Protective Styling Check In: Week Two ( June 24-30)

I’m pretty sure I’ve said this before, but just for emphasis I’ll say it again I LOVE MINI TWISTS!!! I honestly do, they change up your look without putting weight on your hair like extensions do…

That being said I’m not a fan of mini twists in the first week, no mam’ I am not, they all crooked and tight from twisting , they look like struggling earthworms in vinegar (I had a lot of boy friends growing so yeah), they also not uniform pointing in different directions, they just not cute at all so a rinse is always a must for me in the first two weeks or so.

I washed my hair last Friday, what I had done was a hot oil treatment with coconut, palm, olive and avocado oils the night before, I rinsed the oil out first thing in the morning then while my hair was still wet I poured Oat milk onto my hair, covered it with a plastic cap and went about with my day. I finally washed it off about two hours later and I don’t know if this was the Oat milk or the hot oil treatment but my hair was let shiny and soft, unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures 😦

When I first mentioned the fact that I was going to do a protective style challenge, I mentioned that I would be basing my scalp with castor oil, I use an old Inecto plus colour developer, I add 20 drops Lavender and 10 drops Rosemary essential oils then fill the bottle with castor oil. I use this on my scalp three times a week. Anyway thank you for reading this and as always peace, love and prosperity to you all

Protective Styling Check in: Week One ( June 17- 23)

I finally finished twisting my hair, YAAAAY me !!!! I didn’t take any pictures of how I wore my hair this week simply because I didn’t go out much and I didn’t like how my hair looked (It needs a wash), the other reason is that I wanted to share the products I used while twisting my hair. Hopefully I’ll find this helpful in future

I used the LOC method before twisting, I only moisturize this way when I’m super busy and I know that I won’t have time to moisturize my hair, or right before a protective style. My final rinse being the liquid and any kind of oil then followed by shea or cocoa butter. In detail the LOC method is:

• Liquid:

The first step would be to hydrate your hair (in an undertone: HY-DRAY-SHH-ION), what better hydrating “product” than water to perform this task? Water is afterall the first product you find in moisturisers -there’s a reason for that, not that you didn’t already know- in the liquid stage I basically used my hair tea spray (read more here) . For this first step you can always use a water based leave in conditioner

• Oil:

You need something to seal in the first step with, right?! Right, okay we all know that we need something to seal the moisture in with. It’s best to use a penetrating oil for this step, for double “moisture” in a way. Penetrating oils would be coconut, olive, avocado, palm oil and argan oil.

• Cream:

The final step should be a thick butter based cream, that’ll sit on the hair shaft prevent moisture loss… By butter based I mean the first 3 ingredients should be a butter, with water coming in last, I with my cheapness use a whipped butter. Depending on the, I’ll choose between Shea, Avocado or Cocoa butter.

This helps lock in moisture for a couple of days, say about 3-4 days, some people moisturize their hair using the LOC method once a week. As always peace, love and prosperity to all

30 Day Challenge/ Day Seven

I don’t really follow astrology much, but from the little I have read, it does fit my personality, I’m a libra if u are interested… That being said I don’t really follow it much, I use to as a kid then I grew up and moved onto other things. That being said.

I did without knowing it fall in love with my birth stone , my wedding ring should be a simple gold/platinum band with a white opal . Thanks for reading my short post, as always peace, love and prosperity

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30 Day Challenge/ Day Six

Best dish ever

30. I talk to myself a lot (only cause I make myself happy)

29. I love to cook

28. I’m obsessed with piercings

27. I’m in a secret relationship with Common

26. Erykah Badu’s my mommy, she just doesn’t know it yet

25. I’m a natural hair fanatic

24. I’m obsessed with black woman with natural hair

23. I’m a closet poet

22. I love mapane worms cooked in tomato gravy

21. The world to me is a colourful place with dragons and monsters

20. I have OCD and I love it

19. I can’t step over cracks

18. In my mind animals and children, deserve the same kind of care and protection

19. I’m a pit bull fanatic

18. I love dark novels

17. I want green hair

16. I want to be a hairstylist

15. I love blue and black lipstick

14. I want green lipstick

13. I love the colour black

12. I like chubby guys, I just wouldn’t date one

11. I’ve fed a chimp at the Thohoyandou home affairs (best experience ever)

10. I had fungus grow on my big toe once as a kid

9. I speak 4 languages (pretty common, here)

8. I’ve got my wedding all planned out in my head.

7. I’m an introvert

6. I’m loud

5. I hate shopping

4. I don’t dream. Anymore!

3. I believe in the healing powers of nature

2. My favourite boots are my gold ones, don’t wear much anymore but still love em

1. My mind automatically converts dollars (USD) to rands (ZAR)

Mommy

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30 Day Challenge/ Day Four

I didn’t blog yesterday,had a stressful day yesterday. I don’t plan on posting yesterdays blog today, I’m just going to move forward

