair and makeup.
Do it old school style and dress like a 1950s pinup girl! This costume is easy to make and doesn't require expensive, specially made pieces. In fact, you may have all you need in your closet right now!
As you can see there are many many many things that are in style today that can be turned into a 50s costume. Finish the look off with a a cat eye and red lipstick. And don't forget to style your hair with soft waves!
For an easier, less fussy look, channel Rosie the Riveter by wearing a collared, button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and cropped or cuffed jeans. Find a red scarf to tie around your head and wear combat boots on your feet to finish off the look.
Get into character and go around flexing those muscles!
Here are tutorials to get 50s style hair for straight and natural hair:
Have some fun and be a shopping bag from your favorite store! There are two ways to make this costume:
1. Find a big shopping back big enough to fit in (ex. Bloomingdales "big brown bag")
2.. Make one out of two poster boards
Using an actual big bag is the easiest of the two. All you need to do is:
1. Cut the bottom out of the bag
2. Find a strong enough material (ribbon, fabric, strips of poster board) to make shoulder straps. These will hold the bag up all night. Feel free to decorate them! Attach them with a strong glue or staple them on.
3. Find matching tissue paper. Glue/staple it to the bag all around the edges in a way that covers up your chest and back.
And you're done! Just find a skirt or shorts in a matching color to wear under the bag and a bandeau or tank top to wear on top! Have fun with your makeup so that it matches the personality of the store you're wearing.
Making a bag out of poster boards is just as easy, it just involves some creativity to make it look like your favorite store.
1. Take the the posters and fold them into three parts so that the middle piece is the largest and the two sides are smaller.
2. To re-create your store's bag, use paint, construction paper, glitter, stickers, whatever it takes! You only need to put the store's name on the front.
3. Continue the pattern or the solid color on the second poster, this will be the back.
4. Once you have finished decorating the boards, put them together so the back poster's side panels are inside of the front poster's side panels. Attach them with a strong glue.
5. Continue with steps 2 and 3 from the directions for using a big shopping bag and you're done!
Outfit Inspiration- outfits that I find that I want to replicate
Y.U.M.M.Y- food that looks delicious
Clothes I LOVE- clothes that I LOVE!!!
Hair- natural hair inspiration and styles
Funny things- things for a laugh
Dorm Ideas- inspiration for my dorm and yours
Nails- nail art that I love and want to try
It's been a while since my last post but now I'm back!
It's time for Spring shopping and it's also my last semester of high school (yay!) and I'm equally excited for both!
As a preview for spring, here are a few titles of upcoming posts!
"Spring Trend: Statement Earrings!"- My favorite accessory of all: statement earrings! The bigger the better!
"Five of Items of Clothing Not from My Own Closet"- I will share with you some of my favorite clothing gotten from family members, the men's/children's section, and old costumes!
Series- "Prom Hunting 2012"- It's prom season! I will share with you ways to find your perfect dress, have an awesome night and save money all at once! Tips will come from previous prom-goers experiences, magazines, and my own experiences from dances and proms of the past!
Presenting: My Journey to Naturalism. In November I made the decision to no longer chemically straighten my hair with relaxers and go natural! I will include posts documenting my transition and hairstyles I use to get through this period!
All that hair!!!
And as always Contests, Contests, Contests!!!
I hope you're as excited as I am for the upcoming season!
Any questions, comments, or posts you'd like to see? Leave them below!
If you are a high school senior or even junior, prom season is coming up fast and dress shopping is in full swing by now. While some have known exactly the dress they want since freshman year, others may have a more difficult time finding a dress. So what's a girl to do when prom is right around the corner?
Here a few tips to finding your perfect prom dress.
Your first step in finding the perfect prom dress is to figure out what kind of dress you want. Do you want a short dress? A long dress? Sleeves? Strapless? Do you want a trendy prom dress or something more classic? These are all good questions to consider when deciding what prom dress to wear.
It is also a good idea to learn what type of dresses work best for your body type and which dresses will bring attention to the most flattering parts of your body while hiding the parts you don't want to call attention to.
When it was time for me to look for prom dresses, I had no idea what formal dresses worked well with my body. Luckily, I found a helpful tool on Rent the Runway. When shopping for a dress on the website, there is a tool that allows you to narrow down the dresses by occasion, age, length, and the most helpful tool: body type. The tool picks out all of the dresses that will work on your body type. Even if you choose not to get your dress from this site, it is extremely helpful in helping you learn what cuts look well on you.
