Day5⎪Dream body journey (2)

DINNER


This is what I had for lunch. Finally, between making a couple of video montages and work, I couldn't get around to work out early evening. I managed to make myself a quick dinner with the piece of salmon I had from lunch - which made for a perfect base for my meal. As side vegetables, I got frozen peas/carrots and broccoli, with a couple of tbs of white rice. So that the meal wouldn't be too dry, I added in a couple of tbs of low fat milk in the cooking pan.


See for yourself: 

30APR - DINNER
PIECE OF SALMON
W/SIDE OF VEGGIES & WHITE RICE

Trend alert⎪Afrocentric fashion in all the runways!

Afrochic is back!

People have said that the African trend is back. I say that African fashion has always been IN and around.... I can recall the 1980s and Yves St Laurent putting on black girls on the runways for the first time and reinventing safari jackets and desert pants that Africans had been sporting for as long as there was sand in the desert!


Fast forward to the early 2000s, designers like Cavalli, McQueen, Galliano have had touches of the ethnic/Afrocentric influences in many of their collections. Africa came back to the frontline, revived even in the food culture with chefs like the Swedish-Ethiopian-born Marcus Samuelsson, or new vacation destinations promoted by celebs like Brangelina who were supposedly traveling to East rica's safari land. 


So is Africa IN again?


It seems so. Well this year has seen an overwhelming presence of the motherland. Many designers have used African fabric (called wax) for entire collections. 


You're probably wondering where I'm heading with all this blabla. Well, I wanted to talk to you about a new website called ColorOfBlack, recently created by three friends who are all inspired by Africa, yet wanting the comfort and casualness of western designs. They decided to start up a business - an online concept store whose editorial line is focused on afrochic design. 


They pick excellent designers who have no or too little venues to show off their collections. They pretty much hand pick each piece of clothing to make sure it goes hand in hand with their philosophy of "afro/ethnic" sensibility with a modern and highly wearable twist. It is the new African ready-to-wear!

Stéphanie Porteret, one of the co-founders.
Of French and Gabonese (Central African) descent.

Day5⎪Dream body journey

I'M SO BUGGED RIGHT NOW!


So I just finished having lunch. I made a nice piece of salmon filet, with a side of broccoli, grilled on one of those special barbecue pans and a little bit of nutmeg mashed potatoes.


I made the puréed potatoes with the out-of-the-box flakes. Instead of making them with milk, I just used plain hot water, and a touch of reduced fat butter and a pinch of powder nutmeg.


All that sounds good, right? And I took pictures of the nice plate I made; only to find out that I didn't put the memory card in the camera and I can't seem to find the cable that came with the camera so no way to transfer the images. That's why I'm so annoyed right now. As for you, just try to picture it for yourself. Sorry!


Oh... I forgot that I added some pickled ginger - the ones you eat at Japanese restaurants with your sushi and wasabi. Yep! As a bizarre of a combo as it may seem, it turned out delicious. Definitely a recipe I will try to recreate again!


As far as my work out is concerned, I did my now usual 20 minutes cardio fat burning, added with abs work and nice stretching for lean and firm muscles.


This evening, I'll get going with my idea of learning (on my own), Beyoncé's dance routine in Love on top. Wish me luck!


To finish, I just learned this morning that my mother-in-law is coming this wednesday. I'm a bit anxious because she's very opinionated and I'm not enthusiastic about her finding out my new healthy habits. But I'll focus my thoughts on the positive - meditate on peace and spontaneity - and, if needed, I'll simply shift my workout back to the regular gym. There's one almost across the street from where I live so if may just have to escape there to workout and avoid having to justify my choices.


To be continued....

DIY⎪How I make my own curling rods for natural hair

Sunday's hair day usually... so, I thought I'd show you how I help my frizzy curly natural hair look shinier and more manageable with homemade curling rods made out of sponge and gauze.


