August Edition!

As some of you will have noticed, I've been emailing and posting on websites all morning to let you folks know that this months Edition is currently being posted. It of course will be added to, but for those of who who are completely new to this blog (((Welcome))). Feel free to post comments where you want to and also there is the July edition to look at which will explain more detail behind the "part 2" stories in August's postings.

This Months Links

http://www.urbanbeautyonline.com/- lots of interesting information for black women (or women of colour)
http://beauty-care.blogspot.com - I've found a second beauty blog...
http://www.msn.handbag.com/beauty/askjohn/ - I am such a fan of this man! Ask him any question regarding beauty ...he is one of my unsung heros
http://www.fashionindia.net/beauty/index.htm - Beauty tips from an Indian perspective, be careful as a few references to skin lightening
http://motowngirl.com/transitioning.htm - excellent hair transitioning thread as well as hair routine and other useful information
http://naturallycurly2.com/curl411/types.php - another hair grading website but this time is has pictures on it

Phytospecific products

On a recent perusal through Covent Garden I came across a product aimed at black women called Phytospecific. It seems to be aimed at the "high-end" consumers with prices for each product ranging at around £10. I bought the intense mask for £18.50 and used it two weeks ago - it seems fine, my hair felt moisturised, but I will see how it progresses over the next few weeks. The cynic in me says to be careful that I am not being hoodwinked paying more money for a product that is much the same as everything else, but I won't know unless I give it a try. After a first use I would say it's good, it has a luxurious feel to it. I will be looking around for reviews on the shampoo and hair creme to see if they're worth the money.

for more information go to :-http://www.phytospecific.com/

Baggie Method : home hair treatment

I really need to do this as it's been an age since I have....basically this method of home hair care treatment means looking after the ends of your hair and is kind of like steaming your hair whilst you are asleep.

You get the hair cream or oil of your choice, put this on the ends of your hair. You then get a bag and wrap it around the hair and then cover your hair as normal and go to sleep. Apart from the crinkly sound of the carrier bag there is no discomfort at all and this conditions the ends of my hair which tend to suffer.

I usually vary doing the ends of my hair with my entire head. It can get quite steamed under the carrier bag, but I always think of the conditioning treatment it gives to my hair. I try not to do it so much as I'm not sure doing it often would be healthy for the hair.

Shocking Mascara!

I'm a fan of the l'Oreal Architect mascara so when I saw the L'Oreal Shocking Mascara I thought I would give it a try. I reminds me a product that Bourgous (sp.) brought out a few years ago, but thankfully when I opened this there seemed to be much more content.

it's a two step mascara so the silver side is a vitamin build up for the lashes and the black side is the black coating. It's not the usual mascara wand it's one of those combs, which I must admit I groaned when I first saw, but, as the directions say you only need to dip the comb in once and that is enough to comb through the lashes several times.

I have to say I like it, it's easy to use and it does what it is supposed to ...in fact normally I have a harder time getting the lashes on my left eye to look just as full as those on my right eye [strange, but true]. So it's great using the comb which I found enables me to thicken the lashes on both sides to an equal amount. The term 'shocking' my be a bit exaggerated though, lol.

Autumn Winter Beauty

I'm in London at the moment and this is the time of year I definitely find challenging...the days start to get shorter, it's gets drearier, I never want to get up out of bed in the morning because the dark morning sky is no challenge for my duvet....

I need to start thinking about ways to keep loosing weight especially as this is the time when I crave stodgey food, ways to keep motivated and exercise and also go into that transition period of skin care, I'll be updating with the specifics...

Office Beauty Kit

Of course most people have them and me being slow as usual to catch up I've just about got mine organised. Because our office is air conditioned and my throat ends up very dry at the end of the day I have a little bit of creme that I use to moisturise my face, my vaseline and my visine antistringent eye drops which are well needed! If I'm going out this grows to include my mascara (can't remember who makes it, but it's the bomb), my mac lipglass and my revlon blush.

