Tanisha Renee Brown is one of those natural born singers, you know the kind that sings almost effortlessly. To be honest, I never been much of a Sade fan until I heard Tanisha's incredible covers.  A few months back she did a YouTube cover of Sade's No Ordinary Love. After hearing this cover, I felt that she brought this song to life and hearing it through her own unique style helped me to find the beauty in the original making of the song.


Now she has recently posted, Sade's By Your Side, and the vocals are amazing. Tanisha has taken a big transformation  from her formally dark brown tresses to a bold golden fro. I love the new look, it takes me back to the days when I was a former Goldie Locks myself.







Her single Live Loved drew me in from the moment I heard the first notes from the guitar strings and the first lyrics that she sang so beautifully. 
"I want to walk by the word that you speak. I want to breathe, because you're breathing in me. And I want to fall in the promise you give. I want to live, because you are living in me"- Tanisha Renee Brown

Tonight, Rachel Crow has left the X Factor competition after battling against Marcus Canty. The judges were left at a deadlock and the results were left up to America's votes, and sadly Rachel had the least amount when compared to Marcus's scorecard.

For those who stay up on the latest happenings in the natural hair world via the internet most of you are familiar with Pi Nappa Kappa, the first natural hair sorority. If you are not, they are a sorority that is striving to gather 10,000 members by December 9, 2011, in efforts to encourage women to embrace their natural hair by forming a sisterhood.


The support of this group has not been universal however, some say that a sorority is not necessary and groups do a fine job on their own of teaching women the beauty of natural hair styles.

"I'm perfectly happy being nappy without having to attach Greek letters, especially made up ones, to create a sisterhood over hair. I just don't think it's that deep" says Ashley Smith, a Howard University Sophomore.

Why I happen to hate sororities,

1. They are super cliquey
2. You are essentially paying for friendship
3. You never should have to prove yourself to anyone, why should I pledge to be part of your clique, why not just be my friend, and like me for who I am?

Pi Nappa Kappa is the one case, where I am in support of a sorority. There are no cliquey girls asking you to prove yourself to them, the membership is free ( you are not paying for friendship), and they are encouraging women to love who they are, nothing wrong with that in my book.


Their first meetup will take place December 10 -11, 2011 at the Reliant Center in Houston, Texas. If I were able to, I  would fly over there in a heartbeat, because I know they are going to have an amazing time. In my experience, the natural hair events that I have hosted with Black Naps have sparked some great friendships with incredible people for me. Any organization that is in favor of promoting positive relations between black women has my full support, and for the people who do not care for it, well everyone has their critics. 

So I'm still rocking my press n' curl minus the extensions and doing a good job of avoiding the heat. Kinky curls are beautiful but if I pay $70 for a hair do please believe I'm going to make it last. I got into the shower this week, and this one portion in the back of my hair got wet and I was sure my hair was totally ruined. Then I got to thinking, a good roller set will do the trick without me resorting to using the flat iron.


I needed to use a product that was light, moisturizing, and wouldn't leave me with lifeless flat hair. Jane Carter Solution Revitalizing Leave-in Conditioner did just that. To keep my press fresh, all I have to do is mist the ends of my hair with this fabulous leave-in, set my hair with medium to large size rollers, and within 10 minutes my hair routine is done for the night.


Day after day this product pleases me, by waking me up to full bouncy curls. Oh, and that frizzy section in the back that happened to get wet, is no longer a problem. The conditioner and the roller set smoothed that bad boy out without me putting anymore stress on my hair. The smell of the Jane Carter's leave-in is pretty sweet too, it has a light flowery fragrant smell that I absolutely love. Out of all the products from her line, this is my favorite product from her collection.

After Astro left the competition tonight it came down to a showdown between Marcus Canty and Drew Ryniewicz; the results were outrageous! Drew leaving the competition has to be one of the worst events that ever took place during this race for the $5 million dollar jackpot.