It's sooo easy and so useful - especially for those who, like me, have damaged their ends using too much heat at some point. So, if you're read this blog from the beginning, you know a bit of my hair story and the changes I'm making, little by little to achieve the best natural locks. So, enjoy the vid!

Day4⎪ Dream body journey

WHAT AM I DOING RIGHT/WRONG?


Today, I wondered if what I was doing was really going to pay off. This is the wrong attitude. 


For someone like me who does believe in the Law Of Attraction and the power of thoughts, I shouldn't let doubt sneak inside my brain and cause irreparable damages to my goal of getting fit.


So, I started by working out. I did 20 minutes of intense fat burning work out. Then, 10 minutes of abs training and finished up with about 10 minutes stretching. 


But then, I wondered whether I wouldn't get tired of this regimen. That's at the very minute I saw Beyoncé's latest video "Love on top". I realized that the gorgeously curvy celeb used a lot of dancing in her videos with nice choreographies. That was my tadahh moment. 


"Why not trying to learn B-dance routines in her videos and get fit at the same time? It's just an idea. I got my 2 first trial videos ready: Love on top and Run the world (girls). So tomorrow, I'll do my morning workout. Then, when I'm finished working in the afternoon, I'll start studying the videos and try to re-create the moves. If I can achieve that, I'll certainly have more fun dancing and losing my loose areas, and turn them into harmoniously toned muscles while having fun doing it. That's the plan.


As for LOA, I have to quickly set a plan for visually creating what my goal is: what is the kind of ideal body I want for myself. One thing for sure, I cannot have my (old) body body. But, I'll have the ideal body for me right now!


Ok. For now, let me show you what I just had for dinner: grilled calamari, with crushed tomato sauce and a side of rice.

I actually was only able to eat half of the rice shown on the picture. 

Day3⎪Dream journey body

LUNCH/DINNER UPDATE


Yesterday, I just didn't have time to post what I ate and what I did. Actually, I was simply too busy that I couldn't do my morning fitness routine and by the end I finished up work last night, I was just too lazy to put on the DVD and work out.


Thank God for music video channels, right! I put some MTV channel on and, luckily for me, they were playing some dance/techno music. Nothing better to pump up the heart rate and hopefully, burn some calories.


So I started dancing, replicating moves I did the days before with my new friend, Kathy Smith. I know I probably didn't do them perfectly - when I couldn't remember an entire choreography, I would instead jump!jump!jump! to the beat of the music and 15 - 20 minutes later, I was literally too exhausted to continue. I gather the courage to do a couple of series of abs to finish up and, voilà!


So, here's what I had for lunch. Dinner was just leftover chicken with a side of quesadilla and leftover brown rice.

Day2⎪ Dream body journey (2)

LUNCH/DINER

Weird weird... I just weighed myself and realized that I gained 2lbs since the last time I checked. Coincidence or is there something I'm doing wrong?


From tomorrow on, I'm going to think about it and come up with a strategy. But, there's no secret - either I'm not eating healthy enough, or I should cut on snacks, or I should cut down on the portions, or (I know, that's a lot of "or") maybe the fitness has made me gain some muscle weight. But in 2 days??? Weird, weird.


Like I said, I'm not going to stress about it too much. But tomorrow, I'm putting the turbo! I'll get a colonic cleanse if I need to! :-)


So here, it's already close to bedtime. I didn't have time to post what I had for lunch. And actually, after 2 waffles, another corn cake in the afternoon, and chicken/fried sweet plantain - I realize where those extra pounds come from.


Ok - so here's what I had for lunch! If that can inspire someone to do better than I did today! ;-)

Day2⎪ Dream body journey (1)

BREAKFAST


I woke up feeling a little sore around the neck and shoulders, as well as my calves. But I took it as a good sign. I might get a bit over myself by thinking that something's already happening, so soon in my process. But that over-enthusiasm is probably what's going to keep me motivated until the end. After all, I still have 28 more days to go before screaming "Victory!".