More on Meditation....and Relaxation

To get rid of the stress that I have been through of late I thought I might, in addition to exercising, pay a visit to my local meditation centre in Covent Garden, London. A place called Innerspace, which I mentioned in one of my earlier posts which have a lovely meditation room that absolutely anyone can use. You don't even have to pay. Sometimes I just wander in there off the street, go down stairs to the room use the room and go straight back out. When I'm not so strapped for time I will stop on the way out and make a little donation and when I have even more time I will have a peruse through the books that provide food for the soul.

I used to work quite close to that place so it used to be a God send when work was getting far too difficult. But now I have to make do with the times when I finish work early or the saturdays that I happen to be around that area.

I tend to get stressed very easily and to counter this I take Bach Rescue Remedy. It's a little spritz that has an alcoholic flavour to it as that's what happens when they get the essences of the herbs that are used to make this. Apparently you are supposed to spritz your tongue three times, but I go right ahead and spritz from 4 - 8 times. I'm not sure whether it's the herbs of the alcoholic taste that calms me, for all I know it could be a placebo, but something seems to work.

Now, though I've had a series of issues at work and to keep my calm and dodge all the sharks I have just started taking a tablet called Valerian. I actually had valerian tincture before. It does not smell good - but I used it to relax me. The side affect is that you feel drowsy so using the tincture during the day (when I need it) obviously does not work. I found these day tables and took them - on the way in to work I felt fine, when I normally start stressing out. Again, not sure if it is really the tablets or if it's a placebo, but I figure as long as it keeps me calm it's worth the money.

Meditating on beauty

I was supposed to meditate throughout my detox to clear the stress that tends to build up in the face.... I mean this week has been tough and it really shows... and if I leave it there it's going to be part of my look. I always see it on other peoples faces, when they have had some sort of bad experience and the tension shows in their face which means their face is stuck in an aggressive look or a victim look or something. It's so bad to see it so I know I need to get rid of mine!

I plan to do a long meditation this weekend and I mean long. I don't tend to meditate in the 'normal' way. I tend to go with the flow, sometimes I leave my eyes open and just sit in peace and quiet and this is because if I haven't had time to unwind a typical meditation is just not going to work. Sometimes I do close the eyes. But this time it's going to be about going inside and getting rid of the tensions in my face, throat, back and spine. I'm looking forward to it...

3D Lashes Part II

I didn't get the 3-D lashes done in the end!

No, instead I went to a local beauty salon run by an african lady who looks beautiful and looks like she had dined with all sorts of dignitaries. She behaves like that also which, to be honest is what kept me from walking back out of her shop because the premises are a dive. Beauty salon equipment backed up into every available space. Whenever I walked past I never failed to notice the extra long nail extensions and weaves styled in pineapple styles. I am much more for the cool, calm service in spacious surroundings.

But the thing is that once in there I slipped into voyeur mode taking note of every treatment being admniistered. The salon owner herself had fantastic eyebrows of the like you see in black american magazines, subtly done and well shaped. I asked her about them, she wouldn't say how they were done, but she said she would do them for me. I declined...one treatment at a time...but I did get my eye lashes done.

The extensions are stuck above my lashes with my head thrown back. Another woman, who apparently has very curly lashes had her's suck under her lashes. It didn't take long at all but after a while the eye lash line felt tight. I could have lived with it and to be honest I got used to the sensation. They really brought out my eyes, though I worried that I had a bit of a transvestite look to my face, but they were nice. To be honest I only realised how much they did for me after I managed to painfully pull them off. I pulled them off because I have this thing about me that automatically removes jewellery and these eyelashes... I just wanted them off. When they came off I realised I wasn't as blessed with eyelashes as I thought I was - I actually looked bald! lol and I'm not just being cruel to myself. When they finally came off I realised that longer thicker eyelashes can help to make ones eyes really soft and feminine. I would just love it if they felt so natural that yuo forgot about them being there. I wonder whether that is the difference between the £10 that I paid at the local salon and the £150 that the 3-D lashes would have cost. If I ever get the chance to compare I'll definitely grab it!

Beauty Additions

I've been too busy to blog lately :o( but that doesn't seem to have stopped from damaging my bank account and buying more beauty products.

