Music.Beauty.Food

My interaction with my phone after I saw a commercial and she...

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:17:57 -0400

My interaction with my phone after I saw a commercial and she told me a joke. Technology, wow!

Breakfast.

Tue, 14 May 2013 11:04:05 -0400

Breakfast.

Snail at the bottom of the outside stairs.

Wed, 08 May 2013 19:42:13 -0400

Snail at the bottom of the outside stairs.

Fixed the toilet.

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 19:53:01 -0400

Fixed the toilet.

Check out this verse on Bible Gateway

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 11:35:30 -0500

Amen.

But He knows the way that I take [He has concern for it, appreciates, and pays attention to it]. When He has tried me, I shall come forth as refined gold [pure and luminous]. - Job 23:10 http://bg4.me/T03tra

Tweet from Music.Beauty.Food (@MusicBeautyFood)

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 00:16:37 -0500

Music.Beauty.Food (@MusicBeautyFood) tweeted at 0:13 AM on Tue, Feb 26, 2013: Some roots are so deep, you have to work extra hard to remove them. #underconstruction #Phil4:13 (https://twitter.com/MusicBeautyFood/status/306270717375303680) Get the official Twitter app at https://twitter.com/download

"I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you..."

Tue, 01 Jan 2013 20:12:15 -0500

“

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.

Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something.

So that’s my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody’s ever made before. Don’t freeze, don’t stop, don’t worry that it isn’t good enough, or it isn’t perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.

Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, Do it.

Make your mistakes, next year and forever.

”

- Neil Gaiman

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Tue, 25 Dec 2012 16:41:24 -0500

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

True. naturalhairdaily: Embrace what you’ve been blessed with....

Fri, 14 Sep 2012 22:07:00 -0400

True.

naturalhairdaily:

Embrace what you’ve been blessed with. It belongs to YOU…it’s yours, no one else has it #Naturalhair #teamnatural (Taken with Instagram)

Absolutely...

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 21:14:00 -0400

Absolutely beautiful!!!

~Music.Beauty.Food

naturalhairdaily:

Jill Scott on the cover of @essencemag! Just beautiful! Love her! #Naturalhair #teamnatural (Taken with Instagram)

Pasta.and.a.Sandwich.Food Amateur.Food.Photography.Beauty —...

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 14:17:57 -0400

Shimp Fettucini Alfredo

Pasta.and.a.Sandwich.Food

Amateur.Food.Photography.Beauty

—-

Music.Beauty.Food

Wow.... I was serious!!!!

Sun, 12 Aug 2012 22:54:57 -0400

If I have to go out, I usually put product in my hair hours before I leave so my hair can air dry. However today, I had to wet my hair and put product in after I had showered because I decided to go out.

I had to blow dry my hair so the product could dry faster. As I was doing this, I remembered the day I bought that blow dryer.

—-

It was a cloudy work day. I came out of the train station and began to walk to the building I worked in. As I walked, it started to rain - hard. Soak your pants and shoes hard. I took out my umbrella. Then, across the street, I saw a walkway that was covered because the building was under construction. Well, I ran to it. When I got under, I realized it wasn’t fully covered because rain was still hitting me.

I tried to put up my umbrella, but I think at that point the wind decided to turn it inside out. Oh yeah, there was wind - hard blowing wind. Guess what? My short, relaxed hair got wet. Not damp, wet. Stick to your face wet. Can you say vexation?! And I still had a good distance to walk!

I had to use my partially bent umbrella to cover me the rest of the way. Luckily, I had a hat and my head tie in my bag. I believe I put the hat on my head when I was outside to prevent my whole head from getting wet.

Once I got into the building and upstairs, I went straight to the bathroom to see if I could salvage my hairstyle. I don’t remember everything but I do know that I wrapped my hair, put on my head tie and hat and I went down stairs to find a blow dryer. I was not going to walk around with my head looking messed up.

