Autumn's Song

Hey beautiful people dripping with awesome sauce

Yes, I cut my hair! This is my second big chop since going natural. I am absolutely loving this new look. Even more than the new look I love that my wash days and my morning routine are both super quick and easy. I won't lie though this new cut is a bit of a challenge with this cold weather. I seriously need to stock up on beanies and head wraps.  I have to give Aisha O'Reilly credit for encouraging me to give my hair a fresh start. I literally flooded her timeline with questions because I am a bit of a scaredy cat. Also props to the #Gowiththefrotour ladies who were in Johannesburg recently reminding us all how incredible our hair is and helping us build community.

I started toying with the idea of cutting my hair towards the end of last year and I started scrolling through Pinterest to find cute twa and tapered cut styles but I was a bit apprehensive. One afternoon while I was on leave I woke up from an afternoon nap and decided that I wasn't going to wait any longer, I jumped in the car and drove to the nearest barber to do the damn thing. If you are thinking about doing a big chop, I highly recommend Renaud Desi at the Douglasdale Village Shopping Centre and for a fresh cut with a proper pamper session Midori in Sandton, ask for Tunde, he is a master! Both places serve wine by the glass in case you need that little extra boost of liquid courage.

Naturally a lot of people have asked me why I cut my hair, I generally don't like talking about hair because it gets so topical, but I will share some of the reasons for my big chop in this post. There are several reasons why I cut my hair, firstly I wasn't taking very good care of it and it started to get damaged, I had been applying heat to it more than I usually do. As a result of the damage I started leaning towards styles that required extensions or straighteners which I am not a fan of (nothing against those who do, it's just not for me). But the main reason was I had become frustrated with maintaining longer hair. I couldn't deal with the long wash days... a good wash day took me about 3 hours! I couldn't deal with fighting with "hairdressers" and how they mishandled my natural hair. The process of picking good protective styles that last and don't damage your hairline started to feel like an impossible feat.

Basically I became too lazy for my longer natural hair! I don't know how long I am going to stay in the "short hair don't care" club but for now I am really happy to wear a twa. When I do decide to grow it out again I will be better prepared and hopefully by then I would have learned to braid and style my own hair so that I am not at the mercy of the wretched women of Randburg. It's really discouraging that there are so few hair salons in Johannesburg that cater for natural hair that firstly don't break the bank and secondly don't serve as a plug for sales of their hair care products.

As promised in my last post I have a skin update. My wonderful dermatologist prescribed a mild dose of Roaccutane which I am thrilled about as my skin was in a bad bad way. I also learned that I don't actually have oily skin, I have hyper sensitive skin instead. She also picked up a bit of eczema on my scalp... one of the many weird conditions I have picked up in the later part of my life. Having shorter hair will definitely help in the treatment of my eczema. I can already see the difference so I'm stoked. I'm also really grateful that I'm going through this process during Winter so that the dry Roaccutane lips thing won't look too off kilter seeing as everyone else will also be trying to manage their own dry skin.

About this look:

Dress  -  Daily Friday (Superbalist)
Jacket  -  H&M
Shoes  -  Forever New
Earrings  -  Lovisa

And shout out to me for this bomb makeup which I did by myself!

 

On a more serious note, the last few weeks have been very heavy for me due to some people very close to my heart having to go through some incredibly difficult situations. I am one of those people who feel deeply and I often carry the hurts, pain and disappointments of those close to me. At times I feel so helpless knowing there isn't much I can do to help. It reminds me how important it is to tell the people in our lives how much we love and appreciate them.

So to all of you, be gentle with yourselves and don't become so busy that you forget to show love and care to others.

Xoxo

Red walls, bare legs and carbs

Hello Friends

This year Winter isn't here to play games with us, I tried to put up a good fight like I did last year but your girl is cold y'all. I had to whip out my tights, electric blanket and sweaters this last week. I am even gearing up to buy a gas heater this weekend because I refuse to suffer in the cold and the way my bank account is set up, I am not trying to pay ridiculous electricity bills either. With that said... its still not boots weather though! 

I have been trying to take stock of this year to map out my progress on some of the goals I set out to achieve over the course of the year. Some are going great, some aren't quite where I would have hoped and others have completely crashed and burned. Apparently thats called balance! I will share with you an example of a goal that is on track for the most part and another that is a serious work in progress. Here goes, one of my annual goals is to push myself when it comes to staying fit and active. In Summer... because everything is easier and better in Summer... I followed a very strict yoga practice and I had biweekly cross training workout sessions with a personal trainer at the gym. Yay me! 

