My 2017 Birthday Photos - Inspired by My Favourite Things

Hey guys, long time no speak!

I know I've been MIA and there's no real explanation for that but trust me, I'm still looking for that balance. If you've got any tips, please leave them below!

I've been making plans for you, but I'm working on execution and I don't want to say too much just yet. However, yesterday was my birthday so I released the photos below to celebrate my special day. I decided to do a shoot this year because I just really wanted to do something different. I'm usually just the "stay at home and eat cake with family" kinda girl but I thought a beauty shoot would be fun.

I had fun in the studio with all my people (find them below), it felt like a birthday party on its own. The themes for the shoot were inspired by some of my favourite things, my hair, flowers, colours, red lip and music, most especially Fela's music. 

Hope you like the pictures!

Yellow Dots

Chameleon Curls by O'naturals

Loving my "Chameleon Curls"

Ladies! 

Let The Chameleon Blogger and O'naturals help your hair look on fleek for the festive season!!!

At O'naturals for the month of December, anyone who requests my "Chameleon Curls" gets this style at a discounted price! 

Remember to request "Chameleon Curls" and say #thechameleonblogger sent ya!

Follow O'naturals on instagram with  @onaturals1 for more styles they can hook you up with for the holiday season! 

Located at 54 Ogudu Road, Ojota Lagos.

Email onaturals@gmail.com

Call 08188024444 or  08158024444

Dress It Up

So this is my third outfit in my sleeveless jacket series and this time, I've styled it with a dress. This one is my least favourite of the bunch because I think it almost looks like a lab coat, all I need now are sleeves and I'd be mistaken for a lost med student. But that's just me, what do you think? 

To be honest, I wasn't going to post this outfit but then I thought why waste it?

Black Camel

Favourites Friday: Hair Oils

For my natural hair, I try to use as many natural hair products as possible, these include a wide range of oils. My usual oil mix consists of Coconut, Castor, Olive, Jojoba, Almond oils and Shea Butter. It might sound like a lot but this is what I use and it works for ME. These oils each have their star qualities that make them my go-to oils for my hair oil mix and I'll be sharing some of them with you in this post.

Coconut Oil: (My favourite) Great protectant for hair and skin. It's very penetrative and light weight, it softens and conditions my hair. It's also great for pre-wash conditioning, aka pre-poo. It also mimics Sebum but it's not as close as Jojoba oil.

Jamaican Black Castor Oil: THIS! Stimulates growth. Although it's quite thick, I mix it with other oils and it makes my hair soft.

Source

Olive Oil: This oil is also penetrative and contains fatty acids and vitamin E which are great for healthier hair. It also moisturizes and is a great pre-poo oil as well.

Shea Butter: One of the first oils I started using, I used it for everything and I still include it in my oil mix today. It also makes my hair soft and it's great for sealing in moisture. It also contains sufficient SPF to protect your hair from UVS.

Jojoba Oil: This oil is great for your scalp because it's closest to the natural oils that our hair produces called Sebum. This means it is easily absorbed into your scalp and is great for treating numerous scalp issues.

Tea Tree Oil & Eucalyptus Oil: Both have anti bacterial and anti fungal properties. Eucalyptus promotes ceramide production so it increases elasticity as well. Tea Tree stimulates the scalp and this can also promote hair growth.

Almond Oil: This oil has a lot of fats that are great for fighting dry, brittle hair.

Oils I haven't used but would like to try are Argan oil, Grapeseed oil, Pomegranate seed oil, Avocado oil and a bunch of others but let me know, what are some of your favourite oils to use and why?

I don't claim to know all about the oils I've listed and I definitely haven't listed all their benefits either so it would pay you to do some of your own research as well and find out what works for you.

Favourites Friday: Natural Hair on YouTube

See more pictures from this post HERE

Hey guys, another Friday and another favourites post. 

Today I'm sharing my top 5 natural hair channels on YouTube. I follow a lot of them; some new and some old, YouTube really helped me with my transition/big chop phase 5 years ago. How time flies. Some of the ones who really helped me pull through that delicate phase have stopped recording over the years and I'll share their channels later on, but here are the new ones I'm in love with at the moment.

BeautifulBrwnBabyDoll

Donedo

LoveYourTresses

Naptural85*

NaturalMe4C

*Naptural85 She is my all time fave, my day one from big chop till now. My hair crush all day everyday #fangirl

As a bonus, I'll share two of my fave all time oldies with you. 

KimmayTube

Nikkimae2003

These ladies just recently made a come back after a few years. They both got married and started their families and of course, the internet must be put on hold when life calls!

Please don't forget to share some of your favourites with me, I'm always looking to find new ones. Also, share some of your fave Nigerian bloggers from my last post too.

