Meet Wanda, Big Betty’s Cousin

Hey beauts!

Have you ever got a new do that just instantly transforms you into Beyonce’s biggest competition? No? Then you probably probably need a Wanda in your life!

Remember Big Betty? Well Wanda is Big Betty’s cousin from the same mama (doesn’t make sense, just go with it). I finally received my much anticipated custom made wig (aka Wanda) from Nazuri curls, last week and I was so quick to ditch my crochet braids like it was garbage.

Reaching into the yellow purse that held Wanda and feeling the softness, definition, and volume of her curls, I was immediately smitten. Honestly, I have never felt anything like it (I don’t do a lot of touching of other people’s hair, ergo, I have never owned hair that feels like this one). Now, because I have only rocked this hair for all of 5 days, you are free to dismiss my gushing as new love syndrome. But hey! It is real new love and it feels so damn good.

Feeling maself, feeling maself

The volume of this hair is one of the most surprising things to me. I had incorrectly said on instagram that the wig was done with 3 bundles of hair and 1 side part closure. Apparently, Wanda is just 2 bundles of hair (12″ and 14″) and 1 side part lace closure (12″). Fin. As mentioned earlier, providing the wefted hair is not the only service that Nazuri curls blessed me with. You see, I have sworn off weaves. I love the look of a well done weave. Oh I absolutely love it. However, by no fault of mine (my mother will disagree strongly and point fingers at the full jars of hair cream I always brought back home at the end of every term in boarding school) I have dandruff prone scalp. Which means that when my hair is hidden away, if it is not cared for properly, it begins to snow from my scalp. This is such an embarrassing and frustrating battle that I have been fighting for a long time now. And so one of the things that I have had to give up are weaves, for no reason other than they are a nightmare when it comes to caring for the scalp underneath. So how can I get the weave look without ruining all the progress I have made with my scalp health? Wigs! So I sought the service of Nazuri curls and added their custom wig to my order.

I’m feeling mah, feeling mah

I can tell you now that I do not regret shelling out those extra dollars for this wig. After placing my order, I received a form where I could detail how exactly I envision my wig. Nazuri definitely delivered my vision. The wig cap feels sturdy and is breathable. There are combs, there is an elastic band that goes across either side of the head, and there is a clasp. Talk about triple protection! Let me see the force that will throw this wig off my head.

I can gush continuously about my new love, Wanda! If you have been looking for a ride or die wig or even just wefted hair or clip-ins, then I definitely recommend Nazuri curls. It does not hurt that you can also get 10% off your purchase order when you use the code THEKINKANDI. They ship worldwide and having contacted them mid-order period to change the delivery address, I can attest to their customer service being very present and impressive. I am a very happy customer and I shall go on to spread the word about Nazuri. I am looking forward to sharing Wanda with you and to finding new ways to show her off!

Oh Nazuri carries different hair textures as well. In the future, I might be adding their straight wig to my collection. We’ll see.

Until next time, beauts!

– MeeMee (and Wanda)

xx.

Slay, Lupita!

Hate it or love it, you cannot not know who Lupita Nyong’o is today, in this year of our Lord 2015.

If I ever get to meet her, I must ask- “What’s your secret, Lupie?”

“How do you glow? HOW?”

These pictures of her in the October 2015 issue of Vogue are giving me life on this average day.

Enjoy and be blessed!

I love all of this. The black and white one is my fave. Followed by the one in the blue dress.

It’s her second Vogue cover, guys. I’m happy she isn’t fading away as some people said she would.

You can read her interview over here, on vogue.com

Love,

AB,

xx

Blending, Blended- More About Faking It With Nazuri Curls

Hi guys!

Eku Tuesday!

As you know, I recently took down my sew-in weave with Nazuri Curls extensions. This last time, I didn’t actually wear the weave to “switch up my look”. That’s one of the things I like about extensions, though. Currently eyeing a purple and grey wig on Shop Zlanche, but where will I wear it to? Christmas is coming, maybe I should look foreign for Christmas? JK JK. Seriously though. As soon as I can get my makeup skills to match such exotic hair, I’ll be good to go. Lagos get ready! Def can’t wear it to work, so- weekends. Anyway, back to the post.