I have been struggling a bit over the last few weeks and my daily disposition has been to stay in bed living on cookies, pasta and bread. For most of of the year I was all about waking up at the crack of dawn, five days a week to go and train and now I want to curl up in the foetal position and rock myself back to sleep whenever my alarm goes off signaling me to get my butt off to gym. This too shall pass, besides cookies and pasta must be good for the soul. In the spirit of not beating myself up too much I am riding this wave with as little guilt as possible. Yay me once again! Plus I have been getting back into running as I prefer running in the colder months, so its all positive on this one.

One of my other 2017 and beyond goals was to invest in my skin and to not solely rely on the "black don't crack theory". In the beginning of the year I bought a whole new range of skincare products, new makeup geared to take care of what I had self-diagnosed as oily skin and I even visited a dermatologist. So far its all been a trial and error scenario and we are very much in the error stage. Let's just say a very popular (read expensive) skincare brand has not worked very well for me. I have very sensitive skin which requires me to be conscious of my diet, water intake and monthly cycle. Its a lot for me to remember and I haven't been great at it. As a result my skin is not looking great. I swear I am having flashbacks to puberty, yikes!

I am certainly not giving up though, in fact I have an upcoming appointment with my dermatologist. I am low-key hoping she will hook me up with some good drugs that will make this all go away. I must say I have learned so much about skincare, different skin types and that all the advice you read on the internet is not a one size fits all (Duh Belinda!). While I fix my face I just want to say how grateful I am for makeup with good coverage. Also if you are looking to enhance your skincare regimen and you want to go the dermatologist route, hold off on buying anything until you have actually had your consultation, you may save a few coins unlike yours truly.      

About this look, I wanted to make the most of the last few weeks of "bare legs" weather and I couldn't resist the print on this dress or the pleat detail. I also tamed the afro for this look even if this hairstyle only lasted a week. Here are the details:

Dress  -  Only (Superbalist) 

Shoes  -  Europa Art Shoes

Earrings  -  Lovisa

I will keep you updated on how my fitness and skincare plans go over the next few months, even if at that stage I am looking far from fleeky! For those of you, like me, who are about taking stock of your life, here is hoping you are on track with your goals. Hit me up to share your goals, trial and error phases and crash and burn moments.  

Xoxo

B

Tardy to the Party!

Hello

So I totally missed the boat on the January New Year New Me blogger bandwagon... I am so bad I have also missed the whole February "Month of Love" setup as well! I was trying to find my focus and direction and also I was just being a lazy bum. But luckily for me I am not one of those people who feel weird for wishing people blessings in the new year in May! Hope 2017 is off to a promising and pleasant start so far for you. From my side, the new year has started off peacefully, lots of rest, introspection, planning. I am loving my new home and all the extra space. Happy Month of Love to all those who celebrate and while I am at all the other significant days I may have missed!

In the spirit of my tardiness seeing as its my first post of the year, I am going to hold on to that festive cheer that all the other bloggers who were on schedule had and stick to my theme of new beginnings and because I am lazy like that. I am painfully aware that this warm, fuzzy beginning of the year feeling won't last and as the highs and lows of the year get underway, it's always a challenge maintaining positive feelings and thoughts. As the days, months and year unfolds there are so many demands placed on us emotionally, physically and spiritually. Everything from work pressures, family obligations, commitments and promises we have made to others as well as our selves. All of this can often leave us feeling depleted and unhappy.

Queue in self-care. From my understanding of what "self-care" is it is taking time out to do or engage in activities that nurture you. It is a fool-proof way to be as kind to yourself as you are to others. Self-care can be anything from filling your home with your favorite flowers and candles, taking yourself out for a solo meal, having a matcha tea ritual or stocking up your library with great reads. It can be whatever makes you feel fulfilled and replenished. One of my friends is religious about her biweekly mani, pedi, thread and wax appointments.

One of my go to self-care practices, as some of you may have seen from Insta Story feed, is every Saturday morning I take myself out for a healthy breakfast, Kindle in toe, and for an hour or two I indulge in a good book, great coffee or a protein shake and good food. My favorite breakfast spots at the moment are Motherland Coffee in Rosebank and I love the Avo Sriracha toast and peanut butter bomb protein shake at Kauai. I am also big on flowers in the home.

For those of you who have a self-care practice going, share some of your practices with me. About this look, I wanted to go for a really feminine look and who better to look to for style inspiration than my beloved Tracee Ellis Ross. Shout out to my hair and natural lashes for coming to the party. I bought this skirt a long time ago (more like a year ago) but it was always too big for me... the one good thing that has come out of my December chunkiness is that this skirt finally fits.

Details of this look are below:

Top  -  Zara
Skirt  -  Spree
Shoes  -  Steve Madden
Earrings  -  Lovisa

Xoxo