Ashley is Naturally Glamorous!

Ashley of SoSaidAshley

When did you decide to go natural? Why? 

I decided to go natural April 1st (I know, I know. Yes, they did think it was an April Fools joke when I announced it to everyone). I did it for personal and medical reasons. The personal being the fact that I had seen that whole "soda-can-in-relaxer" portion of "Good Hair" and I was just tired of sitting hours with a relaxer on my head, just so it would "lay down for once".

Then, the medical being that I have chronic migraines and I would always stress myself out before getting a relaxer (because, as I mentioned, I often sat with it on for several hours at a time), so, my stressing would give me migraines, and, afterwards, for a few weeks, the chemicals would react badly with my body and cause even worse migraines.

I just finally decided I had enough.

Did you big chop or transition? How did you manage your hair while going natural? 

I transitioned. Well, I'm still transitioning. There was just something about me with short hair that I didn't like; my mother, grandmother and great-grandmother have always looked great with short hair, but, it was short because they kept it that way. 

As for me? I just wasn't comfortable making such a drastic change.

I'm managing my hair being sure to keep the two textures blended - without doing that, breakage is going to happen, for sure.(And, as I said in my first post on my blog, breakage is not something I'm playing with). I like to keep the textures blended by making my relaxed ends more texturized. I've never been able to maintain truly straight hair with chemicals, so, now that I'm transitioning, I'm not even going to bother trying with heat.

When did you BC?  What was your initial reaction to your natural hair? 

In terms of "BC'ing" with transitioning, I haven't officially done so yet. I did cut off a large part of my hair in the back that's purely natural, so, I have a good idea of what my texture looks like, and, from what I can see, I love it. I haven't been hesitant, at all, in typing it (it's easier for me to take care of if I have a general idea of the type and thus some ways I can look up how to care for it), so, I'd say it's about 4b/4c (which I fully believe exists). 

How did your family and friends react to the new you?  What was your response to them?  

They didn't react well. I grew up with "Good Hair Syndrome", so, they were always used to seeing my hair straight - Well, my hair is still, for the most part, straight. They weren't used to seeing all of my new growth and hearing me honestly say that, no, I was not getting a relaxer anymore. And, no, you could not pay for it. I got picked on, from adults and kids alike, friends and family alike, but, they don't understand it, so...

My response was just to tell them it was my head of hair and they didn't have to like it. It wasn't that I couldn't afford a relaxer or that someone said something mean about me getting relaxers - I just didn't feel comfortable getting them anymore and I wasn't going to, whether they liked it or not.

What does this journey mean to you? 

This journey means... A lot to me. I don't want to say something "cliche" like "Oh, this means finally stepping out from the bonds of the societal 'norms' and being myself!", but, I feel like, sort of, that's what it means. This means finally getting to honestly say "I am not my hair" and live like it. I've cut out a large section out of the back of my hair, I'm wearing my new growth and not trying to hide it... This finally means I can get over the whispering of my peers and do what I want to with myself and be confident in it.

What is your daily regimen? 

Unfortunately, I don't have one just yet. Well, my "rough draft" of a regimen is being sure to wet with water and seal with castor oil when I wake up, and put it in a protective style (typically a large, french braid crown, now that I've learned how to do them).

What products do you currently use, and how are they working for you? 

Motions! I know, I know, it's kind of been a hands-off product (it's got 'cones and sulfates, right?), but, it's doing wonders for my hair. In addition to just throwing in some castor oil and EVOO in my spray bottle with my water. It's kind of a running joke on my blog that I'm broke, so, no big, pricey things for me.

What have you learned throughout your journey?

I have learned that people will talk. It's inevitable; and especially since I'm a high school student. My peers don't understand. And, what they don't understand, they fear - it's different. And, what they fear, they hate and make fun. It's a pretty natural response, and, I've learned that anyone not making comments that'll help me improve in my journey or as a person... They just aren't worth listening to.

Any advice for others on their journey?

You have got to have an attitude. That's not suggesting you be rude or cocky; there shouldn't be room in your person for those types of attitudes. But, you can't just go into this just doing it. You've got to have an attitude and a mindset that says "No matter what they say, I'm going to be the bigger person, answer their questions in an educated manner and not go off when they make ignorant comments". Because, they will. You just have to have a strong attitude and be prepared. Not everyone is going to be supportive.

