Taking care of your Virgin hair by Tope Kupoluyi (23/01/14)

So ladies,

We all know "Virgin Hair" isn't cheap so we have to take care of our hair in order to lengthen the 'life span' of it and keep it looking FAB!

Here are 5 tips & products that I'VE found useful in keeping my hair in good condition:

1. Don't cut your wefts.

When installing never cut your wefts as this leads to an increase in the amount of shedding... When getting your hair done, tell your stylist to not cut the wefts. When you've reached the end of the braid you're sewing on, fold the weft over and continue sewing until the track is finished. 

UNCUT WEFTS = MINIMAL SHEDDING! 

2. Seal your wefts (optional)

Sealing your wefts can prevent the amount of shedding your extensions have. Depending on the quality of the hair, you shouldn't have too much shedding but I would recommend sealing your wefts if you are cutting your wefts (which I don't advise) or if you have curly hair.

3. Reduce amount of direct heat on the hair (or use heat protectant)

I always say to my clients "treat your extensions as if it was your real hair".. Constant heat styling can damage the your hair and leave it dry, brittle and prone to breakage. In order to prevent this, reduce the amount of heat you apply on your hair or use a heat protectant.

4. Always deep condition after bleaching/dying hair.

Colouring your hair can leave it without moisture and make it dry, so in order to restore moisture back into the hair, deep condition! Deep conditioning will restore your hair's moisture and body, making it look good as new. I always tend to leave my conditioners on for hours.. If I'm in a rush and feeling lazy, then I condition for at least 45 minutes to an hour before rinsing it out.

5. Wash and condition at least once every 2 weeks

There will be build up of dirt in your hair even if you aren't putting products in it... there are still things in the air that can get into the fibers of the hair so it's always a good idea to wash to get rid of this build up and restore bounce and sheen into the hair.. Remember to condition your hair after washing, water can leave the hair dry sometimes and therefore moisture and body is lost.

Remember to detangle before washing as wetting tangled hair will lead to a more tangling = a hot mess! Lol

Hair can get dried out and damaged from the use of heat styling tools, dyes, chemical straighteners, and exposure to the sun and cold air. It's always a good idea to restore the hair's moisture with a good deep conditioning treatment.

Please bear in mind that these are products that I personally like and, you can chose whatever products work for you ♥

A/W14 LOOKS – DARK LIP BY ISIS THORNE (17/01/14)

The come back of the statement Dark lip is upon us, being paraded up and down the catwalks this season. “A dark lip can instantly create a powerful, impactful look with a genuine retro appeal.” In my eyes, it is the answer to everything as you can never seem to go wrong. A darker lip colour extenuates the features of dark haired females in seconds however, goes just as well with every skin tone.

The thing I love about dark lips is it gives an appealing statement. Nonetheless, it plumps the lips to give them a more defined image as well as bringing out the hidden facial structure. Like Melanle Inglessis stated “Keep your look simple – play up only one feature at a time.” Relating to the dark lip as your lips should do the talking as well as providing a contrast to your complexion and hair colour.

With so much temptation and choice being placed out within different brands, it is essential you choose the right shade for your skin tone in order to make the most of the colour. But, if your lips are already thin and nothing seems to be giving them that “UMPH” I do recommend using a lip pencil (the same shade or two shades darker and nothing too harsh!!!)

My number 1 rule would be to complete a fulfilling Dark Lip with a killer blush. Blush is a main accessory in achieving the perfect, signature Dark Lip. It helps prevent a gothic vampire look, which is not ideally attractive!  

A preferred blush with the same base tone will put your entire look together; as blushes with darker base tones will only perceive a messy contrast of the “look” originally achieved.

From Drugstore products to Higher Brands, I have fallen in love with the Dark Lip this A/W.

(Below are my top 5) 

1.    MAC – REBEL- (easy and soft to apply)-  £15.00
2.    TOPSHOP – “LIPS IN THE DAMNED” (affordable and highly pigmented) £8.00
3.    SLEEK – MULBERRY (affordable and the signature “UMPH”) £4.00
4.    NARS – PURE MATTE LA PAZ (pigmented and great for all skin tones) - £18.50
5.    KATE MOSS – ROSSETTO (suitable for all occasions) -£5.49

From Left to Right (above): MAC REBEL, TOPSHOP “THE DAMNED,” SLEEK MULBERRY, NARS LA PAZ, KATE MOSS ROSSETTO