Once you have an idea of what you want, you need to get inspired! Finding something to base your dress on will give you ideas, narrow down the possibilities, and help you find your dress faster.
Start with the theme of your school's prom. Whether the theme is Hollywood Glamour, Ancient Greece, or even Under the Sea, there is bound to be a coordinating dress.
To take it a step further, get ideas from dresses seen in your favorite movies and TV shows. For example I found inspiration for my prom from the old animated movie Anastasia. Start paying attention to any movie with formal events in them and take notes (you don't really have to write anything). It's a great excuse to have a movie night with friends!
Red Carpet season is the best time of year for prom-goers. Not only do you get inspiration from the glamorous dames of Hollywood, but you get knockoffs of the dresses! Prom dress retailers jump at the chance to have dresses inspired by the best dresses on the red carpet.
Go through pictures from the red carpet to get inspiration for your dress, or better yet, one that looks close to it. Also pay attention to stars with a similar body type, height, or skin tone to you to get ideas on cuts and colors that work for you.
It's even the perfect opportunity to look for hair, makeup, accessories, and even nails for your big night!
Now that you have gotten some tips on how to find your perfect prom dress, it's time to get out there! Getting started is the hardest part and once you find a place to start, things will all start to fall in place. And these tips just aren't for prom. Use this method to find the perfect dress for any formal event!
Have fun!
During the Holiday Season group buying sites like Groupon become more popular, helping people save money at the places where they buy their gifts. But is it okay to give someone a coupon as a gift without seeming cheap? To answer this question you have to first answer three different questions:
1. Is it a cheap or unexciting gift?
Group buying sites offer amazing discounts on expensive things, but they also offer discounts on smaller things. For example, the other day I recieved a notification from LivingSocial for 50% off on 5 Big Macs and 5 large fries from McDonald's. Although it's a good deal (and a bulk buy), it might not be the best gift for some people because they can go to a McDonald's whenever they want. The answer to giving coupons like this would normally be a "No". All in all it depends on the person. I'm sure Don Gorske would appreciate a McDonald's coupon like this very much.
2. Is it something they have to participate in?
Many times a week, group buying sites offer deals on activities like bowling, whale cruises, and trips to the spa. These types of coupons are usually okay to give as gifts because it can be something your gift recipient has always wanted to do or the activities are normally expensive. For example Groupon San Diego is currenlty offering $25 for a $65 ticket to the Poinsettia Bowl football game, $39 for a $110 fitness class, and $32 for $80 worth of hair treatments and wine at a salon. These are all examples of acceptable gifts and each group buying site has something for every budget. The answer to this question would be a "Yes".
3. Is it something you can do yourself?
Gift buying sites sometimes offer deals for merchandise at stores. Such as $48 for an $80 curling iron. While it would be acceptable to give the coupin directly to the gift recipient, it would be more courteous to use the coupon to buy the curling iron yourself and directly give the person their gift. The answer to this question could go both ways but it would be safer to go with "No".
An Op-Doc by filmmaker Zina Saro-Wiwa. On the growing amount of women deciding to transition to their natural hair texture rather than chemically straighten them.
Prom is getting closer! If you plan on buying your dress, shoes, accessories, or anything else online, make sure you take advantage of coupon codes!
Yay for throwback magazine covers!
Make sure to use your social skills and sign up for emails, follow on twitter, or like on facebook the stores you are planning on shopping at. You'll be the first to know whenever they have sales, or coupon codes to save you money.
Also take advantage of your birthday. If you have a birthday in April or May, sign up for all the stores you can. Most stores send out special coupon codes just for your birthday.
Around this time of year, jewelry and beauty stores are flooded with prom shoppers and to bring in even more coupons and coupon codes are sent out all over the internet. Prom magazines are full of them. Special issues like Seventeen Prom and Teen Magazine Prom are full of coupin codes and contests on many of the pages. And make sure you pay attention to the ads. Some ads can be traded in for a makeover if you bring them to department store makeup counters or nationwide hair salons.
Last but not least don't make the mistake of buying something online for full price because you didn't get emailed a coupon code. Many people are kind enough to post coupon codes they received online for everyone to see. All you have to do is search on google (ex: "promgirl coupon codes" or "rent the runway coupon codes" etc.).
I hope these tips will help you and happy prom shopping!
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