I’m a very religious person or at least I’d like to think so, I use to think my family was a very religious family, but as I got older and started searching for my own truths, I realised that even though we were christian we were Sunday/easter weekend christians.

I’ve church hopped like crazy and I’ve met some questionable characters over the years, I’m not judgmental, I just want to find or be around people that walk the talk, instead of talking the talk, I’m sure you know what I mean.

I finally found a group of people I feel walk the talk, how did I find this group of people?? Well I was going through a very deep depression and I wasn’t feeling the whole medication thing so I wanted to find an alternative and at that time religion seemed to be the best medication!

Anyway I had just come home from rehab (not drug and alcohol related btw) and for reasons still unexplained today, everything was going wrong and preventing me from leaving the house. The alarm was going off, the gate wouldn’t close, I had to keep going back into the house to get something, some of you might call it a coincidence but to me that was divine intervention. That’s when I ran into two gorgeous ladies walking around with bibles, I had prayed to God the previous night to find him and a suitable church, so it only made sense for me to stop these ladies and ask where their church was ( I thought they were walking home from church, boy was I mistaken).

The one lady turned around and explained that she didn’t go to a church but a Kingdom Hall, I remember looking at her like wtf! Anyway cut a long story short, I felt I found what I was looking for and now I am a baptised Jehovah’s Witness.

Anyway if you read this very long and boring blog post, thanx for reading and as always peace, love and prosperity

Day 2

Where do I see myself in ten years time? Having just moved back to South Africa or still working overseas depending on how life goes.

I plan on working overseas after my training programme ends. I’m not sure as yet where I’ll do my training programme but it has to be an international company that offers me the chance of working at anyone of their offices across the globe. I’d love to work overseas for about 3/4 years and depending on what I find, I may or may not return!

I’d like to be working closely with the CFO and a shoe in for that position (am I aiming too high? If so at least I won’t fall too low). I plan on being the financial manager in about 7/8 years time.

I see myself engaged in about 10 years times. I would however love to be married by then but I’m not rushing it, not at all! I do see myself adopting a child in about 6/7 years, not sure yet if I’ll be comfortable adopting a child while single or if I’ll wait till I have a steady partner/husband. I do however see myself with 2 beautiful pit bulls, 1 bull terrier and a sphynx cat

If my finances agree I plan on owning a cute lil’ cosy 3 bedroom house with a large yard for my vegetable garden with plenty of fruit trees, I’d love for my backyard to lead out to the woods and a willow tree in the back as well. I don’t know why, but humid summers, moist soil, and the smell of lemons feels like home to me!

I think I’ve covered everything. I also see myself throwing dinner and dress parties, especially throwback parties at least once a month. Other than that I think that about sums up everything, with that being said peace, love and prosperity everyone!

Question? Where do you see yourself in 10 years times? Please let me know in the comments below and thank you for reading!

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Oats and coconut cookies

I’ve been craving something real sweet but still high fibre, something I would feel guilty about but not too guilty, so oats and coconut cookies it had to be!!

You’ll need:

2 bowls (one larger than the other)

2 cups of Oats, Coconut, brown sugar and Flour

1 cup butter

2 large eggs

1 tspn of Vanilla essence

1 tspn of baking powder

A whisk

A mixing spatula

1 spoon

Parchment paper or foil

Instructions:

1) Shift your dry ingredients together in the smaller bowl, only add 1 cup of sugar

2) Warm up 1 cup of butter

3) Cream together the remaining sugar and butter, until light and fluffy

4) Add your eggs one at a time

5) Add your essence 1 tspn at a time

6) Preheat your oven to 150 degrees Celsius

7) Then slowly add in the dry ingredients and stir

8) Line your baking tray

9) Scoop out your cookie batter

10) Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown…

Chocolate Filling

You’ll Need:

100g of butter
90g of dark chocolate
2 tblsp of coco powder
1 tblsp of brown sugar
A pot with boiling water
A glass or enamel dish

