Post 29: Tee chops it off

My friend Tiffany, (who I've known since year 7) took a giant leap last month, and instead of transitioning from relaxed to natural.. she just turned up to my house one day with level 2 hair (guys, you already know how short that is).

To be honest, I was quite shocked but very happy for her at the same time as it wasn't something I expected however I was happy that she had bravely done the big chop and how she confidently rocks her natural hair.

I know you will all agree that she looks gorgeous with short hair, keep rocking it girl!

I know how I felt when I did the big chop (nauseous, panicked, anxious and so on and so on), and I was very interested to find out exactly how she felt with such a drastic change.

Tiff says:

At first, I felt like "what am I doing?".. Then I just decided to suck it up & let all my hair go.
As my hairdresser was cutting it I thought "My God, I'm crazy", considering people were paying for my type of hair. Once it was all done, I was confused and realised that the reason I had made that crazy decision was to teach young ladies that your hair does not define who you are ... 

A picture taken a couple months ago of my mother relaxing Tiff's hair.

I couldn't find any recent pics Tiff, I had no choice but to look through pics 3+ year old!

Brand new Tiff..

Follow her on Instagram: @ashia_t_officially

Tip of the Post:

You are beautiful the way You are, with or without any hair.

Post 28: Thin hair - light oils | Levine

Second #ProjectAuNaturale post;

I met the lovely Levine at Natural Hair Week a few days ago and she is now featuring on my blog!

I asked her about the products she uses:

I don’t use many products in my hair, I shampoo with any non-sulphate shampoo (right now I'm testing out Cantu naturals creamy shampoo), and then I do the LOC method for moisture.

This is a texture shot of her hair when it's completely dry.

I work on damp hair and I use Shea Moistures raw Shea butter restorative conditioner, then seal that with coconut oil,  then I add a bit of Shea butter for softness and style!

I know that it's really expensive to get Shea Moisture products in the UK (I/my friends buy a ton load when we’re in America lol) so an alternative is the Cantu leave in repair cream or the Dark and Lovely Amla conditioner.

Also, I would not recommend anyone with thick hair ( mine is quite thin, although I'm a master at disguising it!) to use coconut oil, its way too light!  In the same way, those with thin hair like mine should stick to lighter oils, only heavy oils , e.g olive oil in the winter.

The picture on the right is a twist-out, her #1 fave style!

Levine (left) at Natural Hair Week.. shrinkage!

Tip of the Post:
"Don't over manipulate your hair."

Post 27: Your curls can pop too | Amanda

Keeping #PROJECTAUNATURALE alive..

This is something new I'm introducing to my blog, to keep my February project (#ProjectAuNaturale) alive, I want to regularly feature lovely ladies and have them give product reviews to advise my readers on what may be useful for their hair. If you would like to feature, #ProjectAuNaturale on Instagram or Twitter with a review or simply send me an email: fiona.williams96@gmail.com

Welcome to the first of many..

Want your curls to pop like Amanda's? 
Amanda is a student and was also the Vice of The Hair Society. She regularly uses Cantu leave-in conditioner, African pride bouncy curls pudding and coconut oil and I've asked her to review them.

Here's what she said:
Cantu: This is a great leave in conditioner - it smells great and leaves my hair feeling very moisturised. I've only recently started using this after switching from the Cantu Coconut Curling Cream but it's doing a great job so far. Bouncy curls: I love this because it's so thick and gives my curls extra definition without making them hard and crunchy. I use this after my leave in and it doesn't make my hair greasy like most thick products. Coconut oil: I always finish off by adding coconut oil. This is unrefined and comes as a solid that melts in your fingers. I use it to seal in moisture and add shine.

Well clearly, these products are just doing wonders for her hair!

Amanda's TIP OF THE POST:

"You don't have to apply products to your hair everyday. Sometimes just spritz with water and use the products that are already in your hair from the day before, so you don't weigh the hair down and also save some money"

Post 26: Alumni Fest.

