Style Photographer - Latrenia Bryant

"Fashion/Style should be fun. I love when clothes make statements and I think personal style is really cool. Personal style shouldn't be a hobby, make it your way of life. Live out loud." - Latrenia Bryant

I have admired Latrenia for quite a while.  She is a talented photographer, great at finding gorgeous styles at a bargain price and she is also a great model of her fashion finds.  Here are some of my favorite looks from her -

 

To learn more about Latrenia, you can check out her websites - Latrenia Photographer,  Twitter & Youtube. 

Blue Ivy's Natural Hair

I have been trying not to comment on this whole topic that has been circulating on the web, about the state of toodler's Blue Ivy's hair (daughter of Beyonce and Jay Z).  Because I did not want to bring attention to such foolishness. But to hear recently that an irresponsible and thoughtless person started a petition to get the famous couple to comb their daughters hair, has gotten me a little fired up.

I am so deeply offended by this petition. For one, you are bringing negative attention to a child.  That in itself is horrible.  Internet bullying is no joke and that is what this is.  Second, it is not your child - so it is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS.  Third, there are so many people constantly criticizing Beyonce for wearing weaves, wigs and hair extensions. But she allows her child to wear her hair in a natural state and people still get angry.  I am sure that Blue Ivy is a healthy rambunctious child. I, for one, have a toddler at home.  I know first hand that when I do my daughters hair, she often messes it up with in a half hour of the style being done because she loves to play, wrestle, jump, cuddle, roll around, etc...  No toddlers hair is going to be perfect all the time.

I just think that internet bullying is so horrible. And for the creator of the petition to play if off as being a joke, is her not taking responsibility for doing something that could be hurtful to another person and family; and to focus on a child in any negative shallow way, is hideous.  To read more about this petition, check out the NY Daily News.

Blue Ivy, you are beautiful not matter what your hair looks like.

 

Cynthia Jackson Natural Hair

Q:  What is your hair story?  

A:  I have always had long hair, but after a while it just got a little mundane, every one had straight hair and I wanted something new... a fresh start. Truthfully the cause was a midlife crisis, a bad break up, and a new baby on board. I was just a flat iron girl before I went natural. My relaxed regimen was much simpler than my natural hair journey. After I gave birth to my first son, I chopped off all my hair, and was ready for the new me. Over the past 3 years, I have had 2 big chops and I am currently growing out my second big chop. Going natural the first time, I just got tired of doing my hair, having to re due my twist outs almost every night, so I got a s-curl perm trying to loosen my curl pattern,... then months later I got a regular relaxer and my hair turned out uneven and limp, and that's how my second big chop came along.

Q:  Did you have any big fears about going back to your natural texture?
A:  Honestly I thought I would, but since I was at a stage in my life where I really didn't have conversation with anybody or close friends, I didn't care what people thought and I was ready to do my first big chop. And watching you tube videos, it gave me the confidence and inspiration to pull through with it. I was more ready than fearful.

Q: What are three products you can't live without for nurturing/styling your hair?
A: I am learning to keep things very simple, unlike my first big chop experience.. I love olive oil, Cantu shea butter leave in (want to try Giovanni) and tresemme naturals, olive oil gel.

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:  You know this is still a problem occurring today and its sad. I would say do you and if somebody has anything negative towards that then its best to just move around. You will always run into people that will have something to say, just remember that the world is going to keep on moving whether they like what you do or not. But never change the way God intended you to be. Be of truth, love, and freedom. My mom used to talk about my natural hair, and how dry it was looking... but after a while she was like "i want to get my hair likes yours, its really cute." :}

London Born Singer Lianne La Havas

"Lianne La Havas no longer needs any introduction; her trajectory has been well documented. Her name has become synonymous with beautiful, soulful, emotive songs about heartbreak. Aged 22, her debut album reached number 4 in the UK album charts, was nominated for this years Mercury Music Prize and she can now count Stevie Wonder, Prince, Erykah Badu, Bon Iver and Jill Scott as fans.

 Lianne announces the release of a two-part video with Noisey.com and Essence.com for singles "Elusive" and "Gone". Director Colin Solal Cardo (La Blogotheque) said of their partnership: "I've been collaborating with Lianne for more than a year now, but working on this project felt like something completely new. Lianne's a brilliant storyteller, there's a true cinematic quality to her songs. When you listen to them, you go through all these emotions and narratives, like a collection of short movies. We felt like it was finally time to build a world around these songs, give life to these love stories and let Lianne actually become these characters. Be it a candid young girl falling in love, or a heartbroken femme fatale in the middle of the woods. I feel fortunate for the trust relationship I have with Lianne, it's something any music video director has to cherish because it's rare and precious. Ultimately, that's what allows an ambitious project like this one to exist."" - by Noisey

