Great looks from BoxingKitten. Click on the following links to see their different collections: Summer 2011, Fall 2011, Resort 2010 , Fall 2009 & Spring 2009. Source: Boxing Kitten & Fashion Bomb Daily
Boxing Kitten Fashion
Great looks from BoxingKitten. Click on the following links to see their different collections: Summer 2011, Fall 2011, Resort 2010 , Fall 2009 & Spring 2009. Source: Boxing Kitten & Fashion Bomb Daily
Link of the Day! To die for Loc's
I apologize in advance for this slightly PG-13 image... lol. But her hair is to die for!! I had to share.
Today
I can't believe it's almost October again?! Where did the year go? I have no idea. We seem to be smack bang in the middle of preparing schemes and quotes for clients for pre-Christmas work. Before we know it we'll be racing against the clock to get everyone's sofas, cushions, curtains etc. installed before the 25th December. We've also been working hard finalising our Christmas window displays and our Summer/Christmas online vignette which will go live early November. Gosh I have no idea how we seem to get it all done! Crazy is one word you could probably use to describe life at Black & Spiro.
I thought it would be fun to post a few photos of things I worked on today. The pretty vintage yellow lamp is one I found for a client. We were playing around with a few fabric options today for the shade. The fantastic zebra print wallpaper is one I am using in a sun room for a client {I have been wanting to use this paper for so long}. The pretty blue and white cushion is one we are having made for the shop along with lots more.
I can't forget my last vase of ranunculus for the season which I picked from our garden over the weekend. Good-bye pretty flowers. I can't wait for you to flower again next year!!
That's all from me this week. Short but sweet.
Hope you have a great weekend!
xx
Anna
Fashion Illustrationer - Lula
Images & Content Source: LULA
Artist link found on: Natural Bella
Fun Updo!
1. Braidyour loc's into sections, using 6 or so loc's per braid. Use a rubber band thatmatches your hair color, to secure the end each braid. I always washmy hair the night before I do this style, so it gives my hair a chance todry a bit, before creating this updo.
2. To startthe updo, pull all your braids into a high ponytail. Ialways do a two section ponytail because my loc’s are long and can be heavyin an updo. With a two part pony tail, you make a ponytail withall your loc braids, except the ones that are on the crown/front edges ofyour head. Once you have created your first ponytail, and have adjusted it so it’scomfortable, add the remaining loose braided loc's to your first ponytail, witha second pony tail holder.
3. Onceyou created a ponytail, continuously grabbed a one of your loc braids fromthe bottom of the pony tail and reach it around to the top and tuck it in tothe hair band. Because my loc's are long, I don't need to use hair pins. But ifyou are having problems with getting the braids to stay tucked in, use hairpins to secure each braid that you want to tuck in. Make sure to adjustthe hair pin so it is comfortable. After a while, you will not be able to reachthe headband(s), so when you wrap the braid lock around the bun, tuck the end ofthe braid under the closes loc braid, enough to where you feel the braid issecure, and will not fall out.
4. Onceall the braid loc's have been tucked in, fell around to see if anybraids feel like they are loose or are sticking out; and alsotake time to adjust the bun by moving it around a little bit withboth hands to achieve the bun shape you want. But do not use to muchpressure, or your bun will fall apart. If your loc’s are shorter, you can also puta thin hair net (that matches your hair color) over your loc bun, to make surenone of your braids fall out during the day. To use a hair net - place it overyour bun, and tuck in any loose parts of the net under your bun, and secure itwith a hair pin.
5. Nowthat you have completed your bun, you can add a decorative headband or fancyhair clip to complete the look. Enjoy!
Hello Again
Hello! I'm back again. I thought you might like to see some photos of a beautiful family home I've been working on for the past year or two. As I say to my clients - homes decorated over time always end up being the most beautiful. This house is one of those houses which we have added layer upon layer and to be honest, I could work for these clients for the rest of my life. They are always so happy and kind and thrilled with the things I do for them. It really is an honour to have helped them turn their house into a home which is filled with very special things they love and cherish.
This is their sitting room.
This is their family room and dining area.
And below is a snapshot of the main bedroom.