While I started off liking Marcus, after L.A. Reid told him what he should be and he followed suit I grew tired of him immediately. What's funny is that he claims that he wants to make him into the next Bobby Brown, but for once I agree with Simon on something, "The world only needs one Bobby Brown". Why would L.A. even want Marcus to strive toward that anyway? I mean he is acting like Bobby is some prize, after his one solo album where has career even gone?


L.A. tries to make Marcus into this huge sex symbol by putting him in these obnoxious outfits and having him gyrate all over the place. What spark Marcus had is totally gone because it has been eaten up after listening to what L.A. thinks that he should be. Now he gets on stage huffing and puffing hitting sour and sloppy behind notes and I am definitely not feeling it.


People truly have lost touch with what music really is if they feel you have to constantly be singing a dance hit to make good music. On its own Drew's voice has a unique quality that you do not hear all the time, while on the other hand Marcus sounds like any other dude who sings R&B or "The Next Bobby Brown".


The judges should not be voting, America should be making the decision. After all, we are the ones who will be buying the CDs right? I am curious as to how it would have went down if they actually went by the votes like they should have.


Anyways, my two ♥'s are still in the competition: Drew, Melanie, and Rachel.


The survival battle



Marcus Canty



Better than his usual hurt performances, but some of those notes were rough!

Farrah Fawcett Hair Tutorial Using Clip in Weaves on Pressed Hair

Farrah Fawcett Inspired Layered Hairstyle

Farrah Fawcett, was well known for her vivacious curls filled with body and her stylish layers. This famous vintage hairdo is still adorn by women decades after its birth. When I first tried out this look it was more of an experimentation, and to my surprise I ended up loving this style on me.


Achieving this look is fairly simple, and I didn't have to resort to using heat on my hair or my weave to do it. It involves a little preparation but its a pretty easy style to do.



Supplies You Will Need:

• Medium to Large Sized Plastic Rollers
• Leave in Conditioner Spray or Setting lotion
• Satin or Silk bonnet

Instructions:


1. If you are wearing a clip in weave or extensions make sure they are fresh so they can be full of bounce. If your weave is still in pretty good shape you can simply run cool water through them to make sure they are free of residue, and set your hair using rollers.

Roller Set Your Hair in Large Sections

2. Rolling your hair will only take about 5 to 10 minutes max. You want your hair in larger sections and medium to large size rollers for fullness. Apply a good leave in conditioner or setting lotion only to your ends to avoid kinking up your roots. I used Jane Carter Solution Revitalizing Leave in Conditioner, and I must say that I am pleased with the fabulous bounce my hair has.

Roller Set Clip on Extensions

3. Protect your hair with a silk or satin bonnet and get that much needed beauty sleep. In the morning start applying tracks working from your back section and then working your way on up. Once you have blended everything in, your style is complete.

If you are not familiar with "the kitchen", it is that little portion of your hair that rests right above your neck. For many of us, it is the one area where things get the most kinky. Every time we wear our hair in a upward ponytail, it's the one spot we always make sure we pay attention to.

see my kinks are under control : )

When you wash your weaves you want to use cool water. To wash them simply run the cool water through your weaves, gently apply the shampoo, rinse them with cool water, and after you are finished removing the build up let them hang dry. If you are dealing with synthetic hair do not comb the weave while it is wet or run your fingers through the weave. For curly synthetic wigs or weaves, let the curls snap back into place as they dry.


Once you have washed your weave, its bounce will be restored, and it will no longer have that dull flat effect. Please ladies, take care of your weaves, but do not forget to provide your hair with the natural hair care that it needs. While wearing my weaves serves as a style treat for me and it gives my hair a form of protective styling, I try my best not to forget about what's important; the hair underneath my hair piece.

When you make your own clip in hair weaves, you have the advantage of choosing the hair that you would like to use.  At your local beauty supply there might not be clip in hair weaves that are available in the textures that you want, there may be a limited amount of lengths, or the store may lack a variety of hair colors that you can choose from.


Making your own extensions solves this problem. You pick the hair you want to use without being limited to already made clip ins that are available. Here is a basic guide for how you can make your own clip in hair weaves.