Rosemary Hair Tonic

I made a bottle of a rosemary hair tonic on Sunday and I must say, it's great! I used it after I washed out my DC. I had made a herbal cleanser/tonic some time ago, it was also great, but I think I prefer this one.


Now, we all know that rosemary is great when it comes to preventing, or curing dandruff, an itchy scalp, dry scalp, other scalp issues, thinning hair/hair loss and rosemary also is used to stimulate hair growth naturally.


So, here's my rosemary hair tonic recipe!




Rosemary Hair Tonic


Ingredients

• bottled or distilled water water
• dried rosemary leaves

Directions

• Pour some of the rosemary leaves into a pot/pan
• Pour some water into that same pot/pan. Note that the amount of water you pour in depends on the strength you want the tonic. I just add a little above the surface of the leaves in the pt/pan.
• Heat up the water and once it starts boiling, reduce the heat and let it simmer for a few minutes (not long, though, you really don't need to let it simmer for up to 10 minutes)
• Turn off the heat and leave it to cool off with the lid on.
• Choose to either sieve it or leave the rosemary leaves in it. I left mine in.
• After washing, co-washing, cleansing, moisturising your hair... spill it slowly on your head, being careful so it reaches all points of scalp.
• Don't rinse off. 

Rosemary Hair Tonic (old recipe)

Ingredients

• bottled or distilled water water
• dried rosemary leaves
• dried basil/thyme leaves
• dried sage leaves
• Water (distilled or bottled)
• An oil (Canola oil, Rapeseed oil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Coconut oil, or Jojoba Oil)
• Lemon Juice (optional)
• Aloe vera gel
• Vitamin E oil (optional) (preservative)

Directions

• Boil some distilled or bottled water.
• Eyeball the herbs (the main herb/the herb with the greatest quantity should be the rosemary) and pour them into the boiling water.
• Pull the boiling water and herbs off the stove.
• Let the herb mixture sit for 30-40 minutes.
• Add the oil (I used the EVOO and canola in really small quantities) after the mix has been sitting for 30 minutes.
• After 40 minutes (10 minutes after the last step), add some lemon juice.
• Strain the herbal mixture into a bowl.
• Mix in some aloe vera gel and vitamin E oil then transfer the mix into a bottle and store in a cool, dry place.
• Choose to either sieve it or leave the leaves in it. I left mine in.
• After washing, co-washing, cleansing, moisturising your hair... spill it slowly on your head, being careful so it reaches all points of scalp.
• Don't rinse off. 

Both tonics have quite a long shelf life. I've had the one with the old recipe for over 2 months and it's still good. Also, it doesn't really require refrigeration, but if you want to keep your in the fridge, that's fine.

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So! I hope you enjoyed reading this and if you ever try out these tonics, please send me a review :)

~Sam

Michelle is Naturally Glamorous

Michelle of Radiant Brown Beauty

When did you decide to go natural? Why? 
It was about 7 years ago. I decided to go natural because I have fine hair for one - hair similar to my mom's.  My mom's hair is now very thinned. On top of that I read a book by Cathy Howse entitled, "Thinning Edges." That shocked me into putting down that relaxer. I didn't want my hair to be thinned out or damaged beyond repair.


Did you big chop or transition? How did you manage your hair while going natural? 
The big chop was not for me. I'm not a fan of short hair - not for me. I transitioned until my hair was about chin length and then had a stylist cut off my relaxed ends.
For the period of time that i had relaxer in my hair, I'd visit the Dominicans and have them blow my roots straight in order to keep my two textures of hair blended. Not keeping those two textures blended is welcoming breakage. 


When did you BC?  What was your initial reaction to your natural hair? 
As mentioned, I never did the BC. I was however in awe of my natural hair. My mom always said I had wavy hair but I wasn't fully aware of how my hair actually looked or felt until I had about 4 inches of natural hair.
 

Straightened hair (with the blow dryer the Dominicans used)

How did your family and friends react to the new you?  What was your response to them? 
My family and friends thought I transitioned to fully natural very well. My hair always looked nice (thanks to the Dominicans lol) and there was very little breakage. I think I inspired some of my friends to take the plunge. A few of my co-workers are now reaching out to me to find out how I care for my natural hair.


What does this journey mean to you? 
I don't consider it a journey anymore. It's now a lifestyle. I can't ever see returning to relaxed hair. I have much more versatility with the hair as it is growing out of my scalp.