I was saying that I didn’t put on my Nazuri Curls to look different this time. I was effectively protective styling, but in a manner pretty close to my own hair- so close that I really didn’t know what to answer when people asked “Is this your hair?” “This really can’t be your natural hair right?” It was like people were convinced it was so natural, but they didn’t want to believe because of how thick or full it looked. I always wanted to add “but my hair is pretty close to this!” after I smiled and said no. Because people gotta know that African hair can flourish and prosper.

With blogger boos Titi & Sandra 🙂

To successfully fake it with extensions, your options are as follows:

Plan A: sacrifice a West African twin chameleon (amongst other things) to TY Bello, the Chief Priestess of the blending gods. If you don’t know where to find a chameleon or TY Bello, then listen to Plan B! 😛

Product Review: Oyin Handmade Burnt Sugar Pomade

Hello beautiful people!

I hope your week is off to a great start. You can think of today’s review as 2 in 1.  Here’s why:

Oyin Handmade offers two sugar pomades- Burnt Sugar and Sugar Berries. They are exactly the same, save for one thing, the fragrances. I wiped clean a 4 oz tub of the Burnt Sugar Pomade between October and February. I can’t tell you how the Sugar Berries pomade smells, but this review has you covered on everything else about it. 

The Burnt Sugar Pomade smells amazingggggg, like sugar biscuits. It’s a strong scent, but I love it and I am confident that you probably would too! 

Ingredients:

Castor oil, Hydrogenated soybean oil, Organic virgin coconut oil, Mango seed oil, Olive oil, Unrefined hempseed oil, Candelilla wax, Cocoa butter, Broccoli seed oil, Fragrance… and love!

Product Claims

Similar in texture to an old school ‘hair grease,’ This blend of oils, butters, and veggie waxes acts as a humectant and protectant for hair, increasing shine to a high glossy sheen and locking in moisture. It’s packed with essential fatty acids to nourish scalp, and actually sinks into your hair and skin for a long lasting, non-greasy feeling. It’s great for braids, imparts shine and moisture to loose hair, brushes nicely into the hairline for a glossy finish, and adds luster to locks! 

Directions for use:

Rub between your fingers or palms to soften/liquefy. Use to moisturize scalp, to twist locs, to seal the ends of twists or braids, to polish a pulled-back style or an updo, to add weight to the canopy of your hair, to weigh down flyaways or control frizz, or to create waves on super short cuts. 

My Experience

When I first opened it, it was kind of gritty with granules. I think cosmetics people call this “beads”. The makers anticipated this, because on the label they said to microwave for like a minute. I did this, let it cool and that was that. It solidified, perfectly smooth with no beads. 



I used this pomade mainly as a sealant and a styler. I used it on its own to style my hair in mini-twists, and I used it in conjunction with hair puddings and hair mousse for curly styling- twist outs, perm rod sets, braid outs. It worked really well. I also used it to oil my scalp, and occasionally, to smooth my edges. It didnot give long lasting hold to my kinky 4C edges when compared to gel or edge control, but I think it would do better for this purpose, on less kinky hair types. 

This Oyin Handmade Sugar Pomade is a hard one to dislike. Multi-functional, it kept my hair feeling soft and moisturised, AND smelling good enough to eat. 

I can be a little heavy handed with products, but my hair was not greasy & it did not feel weighed down by this. However, at $13.99 for 4 oz and $20.99 for 8 oz, you may find it a litttttle pricey. ( ._.)

Where To Find:

Oyin Handmade Website and Amazon. 

I had MeeMee buy it for me last year, but I do remember seeing it in Calabar at Rita’s Beauty Solutions, Adiabo Close off Marian Road. Maybe she still stocks it. 

If you’ve seen this product anywhere else in the country, please share in the comments! 🙂

Love,

AB,

xx

Why This SheaMoisture Mousse Is Bae

Hey guys!

In the last few months I’ve had some really good days with curly styles. I believe my technique hasn’t changed, so the real winner for me is my latest love, and styler of life, the SheaMoisture Coconut & Hibiscus Frizz-Free Curl Mousse.

‘Ello Bae!