TGIF! Oh yea! Have a great weekend guys! x

Hair Talk: Confessions of a Natural Girl

A handsome man once sang, 

"These are my confessions"

Hair Talk: My Routine

Everyone has a routine that works for them, it could be for skin care, exercise and fitness or even a routine to simply get ready in the morning. In this post I'll be talking about my hair care routine that has been the norm for me for over 2 years. This could help inspire your hair care routine (if you don't already have one) and help create something that works best for you and the health of your hair.

MY HAIR CARE ROUTINE
I’m always doing one protective style or the other, which I usually have on for about 2 weeks to a month. While my hair is hidden I spray a water and coconut oil mixture in my hair whenever I feel it getting a bit dry. Sometimes if I can, I'll put in some leave in conditioner or I might even co-wash my hair depending on the protective style I have on.

The Curly 'Fro

When I take the style out I detangle, wash and deep condition. When it comes to deep conditioning, some people do it before washing and some people do it after, sometimes I prefer both because I love to co-wash my hair. I just really love having conditioner in my hair and I think co-washing and deep conditioning are about the same if not very similar. What do you think? And do you prefer to deep condition your hair before or after washing? (Leave a comment and let me know :)

Depending on how my hair feels I could do a protein or hot oil treatment but my favourite thing to do is deep condition.
After my wash day process, I do bantu twists myself for a twist out look the next morning. This is my favourite natural hair style to rock, the curly 'fro.

Hair Talk: Simple Tips

Although I've done quite a number of hair features in the past (and left the links here on my blog), I guess it's not the same as having a post about my hair on my blog because I still get a lot of questions about my hair. I'm sure I've mentioned a few things in the past but I don't expect every one to go through my whole blog in search of my natural hair tips and care routine... Long.

Before I get into anything serious, I want to let you know that the hair on my hair growing out my scalp is not the same as yours. We are not the same person so we do not have exactly the same hair. Basically, what works for me may not necessarily work for you. So if you do everything I write here in this post (and others after) and you get results you aren't happy with, Eki is not to blame. I'm just sharing MY routine so practice/copy it at your own risk. Also, I've never said I am a natural hair guru because I really am not and I don't know it all, in a few years all I've written here might change because just like you I'm also learning everyday.

I have a lot to say in detail when it comes to my hair so this post will be broken down into several parts over time. For my relaxed/permed hair sisters out there, I'm also working on getting my cousin to share some of her hair secrets as well. She's started paying more attention to her relaxed hair and it's grown so much over the past few years, so hopefully I can get her to share some tips as well.

So let's begin!



PROTECTIVE STYLING
This has to be the number one on my list because my hair is always hidden, my cousin Omozo of O'Naturals calls me "a natural in hiding".
Braids and wigs are major for me, I'm not a fan of weaves because I don't like the look of a closed weave and I don't like to leave my natural hair out because it can get damaged, I learnt that the hard way. All the straightening left me with bald spots and then straight hair right in the front, the worst.

Hairspiration Feature

Hey guys!

This is just to let you know I've been featured on The Kink And I so click this link here to check it out!

Thanks so much Ekene! :*

Been working on a new post which should be up next week so look out for that, I won't tell you what it is just yet. Hope you've all had a great week so far and thanks for following too... x

The Perfect Match

Two years ago Mirabel gave me these lovely sandals from Zara. They aren't the most comfortable but I make it work when I have to (then change to flats as soon as I can lol). 

A few months after I got the shoes, Zara had their summer sale and you know how ugly things get when its time for sales... It's a total MESS! 

But amidst the rubble I found this top and I've been dying to do a post with this outfit, they were made for each other; a perfect match made in Zara heaven :) such a cheesy line lol

Plain White T

"hey there delilah what's it like in new york city? i'm a thousand miles away but girl tonight you look so pretty, yes you do. times square can't shine as bright as you, you know it's true..."

Great throwback right there but that's not why we're here...

...It's My Birthday! :)

I honestly just want to thank God for bringing me this far in life to see yet another year because I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for His grace and mercies upon me. I'm enjoying my journey and I know He isn't through with me, with Him all things are possible and if He is for me then no one can be against me.

Between the start of this year and now I have so many testimonies and all I can do is thank God for His mercies. I'm thankful to God for so many things, my life, family, relationship, friends that have become family, and the doors God has opened and is yet to open for me.

Blue Circles

 Church flow with some ankara lovin' on the blog today!

This has to be my fave ankara dress at the moment. The fit & flared silhouette is obviously my all time favourite style to wear and the beading, print and colour make me love this dress even more.

White & Cobalt

I think I'm falling for cobalt blue all over again!
When I got a cobalt jacket from a vintage shop online I fell in love with this rich hue of blue and went on to get a skirt from Asos in cobalt as well and they became one of my favourite pairings (see header).
You know... those outfits you run to when you think you have nothing to wear lol.
Then I saw this necklace in Zara once and knew I had to add it to my little Cobalt Collection, loved the pop of yellow. I couldn't wear all three items together, thought it would be an overkill but I had to pair it with the skirt... and along came this outfit!