Supplies You Will Need:

• Pack of hair weave (hair tracks)
• Black Thread
• Needle
• Scissors 
• Hair Extensions Clips

Needle and Thread

Scissors

Hair Extensions Clips

With the convenience and ease of style that clip in hair weaves offer, it's no surprise that many women adore them. To give myself a treat and a little something different from the norm, I decided to give them a try. 


Between sewing in and gluing your weaves in, clip in hair weaves may offer you the most benefit. Here are some of the pros to using them over other weaving methods.

No breakage-You do not have to deal with any glue or thread getting tangled up in your hair

You can either attached them to cornrows for protective hair styling or you can simply attach to them to your hair without braiding

If you get the itchies, you do not have to worry about messing up your hair like you do when you  have a sewn in or glued in hair

Easily attach them within a matter of minutes

It has been a while since I have straightened my hair, but recently for my photos I decided to get spiral curls. Since my hair wasn't flat ironed I didn't get to see all of my length, but I got a taste of it, and it was pretty darn good. While getting hung up on length is something you definitely should not do, when you see how far you have come it's something that you can't help but marvel at.


To my surprise these white girls put my fears to rest and had me looking absolutely fabulous. Now, I have no problem with white people I just felt she wasn't going to have a clue as to what to do with my wild and thick kinky hair.  To be honest if my hair were already straightened prior to the style I would have felt more comfortable because it would pose no challenge to her. However this experience definitely taught me not to be so quick to judge. She did my spiral curls way better than I would have been able to and my makeup was absolutely on point. It was soft, natural, feminine, and flirty.

In all honesty, while I do like kids, I am usually not a big fan of their songs, but The X Factor USA's Rachel Crow has changed all of that for me. She doesn't have that typical corny kidz bop sound at all, she truly has a professional sound. In fact if you have been tuning in, she has been one of the more consistent acts on the show.


The majority of the contestants on X Factor flip flop around and lack consistency in their performances. Besides Rachel, the only other contestants that pose a threat to her are Melanie, Astro, and Drew. The rest simply do not do it for me, they are either painfully boring or great one week and then utter garbage the next week.


When Rachel sung Etta James, "I'd Rather Go Blind" she owned that song, not once was she off key or missed a beat. At first I was caught off guard because I am thinking "Simon, picked this song?". When it was revealed that Rachel picked her own song it made more sense because usually Simon has the weirdest taste when it comes to song choices. While I enjoy Simon as a TV personality, his taste in music is not the greatest, and sometimes I wonder what in the world he is hearing, like that horrible Tiah Toliver.







From the time of her performance of Beyonce's "If I Were a Boy", I have been in love with this curly cutie's voice. Even with today's rock theme, she still turned it out. If she does not win the competition, she is sure to get a contract. Loving those curls Rachel! Muah babez good luck ♥

Give your little princess the joy of having natural hair Barbies that teach your little one the beauty of her culture. The Nina Network.com is offering natural hair Barbies just in time for the holidays starting at $25 ranging to $45 for the dolls that are more of a collector's item. As a little girl I would have went crazy over these Barbies. I always have been a fan of all things extra girly, fashionable, and fly.


This doll can be purchased on The Nina Network for $25. She is wearing a braided pompadour natural hair style with an ultra chic hot pink dress with beaded embellishments.


"The Big Chop Barbie" can be purchased for $25.00. Out of all the Barbies The Nina Network offers I think that this one sends a special and important message to young girls. It shows them that you do not not have to have long hair in order to be beautiful. In American society youth are taught that long hair = beautiful, which we know is definitely not true. Some women are so attached to the idea of long hair that they would rather hang onto thinned out breaking hair, than have a full head of healthy short hair. There are many short natural hairstyles that look feminine and fabulous we just tend to overlook them.


Natural Hair Meets Glam is my favorite doll on the network simply because she is super fly. Her hair looks gorgeous and her stunning black dress looks like she is totally red carpet ready. She is a collectors item that can be purchased for $45.00, but if you love her look as much as I do, she is worth every penny.


Make Your Own Natural Hair Barbies 


After browsing the net, I came across a site that offers a tutorial on giving Barbies that you already may have natural hair styles. The tutorial provides you with an easy to follow and straightforward approach to giving your baby girl's dolls a brand new natural hair do. You can check out the tutorial here.