Recent additions have been:
Dermalogica extra firming booster (serum)
Dermalogica multivitamin power firm for eye and lip area
Burt's Bees orange essence facial cleanser - which I found out later is award winning..
Some undereye patches - I haven't used yet, but they'll be good to use when I'm doing a relaxing home facial.

I've, of course road tested almost all of these and I definitely like the serum, and I think the orange facial cleanser is really good - it has a rich feel to it, yet it washes off very easily - it definitely ticks a lot of boxes! The jury is still out on the power firm serum - it reminds me of the Aveda under eye creme which also had that powdery texture to it and is very smooth. But the Dermalogica is a little drier and I'm not convinced about the level of absorption. So much so that after I put it on I went and got my cocoabutter oil (the scar serum - what I usually use at night for my under eye) and daubed that on. I felt it would be better to have the mix of the vitamins of one and the conditioning oil of the other at work.

Detox Over!!!

Like the girl in this picture I am jumping for joy - over a week ago I finished the detox. Like I planned I got to day 3 and decided to see how I felt. To be honest I felt like crap, tired as I hadn't been getting enough sleep, moody and I had a headache of the like I hadn't experienced in a long time. 'They' say that as your body starts having withdrawal symptoms from all the additives and preservatives you begin to experience headaches and tiredness. I would have given up, but I wanted to soldier on. I did the same assessment at six days and then after that it seems like one blur of salads, fruit, whole grain rice, vegetables and salmon sashimi.

Proudest moments on the detox have to have been managing to go out and not succumb to white wine, chocolates, chips etc. and obviously finishing it (yaaay!).

the result is that I lost weight - I fit into my 'skinny' trousers. To be honest I can't tell the difference, but my trousers, and the scales and my mom told me there is a difference. Someone commented the other day that I was glowing (yippee! - they didn't even know I'd been on a detox) and generally feeling very energetic, not so sluggish.

The only downside to this is that I'd love to be able to eat all the refined carbs in the world and still keep my insides healthy, but *shrug* that's not possible. It means you always have to go around with some/several fruit or raw nuts and dried fruit snacks in your bag.

I've been off the detox for a week or so, but I'm scared to go back to eating as normal - I've just started eating nigerian food (although I plan to stay away from white rice) and the other day i had my first piece of brown bread - yum!

Out of the way pharmacies....

I love going to pharmacies in areas where the racial make up is different. The reason being is because they tend to have beauty products which are not typically advertised in the west, but can add a whole dimension to your grooming process.

An example is many years ago in an indian pharmacy I came across a tonge scrapper. I asked the shop manager what it was for (it looked like a metal product of doom) and he explained what it was and how it work. I considered buying it, but it looked painful so I gave it a miss. Many, many years later and it's only now I am seeing tongue scrappers in mainstream stores.

Another product I have missed is the under eye patches. You can get them in Paris, and almost every other country but for some unknown reason they seem to have stopped doing them in mainstream stores in London. At least I thought so, until I went into the chinese pharmacy and spied them on the shelf. I, of course, grabbed a packet for myself straight away, but there are still many condiments for me to browse though and understand what they can be used for. Going to these places always gives me insight into other cultures as well. In both Indian and chinese stores there are bleaching products referred to euphemistically, sometimes, as whitening essences. I assumed this was something that only black people did, but of course whites themselves do this to maintain a porcelain complexion.

I'm on the hunt now for a chinese pharmacy outside the zone one area that does beauty treatments so I can get some good facials that don't eat up half my monthly wage!

Natural Hair Products

It was after reading a book on Ayurvedic Beauty techniques that I felt inspired to engage in looking at natural alternatives wherever possible. What I love about hearing indians talk about beauty is that they seem to have their this whole thing down to an art form, especially when it comes to taking care of body to make it beautiful.

I had switched over to using olive and castor oil with essential oils for my body (I have since gone on to incorporate an SPF 30 nivea creme).

I realised I wouldn't able to do the same with my own hair - I wash my hair with Pantene (which I brought in New York and I bought as much as I could possibly manage because I love that stuff, I love the fact we have a mainstream hair company producing shampoo and conditioner specifically for black hair and both are very moisturing. It's a shame about the adverts though - real hair is better than a wig and weave which most of us can spot at ten paces!

