I made a promise to some people (who I will not name) that I would not share my secret to the definition of the curls that I have in my short hairstyle. As a follower of this blog, you know that I have naturally curly hair. Although it is curly, my curls are never defined unless I use the help of this thing here!
Some of you already know about this awesome item that you can purchase at beauty supply stores. I’ve used this sponge for over 4 months now and it has simplified my whole hair routine.
How do I use it you ask?
First, I start by co-washing my hair and sealing with a leave-in. After adding in the leave in, before my hair starts to dry, I rub the sponge all over my head in a clockwise motion. This takes only a few seconds. I seal again with a light oil…then I bounce.
Excuse my dry skin. LOL. The weather changed recently and I’m fighting a dry skin battle that includes moisturizer that is failing me. LOL
Here are some YouTube videos showing how to use the Sponge. I’ll also provide a link that will show you where to purchase one!
I noticed that a few months ago, WordPress made an attempt to pull funds from my credit card regarding a payment for my hosting. Becuase I changed my credit card changed, they were not able to pull. Fleurdecurl.com did not work for almost 3 months and I had no idea until yesterday. This was the moment when I realized that I hadn’t blogged in a while. My life has been so busy for the past few months. I’ve made a lot of changes in the progression of my career, I’ve been doing well in school and I’ve made a lot of new friends who have been taking a lot of my time. I’ve also decided to grow my hair out and have been wearing it in a wash and go for the past few months as well. The Fleurdecurl.com Facebook and Instagram pages are still active and now the blog is back in stride again.
I guess I ought to tell you what’s been going on with me:
I’m a school teacher now. This is the most exciting news that I have for you. This July, I was offered a job to teach 5th and 6th graders at a local private/Christian school. I accepted this offer because I’ve been an undercover educator my whole life. There were a few things that did not make it official for me back then, but when I received the offer, I decided to take advantage of this opportunity because I feel that this opportunity was ordained for my life. I’m actually three weeks in and I enjoy my job. I wake up in the morning ready to go to work and I want to give my students everything that I received from my best educators and then some. I’ve been working really hard to take care of my students and I will go into detail more about these ventures in future blogs.
2. I am doing well in graduate school.I’ve completed a year of my MLIS degree. I am enjoying the curriculum, instructors and my fellow students as well. I’ve actually closed out a year of study with a 3.9 GPA. I’ve made all As in my classes, but because I made an A- in one of the classes, it dropped my GPA to a 3.9 because of the quality points system that my University participates in. I’ve been invited to join an honors society but declined because of my time restraints. Hopefully, I obtain the scholarships that I applied to in the Spring. I will keep you guys posted on if I obtain some of these scholarships or not.
3. I was offered a part-time job at the Public Library. I am still working on this and have accepted the offer. Since this is a city job, I have to go through a rigorous background and health check so I will keep you posted on what’s going on with this offer.
4. I’m growing out my hair. I did not have time to drive to New Iberia every other Saturday to keep my short hair short. I decided to grow out my hair to a certain length. I am not growing it long like it was before though because I do not want to worry about the constant maintenance of twisting and detangling. I have an afro puff now and will take pictures for you. This afro puff is definitely a throw back to 2010 when I first big chopped.
5. I haven’t forgotten about y’all. Leaving a job that you worked for 12 years took a lot of time out of my schedule, on top of the other things that I’ve been working on. I have not forgotten about my subscribers and I am excited just to say that you guys are still with me. I am thinking about covering the Baton Rouge Natural Hair Expo in November and if I do, you know I will have a giveaway in store for you guys. I am also working on another one of September to “Welcome Myself” back to the blog. LOL. Stay tuned.
Until Next Time,
BTW, I love the Chucks. I am currently building my Chuck collection. LOL.
I get a lot of questions regarding the specific makeup that I use on a daily basis, as well as makeup that I use when I wear a complete face. Because of that, I’ll share my beauty favorites with you. I purchased all of these items with all of my own savings (lol) and am just sharing with you in case you want to purchase these brands, but do not want to spend your hard earned money on it without completing research first.
