The Art of Gingering your life up!!
The art of living and visuals! I cannot get over the title of my blog as it describes me typically in a nutshell. Though it omits talking about my obsession for perfection and continuous worry about things for way longer than I should.
Enough of the rudeness. How are you today lovely people? How has your day been so far? Mine turned out to be nothing I planned. It was suppose to be a work day for me and then picking my son up from the childminder’s. She unfortunately fell ill today and so I had to cancel work and re-organise the day. I’ve not been the best emotionally but I have been quite productive reading on financial history in the United Kingdom and other interesting and rich blogs. Keep doing the great work inspiring bloggers.
Ok, enough of the ramble. Not going to work today was a blessing in disguise as I got to do one of the things that I consider an ‘art of living.’ The gingerest tea of all! It is just amazing how calm and re-energised I feel each time I take five minutes of my time to savour every sip of this goodness and it is an added bonus to think it does beautiful things for my health. Are you ready? All you need is about an inch and a half of a fresh ginger root. And because, I like to be extra, I pack a punch with an additional tea bag or two. I meant it when I said I wanted it to be the gingerest of them all!
All the ingredients you will need
1 and a half inch of ginger
2 and a half huge mugs of water
1 to 2 ginger tea bags (optional) – You could choose to increase the crushed ginger instead
Half of a fresh lemon – because everything taste better lemony
1 and a half table spoon of apple cider vinegar
1 table spoon of honey in its purest form (or any honey you can find really)
Use a mortar and pestle to crush the ginger after slicing into smaller portions to ease the process. Put the ginger into a kettle. Add tea bags if you wish
Boil the water and pour into the kettle/Jug with the already crushed ginger and teabags. Squeeze the half lemon in and add the apple cider vinegar and honey.
Stir and allow to stand for at least five minutes.
While pouring the tea into the mug, get rid of the crushed ginger of course by using a sieve. Enjoy every sip of it.
Is any one willing to try this? Does it make you feel better once you tried it? I will love to hear all about it in your comments. In the meantime, I’ll catch you later. Thanks for stopping by and I hope this helps anyone out there.
TIP: You could spice things up by adding a cinnamon stick. You can never go wrong with cinnamon (:
Black Women: Our Hair
The article that follows below is one I wrote on 01/07/2015. Quite a couple of years back. I am sharing it again because I will be having an updated article coming up based on demand. A lot has changed in my hair journey since this article and I have learnt so much more. Please leave a comment below if you will like an updated article.
Black Women: Our Hair
Black women’s hair is something I am very passionate about. That is why I take the time to research, build my knowledge and share ideas that can help us gain our confidence and beauty by maintaining strong and healthy hair. We of the African-American, African and Caribbean ethnicity, have the advantage of being versatile with our hair-do. Our options range from weaves to wigs and extensions but it is important that we have hair to go back to when all the additional products have been taken off. The African woman as blessed as we are, have many hair challenges which are very relatable amongst ourselves.
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| Hair Loss: A very common problem amongst us |
On my personal hair journey, I have had fundamental hair problems which I’ve been researching about and I am still looking for answers to. The most mind-boggling and obvious ones are:
– How to stop hair breakage and how to keep the hair strong and healthy
– How to detangle my hair without pulling it out
– How to make my hair adaptable to changes in climate
– How to cope with sweating from exercising and still keep fresh healthy hair
– How to avoid pulling off edges when I do sew-ins
– How to manage bad hair days
Though I’m no hair expert, there are some solutions I have come across in my research that have improved my hair journey tremendously. Though I’m not where I want to be, I’ve moved from where I used to be. I also recently had a big hair chop which I plan nurturing while making use of what I’ve learnt.
– We should learn to braid our own hair: Let’s face it, no one can take care of you better than yourself. In the modern world, where business has more or less poisoned true values, it is difficult to find people who genuinely care about your hair that are not overpriced. It is even worst when you live in european countries where there is a lower average of our ethnicity and the few afro salons that exist monopolise the market and get carried away by business strategy. Girls who have never had training open salons and it’s frustrating what they can do of your hair. I have left a salon before with a hole in the middle of my hair after paying someone to undo my weave. It is then I made the decision that I will be braiding and doing my hair at home which though difficult at times is most assuring.
– It is wise to chose hair dos that could be taken off easily in order to treat and nourish your own hair as often as necessary. I will strongly recommend choosing u-part wigs over weave sew-ins. It isn’t only easy to manage, but also eliminates as much as possible bad hair days. It will take you about 5-10 minutes to change shabby looking hair to a sophisticated va-va-voom hair do using the u-part wig. You can always undo on weekends to treat your hair before you redo. It is one of the best solutions to people who love sports and sweat a lot as you can take it off easily and just wash the braids underneath before redoing.
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| First U-part wig I sewed with 4 bundles of brazilian hair |
– If you are a fan of always styling up your hair in a bun, you are strongly advised to reposition the bun from time to time preventing your hair from being over-stressed at the same angle all the time. Consider side buns, low buns, high buns etc. Also use hair bands that are hair-friendly and don’t stress the area on which they have been used.
– Always moisturise your hair: Find a product that resonates with your hair texture. Avoid over greasy and heavy moisturisers. Moisturize often. I am still looking for the perfect product for my hair. I haven’t found anything yet that I can stay faithful to.
