When the week[end]s...

Happy Monday my loves! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend as much as I did mine [=

I participated in my first art showcase at the Inner Recess Recording Studio here in New Orleans last Friday... I was sooo nervous; I really just didn't know what to expect! Now, don't get me wrong - I am confident in my jewelry line and the pieces I've created, but as an artist I am still sensitive about my shit [in my Erykah Badu voice lol].

Mee in my Fire and Desire feather earlaces [=

This was a new experience for me (as well as the hosts) considering the fact that the once-monthly Friday Night Mash events usually showcase still, visual art pieces like portraits and paintings. With PynkLayce being one of the featured artists this month, I was able to incorporate a sense of art in motion... free flowing pieces that held their own and definitely made a statement among the other artwork [:

Just a few pieces of PynkLayce [=

 

The ever-popular 'Phenom' Basketball Wives Inspired peacock feather earrings

Varied 'ButtonDown' fabric button earrings

One of my personal fav pieces, 'Lillies' (left) and 'Free Spirit' (right)

As you can see, PynkLayce was definitely in the building! There was a pretty decent crowd and I was able to snag a few sales, so I can check this event off as a success! It was great to get positive feedback from an audience I may have never reached had I not decided to participate in this show and for that alone, I am thankful [=

With my weekend starting off so great, I had no choice but to be motivated to continue striving to make my dreams a reality! So with that said, do something productive with this beautiful Monday! One of my co-workers sent me a message this morning that is just too appropriate for this post:

There are natural consequences that accompany every choice we make in life. Some opportunities inevitably pass us by, but we can take advantage of others. Many people feel powerless, but this is rarely the case--some opportunities just require a little thinking outside the box. Today, reflect on the doors you are opening in your world and which ones are closing. You have the power to create the life you want if you are willing to set goals and take steps toward them. Rarely does fulfilling our hopes and dreams happen overnight, but you can take one tiny move towards them each day.

Thoughts?

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Head Over [Heels].

OH. EM. GEE! I saw these shoes and damn near had a heart attack! I absolutely adore them [=

The Iris van Herpen X United Nude product is a glamorous ankle bootie with smooth round lines and golden leather detailing on the front and back of the shoe, with three-dimensional characteristics. Transparency, reflections and movements create the effect of visual estrangement. The construction of the shoe is so complicated and precise that each pair is 100% hand-made with the highest grade Italian calf Nappa available.

With an almost 6 inch heel, the shoe is a collab of designers Iris van Herpen and United Nude. It is currently available in black nappa with chains (pictured), as well as plain black, off-white, and tan nappa. Kyla Pratt rocked the chained daddies posing for pic with some of her Let's Stay Together crew mates.

I'd seen the pic a few weeks ago and FINALLY ran across the designer today on FBD. As much as I love these shoes, I couldn't see myself paying almost $1000 for em. A girl can dream though, right? [=

Happy Wednesday.

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Bring that Bush Back!

Happy Tuesday my loves! I hope everyone is having a productive day... I fell asleep last night pondering new ideas for blog topics and woke up with the answer staring me directly in the face:

Yep, I did it again... another night of falling asleep without re-twisting my hair AND without Bonnie (my satin bonnet). I know I'm messing up big time and it's a slowly-forming habit I'm determined to break.

Anyway, of course I woke up to a flat, misshapen, wiry mess that I had to sprucen up with the quickness if I planned on making it to work on time (or at all). What did I do? I broke out the old faithfuls!

Coconut Oil

Taliah Waajid Curly Curl Creme

Water

I started by spritzing my hair with a little water... I didn't want to get it soaking wet; just a little damp to add some moisture. I then took a little cococut oil on my finger tips and massaged it through chunky sections of hair preparing to two-strand twist. After twisting each chunky section, I sealed the ends with Taliah Waajid Curly Curl Creme by twisting (twirling) around my index finger.