What is your daily regimen? 
My regimen may be considered very extensive to some but to me, it's caring for myself in a way nobody else could. Daily, I protective style. I moisturize or oil my hair daily. Weekly, I pre-poo, wash, deep condition (for moisture), apply a leave in and seal my hair before styling. Monthly I do a protein and a henna treatment (not at the same time). Here's more info. on my pre-poo regimen: http://radiant-brown-beauty.com/revised-pre-poo-finger-detangling-regimen/

What products do you currently use, and how are they working for you? 
 I use a number of products but I've finally found the products I plan to keep once I'm done using up what I have. Those would be:

• Shea Moisture Coconut Hibiscus alernating with Hair Thickening Shampoo
• Aubrey Organics Honeysuck Rose (as a Leave In)
• Aubrey Organics Glycogen Protein Balance Conditioner (for pre-pooing)
• Vatika Oil (for pre-pooing)
• Aubrey Organics Green Tea Rinse 
• Herbal Essences Hello Hydration (for detangling while washing)
• Kimmaytube Leave In Conditioner Recipe (alternating with AO)
• Jojoba Oil (for sealing the length of my hair and daily oiling)
• Jamaican Black Castor Oil (for sealing my ends)
• Jane Carter Nourish and Shine alternating with:
• Shea Butter Mix Recipe (adapted from Youtuber Naptural85 - I leave out the Vitamin E)
• Henna for African Hair (from mehandi.com) 

What have you learned throughout your journey?
I've learned that my hair is unique in its own way and what works for others doesn't necessarily work for me. 


Any advice for others on their journey?
Take the time to learn your hair. Know your hair type and texture and experiment with products to find what works for you.

Hair length

Just checked my hair length a few minutes ago. Just a lil less than the size of my hand and I'm at bra-strap length (BSL). woohoo! Got some pics today, but my hardrive's full so I can't do much on my laptop till I get a portable hard drive and get over half of what's on my laptop off it. So, yeah, I might put up pictures later, dunno. As long my face's not showing, my dad's fine with it, plus, I guess I can convince him to let me put up some photos with my face showing only on here.

Anyways, I'll see what I can do. I'm trying to get my whole transitioning photos and hair journey pics together. Dad has some so I need to get those from him and onto my laptop.

Totally rocking a pretty cool afro right now (hehe).
Anyways, ttyl
Love you, curlies!
~Sam

Can’t Keep Up? 6 Ways to Cut Through The Natural Hair Noise This Year

By Michelle of Radiant Brown Beauty

When deciding to go natural you may start scouring magazines, books and the internet for information on how to make the task less daunting. You’ll read information and receive conflicting advice from the different sources.This is the time of year folks make new year’s resolutions. Many ladies will decide to no longer curse put chemicals in their hair, giving birth to a natural hair growth journey of transitioning.

How’s a Girl to Know What to Do?

While much of the information you find will be on point, it can be very difficult to know what to do including things like: what products work best for your hair, to trim or not to trim, to use protein or not, to henna or not.

All of the natural hair talk can seem like noise to a lady whose transitioning. That’s because it’s so overwhelming.

Here are 6 ways to help you cut through the natural hair noise:

1. Don’t jump on bandwagons trying methods and products because everyone else says so. In other words, don’t give birth to a product junkie. Your hair and your wallet will thank you.
2. Keep a natural hair journalso you can track what works and doesn’t work for your hair (Products and Methods) while you are either transitioning or just learning your hair. Remember, it’s a journey not a sprint to the finish.
3. Consider the source. Unless the source of hair “information” has a significant amount of hair that she’s retained on her own head, keep it moving. That’s not to say that people with short hair can’t retain length. Some ladies prefer to maintain short hair. However, if you notice that lady is struggling with her own hair care regimen, she’s probably not a good source to learn from.
4. Find a few reliable sources that provide information on natural hair care and stick with those. Here are a reliable few: Natural Hair Community, Kimmaytube on YouTube, DPrincess28 on YouTube, and CurlyNikki. I recently found another site that updates sporadically but the information there is good and easy to understand: Hair MilkNOTE: Even these sites may contain information that does not jive with your natural hair. As my grandma would say, “Eat the meat and throw away the bones.”
5. While on the quest to optimal hair care, focus on one condition at a time – starting with the most urgent. For example, if you have problems with breakage, limp hair and styling, focus on getting to the root of your breakage first. Then, research styling techniques. Trying to combat all of your hair problems at once can be mind boggling.
6. Set hair goals. When you are focused on YOUR hair, you’ll be less focused on others. Everyone’s hair grows at different rates. By setting your own realistic goals, you can stay focused on what you need to do for your hair and not what everyone else is doing for their hair.

