30 Days of Pinspiration: Day 4

Day 4: Natural Women Who Big Chop TWICE!

Check out my explanation here: 30 Days of Pinterest: Day 4

Source: sheisdiva.com via Michelle on Pinterest

I love y'all for free,

nNb ♥

naturalNaijabeauty does Havana Twists!

It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves - in finding themselves.  

~André Gide

Hey everyone!!

After seeing this GORGEOUS hairstyle from the Afrogenix hair salon in NY, I decided to break down and try the hairstyle.

Here is the final product:

In this video, I talk about my braiding technique and other things:

Peace & Love,

nNb :)

New Protective Hairstyle --> Cinnamon Bun!

“Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.” 

― Dave Barry

Hey lovelies!

So after going 2 weeks with my hair out, I decided that my tired old ends need a much needed break! So, I searched high and low for a nice low maintenance protective style (y'all know I'm lazy, lol!) to wear for a  couple of days. Well, I came across a great protective hairstyles by one of my FAVORITE vloggers MsVCharles (check her out, she provides great info accompanied by plenty of laughs). Needless to say, I ran out to my local beauty supply store and grabbed all of the necessary materials and got to work! 

This style costed me a whopping $2!! wOoT wOoT! Y'all know that I'm a diva on a budget, so that's a definite plus for me! Check out the pictures below:

Brand of hair that I used (2 pkgs.)

Hair nice and slicked back! hehehe!

The braided extension

Final product

I got a lot of compliments about this style while at church and it took me less than 30 mins. to do. Check out the tutorial below:

Happy styling y'all!

nNb :)

New Protective Style: Yarn Twists

"You have the funkiest, most unique hair in the world. Own it."

~Knottyandnice.org

Hey y'all!

I've decided to do some protective styling for the winter. So after lots of research (procrastinating from other things, lol!), I chose yarn twists. I was so excited that I decided to do a video on them. Check it out below:

Be blessed,
nNb :)

Nubian Twists!!!!

Now that the damage was gone, my entire head felt different from how it ever had before. It was soft and shiny, even directly after shampooing. The curls were firm and confident. I’d never experienced this creature before, and I began suddenly and fiercely protective of these fresh curls unfurling from my head like new fronds on a fern.

~Terri LaFlesh from the book Curly Like Me

Hey lovelies!

It's about that time again where the weather is starting to get unpredictable (at least in Michigan) and I'm just getting supppper lazy and don't want to do my hair. To alleviate this problem, I am going to get......(drumroll please...)

NUBIAN TWISTS!!!!!

I like this style because it is cute and sassy! It's low maintainence and it can be styled in soooo many ways! I ordered my hair from Eon Hair on Monday and I got it today (I opted for the 2 day air mail b/c I was super impatient, lol!). It's a bit on the pricey side, $11.99 for one pack, but all the videos that I have seen on YouTube says that the hair is great quality. According to reviews, the hair is springy, light and soft. I'm really excited to see how the style turns out.

Just so you all know, I plan on doing the style myself. The last time that I braided my hair myself, it turned out pretty well :

This style didn't really have a name, I just bought some Marley Braid hair and started twisting, lol! (The original plan was to do kinky twists...but the hair was too thick...) Hopefully, I will be able to make a tutorial video of myself doing the nubian twists so that everyone can see my technique. I'm very excited and I can't wait to share my results with you all!!

peace -n- love,

nNb :)

Natural Hair "Style" Challenge: Week 6 (Chunky Braids & Curly Fro)

Hey y'all,

I'm back in action with my Natural Hair "Style" Challenge! In this video, I showcase my hairstyle for the week! Enjoy! Remember to rate, comment & subscribe!

love,

nNb :)

Natural Hair Style Guide for Winter

Hey curlies!

Merry Christmas to everyone! Hopefully you all get to enjoy the holidays with your loved ones :) As I was searching for a cute Christmas hairstyle on my favorite blog CurlyNikki, I came across a post called the Natural Hair Style Guide for Winter. It has a list of all hairstyles as well as links to pictures of them and tutorials. If you're trying to find a nice divalicious style for the holidays, this post is a great place to start!

