Makeup Break!

We interrupt our usual hair discussion for this brief announcement

Does anyone else hate wearing makeup during the summer? That's one thing I dread once it starts warming up here. I barely wear my usual foundation (MAC Studio Tech -NW47 if you wanna buy me some!) during the spring/summer/early fall because I feel like my face is melting. Even in the winter I don't wear it every day. I love it, but sometimes it just feels a bit heavy. Not to mention that I tend to break out if I use it too many days in a row.

So for the longest I've been stuck in a catch-22 because I don't like just being bare-faced. Unfortunately if a pimple even tries to pop up, I'm scarred with a dark spot. I've wanted to try a mineral powder, but was told by the guy at the MAC counter that it would end up leaving me shiny. Thought about Bare Minerals, but I was never able to find a shade that suited me. So the other day while browsing around the Sephora counter at JCP, one of the ladies directed me to a brand I'd never heard of: Cover FX.

She applied Powder FX (which is actually a foundation, not just a powder like I originally thought) and it went on like buttah. The color was perfect (B35 ova here!), it didn't take much (which meant no caked-up look) and it didn't leave me looking shiny, even on my sometimes oily T-zone. The lady at the makeup counter said that it also works to heal and reduce acne. I'm not so sure about those claims, but it doesn't break me out, which was the main thing I was looking for. Another thing I LOVE about this product is the wide variety of shades. Usually I just have to pick the darkest shade and hope for the best (although many times it's still too light). B35 works perfectly for me, but not for my mom who's a tad darker. Fortunately, using Match FX we figure she's a B45 (going to the counter to verify before she buys it).

Overall, this is a makeup MUST for me. I don't have any kind of rating system (maybe I should work on that?) but if I did, this would definitely get top ranking. Cover FX may have stolen me away from MAC...

But not completely! I am still in love with MAC's eyeshadow. That pricey pro palette will be mine one day!! But what I do have now is a lovely lipcolor. It's one that I purchased a few years ago but haven't been able to find in forever. When I got it, I told the guy that I was looking for something different than what I already had (a bunch of browns and burgundy/purples). When he handed me a Slimshine tube in Lovey-Dove I thought he'd lost his mind. It's such a pretty color--sort of a coral/copper color with a bit of blush or something... IDK--but I thought I'd look ridiculous wearing it. Wrong! It's a great everyday lip color. Goes on kinda sheer, not sticky... It doesn't last as long as I'd like, but it's not bad. And now that I've found out I can order it from Nordstroms (I haven't even been able to get it from MAC's site or counter!), I've fallen in love with it all over again!

So here I am today with my Powder FX & Lovey-Dove lips! Please excuse the lop-sided faux-fro (co-wash tonight!) and the wild eyebrows -_-

And speaking of eyebrows... I've got to find some stencils & brow powder/pencil to do something with these things! I thought I was going to try Eyecandy Eyebrows for a "custom" stencil, but at $110? No thanks. I'll be going to CVS & picking up the lil stencil pack with four shapes to choose from. Out of those, something's gotta be better than this! And for approx. $6 if they don't work, it won't be a major loss.

Now back to our regularly scheduled blogging...

A Hair Horror Story

OMG I don't know how I forgot to share this with y'all!

As I've mentioned before, I've always been a salon girl. Never really did my own hair because... well, I never had to. But I had an experience back in January to make me change that completely!

From the very start of my transition, my stylist constantly said that she "didn't know what to do" with my hair and that she wasn't gonna be able to deal with it for long. I always laughed it off, my line of thinking being "she started doing hair in the late 60s/70s; she's gotta know about doing natural hair." And I'd been doing fine with the little roller set that I'd been getting. On this particular visit, she said she wouldn't be able to do that style with it anymore. I thought it was odd (since even the newgrowth was manageable and able to be rolled when wet) but said okay and asked what could she do with it. She said she could press it. Cool, I thought. I'd have a little wrap action going.