There you have it…my top 6 ways to cut through all the natural hair noise. Yes, a lot of it is noise – from articles that preach a one size fits all method to comments on natural hair blogs from clearly uninformed or straight ignorant (yep, I said it) women who haven’t even figured it out for themselves.

Got any you’d like to add? I’m sure I haven’t covered it. How do you cut through the information overload where caring for natural hair is concerned?

P.S. Also, check out this page I put together that has a lot of hair info on it. Great for medium length hair: Caring for Medium Length Natural Hair

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Hey!

I hope you all enjoyed reading this.

Please check out Michelle's blog. It's great!

God bless,

~Sam

Naked Hair (G-rated)

If you want to, please read this post by the Curl Whisperer----->  Naked Hair
If that doesn't open, try this ---------------------------------->  Naked Hair


Okay! so, about 2 weeks ago, something (which I won't talk about now, maybe later) happened and well, I was emotionally unstable. The last thing on my mind was caring for my hair. I quit moisturising and other things I normally would do to my hair on a daily basis. I actually slept without my satin bonnet thingy on for some time. Actually, I couldn't really sleep, but I had my head on a cotton pillow overnight without a satin bonnet thingy on my head.

Anyways, when I started getting better, I resumed putting on my satin bonnet thingy as I finally could remember and think of putting it on before sleeping, but I still didn't moisturise or anything like that, they were the last things on my mind. However, I did think, "you're hair must be dry and totally messed up right now." So, I had my hair in braids and when I finally took them down, my hair felt.... I cleansed my scalp and air dried and my hair felt....should I tell you?...yes?....no?....yes?....we're talking about naked hair here....it..it felt....it feltttttttt.....GREAT! So soft, manageable, so good, and most definitely not dry, brittle and frizzy.

I'm not saying you should go sleep on a cotton pillow without a sating scarf, bonnet, or satin bonnet thingy, or you should neglect your hair. I'm just saying that my hair felt so AWESOME!!!!!
Till the day before yesterday, I was rocking naked hair and yesterday, I just got a tad bit (less than a 1p coin) of 100% natural/ unrefined shea butter on my end after getting my hair braided in cornrows.

Can't wait to take my braids down on Friday and rock my totally awesome curly many. Oh! and I've finally been able to achieve a bun/puff thingy and even a second-day hair bun/puff thingy (didn't take it down, just put on 2 satin bonnet thingies and slept like that). Someone saw my hair at my last concet (on Saturday 16d/06m/12y) and told her daughter, who's transitioning, "look at how nice her hair is, you should learn how to do that." I must say, I did get a 'big head' from that comment. hehe

Anways, incase you want to try what I normally do and see if you get great naked hair (if you haven't been able to yet, that is), I:

1. SO do not use shampoo. In case you've never read any of my posts that mention that I'm CG, I'm CG :) and lovin' it!
2. I use only homemade products, and I make ALL my hair products (some of my recipes are on here). Every ingredient I use is 100% natural.
3. I noticed that bottled water makes my hair feel WAY better than tap does. So I rinse or moisturise with bottled water or I wash/rinse out with tap water (from the shower) then I do a final rinse with bottled water. It so makes a difference.
4. I give things a break from time to time. Like I can quit using shea butter for some weeks then continue using it or I can quit using oils for some weeks then continue. I'm not very consistent esp. with my hair regimen. I tweak it every now and then, but as long as my regimen is still very similar, I don't alter it online.
5. I deep condition my hair overnight on a weekly basis.
6. I don't remember the last time I used heat on my hair (it should be about a year, or so now)
7. I try not to touch my hair often, but honestly, my hand keeps going up in my hair often hehe

By the way, I still have relaxed ends (but I'm cutting them off just before I braid my hair with extensions which is in a couple of weeks).

Love you all,

Enjoy your naked hair!

~Sam

p.s I used to have this image that hair that's not naked had clothes on. Hmm.....

ACV vs BS (ProductsWAR Ep1)

Hey everyone!

So, what is this blog about? Incase you haven't already figured it out, it's about Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) and Brown Sugar (BS(S)). The pros and cons, which is better, you know....

Please note that I'm going to be blogging from my experience during the post and please remember, what works for one person doesn't always work for another.

