Update: Avocado Deep Condition

After doing the Avocado Deep Conditioner a friend (Thanks D!) reminded me about the curl relaxing properties of coconut milk. I do remember reading about this, but took it with a grain of salt because the thought of a natural relaxer just seemed like another hearsay treatment to me. Well....

Before (March 2010)

After (Aug 2010)

Lesson here, if you are going to try this deep conditioner you may want to omit the coconut milk or either be prepared for looser curls. I'm cool...my hair will revert (I hope). After all, its just hair.

Disclaimer: This is the reaction MY hair had, all reactions may not be the same.

sheering florals

HAPPY MONDAY EVERYONE!!!

i'm so sorry if i've been lacking blog posts lately but it's really hard to take outfit posts especially since my work doesn't require me dressing up...plus the weather is just soooo crazy lately that i just usually resort to not-so-blog-worthy pieces. 

anyway, i survived my first work week! i used to dread mondays but i think i will be looking forward to mondays and tuesdays from now on since these are my days off :) i did of course get some first work week blues but i'm a lot stronger and determined than that...i just think about the salary (in dollars) and i'm fine. LOL!

i now know how to go around the city via bus and train too so i'm looking forward to discovering the city alone :) of course, my sister picks me up after work still but i get off at 10pm so there's really nowhere to go too. but today is the anniversary of value village (a major thrift store here) and everything's 50% off so i'm off to do some shopping! see y'all later! bisous xx

thrifted blazer and sheer dress used as a top. zara harem pants. forever 21 wedges. roxy blue bag. sunnies from dollar store. cocktail rings from the philippines.

it's almost fall so i had to take advantage or else i'll freeze to death wearing sheer tops/dresses! and oh, i bought the new issue of people so i'd stop asking benj if what i'm wearing is weather appropriate ;)

photos by me via ol' reliable self-timer :)

How long will you grow?

Dear Diary,

Since I have been putting real effort into properly caring for my hair it has been growing tremendously. I used to think that I always wanted really long hair, like WL long hair. However, the length and thickness I have now is a lot of work on wash day and when styling. So now I am wondering - do I really want more. I am leaning towards "no." BSL may just be enough.

When I started my journey I was all about volume and not length. I wanted big Kelis-like hair. Big beautiful curls- that's it. Well....I feel like I have the big hair I want. So what now? I guess I just focus on keeping it healthy and trimming the ends as it grows. Maybe I will keep caring for my hair just to see how much I can control.

Honestly, I don't know what I want. I kinda want locs...

Packing for Vacation

I'm still playing catch up

We stayed at the Wyatt

Last year, my husband and I, for our anniversary went to Jamaica and I styled my hair in box braids. The only hair products I packed were Suave Tropical Coconut Conditioner and some Shea Butter. Very simple.

This year we stayed a little closer to home and while the box braids were perfect for Jamaica I didn't really want to walk around D.C. looking like a 5-yr old. What's a girl to do?

First, I had to decide what I was going to do with my hair for a week and that would make the product selection a little easier. I decided to go with twists and wash-n-gos.

For product selection, I decided to pack:
Shampoo

Conditioner

Leave-in Conditioner

Shower Comb

Denman(like) brush

Hair Butter

Hair Oil

Each night when I showered I co-washed or shampooed depending on how icky my hair felt. Then I put my hair into three flat twist on each side so that my hair would dry quickly over night. It wasn't too time consuming and didn't interfere with our vacation. Plus I got to wear big hair everyday! ;)

What hair products do make sure to pack for trips?

shabby chic

MY NEW FAVE CHICTOPIAN! 

i'll let her few photos speak for themselves

visit her at http://www.chictopia.com/Shabby_chic

all photos from http://www.chictopia.com/Shabby_chic

i'm still contemplating whether or not i'm going to delete my chictopia. 

should i just leave my account and not update it? im too busy and lazy all at the same time.

what do you guys think?

Avocado Deep Condition

When I started to mix the ingredients for the deep condition I realized that I didn�t have everything that the recipe called for so I got creative and improvised. That is why you see that I added aloe vera and olive oil. There is really no reasoning behind choosing those items, it�s just that I know what my hair likes and it likes aloe vera and olive oil.