Next stage is redecorating their son's bedroom and the upstairs sitting room and study nook which we will take our time to work through. Slowly but surely is definitely the way!!
xx
Anna
Therese Olsen - Den of Angels Dolls
The Queen of Africa , The Stargazer , Dark Angel, Lilykoi's Nkiru
*If copying photos to another website, blog or social networking page, please credit my blog as the source of the information and photos. And please give credit to the artist. ~ Thank you
Link of the Day - Versace Spring 2012
"Donatella Versace took to the ocean to inspire her Spring 2012 collection, painting seashells, starfish, seahorses, and fish on a series of dresses and chic separates." - Fashion Bomb
Natural Beauty of the Week - Synethia
Q: What is your hair story? What kind of hair styles have you rocked, before embracing your natural hair?
A: I have had many hairstyles from a press to jerri curls to a perm.
Q: When and why did you decide to start wearing your hair naturally?
A: I have decided to wear my hair naturally in second year of university. I got really tired of my hair and scalp being battered and scared from perm and damaged from the heat and over processing.
Q: Did you have any big fears about going back to your natural texture?A: Going natural was a great accomplishment for me and I have had more joys than fears. I have had chemical in my hair since I was 10 years old and hardly ever knew what my natural hair looked like. Even though I did not transition to my natural hair in its loose state, I was still overjoyed that I made the step.
Q: What are three products you can't live without for nurturing/styling your hair?
A: Lock and twist gel, mango and lime Catcus oil, Dr Bonners Tea Tree Shampoo.
Q: What would you say to someone who's thinking about embracing their natural hair, but scared about being rejected in various parts of their lives?
A: I would say if you believe in your natural hair, confident about it then go for it. I have been rejected many times and because I believe that my hair in its natural state is beautiful, I have won over many into realizing that. Most times these people are unaware and need a little education and guidance. Don't crumble just be confident and strong.
Q: How long have you had a natural hair blog? What has been the most rewarding part of your blogging experience.
A: Jungle Barbie is 8mths and 11 days old. The most rewarding parts of my blogging experience are dispelling the myth that locks are not stylist, inspiring other locked sisters and brothers and sharing my knowledge whether it be hairstyles and or hair care tips.
Q: How can we keep up with you and your journey i.e. blog, twitter, facebook, fotki, tumblr, personal or professional website? (Optional)
A: Blog: http://junglebarbie.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/JungleBarbie1
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jungle-Barbie/155643014486925
Tumblr: http://junglebarbie.tumblr.com/
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/pecadora99
Love & Hate
Love & Hate… Ihad a very eventful morning today. Icame into contact with two strangers – one that that expressed hate and onethat expressed love. Hate Filled Rage:
While I was driving to work, a man was crossing the streetgoing in the same direction that I was driving. I stopped at the stop sign andwatched as the man and his daughter crossed the street going in my samedirection. Suddenly, with out even looking to see of any cars were coming, hestop midway in the street and tried to cross right in front of my moving car.Thankfully I was not driving too fast and was able to slow down to stop as heand his daughter crossed the street. Instead of looking my way and saying thank you (because obviously, youdo not stop in the middle of the street and try to cross into oncoming traffic) he looked at me with completehate and started to yell out at me “You Ignorant #%R*&!” Thankfully I did not hear the end of that statement, because I rolled upmy care window. But by the look of pure hate on his face, he was probably goingtop call me a B*tch or a N*gger (he wasnot of the same race). I usually don’tassume such things, but he had pure hate in his eyes, which was completely irrationallybecause he was in the wrong. My first thought as I drove away, is that they guywas probably already angry about something else and maybe even racist (whoknows…). And most importantly, how could he put his child in danger by crossinginto incoming traffic with out evening looking to see if any cars were comingtheir way. The whole thing completely threw me off guard. And my beautifulmorning, at that moment was ruined by this person irrational hateful reaction towardsme.
Unbiased Love:
After parking my car, I started to work towards the buildingI worked at. A gentleman came to a stopas he saw me and a few ladies on another street walking by. He asked in a verygenuine tone – “How can it be, that all the women in this city are so verybeautiful?” I instantly blushed andsaid I did not know and thank him for the kind compliment. He then said with this beautiful smile andglow on his face “You are welcome beautiful lady.” It warmed my heart thatsomeone would stop their day to give such a beautiful message. And he had sucha look of piece and joy in his face that I knew he was a coming from a goodplace in his heart when he spoke to me.