Place the dish over boiling water, add everything and stir till melted

Use this to glue cookies together

Shift in all your dry ingredients

add one cup of the sugar to the dry ingredients

Measure out your butter ( I used margarine)

cream the sugar and margarine till light and creamy

Add in your eggs, one at a time

Add in your vanilla one tspn at a time

fold in the dry ingredients into the wet very slowly

your cookie dough should look a lil like this

line your baking tray

Place in the oven till golden brown or for 15 minutes

chop up your 90g dark chocolate

place the dish above your boiling water and stir till melted

Brush the chocolate onto one cookie, then paste the second one onto the first

Cleansing mud mask for Natural Hair

Cleansing mud??? Yeah you read that right, well my mud of choice has to be the amazing Bentonite Clay.

Well here’s the 101. Bentonite clay is the natural result of aged volcanic ash and water. Bentonite clay is one of the most powerful and healing clays, it can be used internally to alkalize and pull toxins cleanly from the body, it can also be used externally to cleanse hair and pull toxins from the skin, this clay has an alkaline ph and a high negative ionic charge which holds

Bentonite clay should be grey/cream in colour and nothing near white, it should turn green when mixed with clear liquids. Bentonite clay is odourless and should never be stored or mixed with metals, as this will lessen the positive toxin pulling effects of the clay

Why use it on your hair?? Well simply this clay will pull all the toxins/build up from your hair and leave your hair clean and conditioned thus increasing the hairs ability to absorb and keep moisture. Moisture = stronger and healthier hair

You’ll need:

1 part clay, 1 part apple cider vinegar (ACV) and/or 1 part aloe vera juice/water and 2 tablespoons of any carrier oil

Preparation: prep your area by placing old newspapers on the floor and wearing an old or freebie tee

Directions:

1. Add everything together in a plastic or wooden dish

2. Mix everything together, it doesn’t always turn out smooth for me. Be sure to use non-metal utensils

3. Part the hair into 4-6 sections depending on how long your hair is

4. Apply as you would a relaxer, start from the roots working it down to your ends. Apply on damp hair to make the application process easier

5. Be sure to massage the scalp.

6. Once all the sections are done spray your hair and apply a shower cap or a plastic bag especially if you plan on leaving it on your hair for longer than an hour, remember this is a clay nd it’s meant to be kept moist or it will harden

7. Leave it on for 30-60 minutes. Also be careful if left on for too long it can dry hair

8. Rinse with lukewarm water and conditioner

9. You can deep condition after or apply your everyday sealing/moisturising/styling products

If you try this please let me know how it works out for you! As always peace, love and prosperity



1 part Bentonite clay. for my lenght I used a quarter of a cup



1 part ACV



Stir together



Add in the aloe/water and continue stirring



Add in your oil, I used coconut oil and palm oil



Pick a section and mist it with water, I used my hair tea spritz



Massage your scalp with the clay



Apply the mask to your hair, working from roots to ends



Put on your shower cap/plastic bag… I had to use a plastic bag because my shower cap has a hole 😦



My hair is on the dry side because I fell asleep, but it’s clean none the less



Three strand twisting my hair for the week

Zesty Barley Risotto

One fateful Saturday morning I jumped over the fence to go visit my best friend I found her by the pool, enjoying something I had never had, I tried it and fell in love!! Ever since that day I’ve tried every new dish I come across to try and pin point what I had that Saturday. Why didn’t you just ask your friend you? You might be asking, well I did many times to no avail

Well fast forward 16 years to now, I finally figured it out, that chewy dish was nothing more than plain ol’barley. It’s amazing how something so inexpensive can be so darn good, I’ve cooked this ingredient many ways over the past two months and my favourite to date would have to be a recipe I came across on the internet, well I changed it up a bit, and I have to say this is one of the best dishes I’ve cooked thus far….

You’ll need:

2 tbsp of Olive oil
1.5 medium brown onion
10g. of button mushrooms
2 cups frozen corn (not thawed)
1 dried red chilli
Nutmeg
Ginger
Salt to season
2 cups/cubes Vegetable stock
3 cups water (5 cups if using cubes)
A ladle
2 pots

Directions:

Bring stock and water to a boil in one of the pots, turn the heat down to a light simmer and cover the pot

Chop your onions. Add chopped onions, chilli and 1 tbsp. of oil to your pot.