So on with today's regimen: Contrary to yesterday, I was too hungry this morning to work out before having food in my stomach. I had to eat and to eat something consistent. With all the cookbooks and TV shows I've seen on the topic, I know now that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, the fuel that will keep me going and resist temptation until lunchtime. And the one thing that sticks to the stomach is protein and carbohydrates. Without going overboard (I still need to keep it light), I decided to make something with carbohydrate without having to add sugar - my Achilles' heel. So pancakes were out of the question. Yet, I didn't really feel like making myself some eggs, because I usually eat them with bread and I can go overload with bread: one, two, three, four... pieces and I loose count.


So I thought of the fake veggie - corn. Sweet to the taste and definitely a carbohydrate; not a problem to keep me going for a few hours. But just biting on corn, yuk! Unless it's in a salad, it's not very appealing. I like my breakfast warm so I thought "potato cake = corn cake = voilà!"


I grabbed half a can of corn kernels, smashed it with a hand blender, added 1ts of flour + 1 ts of corn starch, seasoned it, made patties about 1/2inch thick. Next, screaming hot pan, spray oil and my corn cakes were ready to undergo nice cooking for 2-3 minutes on each side.


I still wanted to get my morning intake of fruits; hence the cantaloupe and watermelon (from yesterday - actually, I bought a whole watermelon, so I probably have another 3-4 days worth of the red watery fruit).


At the last minute, I thought I might add some cream cheese on my corn cakes (see in the picture), but as I started eating, I felt satisfied with just the cakes and ended up putting the cream cheese aside and throwing it away once I was done having breakfast. A nice gulp of my water/lemon juice mix and I was ready to start my day. 


Half an hour later, I was starting my gym session with 20 minutes express cardio/fat burning session, which I followed by abs/thighs just for 10 minutes - that's when I heard my phone ringing, and I picked up thinking it was my honey calling me (he's away on business trip so every phone call is a treasure!). After that, i didn't feel like finishing up anymore so I headed off to shower and work.


Overall though, nice AM!

Day1⎪ Dream body journey (2)

DINER


Ouf! The day's over and I'm amazed at myself. 


For lunch, I had a chicken wrap made of stir fry (using PAM oil spray to really control my fat intake) shredded chicken, minced zucchini, topped with a couple of ts of fat free yogurt-curry-cilandtro, with a bit of lemon juice to give it a "zing". For beverage, I had some aloe vera juice - the type you find at Asian speciality places.


In the afternoon, I got a little hungry. After trying to resist, I just went ahead to grab something. The problem is snacking is my favorite thing. Munching on chips, enjoying a nice crêpe with nutella or currant jam.... the whole thing, with a (couple of ) glass(es) of some fruity sugary juice... heaven!


Well, not this time. I figured, if I could make it on my first day, maybe I'll stay motivated - which is the key, right? Especially since I intend on keeping up with this healthy lifestyle for a long time. So I did something that I hope is healthy. I just cut up a couple of bananas and grilled them on a hot pan, half a ts of sugar and some lemon juice so I don't feel like I'm having hospital food. And that did it for me.


Fast forward to lunch time. I thought "why not doing a second, lighter workout" just 'cause? That's what I did. I just did 20 minutes aerobics with 7-8 minutes stretching/relaxation at the end. That got me ready for a nice energizing shower before another favorite moment of the day. You've guessed it: diner time!


Check what I made:

My plate with a nice serving portion of veggies and the rice.
I should probably have made brown rice. Oh well,... next time!

Law of Attraction: get money and prosperity

Day1⎪ Dream body journey (1)

BREAKFAST


So today, I got off the a great start. I felt super motivated. Despite my girls being home from a holiday week and constantly bothering me for this or that, I was able to close the bedroom door and get some workout done.


I started Kathy Smith 60 minutes Fat Burning session. At first, the movements felt quite easy; I was actually feeling like this whole "getting in shape" thing was going to be easy. Boy, was I wrong! At about 20 minutes following the fitness guru explaining what moves to do next with an annoying smile, my body started to loose some juice. My limbs were a bit shaky and I felt some sort of unusual warmth. For a second, I thought to myself "Today's my first day. I think it's ok if I stop right now!"


