Omoni Oboli takes us through her Natural Hair journey.

My Natural Hair Journey! It’s been almost a year and five months since I did the big chop. I transitioned for a couple of months before chopping off all the perms and I haven’t looked back since then. I looooove my natural hair! Going natural is one of the best decisions I have made!
I always get questions on my hair care routine so I am going to let you all know how I care for my hair without advertising any particular hair product. Please don’t ask questions on particular products. Deal? Cool! Let’s go!
The first thing I think natural hair needs is moisture! That’s why I have my spray bottle of mostly water which I use morning and night. I spray my hair with water, not too much so it’s not dripping wet, I then proceed to rub in a handful of leave in conditioner before sealing with oil. I use different oils for my hair but my ‘go to’ oil is coconut oil. I can’t over emphasize the importance of coconut oil. I use it on my skin, I cook with it, I use it on my hair. It’s like a cure all! You can even use it on your relationship and your bank account! Lol!
So back to my hair care routine. I co-wash my hair once a week. For those who don’t know what co-washing is, it’s washing your hair with conditioner instead of shampoo. I shampoo about once a month. After washing my hair, I oil my scalp with an oil mix. My oil mix typically contains a base oil like coconut oil, almond oil, argan oil or olive oil with shea butter. I add drops of an essential oil like peppermint oil, tea tree (great for dry scalp) or lemon oil. I deep condition every week or two depends on what I feel my hair needs.
You can use any deep conditioner of your choice. You can also use a DIY deep conditioner from things in your kitchen. (That’s another lesson for another day…lol) The trick is to listen to your hair and know your hair. Your hair tells you what it needs. WTVhen it’s dry, you know you need extra infusion of moisture.
Once my hair is clean, I add a leave in conditioner, seal with oil and style. Whatever you do, pay attention to the ends of your hair. Make sure your leave in conditioner and oils get to the ends because the ends die faster and breakage starts there.
For styling, there are different styling products like curling puddings and creams. Sometimes, I skip the styling creams and just twist with the leave in conditioner in my hair. My go to style is a twist out! I like the definition it gives. Depending on the curl pattern you want, you can do big twists or small twist. Also depends on the length of your hair. When my hair was really short, I couldn’t do big twists even if I wanted to. So after twisting, I allow my hair air dry. I hardly ever use heat for my hair. I mostly twist at night and just sleep with a satin bonnet or scarf over my hair. It’s usually dry by morning. To unravel, I rub some oil on my hands, and unravel the twists gently. Also depending on what look you are going for, you can fluff out your hair. If you want a more defined style and not just a fro, you can use bobby pins or hair assesories to style.
The most important lesson to learn in the natural hair journey is to enjoy the journey! Rock your hair at various lengths! I certainly have! Don’t be in a hurry for your hair to grow. I loved my twa (teenie weenie afro) and I even miss it sometimes. I love my new length and I am not in competition with any other naturalista. We all have hair crushes and hair goals but every hair has its pace, it’s texture and its love language that it responds to. Learn to speak your hairs love language.
As always, I love to read from you. Drop a line or two. I’m still learning, I don’t claim to know it all. Let’s chat ladies, what are your secret potions and lotions? Lol! No excuses o, we must try our best to look good! Hugs and kisses

Beauty, Brain and Creativity! The Mr and Miss Kwara International 2014 pageant is set to kick off

Beautiful, brainy and creative? Be a part of the 32 male and female models vying for a crown at the Mr and Miss Kwara International 2014 pageant.
Organized by K.Titans Koncept,  ‎the aim of this pageant is to promote, educate, support the youths in the society and to create a platform for them to discover their potentials, express themselves as they achieve personal growth, professional success etc.

Furthermore, the event is an avenue in reach out to the Kwara Diaspora community and provide a positive space to celebrate our dynamic and rich cultural  heritage and to discover future national personalities such as actors and actresses, models, businessmen and women, artistes but most importantly who are passionate about becoming the best they can be.

Venue: Princess Luxury Hotel (pool side) in Ilorin, Kwara State
Time: December 13, 2014.


Grand prize 
A cash prize of N200,000
A year wardrobe
A year spa treatment
Brand ambassador for peace sanitizer
Grace top fashion shows in Nigeria
Grace front cover of magazines

Tickets
REG: #1000
VIP: #3000
TABLE FOR 5: #20,000

You can get your ticket at the following outlets:
Radio Kwara
Iya Yusuf Restaurant
Bekandims Hotel and Resort 
Princess Luxury Hotel
Alvin Salon (Taiwo) and Alvin Boutique (Tipper garage, Tanke)
Law Restaurant (Beside B.S.S Unilorin)
For more enquiries, contact;
08169606767  08138610172              07030340038
        

Attention All Beauty Entrepreneurs! Take your businesses to a new height! Register for the Hair&Nail Advanced Beauty Training Course

To all beauty entrepreneurs out there, this is what you need to take your careers/business‎es to an all-new height. Spectrum Beauty Academy Nigeria in conjunction with The Lab-Roma Italy is offering you an invaluable opportunity to attend an advanced beauty training course for hair and beauty professionals.
 ‎
The program is open only to established Hair Stylists& Nail Technicians who have been in the business for a maximum of 5 years and who wish to improve their knowledge of Nail Care/Art and Hairstyling.