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According to Wikipedia and Livestrong, "apple cider vinegar, otherwise known as cider vinegar or ACV, is a type of vinegar made from cider or apple must and has a pale to medium amber color." "This substance is rich in vitamin and mineral content, as well as enzymes and amino acids. It is no surprise that apple-cider vinegar can naturally protect your hair from hair loss."






Apple Cider Vinegar:

• Helps remove buildup,
• Improves scalp health (and gets rid of bacteria that causes hair loss)
• Stimulates hair follicle growth

The acidity of apple cider vinegar helps to balance the pH level of your hair and remove buildup, destroy bacteria that cause scalp conditions like dandruff or severe itchiness, and it makes it a natural cleansing agent.

Unfortunately, apple cider vinegar:

• Has such a nasty smell (which lasts for quite a long time, BUT usually wears off about a half-hour after you hair's fully dry)
• Can make you hair hard (if not diluted properly)
• Can cause scalp irritations (also if not diluted properly)

How to make your own Apple Cider Vinegar (from scratch) 

Here's my recipe for an apple cider vinegar rinse (can be used as an after shampoo/conditioner rinse or as an alternative to shampoo). This works for me, but please remember, it just might or might not work for you, but if you want to try it, feel free to, you'll never know if it works for you if you don't try it. Please, use at your own risk.

Ingredients:

• Apple Cider Vinegar
• Bottled/Filtered Water
• Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice (from a medium sized lemon)

Directions:

• Pour 1 part apple cider vinegar to 3 parts water (the first part of water you add should be hot or near-hot). I used a calibrated cup for this.
• Mix the ACV and water together thoroughly (please excuse the smell of the mixture).
• Next, squeeze out the juice of a lemon into a cup or the bowl the ACV and water mix is in and if you get any seeds, take them out with a fork.
• Mix these together thoroughly.
• Either leave it for a few minutes before using or you could use it immediately.

How I used this:

I sectioned my hair in fours and held each section with a metal-free ponytail holder. I took down one section and then sectioned that section irregularly. I then worked the ACV mix into each smaller section focusing on my scalp and working on it like I would with shampoo. When I was done with all the smaller sections in that section, I held that section back together with a ponytail holder. When I was done with all sections, I let the mix sit for a few minutes then I rinsed it out thoroughly.

What I got from this:

Soft, manageable, tangle-free hair that looked SO GOOD...... but smelt SO BAD.
*By the way, I might add a little more vinegar next time.

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According to Wikipedia, "Brown sugar is a sucrose sugar product with a distinctive brown colour due to the presence of molasses. It is either an unrefined or partially refined soft sugar consisting of sugar crystals with some residual molasses content, or it is produced by the addition of molasses to refined white sugar (so-called Molasses Sugar).

Brown sugar contains from 3.5% molasses (light brown sugar) to 6.5% molasses (dark brown sugar) based on total volume. Based on total weight, regular brown sugar contains up to 10% molasses."

Brown sugar:

• Helps remove buildup and hard/dead skin cells
• Exfoliate the scalp
• Improves blood circulation in the scalp (due to the "hands-on" method)

Apart from making you hair sticky (if not rinsed out properly), I haven't heard of any disadvantages of brown sugar to the scalp/hair.

How to make your own brown sugar


Here's my recipe for a brown sugar scrub. I use this as an alternative to shampoo. Please remember, this may or may not work for everyone.

Ingredients

• Brown Sugar
• Freshly squeezed lemon juice <- from half a medium sized lemon (optional)

*I don't always add the lemon juice to my scrub.

*Some people add olive/coconut oil to their scrub, but I prefer not to because I don't want to have an oily scalp or have to struggle with washing out the oil esp. because I'm CG. If you feel like adding some oil to your scrub, feel free to.

Directions

• Pour some brown sugar into a bowl or cup
• If you want to add the lemon juice (for it's fragrance or for extra cleansing), squeeze out the juice of half of a medium sized lemon, take out the seeds with a fork then pour the juice into the cup/bowl of brown sugar.
• Mix the brown sugar and lemon juice together thoroughly.

How I used this:

I sectioned my hair in 2 (sometimes, I section in 4) then I took down one section and divided it into smaller sections. I got the scrub onto my scalp and moved the pads of my fingers on my scalp, working in the scrub till I was done with every section then I got the remaining scrub (wasn't a lot left) onto my hand, took down both sections at the same time and did a final thorough scrub before I rinsed out the brown sugar scrub thoroughly.