That's when the door started banging. Elisha, the youngest of my princesses, wanted to come in and couldn't accept that, somehow, mummy wanted to be alone. She did it for a couple of minutes, so I had to stop and opened the door to let her in. As I was handling mummy business, I wandered whether I should do this thing or not because if I wanted to get fit, noone was gonna do it for me.


So, I called the other daughter, Jeiza, so she would come in the bedroom with us; and actually, so that I wouldn't have to suffer another disruption. I put the DVD back to the beginning and started all over again. Except that this time, I had two gorgeous assistant working out with me (that was the really hilarious part!).


This time, I finished. I'm proud to say that I did my first 60 minutes, from beginning to end, workout and I felt great about it. 


As far as food is concerned, this is what I had today for breakfast: Watermelon, drizzled with some lemon juice. For hydration, I had a couple of 8oz water with a slice of lemon.

Help! Get fit in a month!

This is usually the kind of stuff I snack on in the afternoon.

Temptation island : Sugary snacks just what I had today. Actually, to tell you the truth, I've had 3 of those because I share a couple with my girls before eating this one in bed, by myself.

      Eating in bed, with a nice documentary on style or
decoration,or just a magazine.
The dream? Yep, but not for long...

It's been over a week that I've decided to get into some sort of fitness program. 


Let's rewind a bit to approximately four years ago. Before I got pregnant for the first time, I had never had any sort of body issue. Actually, quite the opposite. I can say that I had close to the perfect body (for me!). My stomach was astonishingly flat, my waist was tiny tiny, my hips discreetly feminine and my legs were quite fit. One time, I measured myself and found that my chest measurement was the exact same number as my hips. Perfect hourglass figure. Needless to say that I never went to the gym and I never had to worry about what I ate.


Well, that's all in the past now. Two wonderful girls later, the eldest being just 11 months older than the youngest, I can't really recognize my body. But I think the change is not really noticeable for most so I can't really complain. Except that I just don't feel right. For the first time in my life, I'm searching for ways to get fit and loose what I can't really call "baby fat" anymore, since the girls are not really babies anymore.  The other thing is that it seems that my husband and other members of my family embrace this (new) womanly figure more than I do.


I had to stop and ponder about what was really the issue. My body fat measurement says that I'm not fat, far from it. I'm considered "normal". But what does "normal" mean? Is feeling like none of my clothes fit me the way they used to "normal"? Is feeling like I misplaced my body and I'm mistakingly living in someone else's body "normal"?


So, after a few failed attempts at going to the gym, getting a personal training coming at home, and my very fit-former-martial-art super handsome husband telling me to work out with him, I'm trying my ultimate fitness solution: working out from home. I'm lucky that I'm a mom/business owner working from home. It seems I have no excuse to not get on with this program. Except that.... I really, really need to get motivated.


My goal : loose 10 lbs and keep it off. 


Also, I'm doing a small diet adjustment, but nothing too crazy to help me with my goal. And, of course, I'm using a few Law of Attraction helpful exercises/tricks to help me mentally reach my objective.


So, today's 24 April. It is also the first day towards my dream body. I know it won't be the body I used to have pre-babies; but who knows, it might actually be better :-)

After my nice piece of butter cake, now on with my work out DVDs and
my 34oz bottle. I've already one of those today. Yeah :-)

Rihanna's look in her "Take care" video: my InspiLook

Rihanna makeup look - Take care - InspiLook

Images taken from Rihanna's music video, ft. Drake
Take care

Another friday afternoon: finished with worked, picked up the girls from school. After a (late) light lunch made of succulent home-made fish patties and sautéed veggies, I heard a melody noise coming from the girls bedroom, mumbling along Rihanna's new "Take care" song/video. 

At that moment, the little voice in my head thought: "Let's have fun! I'm going to make a video inspired by Rihanna's look. Thankfully, I have blond hair extensions laying somewhere. They're not exactly similar to Riri's hair these days (hers are longer, with a nice rounded blow dry and bangs) but, what the heck, mine will do. It's not that serious, after all.

