Posts
My Hair Regimen
A few days ago, I was heading to Nobu for my friends engagement party when I was stopped by this uber-chic glam statuesque model-type woman. She stared at my hair for a few seconds and asked me, “What do you use on your hair that it’s so shiny and long?”. I immediately advised her on how to get shiny hair and wanted to make a post about it.
1) The first thing I always recommend is not washing your hair often. I have very long hair, (all the way down the bottom of my back) and I only wash my hair once or twice a week. Washing your hair often will strip it of its natural oils, and leave you with dry, stringy hair.
2) The second thing I do is every night massage my scalp. Yes, I massage my scalp (and face for that matter-but that’s a different post) for 5 minutes every single night. Why? You ask. Massaging your scalp for 5 minutes will increase blood flow to your scalp-and therefore increase growth for long lustrous locks.
3) Coconut Oil-I am addicted to this stuff. But make sure you buy Pure, Organic Unrefined Coconut oil. I often add coconut oil and sesame oil to my massage routine.
4) Hair products-As I’ve said before I never ever use any product with Sulfates in it (stuff that makes your shampoo lather). That stuff will leave you with very un-healthy hair. I only use Aubrey Organic or Giovanni hair products which have absolutely no chemicals.
5) Vitamins. I am a vitamin addict. I know how effective they are on hair. I am not a Doctor and in no way am I advising you to take the supplements I take. But these are my supplements and they work for me: MSM, Multi-vitamin, Borage Oil, Omega 3 Oils (fish oils), Zinc, and a B-multi.
6) I always sleep on a silk pillow cover. I find that my hair is still incredibly shiny 4 days after getting it done.
I hope this helps.
Belleza!
It’s been a while since I’ve posted. Before the New Year began, I suffered a terrible loss and have been dealing with it. I’ve gotten some very nice e-mails and I really appreciate them. Anyway, the first thing I would like to do is wish you all a Happy New Year. (I know I’m late but hey, better late than never.) Second I would like to let you guys know about Thalia’s new book titled Belleza. I just started reading it this morning and am so excited about it. Thalia gives some great make-up advice as well as admitting her own make-up blunders. I absolutely love it. Buy it! (Or you can get it from the library like I did.)
Smell Like Sex Baby
Last week a good friend of mine sent me Philosophy’s The Ultimate Diet.
It’s a collection of Philosophy three in one, 8oz Cinnamon scented Shower gel & Bubble bath; 8oz shimmer Body lotion, and lip shine. I am a huge fan of Philosophy so I was really excited. That night, my boyfriend and I were headed to my fave restaurant so I decided to try on my new collection. I lathered on the shower gel. Oh my god!!!!! It smells good enough to eat (but make sure you don’t). Then I applied the lotion all over my skin-again sooooooooooooo yummy. And then I moisturized my lips with the lip shine. When I walked into my boyfriend’s car, he was on his phone. But he quickly turned to me and began to sniff. “Wow,” he said smiling “you smell incredible.” Now driving to the restaurant, he was all over me. During every stop sign and red light I was being kissed and hugged and he would not stop telling me how great I smelled. It was amazing. Needless to say, I had a wonderful night. At first I attributed it to my new sexy haircut but then I did some research. Here’s what I found:
According to scientists, the most arousing smell for men is cinnamon buns. In a study at The Smell & Taste Research Foundation in Chicago, scientists tested more than 200 smells to find out which ones aroused men the most -- and cinnamon won. "We discovered that smelling cinnamon increased the flow of blood to the penis, helping him stay aroused," says study leader Dr. Alan Hirsch.