USING YOUR SOCIAL SKILLS IN THE BUSINESS WORLD! - Nunya Gemegah (03/01/2014)

If I were to tell you the things you do on a daily basis on social networking sites, were actually key skills that could help your career and financial goals would you be surprised? Terms such as 'preeing' can be useful for market research and hash tags & Instagram Captions for branding and advertising. Sounds confusing? Try and relate this back to the products we buy and the way markets are structured, there isn't really much of a difference at all. 'Preeing' has become a habit to the majority of us young ones. It’s embarrassing to admit, however takes up much of my own time. It’s my endless clicking on various Tumblr blogs and Twitter accounts, which have inspired many of the things I write about, and have sparked many issues that I now use as coursework titles.

Think about those people on Twitter with over 20k followers. Sometimes I'm surprised that many people use twitter, but really any of those people can end up on your account at any given time. A celebrity could ‘retweet’ something you've said, or a person from half way across the world may follow you. It may be because you seem to have something to offer that person. Right now you are at university, college, full time work or attending a work placement scheme and these are the most important times of your life for self development and growth. From now on when using social networking sites, make sure that you are constantly making yourself appear useful as anyone could come across your page.

'No man is an island.'

And it’s true, regardless of how self sufficient you may be, you can't get anywhere in life without the help (and sometimes through the short falls) of others. You’re never too young or old to understand the power of efficient networking.

Put your self out there.

Networking can be used to allow the people near and far to work for you and to help build your brand name. You can experience important lessons and great opportunities from interacting with people online. Especially since we all know, it’s  is not just what you know but who you know, with one in ten university students being unemployed after graduation or entering jobs that have no relevance to their degree.  A daunting statistic deterring many away from university.  But people still fail to realise that experience and strategic networking holds more relevance than their degree in most cases. 

For a generation that spends the majority of our time engulfed by social networking sites it is amazing how little we use them in terms of working towards our career goals. To people that study business, events management, fashion or media related subjects social networking is you’re greatest tool as it’s free and efficient. Use it to its best potential as the effortless time you spend browsing, could be used to connect you to people to build your empire. However it doesn't just apply to these sectors the ‘online world’ is open to all without a doubt there is something that applies to you.

                  BEYONCE + THE VISUAL ALBUM - Boohema Boohene (27/12/2013)

Beyonce, Mrs Carter, Sasha Fierce, Queen B is by far one of

 the most phenomenal and inspiring women in the music industry of this generation, dominating the charts for over twenty years. Coming from the girl group Destiny’s Child to being a worldwide platinum selling solo artist she has gone from strength to strength. 

Taking on the managerial role for her career in 2011, many were unsure if Queen B would be able to deliver the quality level of music that she had been admired for over the years, as it was a difficult task. However she has surprised everyone that doubted her and topped the charts consistently.

 In 2011 she stunned everyone with her fourth album 4

 which sold 310,000 copies in the first week and debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 charts giving Bey her fourth consecutive number one album in the US. As the album was received well, Beyonce also released a short documentary to accompany it, about her personal life, becoming a mother and her inner thoughts. We as an audience also got to understand how much work she puts in for her fans not just in terms of the music but also the creativity behind her performances and music videos. It was nice to see Beyonce in her natural state and everyday settings, this definitely attracted her fans to look at her in a different light.

Since then we hadn't’ heard much from ‘Mrs Carter’ as she now refers to herself since getting married to rapper Jay-Z. Then this December 2013 she released her fifth solo album ‘The visual album’ just when you think she couldn't’ possibly come with anything more creative '4'. It was a big surprise and shock to all as there was no warning or information on this project. Alongside the album she released 30 second teasers for each song,some of which featured her husband Jay-Z, daughter Blue-Ivy her mother Tina Knowles and ex-band-mates Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams.

 The album consists of a variety of genres, tempo’s and melodies. There are upbeat party songs such as ‘Blow’ and then ballads such as ‘Rocket’ which sounds very much like the Beyonce we know. ‘Drunk in love’ featuring Jay-Z has been a big hit. A fan tweeted “it is almost like a sequel to their hit ‘Crazy in love’ released in 2003 now we understand the depth of their relationship in 2013”.

At the release party for ‘The visual album’ in New York three days ago she spoke on how making the album was a challenge. "This was a project I didn't think was possible actually, and I’ve never done anything so brave in my life I took all my insecurities, all my doubts, and all my fears, and everything I have learned I applied it to this project”. Although challenging she managed to pull it off with the album receiving a whopping 80,000 downloads in the first three hours of being on sale. Now which other artist can really compete with that?

