Thrift Store Finds

I LOVE to shop the sales but I usually don’t make have the time to shop at thrift stores. I stopped by Good Will on the way to Concord Mills to see if I could come up on some winter clothes and I surely did!

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Ann Taylor sweater; colorful skirt *needs altering* (for next summer), Tahari blazer and a Polo tweed jacket.

How Do I Dress For Cold Weather??

Lately, I have a thing for sheer tops, leather jackets, and military styled boots. While looking around on Shop Style I realized that I might not be able to wear these types of items because it's going to be UFCKING COLD in the DMV!!! Either way, I like these individual pieces...I might just take the L on that top ;-)

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Boots by Sam Edelman
Jackets by Kristen Blake

Hair Are You These Days?

I was keeping this blog do document my hair at one point so I’m going to dedicate this post to show the different styles I have been wearing. I used a standard set of products on my hair and it never really varies.

Washing/Conditioning:

• Deva Poo Shampoo – this shampoo doesn’t lather (which is why I usually use too much) but it doesn’t leave my hair feeling like a clean glass table.
• Mixed Chicks Conditioner – At first I was like I’m 100% Negro but it turned out to be a pretty good conditioner
• BeeMine Conditioner – My FAVORITE conditioner!!
• Miss Jessies Baby Butter Crème – I don’t think there’s a better moisturizer but it’s expensive as hell. Every Christmas they have a buy one get one sale and the best (and only time) to get the products. It lasts so you don’t have to go broke trying to stock Miss Jessies.
• Bee Mine Herbal Serum with Sulfur (Kiwi Strawberry) – Sulfur doesn’t bother me and this smells like strawberry kiwi with a HINT of sulfur. I bought a squirt top so I can apply it straight to my hair.

Now on to the styles:

I usually wear my hair twisted

*Please excuse the one too many and really shouldn’t be driving look* It is INCREDIBLY time consuming but once it’s done my hand are out of my hair for at least three weeks. I am not a trained professional so I can’t really explain how I twist my hair; I just roll it around my fingers when it’s wet and it stays. I didn’t even know it had a name until someone asked me how to do it lol. It’s called a coil out. When I twist my hair I either use:

• Miss Jessies Curly Puddy (I wish I could eat that stuff) or
• Bee Mine Bee Hold Curly Butter – This product isn’t heavy so it usually leaves me with a frizzy look after about two weeks and I cool with that.

Here’s a link for the people who are interested in the proper way to do a “coil out”: The Proper Way to Do the Coil Out Method.

If my hair isn’t coiled, I usually blow-dry my hair and put a few slave plats in my hair and the next morning I have:

This is a favorite for the older generation of men. They love to tell me stories about the days were their hair looked like this. They always say: “Leave you hair just like this; never change.” Before I blow-dry my hair I use Jane Carter leave-in conditioner and when I plat it I use Jane Carter moisturizer.

Last but not least:

When I first got it straightened I felt so strange. I felt like I looked like everyone else and it kind of freaked me out. My hair felt too close my face and it just looked flat and dead….until I whipped my hair back and forth!! LOL! I usually just deep condition my hair, use a heat protectant (is that a word) and flat iron it.

My Stock is Like the DOW Jones…

Men are visual creatures and I get that; they’re shallow.  With that being said, I didn’t realize JUST how shallow visual they were.  I use myself as the example:

When I started college I was 5’1”, 95 pounds soaking wet and by every definition I was skinny. I would post a picture but who REALLY wants to go back that far. Anywho…fast forward to Summer 2008 when I moved down to Atlanta. For the first 8 months I ate at any restaurant whose name sounded like “Big Mama’s ____ _____”, “Southern Fried ____”, etc.  I toped off at 131 lbs and by all definition I was thick…and proud of it!! Life was grand!! I didn’t have to pay for anything, do anything, hell I’ve never been so lazy. AND if I put in a 10” Remy, ninjas would buck a U turn JUST do I didn’t have to pump my own gas #truestory. But when I got PHAT in the back I also got…..

FAT in the front and that was a problem that needed to be handled.

Two things happened after that: I went natural and I lost weight due to exercise and nutrition (S/O Bleeding Onions). These days all I can get are opinions instead of compliments; suggestions instead of valentines and although my hair is different and I’m lost TWO (or three lol) inches in my hips I just don’t know what’s different. The person hasn’t changed a bit; I’m still the same ‘ol GEE but I guess life is just a hot or not contest.  Now I still believe that I am nothing short of amazing (O_o) but I just say this to let the ladies know that the “beauty is skin deep” is a bunch of bull shit because even though I’m currently shaped like this:

(32-25-36) they really want you to look like this.

 

Does it bother me that I apparently look like shit now; yes. But hey….you can’t please everyone.

