Hello

*peeks*, anyone looking??? 

Ok, so I just came on here to say a quick hello. I have been debating for months if to close down this blog or keep it going as I haven't updated in a while. But the truth of the matter is I love writing. I really do. I love expressing all (well not quite all) the random thoughts that come into my head; and when it's flowing oh my, it's one of the best things in the world. 

(Na wa oh see tory)

Lol…so what I'm trying to say in essence is, I'm not going to close down the blog. At least not for now, mainly because of my love for doing this. What I have been cautious of  lately however is bringing too much attention to myself, because lets face it, blogging can be a pretty narcissistic activity. In the past couple months, a couple events have caused me to soul search and I have realized that I possess some of those tendencies. As I didn't want to do anything to enhance it, I felt that closing down the blog will help to curb such excesses. But not all blogging is narcissistic. Some are there to provide information, build and encourage people. 

To focus so much on hair I think is a bit shallow when there are so many things in the world happening right now, which we can be a part of in effecting some change. And for that reason, I wouldn't want to focus on hair as much as I have.

I've recently also been on a journey of spiritual discovery (lets be explicit….growing in my Christian faith), and the more I grow and learn, the more my mind is changed and I begin to realize that life isn't about me, but Jesus and the cross. To live a life that's rooted in loving God with everything and loving others, is the richest, most fulfilling. Many people run around looking for quick fixes and quick answers, but I'm happy that true Christianity isn't about that, and that it takes time, patience, perseverance and dedication, because the fruit produced at the end of the day will always be better and sweeter than the non-organic, GM versions.

Finally, I do not want to make any empty promises in saying this blog is going to be this and that, cos I haven't always kept that word. I just want to see where the wind of the spirit blows and go with it and if it blows so strong as to turn out the candle, then so be it.

Much love,

Miss Jay

xoxo

It's a new day

Hi world,

I've been so M.I.A and in fairness, I guess I just lost the urge to blog, that was till last night. I went back to Uni last September and although I'm doing loads I could blog about, I've just been lazy and distracted. 

Anyway, so what happened last night? I came across Toolz article on Bella Naija, and to be honest it's been years since anyone told me to focus on my strengths. For the past couple years I've done nothing but focus on my weaknesses and failures, over and over again, and it's no wonder I've been feeling 'stuck'. So yes, reading that article was a breath of fresh air, literally. I immediately proceeded to write a list of my strengths, and as I'm a big fan of personality typing, I also looked at the strengths of IXFP's and came up with this (non-exhaustive) list.

My Strengths

1. Highly creative, artistic- Love for writing

2. Rich in ideas

3. Spiritually aware

4. Executing social change (in response to social injustice)

5. Good listener, including love for listening to debates and hearing other peoples points of view

6. Encouraging and building others up by promoting self esteem and confidence in others.

7. Intelligent- ability to grasp difficult concepts with ease and break them down, explaining in a creative manner.

8. Good presentation skills.

9. Detail oriented

In addition, back in high school, where I seemed to be operating at my peak and noted the following to be catalysts to my growth.

1. Being challenged by a classmate; healthy competition

2. Seeing the fruits of my labour

3. Reading like there was no tomorrow

4. Receiving encouragement from parents, teachers and friends

5. Reading and being inspired by biographies and self help books

6. Praying and being accountable to God in writing.  

This is my story, and I would like to encourage you all to reflect and come up with what makes ye tick.

*  *  *

It's funny because I've had to prepare for a couple of interviews lately, and as I look at selling points, a recurring theme I encounter is a love for teaching and imparting knowledge and that is a skill I definitely would like to enhance. I am very passionate about knowledge empowerment and health related primary prevention, and so this year, I want to widen the scope of this blog.

Since the start of the year, I've decided to take my health more seriously and lose a couple of kg's. I have been learning more about dieting and have been hitting the gym more frequently. It's also been encouraging to see the changes on the scale and so I'd like to share this aspect of my life with ye also.