The waves that Olive Oil Edge Control gives me are out of this world. No other product has given me the wave definition like this magical product gives me. It gives my high bun the look that I often dreamed of, sheer sculpted elegance in a matter of minutes.


For the moment I have retired the wig, because I have decided that I want to get back into the routine of working out on a daily basis. Working out with a wig is just not happening for me. Not only is it probably extremely uncomfortable, but I would have probably ended up sweating out and destroying it.


Buns are more practical for when you are working out and it serves as a great protective hairstyle. Its getting extremely cold down here in New Jersey and when the weather is cold, you can look forward to some dried out hair, which is an even greater reason why protective styling should be implemented into your winter hair care regimen.


This weekend I decided to do something a little different and actually do my makeup for once.  I purchased Cover Girl's Hot Passion Lipstick and Neutrogena Skin Clearing Oil Free Makeup. The Hot Passion was a bit too much on its own for me, so I blended it so it wasn't too overpowering. The Skin Clearing Makeup was actually pretty decent, but I felt a little washed out so I had to blend that as well. Overall though, I loved this look and I think I will being taking some more time to brush up on my makeup skills.


Absolutely impressed by the stunning styles that Olive Oil Edge Control creates. This is definitely one of my prized natural hair products.

If you want to know where to buy weaves online, Clairhair.com is a great source. Their shipping service is fast, the quality of their weaves is amazing, and you will find all of the lowest prices. Before I found Clair Hair, I had the misfortune of coming across some of the most questionable and shady sites. With their site I feel secure and I know their weaves will give me the quality that I am looking for.

The baggy method is an easy way for you to work in a deep conditioning treatment for your hair. Especially for gals who find themselves on the go this is a great option. Simply massage your scalp with the conditioner as best as you can, smooth onto your hair, cover with a plastic cap, and sleep the night away as you give your hair an awesome treat. When you wake up in the morning wash away with cool water, moisturize, and style.


 For this treatment I used Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Treat Conditioner. What makes this experience extremely delightful is the wonderful tingling and refreshing sensation that you get. For a scalp that is suffering from the itchies and dryness this product is a source of some relief. The first time I ever used this conditioner, afterward when it was time for me to cornrow my hair there was a strikingly noticeable difference in the manageability of  my hair. Parting and combing through my hair became a breeze, and ever since I been hooked and sold on this product.

Conditioning is crucial for the health of our hair. As women of color many of us suffer from hair that is prone to dryness, and conditioning plays a major role in our hair's manageability, its shine, and its moisture. If you need a way to squeeze in extra time for a deep conditioning treatment, this is an effective method to do so.



To make things a little more easier for me I keep my natural hair in braids while I wash it to avoid tangles, and in general it makes things a whole lot easier. This cuts your down on your time spent detangling and your styling time.

I took a visit to my local Walgreens, and I found myself splurging on hair products when that's the last thing I should be doing. Olive Oil Edge Control caught my eye because of its low price of only $3.99 and I was in dire need of something that would help me to blend my edges with my new half wig that I purchased from clairhair.com. To my surprise this product definitely works wonders, it achieves sleek style effortlessly.


Even though it may appear like a gel, it's not even close. It has more of a thick waxy texture, making a tiny amount of product sufficient enough. As you can see prior to my application of Olive Oil Edge Control, my hair is quite frizzy and kinky, but the use of this product totally transforms the look of my hair.


See a little does go a long way. Only a dab of product and the texture of my hair has a whole new look. If you happen to use this product definitely make sure that you rub this product in as good as you can. Otherwise things can get a little cakey.


I must say I am absolutely stunned and fascinated with the results. A sculpted look was achieved on my hair without the use of gels that flake, crust, or dry my hair out. For me the results lasted a couple days without the need for me to pile on any more product.


On goes my half wig, I really enjoy the blended look that it helps me to achieve. Considering purchasing this product? Well, I definitely recommend it. If you are looking for something that will mold your hair and keep your hair moisturized, this is a must have item.