A black top and a pair of black heels would work and I'd probably try that out later but a white t shirt from Forever 21 and nude Louboutin heels seemed perfect for me...
 I think I wear too much black.

Casual Day

I don't think I've ever done a post as casual as this and even if I have I doubt it included a polo shirt. I just always think outfits like this are a little too basic and uninspiring to put up here but I was in the mood for an ootd and I really wanted to show off this cool polo shirt I got from NACK.

I'm in love with the colour and the yellow details (on the buttons & crest) make me love the shirt even more, I'm definitely going back for some more colours. I wore this to lunch with my bestie, really casual spin on the typical date look, maybe a little too casual (and I've successfully used that word four times in this post Lol).

P.S: This was a day two twist out from the twist out style I did for vday in my last post
Have a great week guys! x

Hair Talk: Twist Out Lessons

In April it'll be four years since I did my big chop and went natural and again, it's one thing I really don't regret cuz I've always hated relaxing my hair. Handling my natural hair can be tough sometimes especially as it gets longer but it's all worth it when I see the final result and how nice and healthy my hair looks.

POST ON THIS OUTFIT COMING SOON

When I do my twist outs I always do it on damp hair. I don't like my hair to be too wet cuz then drying may take longer and I'll wake up the next day with a damp twist out and wasted efforts because I prefer to air dry and not use heat. To avoid having a damp-twist-out-bad-hair-day I spray my hair with A BIT of water. Sometimes I mix the water with oil or a leave in conditioner depending on what my hair needs at the time... listen to YOUR hair.

Bluetiful Skirt

In this post here I spoke about the new way people wear iro and buba and how I wanted to try that out. I have made a proper one that I'm going to wear soon but I was playing around with this maxi skirt I bought from Zara a while ago and somehow, I ended up with this and it reminds me a lot of the twisty wrapper. Love maxi skirts! They can get both a skirt and a dress and when you play around with it, you never know what you can come up with! I wore it to church and styled it differently, air conditioning in church can kill sometimes so I put on a jacket

Aubin & Wills jacket, Asos cami, Zara skirt, Alexander Wang rocco and Next sandals

Hair Talk: Versatile Protective Styling || Myths

This is what my hair currently looks and people say it makes me look a lot younger like I'm in secondary school but I wanted to try something different without extensions and wigs and I'm really enjoying it. It's very simple and easy to manage because I have easy access to my hair and scalp, I oil my scalp better and moisturize my hair a lot more with simply water and coconut oil. My ends are tucked in which is one of the great things about protective styling, protecting the oldest part of your hair and keeping it moisturized. The best part is when I'm ready to take out the twists it'll look like a 'frohawk cuz of the braided sides shown in the picture. So it's also quite versatile especially for the natural working girls who love a bit of TGIF fun, take out your twists for a funky Friday/Saturday hairstyle and do something new on Sunday for work the next week or stick to the same style, whichever you prefer. I'll definitely do a post when I've taken out the twists but I'm enjoying this updo with a mix of twists and braids. I really should do styles like this more often.

Still on the topic of hair, since moving back to Nigeria I've heard all sorts of myths ideologies and beliefs that I just can't deal with. I've heard someone say "people with relaxed hair will go to hell" and "when you relax your hair the chemical seeps through your scalp into your brain and causes cancer/brain damage" O_O 

But what about my skull?

What some people have to say about wearing anklets is even funnier, someone asked my friend if she's an obanje (a witch) or an abiku (a child that dies and comes back repeatedly), another said she's tying her destiny to the ground. COME ON People! 

It sounds too ridiculous but it's always nice for a good laugh especially if you're having a rough day. 

Don't hesitate to share any myths you might have heard about anything so we can all have a laugh.

Have a great week guys and remember healthy hair is the goal with either relaxed or natural hair. 

Leather Collar

I don't wear a lot of leather except its a jacket, accessories or little details in the outfit like this top from Zara with a leather collar. I've never been a believer of leather pants, somehow I don't think it'd be very flattering for me but maybe it's all in my mind. If I ever overcome this thought and try it on, I'll let you know if there's any change of heart.
I've had these twists in now for about three weeks, they look really rough I know but I'll take them out soon. I've got a wedding coming up soon and I don't want to look like scraps. Even though my outfit is nice, rough hair can turn things sour, very sour. Not forgetting the unheard insults you will receive, "they will carry rough hair and say it is natural hair", or someone will ask why I did not "make" or "comb" my hair Lol. Speaking of hair and insults, this post on my cousin's blog is one you should definitely read especially if you are natural, "someone" gave her some unnecessary "feedback" about her appearance. Read about it here.

Zara top & Asos shoes