Progress Report: 7 Months of Fro

It's been 7 awesome months since i made the decision to go natural... I decided to transition instead of doing a big chop for fear of looking like a boy. I had originally intended to transition for a year.... but after 6 months of transitioning i got fed up of battling two textures. So, i did what any normal person would do... i went into my bathroom with my blue handle scissors and cut off my hair. After slowly cutting off the tiny straggles of relaxed ends that i had left, i was fully natural. On May 4th, the day of my not so big chop, i had 2 1/2 inches of hair on my head. Now... 7 months later i have 7 inches of hair which stretches a little past my nose. It took quite a lot of patience to get this far.  

I can totally agree with the various hair bloggers when they say that your hair changes after the big chop. The day of my chop, my hair was extremely hard and was in dire need of moisture... it also didn't help that i went out to a fair in the hot sun and had nothing else but water to keep it going. Also.. my hair seemed to grow in one consistent pattern that i identified as 4C. however, with length came a bunch of new things. The front and back of my hair is notably 4a in it's composition and whenever my hair gets wet it droops down in my face and down my neck. The sides are mostly 4c and poofs out now... before my entire fro would just shrink. The Front of my hair is a lot softer and i have a large section at the middle and sides of my head where straight hairs grow with my fro. Lots of people thought i still had permed ends until the looked at the whole strand and realized it grew straight from my scalp.

I've been experimenting with ways to style my hair daily as a twist out everyday doesn't really work anymore. I've gotten products to help with my hair and honestly my hair now holds moisture for days on end. I use a lot of oils which keeps my hair nice and shiny. My hair is also extremely thick.. but i love it that way. A few weeks ago i did my first flat iron on my hair.. and i failed miserably. I had prepped my hair with moisture and heat protectant, but my flat iron to 350 degrees and my hair never did fall flat. It just stretched out further to show how much length i had retained but it wasn't the straightened look i had expected. I liked what had happened tho because i got to rock giant puffs for a while... i don't have any of those pictures in this post though.. maybe another time ^_^ I've even experimented with marley hair and created some cool styles which gave my hair more volume. After 7 months i can say that i am satisfied with my hair and how it's growing so far.

NB: If you haven't noticed, you can see a reduction in pimples on my face. That's because i decided to reduce my soda and juice intake and now drink mostly water. I've seen a difference in my hair health and my skin and i think i'll keep doing this.

Kinks are Pink!

There are many different fashion blogs on the internet and with the advent of the natural hair movement, there are many blogs about natural hair. However, few blogs are able to strike the perfect balance between both of these topics. Ashlei, the brain behind Kinks are the new Pink in my view has an excellent balance. She's not only a major figure in type 4 hair education, but she's also somewhat of a style guru for many persons who read her blog. I really love her blog as i learn new ways to care for my hair as well as cool ways to mis and match patterns and styles for outfits. She's always experimenting with different methods of doing things and she's not selfish in sharing her methods with her following. So, in honour of Ashlei's exceptional style, here are a few of her outfits that i absolutely loved >>>>

SPOTLIGHT: FALIESHA GOMEZ

I had an email interview with the beautiful and artistic Faliesha from Instagram. I've been following her for awhile and her feed is wonderful. She's a peaceful person and she shares lots of Muslim passages that often uplift my spirit. So, i approached her about this feature for my Blog and i was so ecstatic when she said yes. I'll stop holding up the process : ) Here's more on Faliesha . . .

My name is Faliesha Gomez, i live in Canada, and I'm in my last year of high school, soon to be going off to college. Ever since I was a young girl I've always had a passion for art and fashion.  It was always that one thing that I went to when I needed to get my feelings out or even when I felt like being Inspired. With that being said I thought of a way to broadcast my talent to other people, so why not henna! It was something I knew many people would enjoy. I began practicing on myself as a child, and realized that it was something I truly admired. And wanted to share it with other people. And ever since then I loved what I been doing!

Religion is something that either brings people together or rips them apart. It shouldn't be that way. I think all religions are beautiful no matter what one you come from, or what you've been grown into, and you shouldn't be judged for what you believe. My mother is Muslim and father is Jewish. My decision on religion was purely my choice. Growing up I always leaned towards my mother's religion. Islam. It was always so fascinating and beautiful to me to see so many people come together, people that have never met giving each other hugs and kisses. I thought it was beautiful. Now being older, I really have learned that Islam is a beautiful religion. No flaws at all, I fell in love with my religion and am 100% content with my decision to be a Muslim.

Jane Sews: Summer Capsule

the south african-based label jane sews has just released their new summer capsule collection, and as expected, it’s a good one! designer amy venter has introduced a beautiful new set of classic dresses and separates in a clean black and cream palette with the cutest little sandals and handbags to go with them. the palm print is fun and playful without being overdone, just the type of thing i would love to wear on that imaginary resort vacation i’ve got planned in my head. everything is constructed in crisp cotton, breezy rayon, and luxurious silk blends right in their durban studio, at an incredibly affordable price point. if you haven’t taken the time to check out this brand, then today is the day!  - Calivintage

The best thing about living in the Caribbean is that i get to shop for summer clothing all year round. So when i came across the JANE SEWS SUMMER CAPSULE, i just knew that these were things that i could see myself wearing. The 'flowy' dresses and loose flair bottoms are just perfect, and the prints scream my name. I'm a devout fan of dresses, and if you like them as much as i do, i can assure you that this collection is one you should check out.

   The collection is both comfortable and stylish and is appealing for the everyday person to sport around. The collection incorporates very simple and bright colors that just shout summer. The tasteful design of the clothing attracted me to the collection to begin with. The Collection also has an afro-centric fell to it and i really loved the designs. The Shoot was well executed and the model was rightly selected. If you are ever looking for something new and refreshing i highly suggest Jane Sews.

tink photography hair and make-up by candice mac nicol model: ndumi matiwane

Insta-Feature: Christopher Aaron

Bookworm, Stylist, and chilling in Los Angeles California.. This is only some context for the great and awesome chris aaron, @christopher_aaron on instagram. He's a very interesting guy and so, doing what i do best, i decided that he needed an insta-feature, to show you bits and pieces of his instagram. He's somewhat of a minimalist as he makes simple things appeal to his followers and make little things in his life extraordinary.

He's a photographer in his own right. He captures his day to day sightings so effortlessly and his cool fades and soothing tones just make you fall in love with his feed over and over again. His feed is not only an expression of himself but it's appealing and noteworthy in a way that makes it unique and different from the average personal feed.

Christopher is also a bit of a foodie! He enjoys sharing photos of his wonderful meals which sometimes make me a bit jealous. Most of all, Chris is a really cool person and he's very supportive of my work... he's become sort of an insta-friend. He's a hard working, fun loving guy, who enjoys adventures. Check out his work and i think you'll find him interesting too.

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