So I sat in the chair for her to kinda comb through and detangle my hair before washing (it hurt, but I didn't think it was too bad) and asked her to trim it. I specified "trim about an inch off" because last time I said cut (my mistake) and ended up with my hair barely past my ears. Apparently I needed to be more specific. I heard the snip of the shears, looked up, and saw a good two inches of my hair in her hands. She proceeds to just cut randomly (later I realized that it's not even at all), even adding a bang that I did not want or ask for. (That bang is currently the bane of my existence. Yes, it's really that bad!) So although I'm pissed, I know I can't do anything about the cut. We shampoo, we condition. She fires this thing up: 

What happened next was nearly unbearable. She begins to tug & pull at my hair, dragging this burning comb through my hair. I was just annoyed with the pulling at first, but when she got to the very back of my hair I wanted to turn around and punch her! There were several spots where she burned my scalp. Thanks to my high pain threshold and the fact that I'm a G I didn't realize how bad it was until a few days later when I was oiling my scalp.

By the time I left the shop, I was in so much pain. My scalp felt like it was on fire, and my head was throbbing so much that I had to take some Excedrin & lie down as soon as I got home. That day I decided I would never go back to her. Since I still have not found a stylist (anyone happen to know a natural stylist in Jackson, MS?) I've been doing it myself. And doing a pretty good darn job of it...

But last Sunday I wanted something different. I was missing the old days of flowy hair. So I washed it, then had my mom blowdry and flat iron it. It came out flawless (and painless)! And here is the kicker: My mom's at-home straightening lasted longer than the professional one I suffered for! SMH True, it only lasted a week (including one touch up of the edges with a straightening comb) but the other was puffing back up the very next day.

Moral of the story: If whoever does your hair is against you going natural (or really, whatever decision you make in regards to your hair) LEAVE them and find someone else! Or do it yourself. Eventually their negative disposition towards what you're doing will either push you away from what you want to do, or manifest itself in hair horror stories like this one.

The Point of It All

A few nights ago I was asked if all I write about is hair. (Answer: NO. I also blog randomness over on I'm Not A Celebrity... But I Play One on TV, but I've kinda been slacking...) I guess hair probably seems like a rather trivial thing to focus on, obsess over, write about, read about... That is, if it's never been an issue to you. For a guy I guess I can see why it seems so unnecessary. They're hardly ever scrutinized about it, unless we're talking about locs & braids in a corporate environment. But for women, and especially Black women, it's not the same. We are bombarded with ads and messages about what we should look like, so it shouldn't be surprising that we focus on that. True, beauty is only skin deep, it's what's on the inside that counts, yadda yadda yadda. But we all know people still judge books by their cover and we want our covers to say "Fabulous!" (Random sidenote: I actually judge books by their covers. Literally. If the cover doesn't grab my attention, I won't pick it up, unless it's a book I was intending to read anyway. I know that has nothing to do with nothing but I felt like sharing ^_^)

Anyway, here are my main reasons for being obsessed enough with my hair to write, research, take pix, steal pix, etc.

1. This is a matter of self-discovery for me. Since I've become conscious of the fact that I am not & will never be a "classic beauty" I've had to come to terms with my image & my body. My weight, my skin, my height, my facial features, my gait; I've learned (and am learning) to love each and every aspect of myself physically. The one thing that I've always loved was my hair. It's always been long and soft and flowing and beautiful... and permed. So while I've always been able to accept my hair, it wasn't the hair God gave me. And if I'm gonna accept the body He entrusted me with, why not the hair as well?

2. It's a learning experience. I have NEVER done my hair as much as I have in these past couple of months, especially since the beginning of this year. The most I'd done to my own hair prior to transitioning was wrapping, unwrapping, and making ponytails. So this blog is helping me keep track of my progress and what does/doesn't work for me.

3. I want to show others that it's possible to have beautiful, chemical free hair. The general consensus around here is that unless you have "good" hair, you have to have a perm. Like I always say, it's all "good" hair, as long as it's healthy! I also want to let naturals know that it is possible to have healthy relaxed hair. (I know I haven't focused much on that, but I will get to it, trust!)

So that's the point of it all for me. I'd love to get input from other natural hair bloggers/tweeters about why you do what you do!

Two-strand Twists & Twist out

I'm sooo slack, I know! I was supposed to have this posted on Saturday! But at least this way, I get to do two posts at once, so that makes it okay, right? LOL

I wore my two-strand twists Saturday & Sunday, then did a twist-out for yesterday. Today my twist-out is looking like a faux-fro and I LOOOOOVE it! This little experiment with my hair has me even more anxious to go ahead and cut it!

Anyway, on to the pix...