Once the onions are translucent, add in your mushrooms and grate in some nutmeg and ginger, stir frequently. Once the mushrooms are tender and cooked, transfer everything to a separate bowl and set aside.

Add another tablespoon of Olive oil and heat, then add in the barley and stir frequently for 7-10 minutes (this will fill your house with a nutty aroma) add the onions and mushrooms back in the pot.

Immediately add in your dry white wine (I used chardonnay) stir occasionally once your wine is evaporated add in the stock and water, one ladle at a time.

Stir frequently, once the liquid is absorbed add more liquid, keep repeating this step.

After 30 minutes taste the barley it should be tender but still chewy (I cooked mine for about 45 minutes). Once cooked remove from heat, add in your orange zest and enjoy

Enjoy this healthy risotto as many times as you please. As always peace love and prosperity xoxo

Bring stock and water to a boil in one of the pots

Chop your onions

Add chopped onions, chilli and 1 tbsp. of oil to your pot.

Once the onions are translucent, add your mushrooms and grate in some nutmeg and ginger

Once the mushrooms are tender and cooked, transfer everything to a separate bowl and set aside.

Add another tablespoon of Olive oil and heat, then add in the barley

After 7-10 minutes add back the onions and mushrooms

Add in your corn then your wine stir frequently till your wine is evaporated

Add in the stock and water, one ladle at a time, repeat once the stock gets evaporated

After 30 minutes taste the barley it should be tender but still chewy

Bold Lips

There are few things I care or obsess about, very few and if I were to list them they would be religion, big hair, bold lips, comfortable cloths and piercings, in that order.. You know I like the simple dramatic things in life lol that was an oxymoron I know, oh well such is life!! And as always

Peace,love and prosperity

Her hair!

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I love her septum piercing

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Gloomy Monday/ lentil soup recipe

Today was a cold autumn day, so I needed a warm meal to enjoy while I cozily watched the telly

I love mixing my lentils, it looks like jewels to me. I have green, brown and yellow in there.

You’ll also need 3 carrots, 2 potatoes, 1 brown onion, a red bell pepper and half a green one

Add 2 and a half cups of the mixed lentils

Dice all the vegetables and set aside

Add 2 cups of frozen corn, it can be either sweet or regular corn. Also add 2 cups of frozen peas

Also add the diced vegetables to the pot, then add a litre of boiling water

Add 2 dried red chillies

Add the salt once the lentils become tender but not yet mushy

Add 3 teaspoons of curry paste, if the soup becomes thick add more water

After an hour the yellow lentils should have disintegrated

It’s Autumn here in South Africa and as the days get chillier and the boots and scarves come out to play, I fall madly in love with the weather, you see what I love about cold weather is the effort and creativity put into trying to get warm, shivering and over exaggerating about how cold you are… Anyway I decided to make my favourite easy peasy soup. If you make it yourself please let me know if you enjoyed it, I love the smell of this soup. I decided to enjoy my soup in bed with an old book of mine that I just refuse to finish, only because I keep rereading chapters. Well on that note enjoy you Monday wherever you are

Peace, love and prosperity

Dark Angel by Sally Beauman, a very intriguing read

Emotions

Cry,
Let it all out.
Sometimes it’s the streams we cry that keep us flowing.
Sometimes the valleys our tears create give us depth,
Maybe the oceans we cry, keep us afloat to face another day.
Embrace your emotions,
The roller coaster rides they take us on,
Make us who we are

Sunday Thoughts And A Recipe 29/3/2015

2015 has been a really challenging year for me thus far, it’s forced me to confront truths I’ve hidden away from for so long, being by myself with no one to keep me company apart from my thoughts has helped (more like forced) me to accept my flaws, ponder upon past mistakes and view my future realistically.

I’ve learnt that I haven’t been the greatest friend, daughter or sister. I hope to change that this year, to be more present, in touch and caring. I’ve started journaling and exercising, it’s been pretty therapeutic I now know where I lack and hopefully these bad traits won’t stand in the way of my future relationships.

To being a better friend and confidant here’s a recipe to share with a friend over while sharing secrets or giving advice, this Sundays recipe is the perfect gift, also a delicious warming drink for the cooler nights to come.

