All the HAIRY Details...

WARNING!!! This post contains LOTS OF PICTURES!!!

What's up y'all?!?! Hope you guys missed me while I was away. A lot has happened since we last met and if you're friends with me on Facebook, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Buuut...we'll get to that later.

Anyone that knows me can tell you that I've been recognized by my hair, pretty much all my life. And according to some, it's always been my long lush mane of glory. But honestly, I've only considered it as JUST hair. Of course, I took care of it as best I could...and did a pretty good job if you ask me. But there was never a true attachment to it.

Now, we have been through a lot together...my hair and I. And I really appreciate it for helping me get all the attention that I did. (What??? Everybody likes a little attention sometimes, right?) So, here's a small look back over just the past couple years of me and my favorite looks.

By the way, I didn't have a full relaxer in any of these pics! I quick relaxing my hair, completely, in mid November of 2010. But for about 3 years prior to then, I only relaxed the front half of my head. I know it may sound crazy, but my reasoning was that the front was all that mattered. It's the only part you payed attention to when I pulled it back and was the only area of my head that would get a part for a side swept bang...so...no reason to relax the back...at all.

Unfortunately, a LOT of work went in to achieving the looks above. The time it took me to blow-dry and flat iron or detangle and twist my hair was about 3 hours EVERY SINGLE TIME I did my hair. I just got tired of it! Not to mention having to work with two completely different textures of hair. And I'm not talking about relaxed and natural; I'm talking about natural curly and natural straight.

Sorry for these horrible IPhone pics, but you get my point, right? These pics really don't do it justice. Trust me, it was bad. So, after months of mulling it over, I did something about it.

I GOT IT ALL CUT OFF!!! A really big special thanks goes out to Bridget of the JCPenney Salon in Jonesboro, AR. She took such great care of me and I would recommend her to anyone for anything!

But, I can bet that most of you didn't know that my haircut, initially, looked like this...

But, I started to get a bad feeling about my little "personality piece" and after a conversation with my baby sister, decided to just keep it all even. So, I cut it some more!

AND I LOOOOOVE IT!!!! I couldn't be happier! I really didn't understand what other women meant when they said that they felt liberated after cutting off all of their hair. But, now...I COMPLETELY understand. I feel like that India Arie song, "I Am Not My Hair" personified! Now, all people have to look at, is me! Not my hair, but me. And I think that's what I love most about it.

Of course, it won't be this way forever. As a part of our agreement to cut all of my hair off, I promised my hubby that I'd let it grow back. So, now begins another journey...growing out my teeny weeny fro!

So that's it! That's my hair story for ya...and all the pics that could be taken of a haircut! But if that's not enough for you, I even made a little video for you guys to see it live and in action!

Xoxo,

Coco

Good Read: InStyle Magazine's Natural Wonders

If we're friends on Facebook, then there's a good chance that you saw my status update last night about having just read the BEST article on NATURAL HAIR ever in InStyle's Special Hair Issue.

I'm mean, I was excited to see an article on natural African American hair in this particular magazine, but an article of this caliber just blew me away. Actually, the 126 page glossy provided a plethora of info on African American hair...especially, considering the fact that we aren't necessarily their target audience. From note-worthy products to use, like the best detangling comb for curls (pg. 50) to steps on how to dry your curls with a diffuser (86).

In the article, "NATURAL WONDERS", interviewer, Kahlana Barfield had a chance to talk to three of my natural haired inspirations, Yaya Dacosta, Solange Knowles and Corinne Bailey Rae. Each had the opportunity to tell the story of their natural hair journeys and then gave a little insight to their own personal hair routines.

By the time you read this post, I'll, probably, be headed to a couple stores to pick up some new products, like coconut oil and L'Oreal's Ever Creme line (the Deep Nourishing Masque and Leave-In Conditioner were mentioned all up and throughout the mag). I'm already two clicks away from ordering Carol's Daughter Black Vanilla Shampoo and Hair Smoothie (also mentioned more than once in the mag). So, you guys should definitely head out and pick up this special InStyle issue to read all the deets. It's definitely worth the couple bucks it'll cost.

Here's to good hair days,
Coco : )

Dresser Update

Happy Monday everbody! I finally got hardware added to our dressers and it was one of the easiest DIY projects I've ever tackled. I promise, the one step that took a little time was the measuring for perfect placement. This is only because 1. I don't have a template that's actually made to help with projects like these, and 2. I didn't want to drill a hole in the fronts of my dressers only to realize that I was off a little to the left. So measure, measure, measure, measure, measure! Or go and buy an actual drill template! I can't wait to show you the finished look, but first, let me break down the hardware selection process.

To begin this process, we had to take into consideration the pieces that the new hardware would be going on. Upon moving in together, Mr. Marcus and I had NO storage for our clothes whatsoever. So with that emergency necessity, we drove to Dallas and bought a couple of inexpensive dressers from the Malm collection at IKEA.

 

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No, they're not my fantasy bedroom furniture, but I love their clean lines, loads of storage space and of course, the great prices! I've would've gone a tad lighter on the finish, but since it was our first furniture purchase together, Mr. Marcus had to have a little input and this is what he went with. Such a typical male. But anyway, as much as I could appreciate them for what they were, I still felt that they needed a small update for them to fit in with what I was wanting for our bedroom. I knew I wanted to soften all of the hard edges of these dressers by adding hardware that had a little curve to it: thus, being the basis of my search.

Now there are hundreds of sites online that sell cabinetry and furniture hardware, but once I got my search narrowed, I was down to three sites: CoolKnobsandPulls.com, Amazon.com & HomeDepot.com. Each had a perk of a huge selection, super low prices or free shipping, or even a combination of all three, so I highly recommend either of them if you're searching for hardware to update your dressers or cabinets.

I set out on my search on all three sites (and more) in hopes of finding something 1. with curves, 2. that was a pull, but not a bar, 3. that has a brushed nickel or something similar, 4. that was easy to install and 5. less than $5 each, since I would be needing 12 of them. And after a couple days, I had corralled these options:

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Can you tell which one was my favorite? No? Well, I'll just show you...

I chose these lovelies because the rings kinda reminded me a little of the "links" on the fabric I used on our headboard.

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I actually ordered 6 from Home Depot and 6 from Amazon.com. The ones from the Amazon site were less expensive, coming in at only $3.97 each, but there were only 6 in stock. The ones at Home Depot were a little bit more expensive ($4.75 each), but they offered free shipping, which kinda made everything even. Both packages arrived on the same day and I had them installed in about an hour and a half. (remember: measure, measure, measure!!!). Its funny how something so simple can change the feel of an entire piece of furniture.

Now, this may not be the final change for these dressers. I'm kinda getting the feeling that some paint may be introduced to the picture some day. We'll see!

So what do you guys think? Which hardware would you have chosen?  It's OK to share...it won't hurt my feelings. (too much, anyway)

Xoxo,

Coco