See for yourself!

I wonder what my husband's going to say when he'll see how I used my spare time today :-D

Soumia makeup look - Zouk "Quand tu n'es pas là" - InspiLook

Needless to say, I couldn't resist the temptation of doing another one of these videos, based on one of those caribbean music female singers. This one is from Moroccan singer Soumia in her "Quand tu n'es pas là" music video (trans. "When you're not t/here").

In this look, she sports a light smoky eye, pale cheeks and a high bun made with blond strikes.

This is my version of the whole thing. As this is not a tutorial - that would be nonsense since I'm not a makeup artist - I'm just taking you along with me to how I get ready, from beginning to end (without the shower & dressing parts! What were you thinking?): the makeup, the hair and at the end, the tadah moment when I'm all dressed up and ready :-)

I hope this'll be as fun for you as it was for me!

DIY⎪Caviar manicure

So, it seems everyone's talking about this new trend called Caviar manicure. Nail bars are all lining up to do their own version of this new fashionista's fav. 

I wanted to try out for myself and see whether I really buy it or not.

First, I'd like to say that, from the pictures of the models done by professionals, it already looks kinda "ouch" to me. I don't personally like the feeling of fake nails on my fingers, even the gel nails girls are raving about, saying that you almost can't feel that you're wearing fake nails. For my part, it's the "almost" that bothers me; because I just don't like to feel ANYTHING at all on my fingers. 

The prospect of having beads stuck to my nails, therefore, didn't seem to generate flowery thoughts in my head. I was reluctant, and maybe that's the reason why I ended not really enjoying the (feeling of ) Ciate beaded caviar manicure - though it looked pretty.

After reflecting on it for a bit (I know, it's not brain surgery; but I had to ponder about it for a moment because I just didn't want to be the weird girl who doesn't like what's become unanimous amongst fashion-cravers and amateurs alike.

I came up with this version - using thick-grained glitter bought in a decoration store. Though it's not exactly similar to the original version of caviar nails, I find it close enough and a pretty good alternative for those who, like me, are beads-intolerant!

See you soon!

Easy fishtail braid w/ clip on extensions

Hello beauties!
I've been longing to do this hairstyle every since I've seen it on Maya Diab. 

Lebanese singer Maya Diab with the fishtail braid

As you can see, Maya Diab sported this look many times. It seems to be one of her favorites, and it's about to become mine as well.

 * * *

This is the first time I'm trying it out, so I admit much improvement's necessary. But I like this version for a casual daytime look.

I'll try to do it some other time but more elaborate and glamorous (and with better lighting ;-)
But I think this is actually not bad. I got tons of compliments on it yesterday when I went out. People actually wondered if my hair had grown in 24H. Duh! 


Enjoy the video and let me know if you have a question, a comment or just to say "Hello".

African Queen nails

Photo from www.sheriseheimann.nm.ru/

When you think about an African Queen and try to visualize what she might look like, the first thing that comes to mind is how impressively beautiful and charismatic she is. Think of Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt or of nubian princesses, we imagine them adorned with big gold and beaded jewelry, glorious headscarves, exotic make-up.


The second thing striking is color : from the warmth of her copper sun-tanned skin, earth tones used in clothing, glowing bronze make-up accents, and luscious lips.

Images from L'Officiel Magazine - Beyonce on the cover
and Liya Kebede posing for the New York Times Sunday Style Magazine, 
photographed by Paolo Riversi.

The beauty and the warmth of those colors are my inspiration for my African Queen nails:

Step 1: I'm applying a regular transparent base

Step 2: I'm adding a copper-like color.
Here, I'm using L.A. Girls Chocolate 243 (2 coats)

Step 2: I'm adding a layer of sparkle with
L.A. Girl - Glitter Addict GNL 451 (one coat)

Step 4: For the finish, a fake French manicure accent with a dark burgundy nail lacquer
from China Glaze 056 DRASTIC 70363

DIY⎪My deep conditioning hair mask

This hair mask, I created to fit my hair. After a few years of experimenting, buying products that would never be just right for me, or going to the most expensive hair salons without really getting the results I had wished for, I started making my own stuff.