Once this process was done over my entire head, I tied my hair down with a silk scarf and continued on with my normal morning duties. I think it's important to highlight that I tied my hair tighly with a silk scarf, not my normal loose-fitting satin bonnet... it somehow makes a huge difference. Fast-forward about 30-45 min later and I'm pulling out of my drive way looking like this:

It's kinda hard to break the habit of sleeping without re-twisting my hair when I know I can get results like this in under an hour... It's just awesome! I've tried this method a few times using different product combinations and I think this just may be the perfect one. Using just a little bit of the Curly Curl Creme just to seal the ends of the twists really pays off in curl definition! I got so many compliments before I could even make it to my office this morning... not a bad way to start your day off huh? :)

With that being said, it's time to make this day work! Hope you make the best out of the rest of your day! Comments or tips? Leave 'em below!!

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5 Month Natural Hair Update

Yep yep, it's update time! I'm actually like a week late and I didn't get a chance to shoot a video, but I couldn't let this month go by without dropping an update.

1.12.2012 marked the 5th month since my Big Chop and Mee & my fro have been through quite a lot... I'm talking more than just styles or products. It's like every day I'm falling deeper and deeper in love with my hair (and myself); even when it doesn't want to do what I want it to, I still totally DIG my hair. That's such a great feeling...

Alright, so let's get down to it. If you've seen any of my other natural hair updates, you know I usually do a comparison of progress... this time let's compare a Month 1 Wash and Go (left) to a Month 5 Wash and Go (right):

Crazy right? You probably can't tell because my hair was wet and shrunken when I took those pics, but it has grown a lot. If it wasn't my own hair I probably wouldn't believe that such growth has occured in less than 6 months... it's wonderful. You can really see the progress just by the new growth under the honey blonde color I did just before the BC.

I'm finding that the longer it gets, the more curly it is so even my blown-out stretched twist-outs have fallen victim to shrinkage. And if I thought I did before, I'm definitely having a problem keeping my hands out of my hair now more than ever [=

Thanks for growing with Mee my loves... I appreciate all the support I've received through your visits and comments here on the site, kinds words and Re-Tweets of my links on Twitter, purchasing my PynkLayce jewelry, or whatever you may have done in support of my endeavors. The natural hair community is a great community to be a part of [=

And if your natural (or considering taking the plunge), hang in there! It's challenging at times, but it's so worth it! I'm pretty sure you've heard that famous natural hair statement: my only regret is that I hadn't done it sooner [;

Happy Friday loves.

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My Flexi-rod #FAIL!

Hey loves! I know it's been a few days since my last post... I've been really sick and extremely tired since this past weekend. However, your girl is back :)

If you follow me on Twitter you probably saw me tweeting about my daughter's makeup-themed 4th birthday party and all we'd planned to do to celebrate 'Another Year of Fabulous'. I also announced an upcoming flexi-rod set tutorial... NOT gonna happen!

Well, not this week anyway. I'd planned on doing the trial run for my daughter's party last Saturday before recording the actual turorial on Sunday, but I knew I wouldn't like the results before I even took the rods out... I just wasn't feeling it. Now, I'm not sure if the fail was due to the amount of hair I sectioned, the product I used to set the hair on the rods, or the rods themselves. Either way, I don't think I'll be re-visiting this method any time soon =/

I achieved this look using 3 sizes of flexi-rods: Grey (large), Blue (med), Red (small); and Organic's Lock & Twist Gel.

Before she went to sleep that night, I could clearly tell the ends were going to be an issue; they were already unraveling... My baby was a great sport tho [=

I used different sized rods because I wanted the curls to have depth and get smaller in size towards the crown / front of her hair. That was sooooo NOT the case when I took them down... had I known this, I would have set her entire head of hair using the large rods to save myself some time and effort. Welp, you live and you learn [shrugs]. Here is the final result:

The curls were so small and tight, it gave the appearance that her hair isn't as full as it is and I really didn't like that at all. I did my best to separate the curls, but they just wanted to do their own thing so I let them. And although I didn't like the size of the curls, everything came together beautifully and my baby (and all of her friends) had a blast!

So what do you think... should I try it again or is this a lost cause? Wanna share some tips? Comment below!

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