Hmm……**heading to sephora.com and purchasing 100 more of The Ultimate Diet***
It’s a collection of Philosophy three in one, 8oz Cinnamon scented Shower gel & Bubble bath; 8oz shimmer Body lotion, and lip shine. I am a huge fan of Philosophy so I was really excited. That night, my boyfriend and I were headed to my fave restaurant so I decided to try on my new collection. I lathered on the shower gel. Oh my god!!!!! It smells good enough to eat (but make sure you don’t). Then I applied the lotion all over my skin-again sooooooooooooo yummy. And then I moisturized my lips with the lip shine. When I walked into my boyfriend’s car, he was on his phone. But he quickly turned to me and began to sniff. “Wow,” he said smiling “you smell incredible.” Now driving to the restaurant, he was all over me. During every stop sign and red light I was being kissed and hugged and he would not stop telling me how great I smelled. It was amazing. Needless to say, I had a wonderful night. At first I attributed it to my new sexy haircut but then I did some research. Here’s what I found:
According to scientists, the most arousing smell for men is cinnamon buns. In a study at The Smell & Taste Research Foundation in Chicago, scientists tested more than 200 smells to find out which ones aroused men the most -- and cinnamon won. "We discovered that smelling cinnamon increased the flow of blood to the penis, helping him stay aroused," says study leader Dr. Alan Hirsch.
Hmm……**heading to sephora.com and purchasing 100 more of The Ultimate Diet***
That Pregnant Glow
I have three friends that are pregnant right now. All three of them are in the latter stage of their pregnancies and their excuse for leaving their house with curlers in their head, stained clothes and an overall disheveled appearance is that they are pregnant and everything goes down hill once you’re pregnant. Well that’s no excuse. A woman should look stunning all the time! I believe if you look good, you’ll feel good.
Have you guys taken a look at Halle Berry and Christina Aguilera and Jennifer Lope lately? These women are making pregnant women the new sex symbols.
Wow, they look out of this world gorgeous!! All three of them are in the latter stages of pregnancy and show no sign of slowing down. Please don't make the excuse that they have stylist, and hair people. I'm not saying to walk out of your house with a $100,000 gown, and $1000 hair dos. What I am saying is just because you are bringing a new life into this world, doesn't mean you have to forget about taking care of yourself. I I believe all pregnant women should take a look at them and aspire to look fab all the time.
Have you guys taken a look at Halle Berry and Christina Aguilera and Jennifer Lope lately? These women are making pregnant women the new sex symbols.
Wow, they look out of this world gorgeous!! All three of them are in the latter stages of pregnancy and show no sign of slowing down. Please don't make the excuse that they have stylist, and hair people. I'm not saying to walk out of your house with a $100,000 gown, and $1000 hair dos. What I am saying is just because you are bringing a new life into this world, doesn't mean you have to forget about taking care of yourself. I I believe all pregnant women should take a look at them and aspire to look fab all the time.
New York New York!!!!!
I’m originally from South Jamaica Queens but I’ve been living in Manhattan for the last five years. There are no words to describe the love that I have for the city: the people, the stores, the vendors on the street who sometimes have the cutest things, and my all time favorite, jogging in central park during the spring. There is no place like New York, and I’m so happy to be in the midst of it all. This is just a random thought since I had about 3 seconds before I went to sleep. What do you love about New York?
Check it out!
As many of you know Atoosa Rubenstein is my idol. I love how she’s not afraid to take risk and she goes where her heart tells her.
Anyway, she has her own youtube channel and I wanted you guys to take a look.
http://www.youtube.com/user/AlphaKitty
I’ve also posted one of the videos on her channel:
Anyway, she has her own youtube channel and I wanted you guys to take a look.
http://www.youtube.com/user/AlphaKitty
I’ve also posted one of the videos on her channel:
I LIKE IT RAW
I don’t know why it has taken me so long to post. School, work, and just plain old life have had me so busy. But, I wanted to turn you girls on to something that I think can benefit you. I have been doing it for the last three days and I already feel the difference. I would like to give you girls a little history first: My mother suffered from cancer three times. The third time the cancer spread and her situation was meek. The Doctors were recommending some serious treatment but she decided not to go that route. She opted to do alternative therapy, and nine years later, my mother has no sign of cancer and is in better health than her 26 year old daughter.
