♦ The 411

Quick Stats

 Hair: 4 a/b, thick hair, both fine & coarse strands, colour-treated, relaxed (underprocessed), mbl..approaching wl
Skin: combination, slightly acne-prone, medium, olive undertones
Everyday Look: generally minimalist
Maintenance: minimalistic for skin regimen, but hair crazy
Product Preferences: mostly natural, non-toxic, simple ingredient in products
Price Range: mostly frugal, but will occasionally spend a lot on quality hair products

Hair

So just to put things in perspective: I'm hair crazy. I did a long-term transition to fully natural back in my last year of high school and stayed that way for 5 years. In that time everything I needed to know I found out online and followed countless blogs. I began my own hair journey around then trying to grow long hair. Before that time my hair never grew beyond shoulder length, mostly because I never really gave it too much thought and spent most of my life alternating between relaxer, colour, braids and plaits.

From Left to Right - Damp hair ('12), Braid-Out ('12), Loose waves (Feb '13)


Eventually I made it to APL (armpit length) but got frustrated with long wash and detangling sessions so I relaxed again. As a relaxed head I will state earnestly that I'm not biased one way or another. I loved my natural hair and I would surely do it again. Right now I'm relaxed and it's okay so far. I have no major problems. Having achieved this goal and managing to maintain my length (double-processed hair and all) I think I am able to offer some advice here or there. That being said, I do still struggle with finding  balance, and I'm not about to become a "hair guru" anytime soon...

Not every chick with long hair has the holy grail solution ya' know.

In spite of being relaxed/texlaxed, I really prefer to use natural hair products when possible. Relaxers are already quite the chemical cocktail, and reduction is important to general well-being. On top of this, I like the idea of using a product that is genuinely nourishing my hair rather than simply coating it and giving the illusion of looking good.

Beauty


I love make-up and skin care. But I love it more than I'm usually willing to invest in it. My interest in make-up generally stems from my inner artist. So I'm more of admirer than an actual wearer. I came to be really into make-up through my interest in the Gyaru/Ulzzang fashion style/ beauty trend from out of Japan and Korea.

As a person of African descent, there are very few reviews out there by us for Asian products (often the kinds used for these styles) so that is one secondary motivation for starting this blog.

Skin care is important and though I invest little into it (because I tend to not have too much problems) I still like to be on top of it. Being somewhat of an eco-chick I do love natural products, and that's what I gravitate to.