Masala Chai:

Ingredients:

* 12 cardamom pods
* 1tsp whole black pepper corns
* 1tbspn fennel seeds/6 star anise
* 1tsp cloves
* 1tsp ground coriander
* 1tsp cumin (optional)
* 1 cinnamon stick
* 2tsp ground cinnamon
* 1tsp ground black pepper
* 3tsp ground ginger
* 1/2 cup loose tea (any tea of your choosing)

* 1tsp ground nutmeg (optional)

Instructions:

Poke holes in the cardamom pods

Toast all the whole spices for about 6-8 minutes or till fragrant

Grind the spices

Add loose tea leaves, followed by the freshly ground spices and then the ground spices

Cover and shake your jar, to mix the contents together

Directions for use:

* 1 cup water
* 1/2 cup milk (to me coconut milk turns this tea recipe to a dessert)
* 1tbsp tea mixture
* Sweetener to taste

Bring the water to a boil, add the tea, lower heat and let simmer for 5 minutes. Add sweetener and milk and let simmer for another 5 minutes. Strain and enjoy hot or cold!

Dry Hair Horror

Let me just start off by saying, I reached my 2014 hair goal! YASS! My hair is now Bra-strap length at the back and armpit length on the sides and crown, it now rests past and on my shoulders, without being stretched. GLORY!!!

With all that being said, I committed a huge natural hair faux pas I kept my Marley twists in for 9 weeks and only started moisturising it during the 7th/8th week, bad I know and trust me I’m paying the price now. I don’t regret keeping it in that long, only because the older it got the more real, relaxed and natural it looked, I only regret not moisturising it sooner. I was just lazy, I guess .

The first week my hair was bone dry even after I did a hot oil treatment using wheat-germ, olive, and coconut oil. It got better in the second week after I used my DIY bentonite clay mask, but it still looks dry and sounds dry (SOUNDS?! Yes, dry hair has a crunch/crackling sound to it).

I honestly don’t know what to do, but I know I want the sound to go away. I can’t stand doing my hair, it’s always in a bun till I have to moisturise it at night. I’ve been bagging my hair twice a week now and co-washing once a week but nothings helped. If you have any tips please let me know, I’m willing to try anything, I’m planning on using a protein treatment this coming Sunday ( I’m  researching Keratin treatments, if I don’t like what I find I’ll do a egg-mayo treatment)

Anyway I want to share my Marley twist pictures, can’t wait to install these again. As always thanks for reading

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Glycerine the good, the bad and the ugly

Clere BP Pure Glycerine

Each and every single one of us have hair goals. All being different from the next, from length to thick healthy hair goals. Many naturals have found glycerine to be very effective in reaching their goals, this post will explore why that is.

firstly lets consider what glycerine is! Glycerol (another name for glycerine) is a polyol compound, it’s colourless, odourless and very sweet. Glycerine is water soluble and hygroscopic in nature (that means it’s able to attract and hold water from surrounding areas). It attracts moisture in environments of over 70% humidity or higher It is soluble in water and easily added to hair-care products.

There are two types of glycerine, one naturally derived the other synthetically derived. Natural glycerine can be obtained from animal fats or vegetable fats, whereas synthetically derived glycerine is a by product of petroleum.

Animal Glycerine:

Cheaper to make
Usually not purified (100% glycerine)

Vegetable Glycerine:

Doesn’t go rancid
Doesn’t fry as quickly as animal glycerine
It’s a food grade product so it has many uses

Synthetic Glycerine (BP):

Considered a potential health hazard by many
Typically produced from epichlorohydrin as a starting material, which is a toxic chemical.
The concern arises from the fact that the final product has traces of epichlorohydrin

All Three:

Softens hair by binding water to hair
Believed to dry hair (only when used undiluted) in low humidity, this can be overcome by applying with water.
In humid weather puffs up your hair cuticles partly removing semi-permanent colour.
Prevents breakage while combing (only natural hair)
Should be added in small quantities to liquid
It’s water and alcohol soluble
It is insoluble in oil, but can be used to emulsify water and certain oils

All in all moisturised hair helps it grow, stay healthy and look good, so consider adding glycerine to your regimen and reap the rewards. Love now and always, thank you for reading

I Write

I write to escape

There’s magic in a blank page, being transformed from nothing to blood drenched artwork

I write to escape!

My tormentors, my worries and fears.
Amazing how simple words, written on paper can heal and aid growth better than time!

I write to escape, but now a blank page has lost it’s wonder.
It’s healing powers.
Nowadays pen and paper seems to expand instead of fill the void.

Miserable I have come to be, but time will slowly but eventually mend all that’s been broken.