The program is in two streams
Stream 1: Date: 18th – 23rd October, 2014 
Stream 2: ‎Date: 2nd – 27th November, 2014 (Stream 2)
Time: 9am to 1pm (morning session) 
           2.00pm to 7.00pm (Evening Session)
Venue: Spectrum Beauty Academy; 11 Oduduwa way Ikeja GRA Lagos
What do the Courses entail?
The Fashion Hairstyling Course offers participants an intensive and practical training in Chemistry, Anatomy & Physiology of Hair, using Perms & Relaxers for different hair types, Geometric Cutting Techniques, Colouring, etc.
The Nail Art Course on the other hand trains professionals on the most advanced techniques, use of innovative products and how to create exclusive nail decorations. The course also focuses on the Anatomy & Physiology of the Nails, Structure & Composition of the Nails, Correcting Abnormal Pigmentation, Fungal Infections, Nail Hygiene (Personal/Workplace), UV Gel Techniques, Nail Art, etc.‎
Course Registration Fee: N25, 000 per course 
(Fee is inclusive of training materials, light lunch & Certificate of Proficiency)
Pre-Registration & Payment: ‎
Spectrum Beauty Academy Nigeria, Diamond Bank Plc. 0052906454
SMS your Names, Email, Address & Teller Number to 08091770582 Or Email your Name, Phone Number, Teller Number to: [email protected] immediately to confirm your seats

For more enquiries on Registration, please call: 08189277468, 014543114 or 08091770582

Budding model agency, Beige model management celebrates first year anniversary

Budding model agency, Beige model Management is celebrating her first year anniversary. The journey started with a model search on the 23rd september 2013, where many hopefuls attended but few were chosen.

The chosen models officially signed their one year modelling contract on the 10th october 2013 and had a shoot to herald their presence. Slowly and steadily, the company grew and enjoyed her own deserved recognition and presence both online and other facets.

Today, she has models signed unto her management in three african cities; Lagos,Accra and Port Harcourt. Beige has produced two beauty queens; Miss Tourism South-South Nigeria (Dakoru Williams) and Miss Garden City (Sharon Ozuru) and steady rising models who are carving niches for themselves locally and internationally.

The management’s face: Gozzy Miller and Soibifaa Peniel have been steady and reliable brand ambassadors whilst the Managing Director: Kelvin Michael Mpi could never be a better man for the job.

“At beige we see ourselves as a family, decency and decorum has been our watchword and that has been our staying power amidst all industry’s odds.” Says the Creative Director and Founder, Boyle Daniel Teinye.

Foremost makeup artist, Brownies Adebimpe Adeyi glows in new photo shoot

Foremost Makeup Artist, Adebimpe Adeyi, CEO, Brownies Beauty World is pretty and resplendent in her pre-birthday photo shoot. It’s double celebration for the hardworking beautician. She added a year to her age today and at the same time marking the 9th year anniversary of her makeup business. 

Brownies is an internationally trained professional makeup artist and beauty therapist. A graduate of Business Administration with a PGD in Information Technology; she started as a Model, Catwalk Groomer and Pageant Stylist in 1999, and her passion for beauty and fashion hasn’t dwindled till date.

She has worked with notable designers, Individual and Corporate Bodies. Her repertoire includes; The Nigeria TV fashion show s2008, Aso Ebi Fashion Show in 2009, K12 Fashion Show, Wow Magazine, My funky birthday and BarbieGirls to mention a few.

Ladies, heard about the new anti-rape nail polish?

Four male college students of the North Carolina State University (pictured above) are working on a new nail polish that protects women against sexual assault. It’s called the rape prevention nail polish or the anti-rape nail polish. Now that’s genius.
According to their facebook page, the aim of their company Undercover Colors, is “to invent technologies that empower women to protect themselves. With our nail polish, any woman will be empowered to discreetly ensure her safety by simply stirring her drink with her finger. If her nail polish changes colour, she’ll know that something is wrong.”
Kelly Oxford; a New York times Best Selling Author commended the idea: “This new nail polish that can detect the date rape drug is great if you think women aren’t trying hard enough not to get raped.”
Andrea Grimes, a Senior Political Reporter at RH Reality Check, pointed out on twitter that “Rape prevention nail polish sounds like a great idea but I’m not sure how you’re going to get men to wear it.”
And of course the invention was greeted with enough backlashes one would expect of such sensitive topic. So I got reactions from 3 different twitter users. Their say:
IjeomaOluo: Women raped by loved ones, family members, dates, friends. Women raped as war tactics. You think a polish would help them?
Lindywest: i am not really that into the “rape prevention” nail polish. how about women don’t have to wear a special nail polish and dunk their fingers in every cocktail to not get raped. But “rape prevention nail polish” is the DEFINITION of “looking like you’re helping.” It’s an impractical fix for ONE specific circumstance.
Ryan MacLean: Instead of finding real prevention methods it perpetuates the idea that women should be held responsible for not getting raped.