I bought the hair dryer and dried my hair when I got back upstairs. I was supposed to start working at 8:30 a.m.! I think I started at 9 a.m.! Yep, that is how serious I was about my hair. It was rare but if my hair was giving me trouble in anyway, I was not leaving until it was, at least, decent enough for me to go out in public. I was the type that would feel uncomfortable and not want to talk to people if my hair had dropped from humidity!

I said it before, my hair is my thing. Fortunately, I don’t have to deal with that anymore. Wow!! I was ser-i-ous!

No more stress (I hope!) :)

—-

Natural.Hair.Beauty

—-

Music.Beauty.Food

"Good" or "Nice" Hair

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 17:55:00 -0400

Right now, I’m sitting under the dryer giving my hair a protein treatment - a one egg, mayonnaise and olive oil mixture. Side note: I’ve wondered why the recipe has egg and mayonnaise - isn’t that redundant? Mayonnaise is made with eggs. If anybody knows why, please let me know. I guess I could leave out the egg if I wanted?

Anyways, I wanted to talk about this the other day but didn’t. I will now because I’m in the treatment phase of my hair care routine.

—-

Now that my hair is in its natural state, I’ll get comments like “I don’t know if I could go natural my hair is not like yours. You’ve always had that nice soft hair.” Or, “Well, you have nice hair.”

Here’s the question: What makes hair “good” or “nice”? What makes anything “good” or “nice”?

Since, I’ve been in charge of my hair; it’s been one of my “things”. A thing to me is something that I believe everybody has. It’s something that you take pride in; something that may make you feel uneasy if it’s not kept to your liking.

When my hair was relaxed, it was always curled and put together. I would wash, condition and treat my hair between visits to the hair dresser, which would be about every six weeks. For years, I even relaxed my own hair and just went to the salon for a shape-up.

People literally knew me by my hair. They may not have known my name but would describe me by my hair. People have looked for me in an audience by looking for my hair. Now, I’m not a social butterfly. I’m actually introverted. I’m not saying that everyone loved my hair either; but what set my hair apart from other people’s hair is the answer to the question above. It’s care. How you take care of your hair makes it good or nice.

Now that my hair is natural and people are still getting use to it, I don’t know if “knowing me by my hair” will still stand. Nonetheless, I still care about my hair. I take care of it even more than I did when it was relaxed. The more is in the form of research - for example, how to strengthen my strands and cleanse my scalp for maximum hair growth and retention. When it was relaxed, it was more about the maintenance of the cut. D88on’t get me wrong, I cared about the health of my hair, just not as much as now.

Good or nice hair does not have to do with having a naturally silkier-haired parent or grandparent. It has to do with knowing how to manage the hair that is growing out of your head. If you don’t take care of it, it won’t look good.

I’ve seen people with all types of hair that is not good. It’s silkier in texture but has a lot of split ends. It’s kinkier in texture but dry and brittle. It’s a wig or weave but matted because it’s not combed.

If you want your plants to produce, you water them. If you want your silver to shine, you polish them. If you want your body to look good, you exercise (or maybe you put on a slimming garment!). The point is you take the necessary steps to have the best outcome.

Change takes time. So, it will take time for people to change their attitudes towards hair textures. Hair is either healthy or unhealthy. Like anything else - take care of it. And if don’t have the time, patience or skill - go to someone who can take care of it for you. There are hundreds, if not thousands of YouTube videos, blogs and salons dedicated to natural hair. So…you have no excuse.

Have fun!

Hair.Beauty

—-

Music.Beauty.Food

I love this! naturalhairdaily: Learn to embrace your natural...

Sat, 28 Jul 2012 18:50:05 -0400

I love this!

naturalhairdaily:

Learn to embrace your natural hair! #naturalhair #twists #braids #naturalupdo #updo #baa #twa #curlygirl #curlyhair #coilyhair #afrohair #kinkyhair #coily #curly #afro #twistout #braidout #teamnatural #blackgirlsrock
(Taken with Instagram)

My Anniversary and Hair Care Experience

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 16:28:53 -0400

Anniversary

My three month anniversary was on July 21st, 2012. It was a pamper me day. Along with washing, conditioning and treating my hair; I threaded my eyebrows and gave myself a facial and a pedicure.

