NATURAL HAIR AND SELF LOVE | ANAS MUNIRA

People don’t get my “obsession” with my natural hair, so when they ask me “will you perm your hair eventually?” and I say never ,they give me the "why the hell not" look

Or when they ask why I “Pamper” my hair so much and I say because it is my hair, they give me the "you are crazy" look

So today let’s talk about what natural hair means to me

We all have different reasons for going natural and when we are finally natural, we all have different relationships with our hair

Personally I take care of my hair as if it were a baby, I try my possible best to give it the attention it needs and yes, I feel guilty when I neglect my hair due to life happenings

So I am “Obsessed” with my hair

I am Obsessed with my natural hair because it is mine, period!

Like everything else it comes from me unadulterated, with its kinks and coils, supposed hardness and unmanageability

I’m obsessed with my natural hair because it has taught me to love myself unapologetically and without conditions

I don’t love it because it’s in vogue or because it is the new norm

I love it because it has taught me to stand for something

It has taught me to believe in something

It has taught me that yes something this amazing comes from me

It has taught me the importance of taking care of me

I’ve learnt to take care of it, nourish it and be attentive to it

Which has made me learn to do so for the rest of me because, if I can do this for a part of me then the rest of me deserves love too

My natural hair defies standards

It defies norms

Hell, it even defies gravity

So I’m learning to defy standards too

I’m learning to break norms too and I’m learning to defy gravity because once I get up, I am not willing to come back down

My natural hair is not unmanageable

It is not only nice when it has a certain shape or when it is curled

My natural hair is beautiful because it can be curly, straight and coily all in one space

It can be whatever it wants to be

And so I’m learning to be whatever I want to be too

It has been deemed impossible, so yea, I’m achieving the impossible

I’m obsessed with my natural hair because if something made you love every inch of yourself without question, wouldn’t you be obsessed with it too?

Wouldn’t you want to care for it?

Wouldn’t you want to listen to its needs and provide them

And wouldn’t you just want the whole world to know how amazing it is.

                                                                                                                Love, Neera.

GroHealthyUK Shea and Coconut Review| BOLU NOELLE

LADIES! ATTENTION!

SO, this weekend, I attended an amazing brunch with GroHealthyUK hosted by FroGirlGinny.

I was invited by the gorgeous Justine who runs social media pages and marketing for the brand.

We sipped tea, talked relationships and had a mini photoshoot, and at the end, I was gifted their amazing Shea and Coconut range.

I was so excited to try the range that I used their Leave In and Smooth Edge edge control that same night.

The leave in instantly nourishes strands-even for my medium to low porosity hair! And the edge control! It's always a task to find an edge control that doesn't dry out your edges, leave flakes and that actually controls your edges right? Well I've done it!

This is the real MVP. It slick down my edges leaving them conditioned at the same time, which frankly I thought was impossible. Soft sleek edges are possible with Gro Healthy.

I also used the Curling Custard and was pleasantly surprised to find that it worked in a number of seconds and had an incredible hold that lasted overnight and beyond. For my coarser hair texture, this can be hard to find, and I am so pleased.

The Shea and Coconut oil is a blend of Shea Butter with Jojoba, Coconut, Argan, Avocado and Olive oils. Its such a smooth and light blend which doesn't leave your hair greasy or weighed down. It can be used in tiny amounts to nourish your strands. It can also be used when bae gives you a scalp massage!

Another thing I love about the brand is that, as the name says, all the ingredients in their products are clean and help the hair to really grow healthy.

AND CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE SMELL?

Coconut, tropics, holidays, love..

All I can say is that when you have big bold hair, its great when it can smell as great as it looks.

So I give this range the thumbs up! It's affordable, the ingredients are great and it actually works!

Hope this helps!

Bolu Noelle

x

YOU ARE ENOUGH | ANAS MUNIRA

You are Enough

We’ve all felt incomplete at some point in our lives

We have felt like we didn’t fit according to someone else’s standard

Scratch that we have been told we don’t fit

We were either too dark or not fair enough

Too big or not skinny enough

Too loud or too quiet

Too opinionated or too timid

We are constantly being moulded into some sort of perfection and when we do not achieve it we feel like there is something wrong with us

That there is something in us that need to be fixed because why we don’t we fit

Why don’t we look like what they say is pretty

There must be something wrong with us

Well I’m here to tell you

There is nothing wrong with you

Your brokenness is perfect

Your complexion is perfect

Your sassiness is perfect

Whatever you are is perfect

You are beautiful just as you are

You are amazing with your flaws and your imperfections

Please know this and please believe it because no matter how much you change you will never be perfect for them

Once you begin to make changes according to some standard set by others

There will always be something to change

When you fix your size, your face will be a problem

When you fix your face, your skin colour will be a problem

And when you fix that, your attitude is the problem

There will always be something to fix because they want perfection and you are not meant to be perfect

You are meant to be beautifully flawed

You are meant to exude beauty in your imperfection

What they see as broken is what makes you unique

And your uniqueness is your power

Be you according to what you want

Be you according to what you think

Be your own kind of perfect

Be whatever you want to be but please do it because that is what you want and not what somebody tells you is beautiful or is the norm or is acceptable

You are Enough As You Are.

                                                                                                   Love, Neera.

LET'S TALK BODY SHAMING | ANAS MUNIRA

 

So Body Shaming,

 

Coming from Ghana where talking about a person’s body size or weight is done without thought or care for the person’s feelings, Body Shaming really isn’t a “thing”.

 

Calling someone fat or skinny is merely describing them, When it is done in a teasing manner you are simply encouraging them to lose weight or add more flesh. Yep you just can’t win in this war of the perfect body size.

 

But I digress,

 

This post is to draw attention to what you do to a person when you body shame them.

 

We need to understand what it does to a person, to their confidence, their self-esteem and their psyche.

You are probably wondering how your “little” comment is having such a huge effect but the thing is aside the fact that it is just rude and insensitive you do not know what someone may be going through at the time of your comment.

You do not know how the person is feeling, they might be battling insecurities or trying to be more confident and your comment just might send them spiralling .

Understand that your comments tear at something deep inside of a person, each time you say something negative about a person, a little part of them falls off until gradually the person feels worthless, unattractive and undeserving of love.

And even though we are responsible for how others affect us, as humans we are fragile beings so if for the most part of your life you have felt like you are not beautiful enough, too skinny, not skinny enough or that you just don’t fit some standard of beauty.

Then yes, someone’s “little” comment can drive your deeper down the self-loathing hole.  

Please understand this and know it is never a good thing to make people feel bad about themselves even if body shaming is not a “thing” where you come from.

And if you do not have anything nice or positive to tell someone when you meet them please be silent and leave them be

Let us all strive to uplift one another and Love ourselves most of all because only then can we love those around us.

                                                                                                             Love, Neera.