Recently I’ve been feeling incredibly fatigued and just all around miserable. On Sunday I saw my mom and for the first time, I really took a good look at her. She’s a stunning woman, well into her fifties and looks no older than 35. She barely has a wrinkle on her beautiful olive skin, always has energy and in truth is in way better shape than her….26 year old daughter. Plus she cured herself from cancer! I decided that I would stop being lazy and embark on her diet. I ran to the local Korean fruit market. (I can’t afford organic veggies.) and bought every single vegetable I could buy.
I haven’t explained my mother’s therapy yet. What my mom does is eat raw food. I’m not talking about raw meat or anything like that. No, I’m talking about raw veggies. Apparently when food is cooked, it looses not only its nutritional value but the enzymes that help digest the food. So she has been eating raw veggies for the last few years and is in the best health of her life. So now I’ve been trying her diet. It’s incredibly hard. Raw veggies are not the best. The first day of the diet I felt like crap. But today I woke up feeling better; so much better, I decided to post my first blog in 2 months. This diet isn't easy though. I’m a girl who always enjoys a hearty steak and grilled chicken. I also love going to restaurants but not many do raw foods so I’ve been staying in and learning to adapt to this new diet. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think I could be as strict about this diet as my mom. But I’m trying it and plan to do so for the next two weeks. I’ll keep you updated.
Thanks for continuing to check my blog, although I don’t post as much as I should.
Recently I’ve been feeling incredibly fatigued and just all around miserable. On Sunday I saw my mom and for the first time, I really took a good look at her. She’s a stunning woman, well into her fifties and looks no older than 35. She barely has a wrinkle on her beautiful olive skin, always has energy and in truth is in way better shape than her….26 year old daughter. Plus she cured herself from cancer! I decided that I would stop being lazy and embark on her diet. I ran to the local Korean fruit market. (I can’t afford organic veggies.) and bought every single vegetable I could buy.
I haven’t explained my mother’s therapy yet. What my mom does is eat raw food. I’m not talking about raw meat or anything like that. No, I’m talking about raw veggies. Apparently when food is cooked, it looses not only its nutritional value but the enzymes that help digest the food. So she has been eating raw veggies for the last few years and is in the best health of her life. So now I’ve been trying her diet. It’s incredibly hard. Raw veggies are not the best. The first day of the diet I felt like crap. But today I woke up feeling better; so much better, I decided to post my first blog in 2 months. This diet isn't easy though. I’m a girl who always enjoys a hearty steak and grilled chicken. I also love going to restaurants but not many do raw foods so I’ve been staying in and learning to adapt to this new diet. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think I could be as strict about this diet as my mom. But I’m trying it and plan to do so for the next two weeks. I’ll keep you updated.
Thanks for continuing to check my blog, although I don’t post as much as I should.
MY NEW LOVE
Since I've been out for a while, I thought I would start with a hair post.
My friend Monica is one of the most beautiful girls I know. Not only is she breathtaking, but she has the most incredible hair you will ever see. Her locks are a rich chestnut brown, always full of volume and with so much shine. About a month ago, we were discussing our hair regimen. Much to my surprise she uses the same Aubrey products that I do but she introduced me to a new one:
Camela oil is incredibly popular in Japan. I was first introduced to the oil by one of my favorite books Passport to Beauty, written by celebrity makeup artist and founder of the Global Goddess line Shalini Vadhera. In the book she writes:
“In the past, the secret of the Japanese Geisha and there smooth, flawless skin is camellia oil. White camellia nut oil, used for centuries in Asia, contributes its moisturizing, conditioning, nourishing and softening benefits to the skin. Camellia Oil gives the skin a texture and glow unmatched by any other skin care product. A special formulation for helping to eliminate wrinkles after giving birth, revitalizing hair growth, and in treating burns. It helps to restructure the skin and strengthen nails. It is one of the most rapidly absorbed oils making it an excellent choice as facial oil.”
Apparently Camelia Oil has an incredibly high concentration of oleic (almost 82% of its fatty acid compositions), a mono-unsaturated Oemga-3 fatty acid and other essential fatty acids such as Omega-6 Linoleic acid. Its Oleic acid composition is the highest among all natural oils. The Oleic acid is responsible for beautiful skin and shiny hair.