 

Chef Ahki

I am excited to write about Chef Ahki. Not only is she beautiful, but she is a celebrity Chef, natural food activist and blogger. It's my birthday today, and it is a day of reflection.  I am realizing that my health is the worst that it has ever been, and I am at my heaviest weight ever in life.  Part of this is due to be having a new business that is very demanding and being a full time mom to teens and a baby. I am busier than I have ever been and my health is paying the price. I have have not slept well for two years and my diet is horrible.  You hear all the time that good sleep is a great way to keep your weight down, well it is true. One is because your body needs that time to recover from your day and replenish itself.  So that when you do wake up, your not overeating to try and make up for feeling tired. Also when you stay up for longer hours, you end up eating more than you would if you went to bed at a regular time. So besides my never getting enough sleep, and always eating more meals in the day that I should - my food choices have been pretty bad.   So with today being my birthday, and me health being at its worst - I think I want to make a promise to myself to try and make better choices when it comes to eating better, getting more rest and working out more.  

That is why I am excited to have found Chef Ahki's facebook page.  I knew about her before this time,

because she was well known beauty in the natural hair community. But today, my appreciation for what she is doing is because she centers her craft of being a Chef around healthy eating.  "Different from other "veggie heads" " green- smoothie fads" and the likes, AHKI's content is laced with amazing personal style, intelligence, real -time relevent science, and surpisingly Hip-Hop. She is known to express her fury about our current food state with phrases like Your Tastebuds have been Hijacked" "Illness is Unnecesary" Diabetes is Reversible" "Because we ain't Supposed to be Sick" "You Ain't depressed, you just malnutrtioned". "Friends Don't let friends Eat at Waffle House" etc. She has used controversial figures like Che Guevara and Malcom X to "artistically express" her ideas and considers herself a though leader. In short, she cares not if she ruffles your feathers, as long as you walk away empowered and inspired to Get Healthy..By Any Greens Neccasary.

She transitioned to a plant-based diet at just 18, and became a colon-therapist. She decided to study under Dr. Mark Armstrong and recieved a bachelors in naturopathic science and holistic theology and was intrigued by the healing power of herbs, and eastern healing modalities.

Raised by four generations of medicine women in her native Oklahoma, Ahki was introduced to indigenous foods and alternative modalities early on. Growing up working in her grandparents garden, she knows what real food is supposed to taste like, she believes that humans are electrical, and that we need electrical foods for optimum health. She uses seasonal, organic, fresh non-hybrid fruits and vegetables to create living food recipes designed to heal bodies and enhance lives." - about Ahki

READ THOSE LABELS...

"Theres' nothing worse than going to a health foods store and rollin' up on some delicious "sounding" health item only to be shocked at the overwhelming amount of CRAP that's hidden inside. Let's face it. The Health food game is sewed up too. The aisles are filled with just as much crap as you'd find at Kroger. The Good thing is...with a little research, (and some discipline) you can avoid alot of these Fraud Foods disguised as health food items. Look for MSG. Sugar. Monondiglycerides.FructoseCorn Syrup.Whey. Rice or Potato Starch. Aspartame. Casein. Corn and Canola Oil. These are just a few to begin. More on these later." -Chef Ahki

Aevin Dugas - Holds record for the biggest Afro

A link to this story was just shared with me today. It is about Aevin Dugas who has the world record for the largest Afro.

"Aevin Dugas of New Orleans, Louisiana holds the Guinness World Record for largest natural afro entering the book with an astounding 4 foot 4 inch circumference. Ms. Dugas� afro is larger than a disco ball and Guinness says that it�s so sizable that she could fit the world�s shortest man inside her hairstyle. The 38-year-old social worker has grown her hair for over 14 years and credits her mother as her first inspiration to go natural saying, �My mom has this picture of her with an afro before I was born, and I thought it was such a cute picture. I was like, �Ooh, when I go natural, I want to wear my hair like my mom.��

But at one time Aevin wished for bone straight hair and got perms which resulted in chemical burns on her scalp. After that she swore off chemicals and went natural sporting the style she wears today. Aevin told the Daily Mail, �I don�t know why, but there�s something very important to me about little girls appreciating my hair and then wanting to wear their hair the same.� As proud as Aevin is of her luscious locks, she also concedes to the downsides of her crowing glory like difficulty with peripheral vision while driving, getting hooked in trees she passes, and getting caught in people�s drinks at clubs. The record holder explained, �I don�t wear it like this on an airplane because people would probably slap me, because it touches people. I�ve had somebody want to beat me up at a concert,� adding, �So it can be kind of problematic, but I still wouldn't change a thing about it.��

To learn more about Aevin, check her out on The Bragg Group. 

~ Sources: Aevin on Facebook