What I got from this:

Soft, manageable, shiny, hair that looked AND SMELT good.

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1. Cleanliness: The brown sugar left my hair way more clean and with way less buildup when I was done. I am thinking this had to do with the concentration of the ACV in my ACV rinse because it did get rid of most of the buildup.

BS 1  :   0 ACV

2. Softness of hair: The ACV left my hair way softer than the brown sugar did. WAY softer.

BS 1  :   1 ACV

3. Manageability of hair: The ACV made my hair more manageable as it helped to get and keep my hair tangle-free. I'm not saying the brown sugar didn't make my hair quite manageable too, I'm just saying that the ACV made my hair more manageable than the brown sugar.

BS 1  :   2 ACV

4. Shine: I believe we've got a tie here

BS 2  :   3 ACV

5. Frizz: My hair looked equally or near-equally frizz free when I was done (did them exactly a week apart)

BS 3  :   4 ACV

6. Smell: The brown sugar wins hands down! The smell of the ACV was so HORRID!

BS 4  :   4 ACV

7. Itchy scalp: Both stopped that

BS 5  :   5 ACV

8. Dandruff: Both cured that.

BS 6  :   6 ACV

AND IT'S A TIE!!!!

Okay! yeah, it is a tie, but here are some things:

1. If I'm looking mainly for cleanliness (like if I have a lot of buildup or I'm going to be braiding with extentions), I'll go for the brown sugar scrub.

2. If I can push away the smell, my dad's at work and I'm sure I'm not going to have to leave my house for any reason, I'll go with the apple cider vinegar.

3. However, I most likely would use the brown sugar scrub more often as I'm scared of using something acidic on my hair often (even though I get great result with it). PLUS, the Curl Whisperer said, "you need to bear in mind that ACV is an acid--over 100 times more acidic than your hair--and it needs to be respected as such. Acids can and will start to degrade your hair shaft with overuse, so you must be cautious and pay strict attention to your hair's reaction to frequent ACV rinse use. I personally believe a monthly to bi-monthly ACV rinse provides more than sufficient benefit for almost everyone." I'm most likely going to use the ACV rinse once a month or once every month and a half (well, as needed, but never more than once a month)

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Hope you learned a lot and enjoyed reading this SUPER LONG post :)

Love you all!

~Sam

Concert Photo + Update

Sorry, no photos of me in this post.

ANYWAYS, I saw a picture of me taken by someone while I was performing at my last concert and I was like, "ohmydays, that puff is cute!" My puff was so perfect (well, really close to perfect). It was AMAZING!
So excited. Didn't know my puff looked that good and even the side bangs looked good too. Oh.my.days!

.....


1. I've tried out Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) on my hair. I actually used it last week and it made my hair feel so soft and good. Unfortunately, the ACV smells. It has such a terrible smell. OH.MY.DAYS!

2. How many times have I said 'oh my days' now? If you're answer's 3 times, you are....SO WRONG! I've said it 4 times! (included the one in the question)

3. Jamming out to some Bollywood songs right now. I actually want to go dancing in India right now. hehe Baajo Baanta Baaraa

4. My ABRSM voice exam was quite scary before I walked in for the exam because it turned out my voice trainer had given me 1 song in list A, none in list B, and 2 in list C and I was supposed to have 1 in list A, 1 in list B and 1 in List C so, I had to start memorising a new song a few minutes before I walked in for the exam. Scary!

5. A fellow curly girl and I were talking about hair salons and getting our hair done at them. She mentioned something REALLY disgusting that the hair stylist was doing while working on her hair (I won't mention it on here. It's too disgusting). Then we were talking about what hair stylists say when they have to work with our hair and how they complain. The fellow curly girl said that a hairstylist in Nigeria asked her, "why are you keeping your hair natural, is it for juju?" By the way, juju's like possessed charms, black magic, all those basically, but African sorta usually conducted by people known as Baba Alaos which are also known as witch doctors, native doctors, etc. But can you believe what she was asked? Just because she decided to leave her hair natural? Nadie debe preguntar esa pregunta! *sigh* *shakes head*

6. I want to jam out to more Bollywood songs!

7. I should so start taking down my braids!

8. I'm performing at a recital concert tomorrow.

9. Might perform at a music contest thingy.

10. Watching CNN, wait!  nope! watching my laptop screen, but CNN's on. Practically downed a whole carton of OJ. Sammay loooves her O(h)J(aay) (OJ). Thinking of shooting an orange juice commercial.