It's the first festival on campus with different societies doing workshops for students.

Yesterday, 2nd May the hair society took part with product sampling, braid tutorials and nail painting. Products ranged from Shea butters, Leave-in conditioners, to Castor Oil and the Cantu range. We also had the lovely Amanda, who works with Bodyshop, come down with loads of products (bodycreams, bath tea, nail creams and so much more).
She's really friendly and does free pamper parties so if that's something you and your friends would be interested in or if you want great bodyshop offers, feel free to get in touch with her : ammis942@gmail.com// Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/330300160505416/

My team and I. Thank you to everyone that helped out yesterday! I really appreciate it. x

Post 25: Hair Society - What's that?

Hey guys,

As some of you may know, I have a passion for natural hair and enjoy seeing people be confident and embrace their own so..

I created a ‘Hair Society’ in January at Uni, a platform for people to help eachother out by giving eachother hair tips/advice, product advice and helping people to connect to others on campus that know how to style or braid hair and do weaves. The facebook page is mainly used for that and it is going so well so far.

We’re on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram:  UoeNaturalistas

Events so far:-

#ProjectAuNaturale – I created a photoshoot in January with a few lovely ladies, embracing the beauty and diversity of their natural hair. Thank you to @BeyondEssex (Instagram) and my friend, Ese, for the excellent photography. More pictures are on Facebook and Instagram.

#OperationBlessTheBarber – I organised a one-off event for a barber to come down from London in Febuary to do ‘Pay as you feel’ trims where guys get a trim and pay him depending on what they felt it was worth. I've only put up a few pictures but let's just take the time to look at these trims please.. Lads, believe in your trim. 

(More pictures are on Facebook and Instagram.)

Next blogposts:

Alumni Festival on Squares
Your curls can pop too | Amanda

Post 24: Spring Faves

From being someone that lived the simple life and only used vaseline, I've become such a lippy lover. Lipsticks can change up your image and whole outfit, one colour can decide your whole look for you.

My current favourite lipstick has to be this beautiful nude colour, by Revlon. It can be worn daily as it looks really calm and natural. I love it.

My other favourites are Ruby Woo and All Fired Up by Mac. 

I'm literally so in love with the look Ruby gives me. It's a matte, bold, sexy red colour. I remember trying it on one time in-store and not liking it at all because I thought the colour didn't suit me and stood out too much. A few weeks later, I tried on a friends Ruby Woo & really had to ask her if it was the same lipstick by Mac because it didn't look the way I thought it did before. This time it looked, better. So I HAD to have it. My friends knew this and gave it to me as a birthday present. I was so happy.

All Fired Up is a bold pink that stands out and is exactly what the name says.. Firey. When I was looking around in Mac, I was so stuck between getting it or Ruby Woo. (This was before I was given it). I decided to get All Fired Up because it's different from any of my other lipsticks. I wear it every now and then.

Post 23: Amsterdam OOTW

Welcome to my Amsterdam Outfit of the Weekend post

I hope this post gives you style ideas and future outfit ideas!

I really liked my outfit, a simple yet cute style. My hat is my new fave accessory that can be worn with hair combed back into a low bun. I just felt like a proper tourist when wearing it, I started calling it The Tourist Hat haha. I absolutely love high-wasted jeans and wish I had a wardrobe full of them. I like the simplicity of high-wasted jeans, the slit in the knees of these ones just add to the look.

This is Ese, my darling. One of the nicest, genuine people I've met and I'm really grateful to have met such a wonderful ray of Sunshine at university. In these past few months of knowing her, I've noticed that her style is the definition of simple. With a wardrobe full of black (can't go wrong there!), she manages to mix and match outfits and switch things up when she's ready. She looks super cute in this outfit, love it! Once again, this Fedora hat adds to the outfit to produce what we like to call.. "The Tourist Hat effect".