Before I start to blab, I'll simply summarize, the new scope of this blog.

1. Natural hair journey- I will remain true to my interest in natural hair, and share any updates with regards to regimen changes, length checks, new styles etc.

2. Motivation and inspiration- I need it just as much as ye all do.

3. Derm corner- I will update this area, focussing on hair, the primary prevention of premature aging and a holistic management of common skin disorders (including evidence based natural/nutritional remedies)

3. NEW. Health and fitness- I'll share my scientific knowledge on how our body uses up food and how we can monitor our diet and exercise to lose or maintain our weight. I'd also focus on some of the health benefits of staying fit.

Style Series 13 - Curls Curls, Yeah Yeah!!!

It's been almost 4 months at this stage since I last blogged and to be real honest, my passion has kind of waned. I haven't been taking good care of my hair and had to cut off a couple inches in August due to split ends. So after all the hoo-ha, I'm back to APL hair. At this stage I'm in braids to avoid any further damage due to my complacency. I bunned my hair for almost a year consistently that I'm beginning to worry I may be developing some traction alopecia :( I'm in a very weird state, right now and do hope to come out of it soon.
Geez, this sounds very gloomy and I too feel like crying so I'm gonna focus on the positives.

The past 4 months have been pretty awesome. Got to visit some amazing places, meet new people and  share some great experiences I will never forget. For the most part of it my hair was in a bun but at the end of my tip I'm like, you know what? I want some curls!!!!

...... I decided to go back home and spend the next couple hours re-curling it, knowing fully well that it would still end up a frizz-ball later that day.

The funny thing is I kinnda like the texture of frizzy medium sized curls....dunno why

And finally we got the back view....I just love how my type 4 hair can come out looking silky at times.

Was walking down the mall, when I was stopped by these hair straightener sellers and they decided to sample their curling wand [Amika, is the brand] on my hair

I was due to wash my hair the next day, so was like ah sure. As usual, the curls only lasted so long as it started raining soon after, but it was fun whilst it lasted.

Now I'm back to my lovely fluffy hair, although it's in braids. I'm afraid I may have suffered some heat damage in the front. Was too scared to look as I blow-dried my hair after washing to make it easier to braid...so I guess I'll find out the truth, real or imagined, when I take out my extensions.

I am making sure to take care of my braids by washing and conditioning once weekly, and moisturizing and sealing every 2 days. I have also commenced taking Biotin tablets and have decided to go on a 1 year fast from heat.....*gulp*, following which I'd probably straighten my hair once a year unlike my usual 2-3 times yearly.

My friend also suggested, dreadlocks extensions, which I'm gonna try in December. So if any one knows where they do this in Lagos, I'd be very happy with suggestions.


Well take care luvies,
XoXo

Miss Jay

Style Series 12 - Curlformer set

Hello my fellow naturalistas,

Happy New Month (as we say in 9ja cos we just have to celebrate everything). And you know what, we have every right to celebrate as we have made it through half of 2013 already. I was watching a Matthew Hussey video the other day, which I felt very inspired by. He encouraged his viewers to make the most of the 185 days left in the year citing that there was still a long time to achieve the goals you had written down in January. So do not be dismayed if you haven't attained some of your goals. Just keep focussed and I believe you will get there with hard work and determination. I am excited and believing for the best. Are you??

Anyways, So I went home* 2 weeks ago and finally received my curlformers that I had ordered from the U.S since February...( boy was I elated...in addition to sighting my KCCC and olive oil eco styler that my sis had bought during her last trip to the U.S which was like several months ago....I totally forgot about the later two as I wasn't allowed to take them with me as hand luggage).

40 curlformers per bag in long and narrow

Anyways, I had a formal dinner last Thursday and so thought  it would be nice to use my curlformers.  After much researching on youtube i decided to moisturize with my faithful yes to carrots argan oil leave in conditioner and set with lottabody setting lotion.