Two completely different experiences, from two completestrangers. Both of a different culture and age groups. One filled with irrationalhate and one filled with genuine love for others.
Artist - Ana Miralles
Anyone that has followed this blog knows that I love art. I just found some amazing art online today, byComic book artist Ana Miralles. "Ana Miralles (born 16 December 1959; spelled as Ana Mirallèsin France,where her work is well published) is a Spanish comic books artist. After adegree in fine arts, she became an illustrator. In June 2009 Miralles becamethe first woman to win the "Gran Premio del Salón" at the BarcelonaComics Festival (its highest honor)." - Wikipedia
*Please - if you want to copy this art to your site, or social networking page, please credit my blog for the source and the artist for her work. Thank you
Link of the Day! Gorgeous Loc Style
Photographer: Keston Duke
Model: Lenise NuNuu Smith
Makeup: Brettnee MsMichelangelo Nelson
Jewelry: Jessica Dickens — with TwistandCurves NaturalHair and Lenise NuNuu Smith.
Blog Review - Amy the Visionary Diva!
I found this great review of the Naturally Beautiful Hair blog online, and I just want to say thank you sooo much to Amy, aka - Visionary Diva! I appreciate your taking the time to write about my blog, and I am so glad that you found it to be encouraging as you went through the beginning stages of y our natural hair journey.
"It was 11 years ago when I got fed up with the vigorous schedule of being in the shop every week or two getting a new hair style and every 3 months getting a perm. The oiling and wrapping up started to be to much...not to mention the harsh winters that broke my hair off and caused me to become un-be-weave-able!! Extensions led me to a whole other problem that involved my ends breaking and other unhealthy methods of gaining a eye catching hairdo. Enough was enough and I decided it was time to do something different. I can't really remember what I was thinking other than I wanted to "beauty shop tango" to stop. So sitting on my couch, armed with a pair of scissors and a mirror I began cutting my perm out and twisting my hair. I was happy with the out come and have been every since.
What I didn't realize at that time was how hard it was to find magazines or beauty shops willing to aid in maintaining my wonderful locs. As the years went by more hair products came out...some I liked and some that were just awful from the start. In the end most of what I learned came from word of mouth and trial and error. That is until recently!!
Anybody who knows me knows that I am always online and always on the look out for new sites, intriguing articles and art work (just to name a few). The other day while googling random topics and reading random blogs I came across a site that stopped me in my tracks and held my attention for 2 hours. There seemed to be some type of halo glowing over the top of my computer and I was mesmerized.
The site was all about MY hair! Not black hair in general...not permed or straight hair. It was not a site with millions of pictures of different hair styles and a small section on natural hair...no it was all about my beautiful natural hair and titled accordingly (without the my of course). Mentally I was jumping for joy as my eyes danced across the different pages filled with interviews, tips on how to keep my locs looking healthy, and even artwork showcasing and inspired by natural hair. Who knew there was a remedy to that pesky lint situation that so many loc wearer's battle with or that a brush could come in handy!
Besides some very useful information I found the site to be very welcoming and organized for quick reference. There's something about the tone of each piece that lets the reader know how much care goes into the development of the site. This [blog] is a "grab a book and cup of tea" kind of good only it's about Naturally Beautiful Hair!!"
To read more about Amy - see her blog Visionary Diva .
Naturally Beautiful Hair (Blog Review)
posted by Visionary Diva
February 9, 2011 - 3:48pm
"It was 11 years ago when I got fed up with the vigorous schedule of being in the shop every week or two getting a new hair style and every 3 months getting a perm. The oiling and wrapping up started to be to much...not to mention the harsh winters that broke my hair off and caused me to become un-be-weave-able!! Extensions led me to a whole other problem that involved my ends breaking and other unhealthy methods of gaining a eye catching hairdo. Enough was enough and I decided it was time to do something different. I can't really remember what I was thinking other than I wanted to "beauty shop tango" to stop. So sitting on my couch, armed with a pair of scissors and a mirror I began cutting my perm out and twisting my hair. I was happy with the out come and have been every since.What I didn't realize at that time was how hard it was to find magazines or beauty shops willing to aid in maintaining my wonderful locs. As the years went by more hair products came out...some I liked and some that were just awful from the start. In the end most of what I learned came from word of mouth and trial and error. That is until recently!!