Here's the link: Natural Hair Style Guide for Winter

Enjoy peeps!

nNb :)

Winterizing Your Natural Tresses...

"The recipe for beauty is to have less illusion and more Soul, to retreat from the belief of pain or pleasure in the body into the unchanging calm and glorious freedom of spiritual harmony."

~Mary Baker Eddy

Hey y'all!

I hope the week is going fabulously for everyone! So...if you haven't already noticed, it is starting to get colder outside. With colder temperatures and less humidity, natural hair starts to get SUPER dry! I have been natural since the summer of 2008 and I still struggle with retaining moisture in my hair during the colder months.

Well, during my routine search of my favorite natural hair blogs, I came across this GREAT post about winterizing natural hair. This article has great tips on product usage and optimizing your hair routine so that you don't use anything that will strip your hair. Check out the article here. Hope the article helps y'all retain moisture for the winter...I know it will help me continue to stay fly!! LOL!

peace,

nNb :)

Natural Hair Challenge!!

"Everything that God created is GOOD...and my kinky hair is no exception!"

~Cherie King

Hey divas/divos!

If you're anything like me, you may get stuck in a hair rut every once in a while...sure the occasional updo is executed, but normally your hairstyle repertoire consists of wash-n-gos and two-strand twists... In order to escape the notorious hair rut, I usually get my hair braided. While braided, I research and finds TONS of cute styles. However, after the braids are removed, I go back to my mundane routine of wash-n-gos and two-strand twists. The sad part is that I encounter natural beauties everywhere I go and I simply LOVE their uniqueness in hairstyling.

I have decided that this madness must END! So...I'm instituting a NATURAL HAIR CHALLENGE FOR 60 DAYS! I will try different hairstyles and upload in a special group on Facebook so that you all can see the styles that I'm rocking...The catch is, I can only wear each style for 2 days (this will help me learn how to protect the styles at night). Hopefully after this challenge, I will no longer be stuck in the funky little hairstyle rut that I'm in and I can finally learn to style my locks!

Here is a website that I will use for inspiration: http://bglhonline.com/gallery-2/

And of course ya gotta accessorize: http://rachelstewart.bigcartel.com/

Anyone is more than welcome to join me in this endeavor. I will post the logistics for the challenge later. As it stands right now, I will create a group on Facebook for anyone that will be interested to participate and share their stories...The challenge will start in about 2 weeks, I'm still gonna rock these braids for a few more weeks...lol!

love -n- peace,

nNb :)

Mane Chic Michelle

"Natural, beautiful color on the face. We want the casualness of the hair and it's sort of rumpled, you know--but it's done with intention. So it's not just letting your hair go naturally, but we've created the natural." - Donna Karan

Hey fellow curlies!

I'm delighted to say that I was recently featured on one of my favorite natural hair blogs Indulgenceiskey. She started a new segment on her blog entitled Mane Chic (pronounced sheek) and I was blessed to her first feature! To see my feature, click here. Hope y'all enjoy it!

Be blessed,
nNb Y

Video Blog Update!!

Hey lovelies,

Here's a quick update vid that I made yesterday.



Enjoy y'all!
Peace,
nNb Y

Natural Hair Update: 2 YEAR NAPPIVERSARY!!!

"We have the same spiral in our hair as electricity, tornadoes, whirlwinds, DNA and galaxies!"

-Nekhena Evans

Hello my fellow curlies!

I am officially TWO YEARS NATURAL!!! woot! My nappiversary was on July 8th! (yeah, this post is kinda late...)

This journey has had many ups and downs, but I never once regretted freeing my locks from the evil known as the creamy crack...haha! During this year, I took more risks with my hairstyles and went wayy outside of my comfort zone...

