Curly Nikki | Natural Hair Styles and Curly Hair Care: Things That Suck and Rock About Natural Hair

Curly Nikki Natural Hair Styles and Curly Hair Care: Things That Suck and Rock About Natural Hair: by Taneica of ShatterProofGlassDolls Ok, before y’all attempt to tie me up with silk scarves, draw your afro picks and scalp me, hear me o...

Candy Skull Makeup

This Halloween I didn't want to be my normal sexy costumed self. I actually wanted to look like I put forth effort into my costume and didn't just grab a playboy version of a costume. I decided this year I would put my skills to good use and be a Mexican Candy Skull.

It is a rare occasion where I get to be daring and clever with my makeup. I loved how I got to play with different elements for my makeup application. Here's a step-by-step:
I painted my whole face white with Halloween paint. I drew lines on my lip with black Halloween paint, followed by a liquid eyeliner pencil. I outlined my nose, chin, eyes, cheeks and forehead in a pencil and colored in my nose with paint. I used a dark purple pigment on my eyes and chin followed by a lighter more iridescent color on my eyes, nose, chin, and forehead. I then used clear Aurora Borealis sequins and adhered them around my eyes with eyelash glue and also to my cheeks, chin, and a flat back rhinestone to my forehead. I loved it. I even made a purple feather black birdcage veil to go in my hair. I even won an Halloween contest over those sexy vixens. Take that "Mrs. Officer" and "Sexy Pirate".

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Post Big Chop

I big chopped on August 9 down to a one and half inch teeny weeny Afro, also known as TWA. In that time frame, my hair has shown about a 2 and a half in growth. Although I loved how I felt post chop, I wasn't in love with my hair. some of my ends were still straight from the cut, it wasn't long enough to do anything other than a wash and go, and I didn't know what products to use. I have learned a lot in this time frame about how to care for my hair, what products to use, and different styles to try. For the first three months I did a wash and go most days. I would strictly co-wash with a good conditioner, and add a leave in conditioner, and coconut oil and go about my day. On November 11, my husband surprised me with a trip to the salon to get my hair colored. It is now a light reddish brown color. I love it, i felt my hair needed some pizazz. About a week prior to getting my color, my hair had finally gotten long enough to wear in a style other than my TWA. I could wear a headband, and I tried finger coils for the first time. Now it's long enough for a two strand twist. I have been wearing these as my protective styles. I wash once a week and deep condition (dc), then I moisturize and style. I have learned what works good for my hair. I learned that for the most part, if I can readily identify all ingredients, it is a good product. I purchased a shampoo recently by Tropic Isle Living with Jamaican Black Castor Oil, Pimento Oil, Aloe Vera, Lavender, Rosemary Extract, Shea Butter, Organic Saponified Oils of Coconut, Olive, Jojoba, Vegetable Gum, Glycerin Extract. It makes my hair feel really soft and hydrated. I also learned that most shampoos have sulfates in them and are not good for keeping natural hair moisturized. I also discovered that after switching conditioners my hair felt really dry, and that was because of certain alcohols in it. I learned that I should stay away from conditioners with alcohols that start with a P in them. Those are the drying alcohols, and the other alcohols are better and more natural, so they are okay. I made my own whipped Shea butter. I bought a one pound tub of raw Shea butter, and added Castor oil, and ISOKE oils by Beautiful Brown Baby Doll. I plan on buying more of her products. So this is my current hair care regimen. We'll see what I am by my birthday in March. I may get yarn braids before the winter is over, but only if I can learn to do them myself.

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Matte's Where It's At!

Trending this fall is the matte finish for nails. There are many colors that come in a matte finish. Among favorites are O.P.I. However, I have a ton of nail polishes and was not sure if I would like the matte finish, but if I ended up loving it, I wasn't going to buy every color in matte finish. SO, Sephora has a matte top coat that works on top of every color. I think it looks really nice on darker colors and the glitter colors. It ends up looking like satin paint. I have tried it on dark blue, dark purple, and deep red. All look great. Also, to make the nails POP, you can try added designs on top with regular nail polish. I had blue matte nails, and added clear polka dots.
(picture courtesy of shestayfabulous.com)

On another note, I really like the O.P.I. website. The site is interactive and has a Try On This Color tab. you can change nail lengths, skin shade, and try on any shade. Also, Nicki Minaj has a line of colors out. So step out of your nail box this season.

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Many Apologies

I owe everyone a big apology. I have not been a consistent blogger, and we know all blogs are more successful when shown consistency. I have decided to go a different direction. I am no longer going to solely blog about makeup. I am going to blog about all of the things I enjoy doing. I enjoy cooking and trying out different recipes, I love makeup, and making jewelry. I love art of all kinds and crafts and pretty much anything that is a DIY project. I love my hair and love sharing my personal hair experience. So from now on, I will have whatever interests me that day. I do, however, promise consistency.

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The Traveling Makeup Counter

I just recently went on a trip with my husband for our anniversary. I wanted badly to pack everything my heart desired, but I'm trying this whole "pack light" thing. I find that it is also difficult to pack makeup, because I want to pack all my makeup. So here are just a few tips to pack light:

1. Look through your makeup and pick out the products that you notice you use on a daily basis. These are  
    your beauty staples. My staples include eye and face primer, my brush roll, black mascara, my Sephora liquid eyeliner, peach gloss, brown eyeshadow for my eyebrows, a brow highlight color (a pearlescent colored eyeshadow), and a neutral palette with bronzes, and golds.

2. Look at the outfits you are taking. Do you have mostly casual clothes? Some dressier nighttime outfits? Pack a set a day makeup and evening makeup. Most people use darker more dramatic colors for the evening and stay more neutral in the day. If this is you, then pack a couple of lipsticks that you would wear in the evening, perhaps your bolder colors. Also if you like the darker/ smoky eyes in the evening, add a couple of those colors to your makeup kit.

3. If you will be around water, make sure you pack your makeup with SPF and some waterproof eyeliner and mascara.

4. Finally, don't forget your cleanser and moisturizer. If you will be away from home in a different climate make sure you pack a couple of different moisturizers. In colder climates, you will want a heavier moisturizer and a lighter moisturizer with SPF for the warmer/sunnier climates.

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