winter – mayah's site

prepping for college

preparing to go to college has been one of the most time consuming processes I’ve ever encountered. from packing to making sure my scholarship is properly loaded on my account, it has been a lot of work. though I know the school year is fast approaching, I just wanted to discuss a few things you need to make sure you have done before going to college.

Register as an absentee voter. I just went to register today, because since I’m going away from school (even though I’m staying in state), I might not be able to get to the polls before they close. This is a very important election year, and you need to make sure you vote. The choice for candidates has never been so opposite. One candidate advocates for social change and equality while the other one wants to divide us as a nation and “make America great again (for the wealthy white males)”. For me the choice is quite clear. So make sure you’re getting out and voting.
Pack up coats. Packing clothes can be quite stressful. you want to make sure you got everything, even those one pair of boots that only look cute with those jeans, but you still need them. Since I’m staying in Michigan, I understand that I’ll need to be well prepared for the winter. My recommendation is getting a long parka, in addition to a variety of warm, rain, and light weight jackets. The weather in Michigan changes constantly, so being prepared with a variety of coats is really important.
Go school supply shopping. There seems to be this thing where people on Twitter have forgotten that college students need supplies too. Make sure that you go to Target or Office Depot to get supplies (and great deals too). You’ll need a variety of things. Because remember you won’t be at home, so you might need a pencil sharpener or that three hole puncher you never used. A lot of colleges also have discounts on laptops or can ever offer grants to purchase a computer. At Michigan, their computer showcase has deals on laptop packages. I also know at Michigan State they have grants to fund purchasing a laptop.
Focus on your shoe collection. Making sure you’re set for college is important. I went to get my uggs cleaned this week, so that when the winter does come I’ll be good. I know that ugg is making a new waterproof boot, which I will definitely be looking into (I already have the waterproof spray). Getting a good winter boot is important, especially if you have to walk far. Comfortable shoes are also very important. I currently have two pairs of Nike Free’s (one 4.0 and the other is 5.0). I did this because I know that I’ll be walking a lot in college and wanted to make sure I have support. I already had black ones so I bought white ones (so I’ll be able to match my shoes with my outfit). Make sure you have a variety of shoes, from heels to sandals because you never know what you may need.
Make sure to groom yourself! And pack stuff to keep it up. The day before I move in I have a hair appointment scheduled so that I can make sure my hair is in the best condition possible. Making sure your hair, eyebrows and even nails (though I don’t recommend getting acrylics because it is sometimes hard to find a good salon) are done before moving is important. went hair product/tools shopping so that I will be able to still do my hair while I’m in school. Some students don’t come home until Christmas, so making sure you’re properly groomed before you leave will just make life easier.

I hope these five tips helped and that your transition to college is easy!

More Winter Hair Care Tips

The winter air can be so cruel to hair. Especially curly hair. This winter I’ve actually been wearing my hair curly, just about every other week. My hair gets really oily, so I end up just wetting and doing Bantu knots. I do the knots different than other YouTube videos I’ve seen, my mom created her own spin on how to do the knots, and I just follow that. But back to hair care tips. I use a mixture of oils, Vitamin E, Silk by Design Essentials (only one or two drops), Coconut Oil, Castor Oil, and Herbal Complex by Design Essentials (this is actually a solid). I just get my oils from my local beauty supply store. This time, I added a couple drops of water. After I warmed it for about 30 seconds. I like the oil mixture because it allows my hair to be moisturized, and the silk and coconut oil penetrate the hair follicle so my hair doesn’t dry out. My hair loves the water and conditioner from the knots. NEVER SKIP A NIGHT. Never, it’s a bad idea. You should protect your hair every single night, especially if it’s curly. You don’t want to damage your hair by not babying your ends and edges. Find out where your problem spot it. Mine happens to be my crown. My crown is a different texture of curls, and it gets drier fast, so I know that I need to make sure I moisturize it. Lastly, just embrace your hair. Everyone’s hair is different so just love what you have. Everyone’s hair grows at different rates. Speaking of growth, I want to talk about the inversion method! I love it, it’s basically massage your scalp with your head down so your scalp gets more blood flow. You only need to do it for like three minutes, and there are tons of YouTube videos on it. What I did last night, was I did the inversion method for two minutes, and after I parted my hair (with a side part for the knots, you’ll see my hair now at the bottom) into two halves to begin with, and just massaged the oil mixture in (doing the left side first, and after completing all the knots on the left side, I oiled my right side and completed the knots). And after, I added oil to my scalp (like on the parts). I try also to drink a lot of water, so that my hair stays moisturized. I hope these tips help! Remember to love your hair!