More to Come…

Man I think I’m back but I’m not sure. I always try blogging when I am extremely busy.

The reason I feel like blogging is necessary at this point is because I find that lately when I try to share my feelings, which include my fears, someone either gets mad (I guess they think I sound stupid) or tells me that I’m complaining. From that, I have deduced that I cannot talk to people so why not try talking to the internet?

From this point on I’m a smoking gun.  I will say what I want and do what I want no matter what the cost.  I don’t mean that in a F THE WORLD kind of way but since I can no longer depend on people to share my feelings and get their expert (O_o) I just have to do whatever I feel is right and deal with the consequences as the come. Besides I have 30 more days to be 25 so why not end it how I please.

As of right now, I’m a loaded gun.

I Love Getting Nailed

So I know I'm the most bootlegged blogger in America but every time get going good [blogging] something else derails me and I have to put it on the back burner. Lately it's been studying for this LSAT but don't you worry, it will be over and done with on June 7th and I'm going to be back in action! I've been saving pictures, articles, product information, etc. and I'll have a SLEW of post in the summer. With that being said, I'm here now so I might as well post something right?

I'm a SUCKER for nails! If my nails aren't done I feel like the Earth will stop rotating on its axis and all life as we know it will come to an end. I've recently got into looking for new polish and have found so many polish blogs its CrAzY! I’ve always been one for research so I went to Wikipedia to see what, where, and when on nail polish and look what I found:

The Chinese used a colored lacquer, made from a combination of Arabic gum, egg whites, gelatin and beeswax. They also used a mixture consisting of mashed rose, orchid and impatiens petals combined with alum. This mixture, when applied to nails for a few hours or overnight, leaves a color ranging from pink to red. The Egyptians used reddish-brown stains derived from henna to color their nails as well as the tips of their fingers. Henna dyes are used to draw intricate, temporary designs on hands in Mehndi. Chou Dynasty of 600 B.C., Chinese royalty used gold and silver to enhance their nails. A fifteenth-century Ming manuscript cites red and black as the colors chosen by royalty for centuries previous. The Egyptians used nail color to signify social order, with shades of red at the top. Queen Nefertiti, the wife of the king Akhenaton, colored her finger and toe nails ruby red; Cleopatra favored crimson. Women of lower rank who colored their nails were permitted only pale hues. Incas decorated their fingernails with pictures of eagles. It is unclear how the practice of coloring nails progressed following these beginnings. Portraits from the 17th and 18th centuries include shiny nails. By the turn of the 19th century, nails were tinted with scented red oils and polished or buffed with a chamois cloth, rather than simply painted. In addition, English and US 19th century cookbooks contained directions for making nail paints. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, women still pursued a polished, rather than painted, look by massaging tinted powders and creams into their nails, then buffing them shiny. One such polishing product sold around this time was Graf’s Hyglo nail polish paste. Some women during this period painted their nails with clear, glossy varnish applied with a camel-hair brush. When automobile paint was created around 1920, it inspired the introduction of colored nail enamels. SOURCE

I just got bought some new colors today and I am crunk juicy JUICE about using them next week. LORD willing I will post pics next week but knowing me; I'm lying. lol

Ten Ingredients to Keep Out of You Hair Care Cabinet!!

Hello all! I've been MIA (again) mainly because I've been obsessed with my hair but I'm going to try my best to me more regular with posting. I've been doing a lot of research about ingredients because as I've been become a [hair] product whore I've wondering what I'm actually buying! Here are ten products you will want to avoid:

10 INGREDIENTS TO AVOID PUTTING ON YOUR HAIR!

Most of the commercially available hair care products today use harmful, potentially carcinogenic ingredients. In the interest of good napptural health, I list below, what are in my opinion, the 10 worst commonly found product ingredients thngs you can put on your hair (and body). Check the list of ingredients on your hair products. The more of a particular ingredient you have in a product, the closer it is to the top of the list of ingredients on the bottle:


1. ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL: This is a solvent and denaturant (poisonous substance that changes another substances natural qualities). Isopropyl alcohol is found in hair color rinses, body rubs, hand lotions, after-shave lotions, fragrances and many other cosmetics. This petroleum-derived substance is also used in antifreeze and as a solvent in shellac. Napptural hair reacts very badly to isoalcohol and this ingredient should be avoided at ALL costs. It will dry your hair out and break it off. According to A Consumer's Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients, inhalation or ingestion of the vapor may cause headaches, flushing, dizziness, mental depression, nausea, vomiting, narcosis and even coma.