While I was in school, I didn't really have time to experiment with my hair the way that I wanted to. Between classes, work and studying, I was lucky if I was able to wash my hair before I passed out. After growing tired of seeing my asymmetrical bedhead hairstyles, I finally decided to take some time and put in kinky twists with the help of good ole' YouTube. (hehe!) I wore that hairstyle for about 1.5 months and then took it down after graduation...Then, the fun began :D

I had more time on my hands, so I watched all kinds of YouTube videos and experimented with some hairstyles...some I liked, others...not so much... Here are a few of the styles that I liked:

Chunky twistout

Pinned up two-strand twists

Chunky two-strand twists

Bantu knot-out with two strand twists

Curly up-do with bang

Wash-n-go that turned out VERY cute!

Twistout

Cute Updo...(tutorial here)

Here's to many more years of beautiful nappyheaded bliss!

Peace,

nNb Y

Hair Tutorial: Cute Two-Strand Twist Updo

Hey lovelies!

I finally finished another hair tutorial...video editing can be a real pain...(haha). This tutorial was inspired by a tutorial that SunShower143 did on YouTube. I thought that the style was uber cute, so I decided to replicate it. She originally did the style using big twists, but I tried it doing with 2-week old micro two- strand twists. The style came out really cute...Next time, I am going to try it using big twists and see if comes out even cuter! Here's my tutorial:

Hope y'all enjoy it! More tutorials to come!

Stay blessed!

nNb Y

The Truth About Baking Soda Hair Concoctions...

Hey y'all!

Ever try to create your own hair concoction to help save some money on products? I know that I have...there are plenty of recipes out on the web for hair moisturizers, conditioners and shampoos that you can make from the things within your kitchen pantry. Some of these recipes can be a godsend, while others can turn out a bit tragic. One of the main ingredients some of the recipes is baking soda.

While I was on my favorite natural hair blog site, I came across a very interesting article about affects that baking soda can have on natural hair. The article was soooo interesting that I decided to post it on here so that everyone to also enjoy it. Click here is the link for the article on NaturallyCurly.com.

Next time that you decide to create your own hair concoction, make sure that you take the time to research the things that you are putting in your hair...it can prevent a lot of pain and anguish later =)

Peace out curlies,

nNb Y

*Artist Spotlight* --> Janelle Monae

"I feel like Harriet Tubman, except I am trying to free people through underground music, to free themselves creatively and inspirationally.” -Janelle Monae

Hey y'all!

After listening to some of my favorite Janelle Monae songs on Pandora Radio, I decided that I wanted to do this edition of Artist Spotlight on the brilliant songstress. Enjoy lovelies!

Janelle Monae Robinson was born on Decemeber 1, 1985 (she is currently 24 years old), in Kansas City, Kansas. She studied theatre at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York. Later on, she moved to Atlanta, GA. where she met up with Big Boi from the group OutKast and founded the Wondaland Arts Society with other young artists.

In the year 2007, Monae released first solo album (which is part of a concept album of four parts or suites) entitled Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase), which was later renamed Metropolis: The Chase Suite (Special Edition), following her collaboration with P. Diddy. The album was well-received and led to a Grammy nomination for her single Many Moons as well as opportunities to open for bands.

Her newest album, entitled The ArchAndroid was recently released on May 18th of this year. Both the 2nd and 3rd suites of the Metropolis concept are combined into this full-length release album (which is SUPER AWESOME, btw!). Here is the main concept for the Metropolis series (from Wikipedia.com):

Monáe's alter-ego, Cindi Mayweather—also the protagonist of Metropolis: The Chase Suite— becomes a messiah-esque figure to the android community of Metropolis. Monáe noted that she plans to shoot a video for each song on The ArchAndroid and create a movie, as well as create a graphic novel for it.

The Metropolis concept series draws inspiration from a wide range of musical, cinematic and other sources, ranging from Alfred Hitchcock to Debussy to Philip K. Dick. However, the series puts Fritz Lang's 1927 silent film Metropolis, which Monáe referred to as "the godfather of science-fiction movies," in special regard. Aside from sharing a name, they also share visual styles (the cover for The ArchAndroid is inspired by the iconic poster for Metropolis), conceptual themes and political goals, using expressionistic future scenarios to examine and explode contemporary ideas of prejudice and class.