I've always kinda like doing manual stuff: I created jewelry at some point, when I was working at the UN - I like cooking, fixing stuff, etc. and beauty's not different.

The advantage I have is that I know my hair and its texture and needs; and if I don't, it's just that I feel lazy sometimes. 

I don't know if there are other people like me but my hair basically has three textures: it's very curly smooth in the back, medium curly and very frizzy in the front, and kinda kinky and extremely dry in the middle. And actually, after I got my two babygirls almost back to back (well, they're 11 months apart from one another. lol), I noticed that some of my hair was falling - and it was the middle area that was affected. Everybody would tell me, even hairdressers, that it was perfectly normal and that my hair would soon get back to normal. But my youngest is more than 2 y.old now, so I had to matters into my own hands.

Hence, cutting it AGAIN neck length to remove the dead ends and boosting it with tons of protein and hydrating with natural enriching oils. Watch and see for yourself :-)

Hair story from the beginning (Part I)

I don't know for most girls, but personally, it took me a long time to really accept my hair and start giving it just what it needs. I first relaxed my hair in high school; I was probably 14. Growing up, my mom used to braid my hair. I must admit that it was really simple to start my day and go to school, back then, since I didn't have to worry about my looks: I was in a catholic high school, so we all wore uniforms; and not having to do hair or make-up was a bliss.

But then, I became a teenager. Hormones, associated with the sudden urge to be noticed at school or on the street took over my naturally humble self and my image was everything but that of a sexy kitten!

At the time, the only sort of role models I could see on tv that kinda looked like me were girls like Aliyah, Sade (much older than me!!!), or Monica. Yes, they were all pop singers. Otherwise, the girls I truly reeeeeeaaaaallly loved were Karen Mulder, Christy Turlington, Laetitia Casta - yes, all white and all super-duper models! What can I say: I was a teenager in the 90s, at the prime of supermodels. Sorry!

As far as I was concerned, my only inspiration for beauty were girls who pretty much were at the opposite spectrum of color palette as me. Being blond was, of course, out of a question with the parents I had who believed that a girl wearing a mini skirt would not be allowed in Heaven. But, I had the latitude to experiment with other aspects of my hair - hence, the straightening!

At first, i think I looked ok. But, since I did it myself, and that the only thing I wanted was just straight-chinese hair, I relaxed on new growth and on lengths, over and over again. Sometimes, I wouldn't even wait the advised 6-8 weeks. No, in my mind, my hair had to be straight all the time, right after shampooing. You can only image what it was after a few years of that massacre. I was lucky enough that my hair kept on growing, it got long down bra length, but it was atrociously thin!

At the end of high school, I moved to the US and had my first haircut - about shoulder length size. But I kept on the bad habits. Worst: I was in a country where everything is available and easily within reach. So I started flat ironing like crazy, once, sometimes twice a day. It only took a heartbreak for me to go G.I. Jane and start fresh with new hair.

It was the best time of my life: I didn't have to worry about getting in the shower, washing my body and my hair (sometimes, just using the same shower gel - i know :-(( - it lasted about a year until it got boring, and my hair was a mess. I really just didn't know that kind of hair, and dealing with curls was like meeting up with a new baby. I loved it but I was kinda scared of it at the same time.

Thank God, living in Washington, DC, there were plenty of girls looking like me, girls I could copy or get inspired from. There were the (light skinned or mixed) curly haired African American, there were the numerous Ethiopian and Eritrean girls, the Latinas.... that's when I got in to the whole JLO mode and yes, I died my hair blond for the first time - that goddam "ON THE 6" Jenny from the block album really got into me and I just had to dye my hair Jlo-honey blond! If Jlo did, then I could too. And I did just that!