Here are the pictures of my three month comb-out (damp) and with some shrinkage (no product). My hair shrinks A LOT!

I’m still enjoying my hair even though I can’t do a lot because I have a TWA (teeny weeny afro). The main style is a wash and go. The freedom is amazing! I can wake up later beacause I don’t have to curl my hair. I also don’t have to worry about getting it wet. I can walk in the rain if I want! Gotta love the freedom! I do.

Experience and Project

For quite some time now, I’ve been interested in ways to care for my skin and hair using household and natural items. Before I decided to go natural, I was looking at YouTube videos (and other sites through search engines) to see how I could transition and take care of my hair once it was natural.

I didn’t transition for a long time. However, I did learn about products that other naturals are using to maintain their hair. I also learned that the same products could be used for skincare.

Naturals use a lot of butters and essential and carrier oils. So, after I became natural, I began to do more research on what I learned about those products.

Since then, I have wanted to create my own concoctions for hair and skin. So yesterday, I decided on what I would like to create: a deep conditioner for hair, an oil spray for hair, and a moisturizer for hair and body. Next, I decided on the purpose of each concoction. Once I wrote all of that down, my research became more focussed on which butters and oils would fulfil each purpose. I then made a list of the items that worked for each purpose.

Once each purpose had a butter and/or oil next to it, I found that many of the items could be used for all three products. This way, I can buy fewer items and some, in bulk. I want to avoid having a cupboard full of a) products; b) products that are redundant; and c) products that could cancel out the benefits of another.

I’m excited! I’m looking foward to these products coming to fruition.

That’s it for now.

Hair.and.Skin.Beauty.

Music.Beauty.Food

I love her hair. Now that is how you wear a...

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 16:50:00 -0400

I love her hair. Now that is how you wear a fro!

Music.Beauty.Food

naturalhairdaily:

@meeyowmyx your fro is beyond fierce! #naturalhair #twists #braids #naturalupdo #updo #baa #twa #curlygirl #curlyhair #coilyhair #afrohair #kinkyhair #coily #curly #afro #twistout #braidout #teamnatural #blackgirlsrock
(Taken with Instagram)

naturalhairdaily: Want to win a pair of mamas earrings from...

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 01:21:33 -0400

naturalhairdaily:

Want to win a pair of mamas earrings from @beadsbyaree? Check our Facebook page for more info: www.fb.com/Naturalhairdaily #naturalhair #twists #braids #naturalupdo #updo #baa #twa #curlygirl #curlyhair #coilyhair #afrohair #kinkyhair #coily #curly #afro #twistout #braidout #teamnatural #blackgirlsrock
(Taken with Instagram)

”Change to Natural Hair” Two Month Anniversary

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0400

It has been almost one month since I last wrote; so what has happened with my hair since then.

Feelings: I am a lot more use to my new hair now. I feel great about my natural hair. I want to figure out how to make my hair grow faster, if it’s possible. I also want to find a great hot oil treatment and deep conditioner. I would really love to create my own concoction. I’m also really looking forward to further exploring makeup, jewelry and clothing- now that I don`t have to prep and curl.

Hair: Well, I got the remainder of the relaxed ends cut off around the sixth week of my change to natural hair. I kind of had to. Uh, I decided that I wanted to be a hairstylist and began to cut the ends off myself! I couldn’t stand them, they were getting on my nerves! Needless to say, my hair was not as even as it was before. I didn’t jack it up too badly, but, I still was not fully comfortable with what I had done. So my sister-in-law cut it for me. I also did my first two strand twist/single twists (that was before the cut).

The Twists (photos taken on May 31st, 2012):

The Cut (photos taken June 2nd and 3rd, 2012)

So, today is my two month mark into the change to natural hair journey. Yay!!! Here are the pictures of my hair combed out and then with product.

The Comb-Out

With Product:

Hair.Beauty.