Buy this conditioner. I’ve been using it for the last few weeks at the Dominicans and everyone has complimented me on how amazing my hair looks. Again, NO SULFATES AT ALL IN THIS CONDITIONER-you know how much I hate those.
My friend Monica is one of the most beautiful girls I know. Not only is she breathtaking, but she has the most incredible hair you will ever see. Her locks are a rich chestnut brown, always full of volume and with so much shine. About a month ago, we were discussing our hair regimen. Much to my surprise she uses the same Aubrey products that I do but she introduced me to a new one:
Camela oil is incredibly popular in Japan. I was first introduced to the oil by one of my favorite books Passport to Beauty, written by celebrity makeup artist and founder of the Global Goddess line Shalini Vadhera. In the book she writes:
“In the past, the secret of the Japanese Geisha and there smooth, flawless skin is camellia oil. White camellia nut oil, used for centuries in Asia, contributes its moisturizing, conditioning, nourishing and softening benefits to the skin. Camellia Oil gives the skin a texture and glow unmatched by any other skin care product. A special formulation for helping to eliminate wrinkles after giving birth, revitalizing hair growth, and in treating burns. It helps to restructure the skin and strengthen nails. It is one of the most rapidly absorbed oils making it an excellent choice as facial oil.”
Apparently Camelia Oil has an incredibly high concentration of oleic (almost 82% of its fatty acid compositions), a mono-unsaturated Oemga-3 fatty acid and other essential fatty acids such as Omega-6 Linoleic acid. Its Oleic acid composition is the highest among all natural oils. The Oleic acid is responsible for beautiful skin and shiny hair.
Buy this conditioner. I’ve been using it for the last few weeks at the Dominicans and everyone has complimented me on how amazing my hair looks. Again, NO SULFATES AT ALL IN THIS CONDITIONER-you know how much I hate those.
Sorry
I can't believe it's been a month since I've updated my blog. Let me begin my apologizing. Due to schoolwork, and relationship issues, I have had a huge case of writer's block, but I'm back. I'll be posting this week. Thanks for the very nice e-mails. It really meant a lot.
My Person of the Week
One of the reasons I started this blog is because I wanted to profile women who I think are exceptional. I am hoping to do this every week (but truth-be-told Dominican_Enigma’s schedule does get little nuts so it may be every other week or every other month lol).
The woman I want to profile is owner of my favorite salon Reaction. Her name is Chela Polanco. One of the reasons I wanted to profile her is I know that many of us women, go to the salons and beyond getting our hair done we never get to know the person behind our “do." Chela’s story truly fascinated me.
Chela came to the United States at sixteen years old from the Dominican Republic. Upon her arrival, she knew she wanted a better life for herself and for her
family than the Bronx apt they lived in. She quickly learned English and after high school enrolled in NYC’s Baruch College-graduating with a Bachelors in Computer Science. Upon graduating, she became a computer programmer working in upstate New York.
However, at this time Chela had gotten married and was working very far from her home in the Bronx, and the money as a programmer wasn’t that great. She quit the computer programmer job hoping to start her own restaurant or software company. (Don’t you love an ambitious woman?) But alas, both plans fell through. Then her sister who was a hairdresser told her that she needed to sell her fledgling salon and Chela quickly took over. She quickly changed everything in the salon around, from the decorum, adding flat screen televisions and a sectional couch to removing the cheap damaging products and adding proven quality ones. If you go to Chela’s salon, you will notice all of her products are pretty high-end. You see Chela says that she doesn’t want to just “do” your hair; she wants to make sure your hair is 100% healthy so that you can come back and bring your friends. When Chela does something, she makes sure she does it right.
Chela says that one misconception that many people have is that the blow-dryer can damage the hair. She claims that is false. She believes that the blow-dryer combined with the right products can lead to much healthier and longer hair.
One of the reasons I love Chela’s salon is because many of my friends do not use a relaxer on their hair and I’ve seen many other Dominican salons refuse to work on them. Not so at Chela’s salon. She welcomes everyone, and they all leave-incredibly satisfied.
Chela Polanco -my Person of the Week.
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