To be continued!

Louboutin-inspired golden strass nails

Golden strass Louboutin shoes

Christian Louboutin: he's the BF chausseur of all the celebrities and fashionistas. Those who own the highly glamour heels love'em; those who just can't afford them, can only fantasize about what it feels to wear them and see people's envy at their sight!

Louboutin's golden strass heels are my inspiration for these nails. No need for thousands and thousands of dollars to be strass&glam with my Louboutin nail.

1. Apply one thin coat of transparent nail polish

2. Then, add a couple of coats of dark glittery purple nail polish. Depending on the thickness of the nail polish, you may want to add another layer if necessary. Here, I used L.A. Colors Color Craze - NP468 Morning glory

3. With polish still humid, apply clothing golden strass, one by one,

with a tweezer or a wooden manicure stick.

4. The final look. If necessary, 

add a last layer of transparent glittery nail polish.

I hope you enjoyed my Louboutin inspired golden strass nails. 

SEE YOU NEXT TIME with more beauty moments!

My naturally curly hair journey - Now is year "0"

It's about time I talk about my hair!


I wanted to start fresh this year so, as part of my overall goal of glamorizing myself the natural way, I did the BC (aka the "Big Chop"). I had my hair cut in a bob style. I already had long bangs in the front, so I kept them, and I had the bob longer on the sides.


The main reason for this decision was that, after having 2 (wonderful) babygirls - almost 11 months apart from one another, I felt like my entire body needed nurturing. My skin had become a bit dull, and my hair split in all kinds of ways. Also, i had a lot of heat damage from numerous blowouts and flat ironing. 


Instead of hanging on to what was basically just thinning lifeless curls, I thought "why not just cutting it and starting anew". Which is what I did. 

All hairdressers will tell you that it's better to have short healthy hair, than long "bla" hair. It's something hard to conceive for most African women, always longing for the long hair we see on our favorite celebrities or models. I don't know if it's also the case in other communities, though.

As part of my new year resolutions for 2012, I also included some sort of clause basically saying that this time around, I will monitor the growth of my hair, and learn to understand it - its real nature and needs - to cater to it as necessary. I also will, as much as possible, use only natural products, made by myself or other cosmetic makers following the same philosophy.

Photo from Victoria's Secret.
PS: Beautiful model not included ;-)

To help myself, here's a chart I made to help me see at what point my hair is in its path. It's mine to use, not at all approved by any expert. 

My hair is now at neck length.  We are in April. With a presumed 1" growth a month + 2 trims of approx. 1-2" each time, I'm assuming that my hair will grow approx. 5" by the end of the year - which should bring it somewhere between shoulder and underarm length. 


At the end of the year, I will check whether all that turns out to happen - if yes, I will continue with my hair regimen; if not, I'll change what hasn't worked for me.


I will post my journey throughout the months via my youtube channel so I can go back and review the transition, step by step.


PS: My hair is not chemically treated (and I intend to keep it that way) unless it becomes too tedious.

Paula Patton's shoes

I just thought I'd share this with you guys!


I've always admired Paula Patton because she is one of the rare women with whom I could identify in Hollywood. So when I randomly fell upon this picture of her, taken during her Neiman Marcus Spring catalog in Australia, I had to put it here. I just love her shoes...

Lookea dancers

Easter at Royal Decameron Resort

My first beauty giveaway

This is my first giveaway contest opened to, well, everyone! I just discovered those two brands: Chouette Mama and KariPur - the two are 100% natural, no preservatives added brands using luxurious products, used in many of the skincare lines around the world: shea butter, honey, essential oils, baobab oil, etc.
This is my way to thank those who take the time to watch me, and also, to make my contribution into talking about products which I like!
The contest runs from 9 april to 9 may and it is opened worldwide!

Here are the two cosmetics lines I'm giving away:

Moisturizing body milk &
Shower gel
Brand: KariPur

Moisturizing emulsion &
Beauty revealing clay mask
Brand: Chouette Mama