Anybody who knows me knows that I am always online and always on the look out for new sites, intriguing articles and art work (just to name a few). The other day while googling random topics and reading random blogs I came across a site that stopped me in my tracks and held my attention for 2 hours. There seemed to be some type of halo glowing over the top of my computer and I was mesmerized.
The site was all about MY hair! Not black hair in general...not permed or straight hair. It was not a site with millions of pictures of different hair styles and a small section on natural hair...no it was all about my beautiful natural hair and titled accordingly (without the my of course). Mentally I was jumping for joy as my eyes danced across the different pages filled with interviews, tips on how to keep my locs looking healthy, and even artwork showcasing and inspired by natural hair. Who knew there was a remedy to that pesky lint situation that so many loc wearer's battle with or that a brush could come in handy!
Besides some very useful information I found the site to be very welcoming and organized for quick reference. There's something about the tone of each piece that lets the reader know how much care goes into the development of the site. This [blog] is a "grab a book and cup of tea" kind of good only it's about Naturally Beautiful Hair!!"
To read more about Amy - see her blog Visionary Diva .
H & M Time
Having our children 7 years apart has worked perfectly for us. I couldn't have done it any other way. However, the big gap does provide some variety...
1 1/2 year old Max loves his visits to Black & Spiro on a Saturday morning so much so that we have to put him on the pink step ladder because otherwise the entire shop would be redecorated {Max style}. He really gets excited about being at the shop.
8 year old Harry on the other hand immensley dislikes our Saturday morning visits to the shop. He says it's boring which it most probably is for him considering I've been taking him in on a Saturday morning since he was little. Notice how slumped he is in the chair at Black & Spiro. He really loathes going to the shop.
I love the contrasts the age gap provides and no doubt by the time Max is Harry's age he too will be completely over our Saturday morning shop visits.
Talking about the kids, I really, really need to spend some time with them. I have been working really hard lately and I need to take a very short break from the blog to have some fun with them.
I'll be back towards the end of next week...not long!!
xx
Anna
Afro Glitz Magazine Project
Check out the Afro Glitz Magazine Project."For "afro" women like me, there's a lack of representation of both appearance and interests in magazines that are marketed towards us. I do not close these magazines feeling empowered, inspired or more knowledgeable than before. Rather than doing absolutely nothing to solve this issue, I vowed to be the change that I wanted to see. I now present to you: The Afro Glitz Magazine Project. We're women of many dreams and talents. We love to create. We love to build. We love to learn. We love to inspire. Afro Glitz will be a magazine for the creatives, beauty lovers, fashionistas, writers, health enthusiasts, science lovers and techie geeks. In addition, this magazine will be a true reflection of its audience, allowing one to submit content to the magazine. Each article will be presented in an artsy, high quality fashion. Here are a couple of examples of how articles would be presented in the magazine:" - Afro Glitz
Giveaway!! Sephora Only Gold For Me Nail Polish
The Naturally Beautiful Blog reached 1000 Subscribers a last month (we are now at 1036! Whoo Hoo!!). As a thank you to everyone who reads this blog, and continues to contribute both here and on Facebook, I am giving away a brand new bottle of Sephora's Only Gold For top coat nail polish. I first tried this polish yesterday, when I went to get my nails done. After getting french tips, I went home and put two layers of the top coat over my nails. I think it came out pretty cute. I liked it so much that I went out today, after work, and brought a brand new bottle to share with one lucky reader. Here are a few more photos that I found online on how you can use the polish -
To enter the contest, follow my blog's Twitter page at FlyLocDiva and "Like" Naturally Beautiful Hair on Facebook. After that, leave a comment replying to this post telling me your twitter screen name, confirming that you are following the blog on both Facebook and Twitter, and how you would use the polish. The winner will be chosen randomly on September 30th at 10 pm. Good luck everyone!!
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