Post 21: New Yorker Reyna & her hair

As mentioned in my previous post, I met Reyna at Natural Hair Week. Reyna has been natural for many years now.

I asked her to write a lil summin'summin for you guys so have a read! :)

"My name is Reyna Lauren. I'm originally from New York but have lived in London for nearly 20 years. 

Growing up in the states in the 80's, 90's 00's, relaxed hair was the only way. You never wanted to be compared to little rascals only black cast member 'Buckwheat'. He was the archetypal 'nappy', 'bad hair' stereotype and kids would call you that if you rocked an afro. Afro's and natural afro hair was also considered out of fashion-

something our parents wore in the 60's and 70's. I got my first relaxer when I was about 11 years old. I loved it! My hair was straight and I could pretend I was like those white girls, or black girls with 'good hair'. The only problem was, my thick 4C hair would always revert back soo quickly. My edges never seemed straight/slick enough. My hair would never flatten down enough. 

I had been living in London for about 4/5 years when a friend showed me a beautiful hairstyle she had. I was so impressed that she was natural and that her hair was so versatile. It took me a month or so to finally have the courage to do it. 

I didn't big chop though- at the time there weren't oodles of youtube videos as there are now. So I chopped off little by little; keeping my hair in braids and scarves. 

I have been about 12 years natural now. There are still things I'm getting the hang of. When I first started my natural hair journey I thought about getting a Texturizer. Some days I thought about going back to relaxers. It became a labour of love and I wouldn't change a thing about it. 

From fear and loathing to love and understanding. I love my 4C hair!"

Reyna's natural hair, lovely! I absolutely love her curls

These photos were at NHW, Even when Reyna's hair had shrunken due to London's typical rainy weather in the morning, it still looked good!

Learn and Love your hair! xo

Post 20: Natural Hair Week 2014 hosted by NaturalHairDaily

I attended Natural hair week  hosted by @NaturalHairDaily (Instagram). This year it was at Thistle Hotel, Marble arch. Natural Hair Week is a tour of various cities by Elle and Niecey, they went to Birmingham, Manchester and even Leeds before coming back to London. It was such an informative event filled with so much energy, it was really nice being in the presence of so many people just embracing their hair. Desmond Murray, a top hairdresser, did very different styles on his hair models in a matter of minutes and we even witnessed a big chop on a member of the audience by the man himself!

 He did their hair right before the show, here it isss:

There's no way I could style my hair like that by myself, there would be some serious struggle and sweat in the process.. Desmond sure did a great job

NHW introduced something called the Product Swap where you bring your new/nearly new products and swap it.. I picked up all of these, I might just have to do a few product reviews too because the Shea butter conditioner (green tub) is reallly working out for me!

At NHW I had the pleasure of meeting Reyna (right), who moved from New York 20 years ago. I loved her bubbly character and passion for her hair in its natural form. Whilst growing up as a young woman in New York, it was not always seen as acceptable or the norm for black females to wear their hair natural or without a relaxer but she has now grown to love and embrace it throughout the growth process. I will do a separate post on her hair journey!

I also had the pleasure of meeting Andre, I was drawn in by his locs aha. I spoke to him about haircare (which he sure knew a lot about)

Post 19: What's new - Tenerife, Spain

Wow, I haven't blogged in absolute ages and I've got so much to blog about.
- Girlies trip to Tenerife, Spain
- Natural hair week 2014
- My honey blonde hurrr

I'll start off with Tenerfe..
I went on a girls trip in mid July and came back end of July, I've got so many pics I'd like to share with you all (We had 2000+ between the four of us) so I'll just put a few up.

It was nice to get away and enjoy the sun, when you go on holiday for the 1st time you feel a sense of freedom and responsibility. If you don't cook, you don't eat and I must admit, many nights consisted of restaurant or bar food. It was the only way to survival aha

Holiday tips:
-Capture moments, take loads of pictures and videos
-Be willing to engage in the culture of the country you go to
-Don't pack tooo much, you won't wear a lot of stuff you bring
-Leave space in your suitcase for souvenirs
-SAVE UPPP! I needed A LOT more spending money than I expected, I ended up asking mum for a bank  transfer on the 3rd day LOL

When going on our late night walks we came across 2 men on the beach, one wide awake and the other asleep. Beside them was this creation, the truest definition of a sand castle I have ever seen. The sand castle was like a mini world cup. It took them 9 days to build it, they would take turns watching over it. Amazing.

Hotel lobby, swimming pool, and view from our apartment balcony by day..

and night ..

Puerto Colon pool party with the girls!

                  Day out with the other part of our group in La playa de las americas

Siam Park

Tenerife was a great experience, we made new friends and did things we've never done before. Just know.. we're planning our 2015 holiday already if all goes well!

Post 18: Confidence

Lately, I've had friends tell me they admire my confidence or they love the confidence they're seeing in me. I didn't know people looked at me and saw/thought that so it's really nice being told. I must say, I've transformed from that shy girl back in year 7 to an outgoing, fairly confident and sociable person.
Hearing others say it to me means a lot because if they can see it, hopefully others can too and they can also become inspired by it. I'm surrounded by amazing, talented and bubbly people and I'm so grateful to have them in my life. I just wish everyone had the confidence to do something different, wear clothes they wouldn't usually wear and just go out.. have fun and live their life!