Monae does not associate with just one genre of music. Here is what she thinks about the categorization of her music:

"It's the things that you don't do that makes you who you are.”, “Don't put a label on your art, let others decide what they think it is, and while they are deciding or trying to figure out what to call your art and name it, you just continue to do more art.” -Andy Warhol. This quote got to me because as an Artist, people always want to categorize you and say oh, you are in this category, but there is nothing that I limit myself to doing. Categorizing myself will only limit my growth."

To get an idea of her musical style, she is a mix of pretty much afro-punk, funk, dance-punk, Indiie pop, pop, soul and much, much more! Below is a video of my favorite song from her first album Many Moons:

Check her out y'all!

Stay blessed,

nNb Y

Hair Tutorial: Two-Strand Twists!

"To keep my hair the same texture as it grows out of my head is looked at as revolutionary,Why is that?" ~Tracy Thoms "Good Hair"

Hey y'all!

I know it's been a while since my last post... Today I've got a nice treat for everyone! I have FINALLY completed and POSTED my first natural hair tutorial! In this tutorial, I show you how I make micro two-strand twists. This video was originally filmed on May 20th and it took me a couple of days to get it posted (more like a lot of days, hehe!). There are two parts to the video and the end result is in the picture above. The videos are posted on my YouTube channel under naturalNaijabeauty but I also embedded them below. Enjoy lovelies!

Part I:

Part II:

Be blessed!

nNb Y

Fashion Accessories--> Creating Your Own Flower Hair Accessories

"A person is only beautiful, when their own beauty, is reflecting on to others."

- Tara Grady

Hey lovelies!

While I was on one my FAVORITE natural hair blog sites CurlyNikki, I came across a video from one of her users that showed how to make flower accessories. Now if you know me, you'd probably guess that I screamed and became really excited after seeing this video. Since I am both thrifty and fashionable, this video was perfect for me! I often find it hard to find flowers that match the outfits that I wear. Now I can just hop in the car and go to the local fabric store and MAKE MY OWN! YAY! Here's the vid:

Stay Fabulous!

nNb Y

Video Blog #3: Kinky Twist Update/Graduation Hairstyles??

Hey lovelies!

Got a new video blog post. This one was captured at 6am so excuse the craziness that is me...lol! Enjoy!

Peace,

nNb Y

New Segment: Video Blog Series!/Blog #1

Hey lovelies!

I've decided to start up a video blog series!! YAY! I don't always have access to a working video camera, but when I do get access, I will post something. I actually made this video last night...couldn't really sleep well, so excuse me if I look kinda sleepy/groggy. Alright, check it out below!

Peace,

nNb Y

Are Others Discouraging You About Your Natural Hair?

"A man of sense is never discouraged by difficulties; he redoubles his industry and his diligence, he perseveres, and infallibly prevails at last." --Lord Chesterfield

Hey y'all!

I just found a really great video for those who are receiving discouraging comments from loved ones and friends about your natural hair. As much as you want to ignore the comments and not let them bother you, there is always of part of you that is kind of saddened by them. I know I have instances like that when my mom asks me to relax my hair before I go to certain events or tells me to braid my hair so that I will cover my natural curls. Ladies and gents, pray for strength! It's always harder when people who you are really close to constantly discourage you from wearing your natural hair. They don't understand how empowering wearing your natural kinks and curls can truly be...


Do NOT let boyfriends, family or friends discourage you from being YOU! Enjoy your natural kinks and don't allow anyone to take away the happiness that being Naturally Flyyy brings you! :)

Here's the video:

Here is the website to Scandalous Beauty's website and YouTube page for makeup and naturally hair tips:

Scandalous Beauty Online: http://scandalousbeautyonline.com/

Scandalous Beauty YouTube Page: http://www.youtube.com/user/scandalousbeauty

Peace,

nNb Y