Incidentally I do a conditioning wash which means I buy another conditioner which I mix with a little shampoo and wash my hair with. I then use the pantene conditioner or the Aussie 3 minute miracle conditioner to condition the hair afterwards. I first heard about washing the hair with conditioner in a newspaper snippet on Jerry Hall who was talking about her beauty secrets. Now I've never been a fan of Jerry Hall - I'd rather say I've been indifferent, but her 'secrets' were excellent!

Aside from washing the hair I try to keep the hair constantly hydrated through out the week - this relies on a mixture of products. Keracare by default as that is what my excellent hair stylist Phebean uses and the products have grown on me. I use the silken seal and the leave-in conditioner.

I also like to oil the scalp - I tend to mix the oil I use with a serum so I get the different properties working on my hair. The two products I use to do this are o-so-natural and I am absolutely in awe of the both of them. The first is Doogro product which contains amongst other ingrediants soya oil. The serum is produced by the Rasta group and it's the cactus serum. I went on to buy the cactus oil and use all the products mentioned here on rotation and as and when I need. Their both excellent and I love the whole ethical nature behind the rasta group products and also the totally natural attitude behind the products of Doogro.

for more information :-http://www.rastagroup.com/product.htm
http://www.doogro.com

Hair on the internet

Everyone knows that Afro hair comes in so many variations and varieties and that each head of ours requires different treatment if we are to maintain a healthy head of hair. For the first time ever I heard about hair grades where hair is graded according to it's texture and other forms of criteria. Apparently the person who invented this grading system was the stylist to Oprah Winfrey herself, Andre Walker. I still don't get how this system works, but it dawned on me the other day that it could help me understand my hair a little better and treat it better so I'll be getting my head down to cracking my hair code. Click on the link here to find out your own individual hair grade
http://ourhair.net/content/view/29/40/1/1/

Hair Transitions

A friend of mine is currently going through a hair transition. She has decided that she no longer wants to relax her hair as much as she was before and will now prefer to go back to her natural state but simply use heat to maintain the same hairstle that pretty much works for her.

I've gone through many a hair search and come across some great links which I have sent to her and thought I would share the one that stood out to me the most.
http://www.fortunecity.com/greenfield/fatcat/30/id43.htm is a fantastic link which charts a womans progress from relaxed to natural hair over the course of a year I believe.

My friends method is slightly different from the examples stated above : she is simply going to have milder and milder relaxers used until it gets to the point that no relaxer is required at all. Thereby maintaining the same hairstyle and not having to make the 'big chop'. I think that's great.

I haven't asked her whether she would consider going back to relaxed hair in the future, but the great thing about afro hair is it can be very forgiving and allow quite a lot of styles to be administered to it.

A Beautiful Education

whenever I get to a bookshop my usual port of call is the health and beauty sections closely followed by the pop psychology section. I tend to have a love hate relationship with pop-psych, it always seems to be written by a whole load of people who state the obvious and very rarely give a decent practical answer for your issue.

To an extent Health and Beauty is the same. Full of lots of common sense information on how to wash you face, obvious things like add soap to face flannel, but instead of furiously rubbing move the flannel across your face in circular motions (duh!).

Of course there are those books which are at the pinacle of their game. Top of my list for the moment is Ultimate Health: 12 Keys to Abundant Health and Happiness by Dr. John Biffra. First off I had been a regular reader of his articles in a health magazine and one day there was an article in it which he refer to the 12 key steps - it's kind of like a little overview - I loved the article so much I cut it out and have it til this day, despite the fact that I have a copy of the book. It is just so practicle and it covers all areas of health, not just the physical aspects. Case to point : he talks about the benefits of eating well, of detoxing of exercise, then he takes it a step further by talking about breathing techniques, water (which for anyone who knows about alternative health these are pretty much the staples, but what he does is take it a step further by having easy to understand chapters which discuss how to honour ourselves (you know that feeling of when everything/one, but you, seems to come first and you end up forgetting what your basic needs are), and about trusting our intuition - it's a fantastic alrounder and great holistically. I started flipping through it again last night and couldn't put it down, right now, as I am detoxing I think it's a great idea for take care of spirit as well as the body.