Meet the winners of the Face of Beige 2014

Mercy Soibifaa Peniel and Miller Michael have emerged winners of the Face of Beige 2014 competition. 
(1)MERCY
SOIBIFAA PENIEL
– This
5.9″ tall ,Dark and Beautiful “African-Model” is one piece to
life’s many beauties.; with the most subtle and charming  voice ever, she
is currently a front-desk personnel to a multinational company; Mercy is a goal
getter and says she needs no man to become successful.. She is admired by many
because of her poise and charms on the runway.

(2)MILLER
MICHAEL-
 A tall
and charming michael stands 6.1″ , he is a 23 years old final year student
of University of Port-Harcourt, studying Microbiology; he sings and wishes to
be the next big thing in modeling across africa. His love for food isn’t very
evident as he loves to exercise as well, his charming runway and photo presence
can never be overemphasized.

MBGN and other beauty pageants should be banned. | By: Etcetera

Every year, thousands of girls compete in various beauty pageants across Nigeria. While the organisers may believe that they are helping our girls to feel “beautiful,” they are also in many other ways causing significant damage to the self-esteem and body perception of other girls. The girl who won may feel as beautiful as the prettiest woman ever created, but what about the girls who didn’t win? How do they feel? I spoke with some past contestants of one of the pageants (the girls that didn’t win) and asked them why they think they didn’t win, and this is what some of them said, “Because I wasn’t pretty enough,” “Because the organisers didn’t like me,” “Because it is a racket and who knows what she has offered,” etc.
Things like this inspire jealousy, low self-esteem, and other self destructive behaviours such as self isolation, social anxiety, eating disorder, drug abuse, personality disorder, bitterness and social phobia among our girls. Beauty pageants in Nigeria should be sanctioned. Where do we draw the line between “beauty pageant” and “prostitution?” These pageant organisers and agencies are doing nothing but exploiting our girls in order to make money. The society is becoming so twisted and our sense of right and wrong is becoming so skewed. You gather politicians and paedophiles to watch girls in G-strings and bikinis wriggling their waists all in the name of making a show for TV. Are the contestants always meant to lie about their beliefs and relationship status in order to get a good score? Have we totally lost sight of what is morally right and wrong?
Beauty contests seem pointless to me. To tell a woman to submit to someone else’s definition of beauty is crazy. So when the contest is over and someone wins, does that immediately make them more beautiful than the rest? Are they more beautiful according to a panel of judges? I think it is a sick idea and the money spent organising these beauty contests can be more useful for other causes.
Beauty pageant has been nothing but degrading and harmful to our women and children. It turns our women into objects to be used and played with. It makes the women that don’t make it through feel bad about their looks and even those that do get through feel like they still have to do something more to look prettier.
These beauty pageants also set false standards about how beautiful women are supposed to look. So, just because a woman is thin with certain looks, it makes them more beautiful? And women that are thick or big can’t be pretty or beautiful? All they have succeeded in saying is that beauty is only skin deep. Well my friend, it isn’t.
Isn’t it bad enough seeing young Nigerian girls forcing eating disorders on themselves just to be perceived as prettier? ‘I am so fat and it is just not healthy’ has become the chorus of every girl on the street. Parents have become very competitive trying to make their daughters more beautiful than their neighbours’ by forcing their children to make unnecessary adjustments to their bodies to look better than their peers.
Now we see six-year-olds having hair extensions, permanent mascara and waxed eyebrows. Do these children really need to be exposed to such things to know that they are beautiful? Do we need our children to think that their looks are judged and if they don’t stand out among their peers, they are not beautiful?
Can a woman ever have a sincere appreciation of her body when the only time she is ever praised for her looks is after hours of preparation with dozens of beauty products? Beauty pageants can only judge what we can see at first glance, and women are so much more than that. The society needs to protect the children from the sick idea of assembling girls in camps and tasking them with over-sexualised dance routines.
These beauty pageants can only ingrain into our women that in order to be beautiful, they need to be skinny, which for some body types is incredibly unhealthy. Sincerely, what is the moral behind these beauty pageant shows? How have they helped the society in general? With sports, we can talk about mental discipline, fitness and advance body control. For all the money that beauty pageants cost to organise, is it really worth it? Of all the things you could expose our girls to, are pageants really the best thing out there?
When you teach people that beauty is only on the outside, it can cause major problems, not only health problems but social, physical and mental problems also. If a beautiful girl enters a pageant and doesn’t win, she may begin to consider herself ugly or fat or too skinny. Beauty pageants create a lot of problems that can affect not only the girl but the people she surrounds herself with.
Women have always demanded respect from men. Not only should they demand it, I think they deserve it. But why make them scamper around in G-strings and bikinis showing off their bodies, knowing that men are going to go “gaga” and lick their lips. I don’t want to sound disrespectful, but can you blame the men? Men will always be men. We can’t change our nature, but you know what we can change.
We can change the fact that our women are naked and competing to be “the most beautiful in the world.” We shouldn’t endorse beauty contest because it brings money to some people. I believe that there are still a handful of women out there that share the sentiment that beauty contests are wrong and give men the wrong idea of what a “true wife” looks like.
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