I actually got this because I was doing follow-follow. MeeMee reviewed it last year (here) and as I was curious to try something from SheaMoisture, I decided to get it too. I think it’s probably the least famous product in their Coconut & Hibiscus line. The Curl Enhancing Smoothie is a cult favourite & before MeeMee, I had never heard of this mousse.

One pump of mousse

What I Love About It

1. It is easily absorbed and dries super fast.
2. It is not sticky
3. It gives me good definition
4. It smooths my hair. I talked about this last year here. This part is a little hard to explain. It’s something I think you should experience. It claims to smooth hair on the label, but I didn’t pay attention to that. After my second use, the smoothness I felt in my strands. As if they had been polished? I don’t know the right word. It was a really good feeling, I did not know what the claim was supposed to mean before then.
5. I don’t know about using it by itself as a leave-in, but I use it to style without leave-in conditioner & my hair remains soft. MeeMee uses it to moisturise her hair in kinky twists & I used it to moisturise my mini-twists yesterday so yeah, it’s good for this too- as a refresher.

How I Use

Y’all know wet styling is not my thing. I use this on damp hair or dry hair, with good results. To style, I use the mousse and a pomade. First it was Oyin Handmade Burnt Sugar Pomade (finished now, sniff sniff) and then I switched to the Carol’s Daughter Mimosa Hair Honey.

The last time I styled with mousse bae was in February. My hair was dry and stretched from a 4 day old blow-out/ updo. It felt pretty good still, but it had been 4 days since I had touched my hair, so I spritzed each section lightly with water, before applying the mousse & pomade (oil) combo. I counted- 86 perm rods in total.

The next morning, I took out the rods. My hair was completely dry.

It was my first proper attempt at a perm rod set, so there are two things I’d do differently next time:

1. Stick to one technique. I don’t know if you can see this in the photos below, but I curled the hair in two different ways. One way gave me tighter spirals & the other way, the right way- gave me “barrel” or more cylindrical type spirals.
   

   Bottom R- The right or typical way. Cylindrical curls like cinnamon sticks or those fancy wafers. To the left, to the left- tight spirals, still cute though.

2. Stick to the small rods because of my length. I used purple-pink rods through out the middle. (Are they purple, are they pink?) They are thicker than the slimmer light pink, white and grey rods I used for the rest of my head. The next morning, those parts done with the purple-pink rods were not at all defined & they fell apart too easily.
   

   see the wide poofy frizzy area? Compared to how defined the rest is? Clearly, the fatter rods were a mistake.

   

   Happily rocked it anyway!! I held up the sides with hair combs, but next time I’ll go for a curly fro look with bangs.

As you can see, I didn’t really bother to separate the curls. I was late & I had business to attend to. I went out, came back and my hair still looked this good!

My problem now is that I do not know how to preserve these styles. I try to pineapple my hair or pull it into a puff and I frizz the whole thing. I lie down to watch TV and by the time I get up, I’ve scattered it all. I managed to destroy my rod set before bedtime. The next morning Ash Wednesday, I had a textured puff:

Can you see the smoothness of the base? hair still kinda sorta “laid”.

I used the same combo to style a three-strand twist out on damp hair in January, and I had good results too.

No camera mojo that day, but here’s that twist out:

Compare these results to my 3 strand twist out from last year, with a hair butter. Another poor overly edited photo but hey, I hope you can see the difference:

I thought this was amazing then but things are not the same anymore!

Note that my January twist out was still recognizable at the end of the day, when I got home. A reminder of how my previous 3 strand twist out looked hours later:

Swelly. In retrospect I’m wondering how people looked at me on my way home from work on this day, but I still like this shot. :p

I’m really happy with this mousse. I’m almost done with my first bottle, soon I’ll be on to the next.

L- Near empty R- Full

I think I’ve found MY styler. Sure, I’m open to trying out others in the future, but I have my staple now, something I know I can rely on. As I say with every review, everything cannot work for everybody so if you try this and your hair isn’t so impressed, please don’t come for me! LOL

Where to Find

If you’re willing to try this mousse though, we have some in our blog shop here– yes, don’t forget we have one! Thank you for the support so far 🙂

Have you tried this mousse? Have you found your Holy Grail styler yet? Do share!

Love,

AB,

xx