First pix of the twists. Not quite what I wanted, but decent for a first try!

Fresh twist-out. Wasn't feeling it too much at first...

But today I love it!

A few pix, mid-style

So I decided to try my hand at two-strand twists tonight. For my first time, I think they're gonna be okay, although I wish I could've done them a little smaller than I did. (To kind of give you an idea of how big they are, I only have 34 of them. Yes, I counted!) I washed my hair using Optimum Oil Therapy Ultimate Recovery shampoo (yeah, I'm still using shampoo, although I know a lot of people don't...), then conditioned (Palmers Deep Conditioning Pure Coconut Milk, let it set about 20 minutes). Detangling went fairly smoothly, and although there was some hair loss, it wasn't enough to make a fuss over. I sectioned the hair off and got to twisting! I used Cantu shea butter to sculpt the twists & then put them on cold rods since I figured the relaxed ends would unravel otherwise. Sooo, here are two pix, front & back, taken before I got under the dryer. I have to have some heat, otherwise my hair would be damp all tomorrow & Sunday morning. So I put it on warm for about 10 minutes, then lowered the setting to cool for about 30. I'm excited to see how they turn out! I plan to keep them in until Tuesday, then do a twist-out Wednesday morning. We'll see how it goes!

Random Thoughts on Hair & Beauty

I'm ready to BC now... but what will HWHNT pull on?! LOL One thing that is making me less apprehensive about the BC is that I am seeing soooo many beautiful pix of black women after they do it as opposed to not so great pictures. And considering my own awesome beauty (yeah I'm a bit cocky today) I should be fine!

I can't wait for my hair to be all big & billowy, like my own personal cloud of cool.

OMG I'm trying to oil my scalp and I can't even part my hair! Ouch!!
My hair is in dire need of moisture. I gotta find something that will keep it from getting so dry so quickly! Nothing I've tried seems to last, and I just don't have time to oil my hair every day.

Gawd I miss my wrap! I mean, my wrap was something SERIOUS! But I guess you really can't have your cake and eat it too, huh? Can't have a fiya fro and silky tresses on the same head... Dah well....

My cousin Shari BC'd over the weekend and it looks adorable on her! I'm jealous lol

If you are not on Twitter, get on there! I have found so much useful information, as well as style tips & tutorials, blogs, makeup and jewelry by using the trending topic #naturalhair

I wish I'd been better in chemistry and A&P so I'd know what the big deal is with "cones," mineral oil, etc. I keep reading that all of this stuff is bad but it's always been fine by me... I guess I could look it up.... (yeah I know, I'm being lazy)

I finally ordered Thank God I'm Natural today! Sooo excited; I can't wait for it to get here so I can soak in all it's natural, booky goodness (I'm a bit of a bibliophile, don't judge me! lol)



Okay, battery's low & charger is at work. Guess that means it's bedtime!

Just an Observation...

Today and this past Sunday, from the choir stand, I looked out across our congregation and did a little observing. We have a fairly large church family, and--no surprise-- it is comprised of mostly women. Out of over 100 women, I counted two with natural hair. (Although, does it count as "natural" if one is rocking a jheri curl? hmmm) If there are any naturals, their press game is proper because you never ever see anyone's hair looking natural. Of the little girls (I'll say maybe age 6 and up) the story is the same, although a few have their cute lil natural puffy ponytails. Now I have to admit that the majority of these women have beautiful, healthy hair due to proper care and maintenance so I'm definitely not knocking it.

But the observation did spark a question that I've often wondered before: Is there a distinction between the attitudes towards natural hair depending on what region you are in? I'm in the deep south and don't see many naturals. When I peruse natural hair sites and blogs, the south isn't repped that much. I can't recall any of my friends not having perms when I was growing up (I'm asking around and looking through pix to verify). In fact, a lot of my friends from church got their perms at a very young age just like me, done by either my dad, aunt or cousin! I met my first naturalista in undergrad; it was my ace who was from Chicago. From what I've seen, it seems as if natural hair is not considered "acceptable" down here. Fortunately I am seeing more black women here embracing their natural hair, mostly in the form of locs...

So tell me: Has anyone else noticed that certain regions are more accepting of natural hair? Is it more relegated to certain social circles? Have you always been exposed to natural hair, or did you grow up with relaxed hair being the norm?