– I was told by a hair stylist recently that one of the main reasons my hair is so damaged is because though I treat it and moisturise (if at all I do), I fail to steam my hair as often as once a week. I never steam my hair at all. It is something I am not informed about so I will research on this further. I have taken the first step in ordering my steam cap. I’m enthusiastic about trying and seeing results.
I have also tried hair vitamins but to be honest, I haven’t seen any major results. I’m most concerned about my hair thickness than its length for now so I focus a lot on that. I also recently came across the Tangle Teezer which I bought from boots and cannot wait to try out. Though it is pricy, I decided to take the last shot at detangling hair which is a major issue for me.
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| A lot of our hair follows the brush during combing |
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| Tangle Teezer |
I really hope this helps and I will be thrilled if we can share ideas on helping each other achieve healthy hair that will represent us for who we are. A powerful ethnic heritage.Black Women: Our Hair
Just stop and listen to what your skin needs
As a woman of the world of today, I raise my hands for wanting to always look good and chasing products to help me achieve that. As a visual enthusiast, I love seeing people look good and taking care of themselves. We love the innovative makeup, blinding highlighters and all. As a bad conversationalist, I am not good at helping people during discussions on how to make themselves look better, feel better and not spending all their savings while at it. That’s why I fulfil my desire to inform through writing.
Business is magical. It feeds and clothes from the minds and desires of what the world of today wants and needs and somehow, it keeps luring us into buying temporary solutions that never eradicate the problem. We know deep within that the only success to change is a long-term, well thought of and researched plan. If you are like me who loves the fine things of life but wants to enjoy them in a logical and sustainable way, then this article is for you.
What does your skin need? This is very broad but I can definitely tell you what your skin does not need – the most expensive creams in the market that promise you that your skin can become smooth, poreless and textureless. Leave that to photoshop! You will appreciate with me that this topic is a long and limitless one. So I will narrow it down to what I think my skin needs and I will be most appreciative if we can leave comments below that can help each other in our ‘flawlessly’ flawed skin journeys.
The best way I shop for products is by reading the ingredients. And if you have to check the ingredients of products , you need to know exactly what you are looking for.
Alpha hydroxy acids: I will not go all chemical with these acids but will talk about them as simply as possible so that we can all learn from it. When looking for skin care products, I know I need exfoliation of dead skin to facilitate the growth and emergence of new skin cells. I will be looking for hydroxy-acids in their purest form at the right percentages and supporting products that work in liaison with these acids. I will not want to see a label read ‘Hydroxy acid’ for instance and then check the ingredients and the acid is the second to the last ingredient of only 0.001% of the total content for instance. Mind you that businesses are out to sell. You are out to take care of yourself. So be wise about it. I will also not want to see tons of ingredients whose names I cannot pronounce or might never see again in life. You will want to start by always buying the smallest pack of products and seeing if this is suitable for your skin or not.
Hyaluronic acid: I have heard a lot of good stuff about this product , reason why I am sharing it with you. It is known to retain moisture in the skin keeping it plump and rejuvenated. For all my age fighting ladies, this is your weapon. I’m talking to all the dry skinned, combination or oily skin gorgeous women out there. You will not be a member of the grease-ball association – I promise my oily skin ladies. No matter how much oil your skin has, you will still need this. So again, check the ingredients and make sure they are of the right quantities and not a lot of other crappy products.
Vitamin C: I have been told to look out for vitamin C as it is essential for skin regeneration and a great anti-oxidant as well. Look for products that have Vitamin C and also make sure your diet has lots of Vitamin C in it. This can be obtained from a lot of fruits and vegetables. Ascorbic acid is one of the key ingredients to look out for when looking for topical application of vitamin C. A lot of home-made remedies can be used as well which should include lemon which is a great source of Vitamin C.
Having a skin care routine: I am embarrassed to say this but I remember not being able to answer the question properly when I was asked in a Pharmacy in Paris a few months back what my skin care routine is. That is simply because I didn’t have one. I didn’t take the time to generate a care and pampering plan for my skin every night in order to give a chance for the products to work. You can have skin care knowledge but without implementation, there is basically no point. And it is very easy in this busy world of ours to fall asleep tired with make up on or not properly taking care of our skin. You also need to know when to stop when you have a skin care plan. You do not need to be using a gazillion of products on your face at a given time to the point where there is no accountability for when you get any allergies for example. Sometimes, less is more.
Use a sunscreen: As a black woman, I’ve heard so many people say black girls don’t crack. But trust me, your skin will be cracking so open if you do not introduce sunscreen to your skincare routine. They help protect from the harmful sun’s rays known to cause hyperpigmentation and age-spots. I have had a lot of sun damage on my skin just because I am lazy to use sunscreens. And to be honest, their consistency is usually not one to encourage application. For women of colour, they normally leave a grey residue which peeks out of foundation. It is usually unfathomable wearing them without foundations. Please could we share sunscreens of high SPFs that do not have this overcast.
Other things I have heard about great skin is to drink lots and lots of water, exercise regularly, sleep as much as you can and eat as healthy as possible. This is easier said than done. End of the day, some people will apply all these in their lives and have no results. At the same time, some people will make no effort whatsoever and have amazing skin.
I am no skin expert. I’m just an ordinary lady doing her research and sharing the little she has learnt. Please do not hesitate to speak to a dermatologist if you have major skin issues.