Magnolia Makeup:
You guys already know how much I adore Magnolia Makeup. I love the Ultra Matte Lipsticks and am starting a little collection here. These are my go to lipsticks. Any recent photo that you’ve seen on me on Instagram most likely has me in a Magnolia Makeup Ultra Matte Lipstick. (Did I tell you they have samples for sale on the website as well?)
I also love Plantain Powder and Soul Glo metallic bronze illuminating powder. I use Plantain for my highlight…I actually use it for ‘baking’. It works better (to me) than Ben Nye Banana powder and I adore it. Every Magnolia Makeup product that I have is very long lasting…very high quality…and very loved (by me of course).
Lancome:
You guys know I adore Lancome. I have a whole lot of Lancome products that I’ve collected. My two favorites are the La Base Pore Eraser and the Teint Idole Ulta 24H Makeup in 550 Suede (c). The Pore Eraser makes an awesome primer for my nose area—where I have pore issues—and it keeps my foundation smooth and beautiful. The Teint Idole Ultra 24H Makeup is also awesome. It is very long lasting—last me a complete 9 hour work day. I only see bouts of oil around my nose around the 6th or 7th hour of wear.
L.A. Girl:
I love the L.A. Girl PRO.conceal HD concealer in Orange Corrector GC990. I have raccoon eyes and hypepigmentation on the sides of my face. I conceal these areas prior to putting my foundation on and it makes a beautiful full coverage finish. Because of that, I do not have to use a lot of foundation but still have a full coverage look. (Post of why I color correct…Click Here)
Tarte:
My new mascara love is the lights, camera, LASHES 4-in-1 mascara from Tarte. It is vegan and does not irritate my sensitive eyes. I”ve been having lots of issues wearing mascara recently because my eyes are sensitive. Ever since I’ve found this, I’ve been able to tolerate wearing mascara.
Oval Makeup Brush:
Oh, this helps so much with blending out my contour. I love it. This also helps me with highlighting and blending out my Soul Glo and Plantain Powder from Magnolia. It’s very easy to use. It cuts my blending time in half. It’s soft…I love it. I have not replaced all of my makeup brushes. But of those specific uses, this brush is BOMB.
Benefit:
Benefit POREfessional Super Mattifying Gel. I love it. I am a primer girl, so I have a lot. The two that I use the most are by Benefit and Lancome. This does what it says…and since I have oily skin, a mattifying primer is perfect for me. I get long mattifying power with this primer and it helps my foundation stay on for long…long wear.
All Other Honorable Mentions:
These items are just awesome but I have not been obsessing about them like the others.
Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Gel
TooFaced Hangover Primer
Marc Jacobs Eye Liner
Milk Makeup Gel Brow Pencil
You know that I have not forgotten about you and think of you guys every day. As you already know, I am a graduate student at Louisiana State University and all of the extra time that I did not have, has been taken by my studies. I am enjoying the work, though. I am learning a whole lot. I cannot wait to embark on my next journey of being a librarian and I feel the momentum rising under me, carrying me until that time.
For the past few months, I’ve worn short hair and I love it. I’ve come under scrutiny for my hair choice though, getting questions daily from friends, coworkers and other people asking when I’ll grow my hair long again because: “when it was long, it was so pretty” or “I like you better with long hair” and “didn’t you go natural to have long hair”? I had no idea that the topic of the length of my hair would bombard me with questions every day. I started to ponder on why were all of these natural girls so concerned with my hair choice. Initially–over 6 years ago–I decided to go natural because I was tired of my hair falling out. The natural progression in that journey was long hair. I grew my hair out for over 5 and a half years. I loved it. I hated it. I always loved short hair styles and faded cuts…flat tops and side parts. One of the things that I always wished that I did when I was transitioning was to actually see a barber and cut my hair into a style. I never did it…until now.