Unfortunately it's easier said than done but I hope that if the encouragement, advice and friendship I give can help at least one person come out of their shell then they'll go on to do the same to others.

What got me thinking about doing this post is that I know people that want to wear certain things but just don't have the confidence to do so, lets take crop tops for example.. people feel that they must have a 'flat' or 'toned' tummy to wear one? Is it because society says so? Because I completely disagree (considering I wear crops myself). I think that no matter your shape or size, you can wear clothes like that and if you're struggling to be confident in an outfit just remember that going out in something you're unsure about isn't as bad as you think. Sometimes it's best to just walk down that road, act like you've got the most confidence in the world and try not to think too much about what others are thinking because they probably see it as perfectly fine anyway. Another thing is that your confidence will not only be seen but it will be respected too.

I'm personally attracted to confidence and love seeing people wear figure-hugging outfits with pride. It makes me think if they can wear it, what's stopping me from doing so.

Remember girls .. It's YOUR body, if you got it flaaaunt it and even if you haven't got it.. who cares girl, do your thang!

Love Fee xo

Post 17: Afro Panic

Hey guys,
I know I haven't blogged in a while because I've been a bit lazy but I'm back :)
This post is about the mini panic attack I had when I thought my afro had disappeared 'forever', I did braids as a protective style in June for exam season (I only kept them for two weeks and I was glad I didn't need to stress over my hair) and when I took them out, my hair looked shorter to me.

I lived in the Lauryn Hill hairstyle btw, just saying,

Me being Fiona, I didn't have patience and immediately started panicking thinking I wouldn't see my big hair again LOL but my friend Chloe said all I needed was to moisturise it then just watch it come back to life.

I did just that and OBVIOUSLY, MY 'FRO RETURNEDDD! I started moisturising it really late so ended around 1am.. who would've thought my hair would be making me feel overly happy at that hour

I used the Africa's Best Castor Oil (Review in Post 08), along with the R&B Hair Moisturiser by Lush. I really do love sweet smelling products no matter what they are, these two products were a good combination, they worked well together to give my hair its afro'ness back and restore my happiness. I try not to put tooo many products in my hair all in one go ever since I went to get my hair straightened and the woman said I put way too much (And to think I put 3 different products in right before I went to see her JUST so it wouldn't be dry.. just no winning is there?)

So I part my hair, put a little bit of each at the roots and combed it through.

My re-growth is getting ridiculous and my large eco-styler gel has finished, life of a girl who is 6 months post-relaxer ain't easy ...

Post 16: 6" heels and a broken body part maybe?

Hey everyone,

My sixth form leavers ball/prom is coming up and I thought it would be nice if I got myself a pair of heels to match my dress. I usually don't wear heels at all, I've convinced myself that I can't walk in 'em.. plus wedges are the easy way out and I love my boots.

I saw these lovely nude heels in Westfield though,
They're 6" high.
Yep, 6 inches.. I think I'm crazy too lol. Ah well, it's not everyday wear flats and boots, some days realise height is elegance.

Post 15: Luv & Learn your hair ft Taren Guy

Yesterday, Curlvolution presented Luv and Learn your hair with Taren Guy at Hilton Hotel, a natural hair and beauty show hosted by Action Jackson. I've seen Jackson for about the 3rd time now (Motivational talk at LSE and when I caught him leaving my sixth form) and I can say, without a doubt, on all occasions he's never failed to make me laugh or bring something motivational and new to the table.
If you want something, go out and get it. Cut of those that are obstacles to getting it because lost time is way more valuable than lost 'friends'. As Jackson said, ''Time is finance, let's make the most of it''
He has his own books, one of them being 'Shutup and Take Action'. I haven't read it but from hearing his talks, that would be the right way to go if you're in need of some motivation.


There were stalls ranging from hair extensions, hair and nail products to handmade accessories. Below are my goodies!

My earrings say 'Big hair don't care' .. I think I need the whole collection tbh

Taren Guy

I started following Taren's journey in January when I was still in the early stages of having an interest in hair stuff. Since then I've learnt that she is such a wonderful woman, just wanting people to love themselves, love their hair and embrace what they have.

It was a pleasure to meet her, especially considering she flew over from NEW YORK! I loved hearing her and other confident naturalistas speaking on their love for hair and how they had to deal with having natural hair in the community they're from as it can be looked down on quite a bit in some places.
I absolutely love her head of hair (obviously), and it's so inspiring to know that she's just an ordinary woman who big-chopped a few years ago and now has a massive 'fro.
I need to go and get inspired at more events just like this, hopefully I'll be at Curlvolution2015, tickets are already on sale!!

Selfie with Taren!

Events that are on my list of must-attends so far are:
Curlvolution
Afro Hair Live
Natural Hair Week

If you know of any others, please let me know!

(For those that don't know who she is, simply type TarenGuy on insta, youtube, twitter etc and she'll come up)

Love and embrace your hair, you might have something you dislike about it or wish you could change but just remember .. someone out there could be wishing they had what you had, so if you got it flaaaunt it girl!