5 curly hair tips.

To all those curlies out there… it can be hard to manage our crazy yet beautiful hair. But curls don’t need to be a beautiful nightmare! Here are my 5 curly hair tips to help you manage your mane.

1. Sleep with a satin pillowcase or scarf. 

Now, you may have heard of this tip – it is sleeping with a silk or satin pillowcase to reduce friction and therefore causing less frizz when you wake up in the morning. Personally, I use a silk pillowcase as I prefer having more freedom to move around without the scarf falling out of my hair! It may be more expensive to purchase a silk or satin pillowcase, but I promise this is an investment that will last a VERY long time!

2. Find a product that works for your hair type.

Everyone’s curl pattern in different, so different products will work for different people. The best thing to do it try a variety from the drugstore – a cream, a gel, a mousse, a spray. That way you can find out which product works for your curls without spending lots of money on a high end product that might not be the best for your curls.

Also, working out what your curl type and texture is can also help you find the best product. For example, less course curl types can be easily weighed down by some products and other products may not be enough to reduce frizz and hold the curls. Its just about trial and error to find the best product.

3. Product cocktailing is key.

You may already be familiar with this term, but it basically means that you mix 2 or more products to meet your specific curly hair needs. Often mixed are leave in conditioners and another styling product (such as a gel or a cream) to ensure moisture and hold.

4. Detangle with a wide tooth comb, particularly when wet. 

Skip the brush and just detangle hair with a wide tooth comb or your fingers. Its even better if you just do this when your hair is wet rather than dry. Using a wide tooth comb doesn’t disrupt the curl pattern as much as a brush, so why not give it a go?

5. Stop comparing your curls to others.

This one is a biggie, but it is so simple. Its just to love your own curls and not compare them to other people – everyone is different, so embrace it!

Do you have any curly hair tips? Help a curly girl out and leave them in the comments below! 

Why a social media detox may be just what you need…

In today’s society it can be difficult to love your true self when you are constantly surrounded by pressures and expectations often rooting from social media. Although I first got social media to contact my friends, I soon felt that it became a burden and a challenge to fit in with the latest trends and come across as ‘cool’. I can certainly say that I felt the heavy weight from the competition of social media and I was more than happy to leave that all behind. However, how can you delete social media when it plays such an important role in our lives?

Its true when they say that ‘comparison is the thief of joy’ and I think we can all relate to this in some way. It difficult to love yourself when you see how successful or beautiful the next person is, and I certainly felt like I was knowingly hurting my self esteem when I spent hours on Instagram scrolling through stunning pictures and wondering why I was not like that.

The truth is that people only post their best lives on social media platforms, and why wouldn’t you – we all want to make a good impression and put forward the best version of ourselves! You just have to learn to take this with a pinch of salt – no one is going to voluntarily show their morning face!

For me, I felt that I needed a break… and a long one too! I made the decision to delete my Instagram account and Pinterest. I also got rid of snapchat (which was difficult at the time!) Despite feeling very lost for the first few weeks and feeling like I had no real contact with anyone, it began to get better. I actually did this detox just before I left for Costa Rica – this really helped as I didn’t have much internet connection there anyway so I did not feel the need to check my phone constantly. In fact, in Costa Rica, the idea of creating this blog was born although I didn’t put it into practice until a few weeks ago!

Having this change of scenery for a few weeks and the lack of social media helped me to feel more grounded and free. I felt like I did not have to conform to stereotypes or constantly try and be ‘perfect’. I could just be content with myself. Remember, its often better when no one knows EXACTLY what is going on in your life, it offers you a great sense of privacy.

At first I felt that I would be judged for being ‘out of date’ since I didn’t have social media. However, people just seemed to accept this choice I had made and some even congratulated me and said that they wanted to do the same!

I still don’t have any social media and it is almost 9 months later! I definitely have not missed it, but I am tempted to start afresh and try again – but definitely limit my time and not let things get to me so much!

From this social media detox process I have learnt that I don’t need social media to feel ‘validated’. It was causing more harm than good and I felt a lot more freedom when I got rid of it. Although I may not have the constant contact with everyone, I have what I need and I am still easily able to connect with my friends and family.

If you are wanting to detox from social media but unsure whether you should do it… I would recommend to go for it, it doesn’t need to be permanent but you may find that a break from social media is just what you need!

My curly hair journey!

Hello everyone, today I’m going to share my curl hair journey!

Lets start at the beginning… I never used to have curl hair. In fact, my hair was pretty much straight and blonde (I even used to have bangs!) Gradually, as I got older my hair texture changed and it became more prone to frizz and it became quite voluminous!

By the time I was 11(ish) my hair was loose waves – still very frizzy and big. It was quite unmanageable since no one else in my family had the same hair texture as me – they all had straight hair or loose waves. I made the mistakes of brushing it daily and washing with sulphate shampoos and conditioners – 2 huge curly hair rules that I broke! No one really knew how to deal with my hair and to be honest, at that age, I didn’t really care. I just tied it into a frizzy pony tail and let it be. My friends even used to call me ‘squirrel’ because my hair was so frizzy!!

My hair began to get curlier and curlier so by the time I was 15 I would categorise my hair in the 3a curls category. I was still using sulphate shampoos and conditioners but thanks to the tips from curly haired youtubers like ‘Luhhsetty’ and ‘Sayria Jade’ I began to explore products such as curl creams to help moisturise my hair and control frizz. My first product I used the bumble and bumble curl cream which I got for my 15th birthday.

I also chopped a lot of hair off when I was 16 – I went from having long frizzy and undefined curls to having shorter (about shoulder length) LESS frizzy and more manageable ringlets.

Lets fast forward to today – I am 17 and I have 3b ringlets. My curly hair journey didn’t include any relaxer or keratin horror stories (I cannot say that I didn’t  consider it though) which I am thankful for – it was much more about me managing my hair better to keep it in good condition. Now, I wash with sulphate free shampoos and conditioners and use a satin pillowcase to preserve my curls while I sleep – these have made a huge difference! I’m happy with where I am with my hair now, and I’m even considering cutting it a little to add some layers! Curls are a huge part of my identity and I am so glad that I embraced them instead of fighting them!

Pictures on their way soon, I promise!!

Let me know your curly hair journey in the comments! Any tips for curly girls and guys out there? 

Welcome!

Hi everyone, and welcome to my blog!

I finally have started this blog, focusing on lifestyle, hair and fashion.

Let me tell you 10 things about myself:

1. I am currently taking my a levels – eww 😦  I am studying biology, psychology, and geography.
2. I have super curly hair. I would say that my curls fall into the 3b category.
3. I HATE potatoes, but I actually love sweet potato!
4. I used to be scared of the dark.
5. I’m actually not that scared of spiders, I’m just a bit grossed out by them tbh!
6. I am scared of tight spaces though, and when I was little I outright refused to go in elevators because I was scared that I would be trapped!
7. My favourite food is spaghetti bolognese.
8. I LOVE to travel, I find it so exciting and experiencing new cultures is amazing!
9. My favourite place I have visited is Barbados! ❤
10. It has taken me far to long to start up this blog, but I am looking forward to posting and sharing my experiences. You can expect posts on travel, beauty, fashion and lifestyle.

Please stick around and I hope that you become a regular visitor!

Let me know some facts about yourself in the comments so we can get to know each other better!