Winter Fashions

This past Monday, I was in my schools’ prom fashion show. There were different styles modeled, specifically the Christmas looks, ripped jeans, old school versus new school, and prom. The pictures below are from the two scenes I was in, the Christmas scene and the prom scene. For the Christmas scene, I wore a black and white striped dress, with a red pashmina and black heels. For prom, I wore a black velvet dress, with creme shoulders and back with little studs on it. For Christmas, I think a traditional look is better, more blacks and whites but the pop of color (in my case red). I loved the ripped jeans look, specifically the ones from Forever 21. Our Fashion Club actually ripped their own jeans, which is extremely creative. Personally I layer, because I get cold fairly quickly. I like to wear boots normally . So just keep in mind the temperature when you’re dressing this winter. For prom there was a variety of short and long dresses, I wore a long dress, but for my prom I think I want to wear a shorter dress. I like the idea of wearing something more eye catching for prom, just like how I wore pants to homecoming (see my homecoming post if you haven’t seen my outfit). Just be comfortable in what you wear, confidence is everything. Stay fabulous!

Winter Hair Tips (again)

Hi loves! I just wanted to mention something that was brought up to me in my last hair care blog about winter hair tips. My blogs about hair are mainly (though never limited to) women with curly hair, when it is in it’s naturally curled state. For those of you who know me, you know that more often than not my hair is actually straightened (I go to a professional and get my hair done on a regular basis). Because of my hair type, I shouldn’t wash my hair more than one every week and a half or so (I have a mix of type 3c, 4a, and 4b hair when it’s curled), so it’s easier to just get it done every two weeks (plus I don’t press my own hair, so if I wash it I leave it curly). I’m mentioning all of this to say that when my hair is straight I DO NOT oil my hair everyday. I may oil it once a week or so, and then wrap and protective style. Thank you Lauryn, for pointing that out, I greatly appreciate that. And for oil I go to my local Lee’s Beauty Supply Store (though Sally’s or Ulta will do) and get Hollywood Beauty Coconut Oil, Castor Oil and Olive Oil. I like the coconut oil the best because it’s supposed to help your ends stay moisturized. Sometimes I’ll mix the two and use little to none (again when my hair is straight) I only add one drop, if that. My straight hair absorbs oils easily. If I oiled my hair every day my hair would look stringy (and horrid). As far as oiling every day I only might do that when my hair is curly (mostly because I wear it curly in the summer when I do wash-and-gos or co-wash my hair). I still suggest you all drink a bunch of water and take some hair vitamins. The vitamins really help. I go to Trader Joe’s, a take one of their women’s hair and nails vitamins. I have my hair goal (which I’m so excited to share since I never post pictures of my hair), which is below. I’m currently trying to grow out my hair, it was in layers and some of those layers where shorter than others. It was cut the end of January to above my shoulders when it was straight. After tons of work on getting my hair healthy and happy, I’m just growing it out now. I hope you all have your hair goals planned out and ready to go! Feel free to comment any hair topics you want me to address, I’d love to hear from you all! Stay fabulous!

Winter Hair

As the cold approaches, we all know that it can totally damage your hair. The air becomes more crisp, and if scarves and hats are not your hair’s friends. My suggestion is: oil, wrap and protective style. It’s currently what I’m trying now. I’m currently on a journey to grow out my hair (the progress is beautiful). I have been using a little (like a drop, rubbing it in my hands, wiping it on my towel and then applying) of coconut oil to the ends of my hair. I love coconut oil because it’s supposed to seal your ends. But the most effective non-oil I have is Silk by Design Essentials. It helps really with shedding. Winter months allow for a lot of shedding, due to lack of moisture (besides the shedding period your hair will naturally go through as new growth comes in). Don’t forget about drinking more water! Water helps to moisture your hair, and increasing your daily intake can really show results. I also have started to wrap my hair which helps. Wrapping spreads the oils among your scalp so it keeps your hair moisturized. Protective styling also helps because your ends are tucks. I love the styles with protective styling too. Wrapping, oiling and protective styling can really help grow your hair out if you do it right. Watch the amount of oil too, I use barely any because no one wants to walk around with super oily hair. Lengthen the time in between washes. It will allow your hair to keep the natural oils longer. I hope this helps! Feel free to comment your results!