Amla Launch

Hello darlings!

I have been an increasingly atrocious host. Forgive me. Life gets you away from these blogger pages at times. Anyhow, apologies aside, I have some nooooz! :)

A little while ago, I was fortunate enough to be a part of launching a new brand of hair care for our African strands. At the beautiful anglo saxon setting of The Munro Boutique Hotel in Houghton, the secret was let out. Softsheen Carson has brought us all the age old benefits of Amla Oil (a well trusted ingredient of hair  care that Indian women all over the world have known and loved for years) through their Dark n Lovely Amla Legend Legacy. Cue the trumpets!

Now, I'm not the evangelist of relaxer treatments (in fact for the past few years I was staying far from relaxers) but this is honestly the first brand of straight hair care that has worked for my hair. I purposely delayed this blog post because I wanted to try the products first before blindly blogging about how amazing they promise to be. This is my real, unpaid account of how well the products work. (I have therefor only included the products I have tried and liked.)

1. The relaxer creme: I have really course/dense hair and as a result I often had to use strong relaxers that ended up burning me and leaving my scalp dry and itchy. The difference here is that this creme has the strength of a strong relaxer (think Ladine) but is also equipped to moisturise and mildly straighten the hair without starting a bon-fire on my head! *Amen!*

2. The Billion Hair Potion: This stuff is honestly like green-tea for hair...this is my favourite product in the range. I style my hair daily so heat could have damaged it by now. This product has protected my hair from breaking or falling without me having to go for countless expensive salon treatments. I love it! It's deeply moistrurising and it doesn't create a greasy look (which I hate on relaxed hair). Yay!

3. The 1000 oils Night Wrap: I have never really used a night wrap. It's like our own version of what some coloured ladies call a Swirl Kousie (pardon the spelling if it's wrong). You apply the product at night and put your doek over it. It the morning, I kid you not, your hair will be smoother and less tangled! Like I said, I have VERY course hair so this is like my weekly miracle. I have been getting a lot of questions about how I maintain the short look and this product has a lot to do with it. It can get expensive maintaining a short look at home but with the help of this combo of products I have been doing quite well. It's awesome because I can hold out on relaxing it again.

Having said all that, I haven't even scrapped the surface of the source of my excitement about the launch event! I was lucky enough to have my hair cut by none other than Hollywood celebrity hair stylist and personal hair stylist to Michelle Obama, Johnny Wright!!!!! Star dust everywhere! He was amazing and he did a great job of making me comfy with cutting all my hair down to this short length but I can safely say I have NO regrets!

Ok that was a mouthful. Pics below!! If you have a comment or a hair care secret of your own, feel free to share below.

In the words of the one and only Tiger: Tata for now :)

The Product

The Process

Just Cut

So much make-up yohhhh...

Location

View from the Munro Boutique Hotel

All done :)

Hair Models

Thula Sindi Number

Loot, Johnny, Me :)

:)

Yardley Beyond Juicy - Flamingo Pink

It's winter ladies and the cold often punishes the skin during this time of the year. This year I am armed... Got myself this yummy gloss for both moisture and shine. I hate gloss that's shiny but dries your skin up...or gloss that's too thick and sticky, this one's none of that mess. Nothing life changing like the world renowned 8 Hour Cream (supposedly anyway) but it's just right for me. You can get it almost anywhere, I got this particular tube from Dischem Pharmacy.

Check list:

Moisture √
Shine √
Cold protection √
Good price √

All there :)

If anyone has a better product or just one they'd like to share, feel free to comment below.