Talk to y'all curlies later,
~Sammay! Woohoo!

(shaking my pompoms in the air like a cheerleader)

My Hair Role Models

There are some people with such amazing hair that I SO SO SO SOOOOOOOOO admire! OH MY DAYS! THEY HAVE SUCH GORGEOUS HAIR!

Presenting....

Chaka Khan

Esperanza Spalding

The beautiful, Miss. A
(BeadsBraidsBeyond.blogspot.com)




Tia
(AnAngel'sDimples.blogspot.com)




Laura Izibor




Cindy Blackman




Who are yours?

The Awesome Blogger Award

Hi everyone,

I'll really like to thank An ANGEL'S RINGLETS for giving me The Awesome Blogger Award. I was like, "mum, I got an awesome blogger award," when I saw it, I never expected to get it.

I didn't really know much about the award so I looked a bit into it and here's what I found out:

"There are rules to accept the award, which requires that I share seven facts about myself and then acknowledge and award seven other bloggers."

So, here goes...whatever I end up typing about myself:

1. I'm a teen activist. I totally love to take a stand for what I believe in. I mean, I can't just sit down and do nothing. I have to get up and do what I can no matter how small. I'm also an Outreach Specialist for TeenActivist.Org.
2. I totally love watching wrestling. I'm a huge wrestling fan. I love watching WWF/WWE (Raw, Smackdown, any of them apart from NXT and Vintage. I don't really like those). I sit down with my (almost 80 years old) grandfather when we're together and watch wrestling like two overly excited people. I'm a total Sheamus, Ray Mysterio, Sin Cara, Koffi Kingston, CM Punk, Randy Orton, John Cena, Batista and Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) fan. They're amazing! I totally don't like Christian, R-Truth, Mark Henry,  and some group that wear black shirts with 'The C....' C something, can't remember what. That's how much I don't like them!
3. I'm a Christian. I totally love God. He's been there for me, still is, and forever would be. He's been helping me through a lot and I know at some points in life, my faith was falling, but I'm determined to not let that happen again.
4. I'm sorta multilingual. English is my first language, Italian's my second (though I'm not a fluent speaker anymore as I've been away from Italy for about 10 years now), anyways, French's my third, Spanish's my fourth, Japanese's my fifth, and Polish's my sixth (I'm not good at speaking Polish though, but I can read and understand (both by reading and hearing) Polish). I'm hoping to improve on my Polish by this summer (I have loads of Polish friends and not all of them speak English).
5. I'm mixed race. Part British (English) and Part African (Nigerian). I find it pretty cool and unique to be mixed race. It's like, I'm different from most people. However, I can pass for a full black. True, I can actually. It's kinda weird because my brother's so fair he can pass for a full white sometimes (or just as a really mixed person).
6. I write poetry, songs, shortstories and I draw (and paint). Yes, I do, sometimes. Some of my poems are on  http://www.wattpad.com/user/SammySingally there's a link to my songs, drawings and paintings somewhere on there too.
7. I'm a singer/songwriter. I've performed at various concerts since I was 9. It's been a great experience, fun, exciting....etc

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And finally, I'm going to award the Awesome Blogger Award to 7 amazing bloggers:

Beads, Braids and Beyond  - Who's my natural hair rolemodel? Well, I know her as Miss. A. She's a cute little girl with amazingly long and healthy hair. Her mum runs their blog, gives tips and advice, says what she's doing with A's hair, gives protective styling suggestions, etc. She's absolutely amazing!

Glamazini - I so love watching her YouTube videos and I've been on her blog a bunch of times and it's great! I remember around when I first found her YouTube vids, I was like, "can't wait till my hair's like hers."

Luvbeinnatural - She's amazing. I absolutely love her YouTube vids and blog. She's also a really really nice person.

HairMilk - She makes me want to transition for a longer period of time (but these ends have got to go). Her hair's gorgeous! I absolutely love her hair and we have quite a bit in common too, plus she gives out great tips and hair advice.

An Angel's Ringlets - I know she's the one that gave me this award, but I totally love her blog and YouTube videos. She and her daughters have such gorgeous hair and she's an absolutely awesome blogger!

CurlyChic - It's not been long since I stumbled onto her blog, but I think it's great!

CurlyNikki - I absolutely love her blog! It's so helpful, funny, and just great!

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