Unfortunately, I had left one bag in the UK and so I had to improvise as the set of 40 wasnt enough for my not so big hair. I had a set of 'arabic' curlformers which a friend had given me a while back, however they were short and so I had to use 2 per mini-section. I also filled in the gaps with flexi rods and used perm rods (for the areas where my hair was sticking out of the curlformers).

It was a whole day affair and after 3 hours of applying the curlformers and 1hr of hooded drying, I was good to go.

Items needed:
Co-wash- herbal essences beautiful ends conditioner
Styling- Yes to carrots leave in conditioner with argan oil, lottabody setting lotion (mixed one part lottabody with two parts water)
Accessories- hair clips, widetoothed comb, penman brush, curlformers long and narrow

I decided to curlform on freshly co-washed hair as I had shampooed the day before.

Step 1- Divide hair into 4 sections and co-wash with herbal essences beautiful ends conditioner.


Step 2- Twist hair into 8 sections i.e. 2 twists per quarter.

Step 3- Take down one twist (1/8th) and moisturize/ smooth with leave-in and then detangle with a wide tooth comb.

Step 4- Spritz section (1/8th) with lotta body setting lotion.

Step 5- Separate a small section from the bigger section (1/8th) and detangle using denman brush.

Step 6- Apply curl former to section

Step 7- Repeat all over hair

Step 8- Airdry x 6hrs or use a hooded hair dryer x 1hr (medium heat setting)

Step 9- voila

Had to pin curl the ends cos the curlformers were to short for me

right sided view

4 hours later, post humidity and all

me no likey :(

So was it worth the hassle guys? What i'd say is if you live in a place where the humidity is lower you can get more wear out of the style.

I 'pineappled' my hair to sleep the first night and wore it with the frizz and all the second day. By the second night it had gone super frizzy and so I decided to bantu knot the whole thing, which was easy to do as I had all my sections already made out.

So I wore my hair in a bantu knot out days 3 and 4 and boy was it fierce. I'd do another style series with the pics of the bantu knot out later in the week, so stay tuned!!!!

xoxo

Miss Jay

It's been a long time (long time), I shouldn'a left you (left you), without a dope beat to step to (step to) ........

Hey girlies, how's it going? Wow, its been ages!!!!!! I was away for much of last month and apart from being lazy and starting a new blog here, not much else has been going on.
With regards to my hair care regimen, nothing's changed. I've reached a point where I know what works for me and I stick to it. PJ fever has since left my body, but that's not to say I'll never try any new products. I'm very low maintenance at present and do mostly buns as my protective style. I am however thinking of going back to braids or trying out the crotchet weave thingy as my hair's been 'out' since November last year.

As I mentioned earlier, I was away on holiday and so decided to get my hair straightened for ease of styling. I had initially gone to an irish salon to get it blow-dried and straightened, and all I can say was it was an epic fail. The guy did not know what he was doing and I didn't want to keep bugging him and telling him his job. After a barely satisfactory result, I knew I was going to have to go back to the amika hair salon/shop at St Stephens's green shopping centre to get my hair re-straightened.

(side note: I had bought a hair straightener from them last christmas after getting my hair straightened at the brazilian salon at clarendon street, which is now closed. As I was walking to the ATM to get out some cash, one of their attendants stopped me and demonstrated their hair straighteners on my hair and boy was I blown away. My hair came out super shiny and soft just after one glide. Now mind you I had just come out from a salon and although my hair had been straightened, it lacked that lustre. As such, I was sold and purchased their titanium plated product which they claim rivals GHD and is less damaging to the hair shaft than ceramic straighteners).

Saw these 'dishwashing sponges' in Paris and almost screamed.... Knew I'd have to share it on here

This was my go-to style in Paris. A lot of the Parisian women seemed to be rocking this style so I decided to do 'follow-follow'

Just an aside- saw these cute baby dolls which were actual perfume bottles in a store.

Curls still holding

Take care my lovelies,

and God bless.

xoxo

Miss Jay