Rimmel London: Red Hot

Union Jack Lips

Overly affectionate with a piece of paper (/_\)

My current shade of red lipstick. Any of the pics you've spotted me in wearing a rouge hue, this is the shade: Rimmel London's Red Hot. Got mine from Clicks. It's a bit of a mojo enhancer :))

#Bisous

Black Opal Make Up Event

Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of joining my girl Nwabisa, for the girliest evening in town! Black Opal hosted an evening of make-up ed and make-overs at the Intsant Grass headquarters in Braam. Lipsticks and laughter filled the night with a cheerful banter but of course the complimentary champers didn't hurt either. **,

The cosmetics line is the skin care answer to the many qualms of our beautiful, unique  ebony skin. Designed specifically for the african complexions, it addresses many of the issues we as black women have. Myself and the ladies learnt a lot about what considerations one needs to make when looking for a good foundation for example. (For me, a person who thought foundation to be the anti-christ because so many people get the shade wrong, this was a break through.) The range boasts a number of innovative shades that fit perfectly with any african complexion - About time! I'm definitely heading straight to Clicks to hook myself up with an item or two for my beauty box.

Thanks B.O! - We love customer-centric innovation!

Some of their awesome product

 Me, Hlumi and Nwabisa who's sporting her new make-up look

Stolen

Even more stolen

Goodie Bags

Black Opal magic in progress

Hlumi!

Stationed carefully in front of the foodies. Strategic! :')

Hello Real Love

Too often we shy away from beauty -We call it safety and security, we call acceptable practice, we call it sanity. It's such a shame that we miss out on the true reflections of ourselves because of a glorified fear...fear disguised as practical thinking or societally acceptable behavior. The status quo means absolutely nothing in my opinion. - it's all a matter of space and time. We should never be bound by the projections of others of what is right and fit for us. One often steers away from a decision as simple as cutting their hair because one or two people said "It's so not like you". Absurd isn't it? Are you not the only you that can say whether or not something is "you" or not?

I'm rambling...in gibberish even...it's only because I'm so ignited by a friend of mines recent change of heart. It's a simple thing but it has made me aware of her freedom from conformity. She cut her hair and it looks great! If you've read a couple of my recent posts you'll know that the hair discourse is a favorite of mine lately. That's because it really annoys me that hair has become one of those things that gets shoved down our throats as an absolute extension of our personalities - ugh! It's just hair right? Turning mere strands of DNA into a definitive just grates my cheese.

I'm just happy that some women will not be bound to the mumbo-jumbo linked to which hairstyle means what. Either it's there or not..."well-groomed" or not...that doesn't change the pink matter that makes up your mind.

Change the way you will. In a strange way I'm proud of my friend. - it's not a life changing move but it's a symbol of a little piece of freedom...Self love.  I've always viewed self love as a freedom of sorts. 

Here's a pic of the gorgling herself. :)

@TshegoMLP 

Hair is

Hair has become so contentious. It shouldn't be. Hair is not currency. Hair isn't identity. Hair isn't an accurate measure of how one values oneself. Hair or lack thereof is not self-love nor is it self-hate. The texture or style of it shouldn't connote or denote ANYTHING. Hair just is.

We have got to get to the point in our lives where we have built and defined who we are so well that our very essence isn't affected by the strands of protein et al that come out of our skin. It is ludicrous.

Seriously,
:/
Sent via my BlackBerry from Vodacom - let your email find you!

Beauty

*Clears throat* About hair...

For more of this stunning inspiration theres http://fuckyeahfamousblackgirls.tumblr.com/ and http://lecoil.tumblr.com/

Thats all :)

No trend... Just good sense: Naturelle (Click to enlarge)

A liberating trend: Short.

Hi friends...

If you, like me, have been stretching yourself day after day trying to make the mass of fiber on your head (Only sometimes recognizable as hair) work, you must be just elated at this trend. Short hair. Short, sexy, easy, cute. I've done it and it's working out so well I'm going even shorter...Think Solange Knowles.

I love it for these reasons: It's easy maintenance and looks amazing! Plus it takes a couple of years off, so we can all stop searching for that fountain of youth :) For now. My favorite reason though, is that it takes a huge load off ones shoulders and forces you to work your natural beauty. (Yes I dare utter the word NATURAL) The layers can get tiring. We all finally get to know what everyone looks like. A breath of fresh air from the concealing weaves we've all had which often have such long fringes one can only see the nose. *Thumbs down to that* Let the world see you. Trust me you're great.

And to everyone who thinks "short only suits some people", here's a selection that I'm sure will change your mind.

**Click on pics to enlarge :)

***Ta