Before
Earlier I talked about how I am carrying a full-time load with work and school and my family and friends. I simply do not have any desire to grow my hair long. I love the lack of maintenance that you need to have short hair–except for getting hair cuts. I love the look of short hair. I see short hair as a way of being feminine without conforming to the stereotypes of femininity. I can be a beautiful woman with long hair or a buzz cut. I feel confident wearing both. I prefer the short hair.
Now…
I am still engaged in a lot of online forums where a lot of new naturals obsess with growing their hair long. A lot of people wonder why I am quiet in these forums. I choose not to speak anymore because my direction is different than theirs and I wish not to discourage them. The passion that I had for natural hair 6 years ago has burned dimly because I’ve been on my journey for almost 7 years. In retrospect, from then, until now, I always knew that I went natural not to have the longest and thickest hair, but to make a life choice that forced me to confront a stigmatized look for black women–natural tresses. I wanted to wear my hair the way that it grows out of my head. I wanted to stop depending on straight hair to define my beauty. I wanted to be a part of the evolving change of beauty standards mandated on not only women but especially black women. I wanted to simply be Kimba. I’m still doing that.
Moral of my story today is…
Going natural or continuing on your natural hair journey should be something that you want it to be. Wearing your hair in its natural state does not mean you have to run a race to have the longest hair. We should not keep trying to admire and uphold long hair standards to make those who cannot grow their hair long or do not wish to do so feel as if they are inadequate or wrong. Remember back to why you went natural…if you went natural because you wanted to represent yourself, remember that. Others are trying to represent themselves as well. Pressure from you to conform only makes their journey that much more difficult.
“Insist on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life’s cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another you have only an extemporaneous half possession. That which each can do best, none but his Maker can teach him.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance
I really wish that people on social media would actually get a life. I don’t usually rant on the blog…or maybe I do… but I’ve had enough with seeing comments made by black women about Gabby Douglas’ edges. After all the collective that we’ve seen for unity in the past few months, some people could not give up coon-ish behavior and allowed their coon tendencies to reveal themselves on social media. I’m not aware if this is because they are jealous of Gabby’s achievements, are ignorant, or are really that superficial to take a few seconds of degrading comments on social media commentary to tarnish the positive accomplishments that Douglas has achieved. Whatever the case may be, if you are supposedly down for the cause, then stop it. Your attempt at comedy by making fun of someone who is accomplishing something makes you look ignorant…therefore making the jokes that you craft in tweets and Instagram memes, on you.
Let me educate you on something. If you sweat, your edges will not lay down. You can have a black beautician carefully style your hair for hours. You can relax your edges until you get chemical burn…but if you are an athlete who is active more times than not, then your edges will not lay. I am certain that the people who are making these comments do not lift anything but a fork and have the time to sit in a salon for hours while doing nothing in between.
I’m only on here ranting because I’ve been hosting this blog since 2011, and I’ve been natural since 2010. I am tired of hearing ignorant comments made by people about something as superficial as hair in an athletic event. If Gabby were modeling for the cover of Vogue, then I wouldn’t be as upset about these comments…but she wasn’t. She was involved in an athletic event that involved constant movement which involves sweating.
These same people expressing outrage about Douglas’ edges were silent when different states were trying to get away with passing discriminatory Voter ID laws or when the Justice Department confirmed everyone’s claims about Baltimore Police targeting black residents. It’s a shame that we sit there and try to mandate beauty standards for people who are actually taking the time to use their talents to make a more diverse world for us to live in. These same mandates that the social media judges are making are the same ones that black women struggle with every day…the same ones that make black women uncomfortable with the hair that they have or the skin color that they were born with.
You may think that these comments are indeed jokes, but they have a deeper context than just that. We can have our opinions about anything and everything, but before you go and try to make fun of someone doing something good, take a look at yourself…take a look at the conditions that black people have in this country right now, and make an educated decision before you conform into coonery by bashing something that someone cannot control.
Fleur De Curl 