 An amazing aspect of Beyonce's music is that , despite the fact she is classified as an R&B artist, many different audiences are able to relate to her music as she makes it mainstream for everyone to enjoy. No wonder why her concerts now get sold out in seconds and fans are willing to pay over £100 just to see her live,knowing they are in for a breath-taking show.

It seems Beyonce’s 2014 is kicking off with a great start with

 a worldwide tour which many are excited for. Who knows what more she has in store for us next year, we all just have to sit back relax and enjoy the ride.

                  YEEZUS ? - Kelly Whybrow (20/12/13)

Kanye West has been keeping the media busy with his controversial and outlandish comments so the last thing that the world needs is false quotes which are designed to manufacture outrage.

It seems that someone’s downfall seems to be more entertaining than someone’s progression; negatives become more believable than the positives. There has been a lot of controversy around Kanye West as people seem to cling onto every last word the media releases about him. He’s caused a lot of stigma this year; releasing his new album ‘Yeezus’, proposing to his woman Kim Kardashian and the birth of his little girl North and a number of interview appearances.

 There have also been a flood of articles released about Kanye that have been of interviews that never took place. Does this reflect the manipulation of media today?

 Kanye was under fire for claiming that he will soon be a bigger cultural rights icon than late Nelson Mandela. The false quotes consisted of “Nelson did a lot of work don’t get me wrong but I think I’m on the track to do something even bigger. I liberate minds with music, that’s more important than liberating a few people from apartheid or whatever.” Many took offence and it caused major uproar on the twitter-sphere so Kanye took the opportunity to address his 10million followers tweeting:

“Respect to Mandela and his family, despite recent media reports, I’ve never said anything to dishonour or trivialise the life or transition of one of the most inspiring leaders.

He continues; “Thank you Mandela, for your life’s work and may it serve as a guiding light to illuminate our future.”

Another set of fake quotes attributed to an interview that also never happened with WGCI radio in Chicago where he was accused of saying “I am going to make Kim Kardashian a bigger performer than Beyonce. Kim and I will soon be the first couple of Hip-hop.” He addresses this saying his true belief is that her talent lies in her being a shrewd business woman.    

In his Zane Lowe interview he talks about the codes to self-esteem that “if you are a Kanye fan you are not a fan of me you are a fan of yourself, you believe in yourself.” Many insult Kanye for trying but his beliefs are in seeing an opportunity and going for it as we’re all going to die one day. Russell Simmons talks on Kanye saying: “What’s often misunderstood about Kanye is that people believe he wants this all for himself, in fact quite opposite, he wants all this for the rest of us.” Kanye addresses that a lot believe his motivation to be self-orientated when he just wants to help.

Although very strong minded he says he’s going to grow from each interview and says he’s not flawless. One of his most recent interviews on the Breakfast Club Power 105.1 with DJ Envy he confesses his inability to always get his point across the right way.  “When I get loud it’s too loud. When I’m talking sometimes I feel I’m just blowing somebodies ears out, my technique is too harsh, I’m beating it up too harsh. I be talking to people the wrong way sometimes and rubbing them the wrong way.” He continues to express Jay-Z’s talent in talking to people and says: “Maybe when I get to Jay-Z’s age I will have achieved more of my dreams and I can reach that Zen, you don’t understand I’m so frustrated.”

Kanye describes his new album Yeezus which had mixed reviews as “this is what frustration sounds like” and built to make cracks in the pavement. It was album where he was able to speak his mind and not have to write with the textures of the time. Kanye has received a lot of backlash for his new album and specifically the new music video ‘bound 2’ being parodied on South Park. On the breakfast show he reveals that he wanted it to be as phoney as possible and isn’t afraid to look stupid. He’s exposing white supremacy, the only difference is there is a black guy in the middle.

You may not agree with all of Kanye's views, but they evolve from ambition and determination. Some believe that he is mad and others believe he is genius. Russell Simmons says “It’s a different kind of mad, a mad that keeps you up at night, knowing that if you fall asleep, you’re wasting your time. It is a mad that makes you go into the lab and work seven days with no sleep, cause you want to perfect your craft.” Whether you love him or hate him West is one of the most powerful influential black male artists of this generation. We can all learn something. It’s his tenacity, creativity, relentlessness and madness, that will allow us all one day have the ability to ‘touch the sky’.