Mixing with a hand mixer was just dumb. I wasn�t thinking at all. It did not work. However, the blender was perfect! The blender made the consistency of the mix feel just like commercial creamy conditioners.

I rinsed the mix out with cool water and it rinsed out really easy. I did use a cheapie condish to help rinse out any left over residue. I saw a few very small chunks in my hair after rinsing but they magically disappeared after I completed my two strand twists.

My hair feels soft but there is not really a dramatic difference from the times when I use an organic conditioner. I may give this a few more tries over the winter season to see how well this mix really works.

Update to Avocado Deep Conditioner

i like it mare, i like it mare, i like it like it

HAPPY NEW WEEK Y'ALL :)

so yesterday we watched the black eyed peas concert at the saddledome. it was pretty amaziiiiiiiiiing!!!! my first concert here in canada and it was already memorable :) t-pain opened the show and then the black eyed peas did their thing...couldn't help but dance the night away even in my 3-inch high wedges! i must say that these wedges are pretty comfortable :) i think my fave part of the show was will.i.am's set. i didn't know he's such a good dj! if he's the one spinning every night, i would definitely goooooo!!!! but of course, i looooove apl de ap...he makes all of us proud to be filipinos :) and oh, fergie sang my life's theme song...big girls don't cry. now i can say naka-duet ko na si fergie LOL ;)

the cropped top i was wearing is the perfect thing to wear although it basically lost its essence because it was freeziiiiiiiiiing cold last night!!! i had to wear my leather high-waisted shorts instead of the usual denim shorts. inside the arena, it was perfect because of all the dancing and stuff but outside....my legs were freeziiiiiiing to death!!!! canada weather has been so crazaaaaay lately! some even said that there was really no summer this year...now i miss the philippines' heat!!! sigh :(

i don't know what is up with the red eye (see last pic too)...we used iphone4 to take these photos, fyi 

bench cropped top. thrifted leather shorts and chained sling bag. dotted tights from the US, given by a friend. forever 21 wedges and j'adore connector ring

we had dimsum with my sister, benj, carla, may, julie and john at you and me in chinatown after the show...so much from getting some free exercise cos of all the dancing. EPIC FAIL.

P.S.

so sad to hear the news about the hostage taking in the PI but glad to know that venus raj took home the 4th runner up crown for the miss universe this year xx

Commercials used to be motivational

After seeing this commercial on the Soul Train documentary aired on Vh1 this weekend I had to share:

What happened to the days when commercials made us feel good about who we are?

I'm not going to post it, but there is one in particular that really irks me. Basically the lady in the commercial states how she can't feel good if her hair doesn't look good and it only looks good when it's bone straight. **kanye shrug**

I would love to see Marcus Garvey or Sojourner Truth or Harriet Tubman "star" in a hair commercial...a girl can dream.

picturesque banff

HAPPY WEEKEND EVERYONE :) :) :)

so here are some pictures from last thursday's trip to banff. it took me a while to upload them because we went to red deer over the weekend, had a bountiful of pinoy foods from sisig, lechon kawali, fresh lumpia, leche flan and bonded over vodka and karaoke with my sister's filipino friends. 

anyway, back to banff. 

banff was simply amaziiiiiiing!!!! it's one HUGE park with different lakes, rockies, mountains and views. notice that i have different set of vests (i put my bonnet on and off too) with me because each portion has a different weather condition from the other...colder and colder i must say but a better and better view each time! i just realized that God is truly unbelievable! 

 to top it all of...we rode the gondola and saw a grizzly bear!!! a real bear out on the woods!!!! this is such a rare occasion so we were really privileged to have seen one (or else the gondola ride would be just blah).

i must go back to banff during winter time. i heard the rockies will be filled with snow!!!!

old navy vest. thrifted denim vest. american eagle striped top. gray skirt given by a friend. bench braided belt. primadonna gray booties. tommy hilfiger bag. ray ban aviators. bonnet from my sister's closet.

 tomorrow we're going to watch the black eyed peas concert. must be lotsa fun. xx

 photos by benj