2. MINERAL OIL & PETROLATUM: The best baby oil is made from almonds. But the oil which being sold as baby oil is 100% mineral oil. Mineral oil is a derivative of crude oil (petroleum) that is used industrially as a cutting fluid and lubricating oil. This commonly used petroleum ingredient coats the skin and hair just like plastic wrap. The skin's natural barrier is disrupted as this plastic coating inhibits its ability to breathe and absorb the Natural Moisture Factor (moisture and nutrition). The skin's ability to release toxins and wastes is impossible through this "plastic wrap," which can promote acne and other disorders.

3. PEG: This is an abbreviation for polyethylene glycol that is used in making cleansers to dissolve oil and grease as well as thicken products. Because of their effectiveness, PEG's are often used in caustic spray on oven cleaners and yet are found in many personal care products. PEG's contribute to stripping the Natural Moisture Factor, leaving the immune system vulnerable. They are also potentially carcinogenic.

4. PROPYLENE GLYCOL (PG): As a "surfactant" or wetting agent and solvent, this ingredient is actually the active component in antifreeze. There is no difference between the PG used in industry and the PG used in personal care products. It is used in industry to break down protein and cellular structure (what the skin is made of) yet is found in most forms of make-up, hair products, lotions, after-shave, deodorants, mouthwashes and toothpaste. It is also used in food processing. Because of its ability to quickly penetrate the skin, the EPA requires workers to wear protective gloves, clothing and goggles when working with this toxic substance.

5. SODIUM LAURYL SUFATE (SLS) & SODIUM LAURETH SULFATE (SLES): SLS is used in testing labs as the standard ingredient to irritate skin. Used as detergents and surfactants, these closely related compounds are found in car wash soaps, garage floor cleaners and engine degreasers. Yet both SLS and SLES are used more widely as one of the major ingredients in cosmetics, toothpaste, hair conditioner and about 90% of all shampoos and products that foam. They are used in personal-care products because they are cheap. A small amount generates a large amount of foam, and when salt is added it thicken to give the illusion of being thick and concentrated. (SOME OF THE NITROSATING AGENTS ARE: SLS, SLES, DEA, TEA, MEA). Shampooing the hair with a product contaminated with these substances can lead to its absorption into the body at levels much higher than eating nitrite-contaminated foods.

6. CHLORINE: According to Doris J. Rapp, M.D., author of Is This your Child's World? exposure to chlorine in tap water, Showers, pool, laundry products, cleaning agents, food processing, sewage systems and many others, can effect health by contributing to asthma, hay fever, anemia, bronchitis, circulatory collapse, confusion, delirium diabetes, dizziness, irritation of the eye, mouth, nose throat, lung, skin and stomach, heart disease, high blood pressure,
and nausea. It is also a possible cause of cancer. Even though you will not see Chlorine on personal care product labels, it is important for you to be aware of the need to protect your skin when bathing and washing your hair.

7. DEA (diethanolamine) MEA (momoethnanolamine) TEA (triethanolamine): DEA and MEA are usual listed on the ingredients label in conjunction with the compound being neutralized. Thus look for names like Cocamide DEA or MES, Lauramide DEA, etc. These are hormone disrupting chemicals and are known to form cancer causing nitrates and nitrosamines. . These are commonly found in most personal care products that foam, including bubble baths, body washes, shampoos, soaps and facial cleansers.

8. FD & C Color PIGMENTS: Many color pigments cause skin sensitivity and irritation. Absorption of certain colors can cause depletion of oxygen in the body and even death according to A Consumer's dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients. Debra Lynn Dadd says in Home Safe Home: "Colors that can be used in foods, drug, and cosmetics are made from coal tar. There is a great deal of controversy about their use, because animal studies have shown almost all of them to be carcinogenic."

9. FRAGRANCE: Fragrance is present in most deodorants shampoos, sunscreens, skin care, body care and baby products. Many of the compounds in fragrance are carcinogenic or otherwise toxic. "Fragrance on a label can indicate the presence of up to 4,000 separate ingredients. Most or all of them are synthetic. Symptoms reported to the FDA have included headaches, dizziness, rashes, skin discoloration, violent coughing and vomiting, and allergic skin irritation. Clinical observation by medical doctors have shown that exposure to fragrances can affect the central nervous system, causing depression, hyperactivity, irritability, inability to cope, and other behavioral changes," (Home Safe Home). For better health try purchasing unscented products and for fragrance, adding a natural essential oil.

10. IMIDAZOLIDINYL UREA and DMDM HYDANTOIN: These are just two of the many preservatives that release formaldehyde (formaldehyde-donors). Exposure to formaldehyde may cause joint pain, allergies, depression, headaches, chest pains, ear infections, Chronic fatigue, dizziness and loss of sleep. It can also aggravate coughs and colds and trigger asthma. Serious side effects include weakening of the immune system and cancer. Nearly all brands of skin, body and hair care, antiperspirants and nail polish found in stores contain formaldehyde-releasing ingredients.