Music.Beauty.Food

The “Change to Natural Hair” Journey

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400

I woke up, prayed, ate, exercised, bathed, and washed my hair. Then I decided to use the Nice & Curly CURL ME UP Curly Pudding. I think this might be better when I have longer hair. The top of my TWA (Teenie Weenie Afro) is not as defined as it has been before; however, maybe I need to massage it in more in that area. Nonetheless, I will keep trying it.

So, as I was seasoning some chicken breasts and was thinking and talking to myself (as I like to do). Then I realized that this is a hair journey for me. Like I said before, I did it because I wanted a change, and that still applies; however, I will call it my change to natural hair journey. I’ve been going through what I’ve been calling my “Season of Change” for a while now - so why not add a hair journey to the mix.

Random Throw-In - Natural Hair Trial: I started doing the Greenhouse Effect (GHE) on Sunday, May 13, 2012. It’s supposed to help stimulate the natural oil, sebum, in the scalp and help moisturize and grow the hair.

Done.

Alright, here are the official one month and two days hair journey documentation pictures. The first set of pictures is the morning comb-out. The second set is after the co-wash, leave-in and product use.

Hair.Beauty.

Music.Beauty.Food

My Natural Hair “Journey”

Tue, 22 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400

I put the word journey in quotations because I decided to go natural because I wanted a change. I had wanted a change for a while. I was bored of the same relaxed style - and, I had already coloured, highlighted and faux-hawked. I just wanted a change. So I thought “Why not go natural?”

I didn’t have anything planned. So much so that I don’t even remember the exact date of my last relaxer. All I know is that I relaxed my hair myself. It was either February or March. After that, I just decided that I was not going to relax it. I didn’t have the money to do so anyways. So I got it shaped up a few times to keep it looking decent. My roots were growing in more so it was getting harder to lay flat when I wrapped it after washing. Then, I didn’t want to have to use the mini flat iron anymore.

I also didn’t plan when I would cut of the majority of my relaxed ends. I sat on my bed on April 21, 2012 and said out loud “Are you going to cut your hair or not?” I had to figure something out because I had church the next day. So I called my sister-in-law and told her that I was thinking of cutting off the relaxed ends. We had a brief conversation about how it would look and so on and then I was like “OK, I guess I’m cutting my hair then”. We made a plan for me to go over there that day and get it done.

I eventually went over and did it. I didn’t have any major feelings about cutting it. Maybe because my hair has been short for at least 7 or more years; but it has never been that short at the top. It was definitely different when it was all done. I still had no emotions about it one way or the other. It was done.

Here are some photos I took when I came home after the Big Chop (BC as it is called). It was not a big chop for me; like I said there was next to no emotion throughout the whole process (if you look at it emotionally).

My sister-in-law shaped it up and my brother lined it up for me. They both did a great job! When I looked at the pictures later on, I thought “I’m cute!” Yeah, I said it!

So the next day, April 22, 2012, I had church. I got up and got ready. When it was time to leave, my mother called down and said “See you at church!” My response was “That’s if I’m going!” I was a little nervous about what people would think. This was the first emotional response I had to going natural. To go or not to go – that was the question. I was dressed, so I went to church.

I’m sure people saw me in the parking lot; however, the first response I got was from D. J. She saw me from afar when driving into the parking lot. She stopped her car between church and the beginning of the lot. She told me I looked gorgeous. Most people stared as I made my way in. At one point, I went to hang my jacket in the baptistry area; when I came back down all of the ministerial team was out in the hallway. I came down the steps and had to walk between them to get to the sanctuary. As I was passing, Pastor stopped me by holding my arm and said “I like the hair”. The First Lady agreed. I said “Thank you” and as I continued on one person’s jaw dropped when she saw me and another said that she liked my hair.

To this day, some people have not spoken to me - literally. It’s very interesting. Some have warmed up to it. Either way, I’m good. A classmate of mine told me that I inspired her to show off her natural hair. She took off her wig and cut her natural hair short for the summer.

I’m enjoying this journey. I’m having fun feeling the tightness of my curls and discovering how to take care of my hair. I can’t stop touching my hair. It’s great!

Here are a few more pictures from the month of April:

Hair.Beauty.

Music.Beauty.Food