african black soap all-over-body shampoo

This is my home-made all over body shampoo. It's very easy to make.

Take a BIGISH chunk of authentic black soap( the crumbly brown kind from Ghana).

Put it in some water ,like 1/2 to 1pt,preferably bottled/filtered.

Let it sit for a while, stirring ocassionaly until thoroughly dissolved.

Add 1tsp coconut oil(optional)

Add 5 drops lavender eo

..and 10 drops tea tree eo.

Mix it well. Don't agigtate it too much else it'll get very foamy.

You can use different eos if you like. I like tea tree, it's anti-bacterial and takes care of scalp problems. The coconut oil makes it more moisturising.

And there you have it - African black soap shampoo.

sptrizes,lip balm with shea butter and aloe vera oil,I'm back mixing my stuff

fin
finished product

I discovered aloe vera oil and added it to my spritz. Currently I'm using aloe vera oil, jojoba oil, lavender eo, honeysuckle eo, orange blossom water, water in a spritz. I change the ingredients depending on what I have. I like the fact that with aloe vera oil I don't have to refridgerate like aloe vera juice. I also found clove oil. I'm not quite sure how to use it. And I decided to make a lip balm with: yellow shea butter, beeswax,jojoba oil,lavender oil. Next I made a body butter using yellow shea butter, aloe vera gel, murumuru butter, cupuacu butter,sapote oil,jojoba oil, shea oil and some lavender eo. I added strawberry&cream fragrance oil too. I also added 1tbs veg glycerin. I need some pretty tins to package my stuff LOL. I'll give them as pressies to my friends on their birthdays eh.

VERDICT: the glycerin has given it a really silky smooth texture that absorbs right into your skin, Lovely. Thanks Nubianlockedprincess for that tip

What is a gender test?and how does it determine if one is a man, woman or both?!?

I was filled with compassion for Caster Semanya, caught in the middle of this row. She's a mere child - only 18yrs for goodness sakes! How could they let this happen? Surely, any question about her gender should have been ironed out loooong before she arrived on the international scene? Good management and coaching would have seen to that, seeing that these allegations have followed her for quite some time. I'm all in support of her, but for those crying racism, forget it! She does look like a man, maybe more like a teenage boy. She appears to be completely flat chested, mascular torso and arms, deep voice, but without any bulge' y'now where'. No curve in sight. I came in the room while the heats were on and actually asked my son 'why is a man allowed to compete with women?' A few seconds later I realised she's supposed to be a girl. I wasn't too suprised that a gender issue came up. I must admit, that if I were a competitor, I'd want some answers too. It wouldn't be fair to expect females to race against a man. On the other hand, if a female simply has more male hormones and attributes, surely that cannot disqualify her? I mean, don't several athletes have genetic traits that give them athletic advantages over us mere mortals? Look at Usain Bolt for example. His performance in incredible, but one can see his height, build,strength, endurance and ability to move like lightning are a clear advantage. Besides, some female athletes look very masculine. Did they all get tested? This has raised some very interesting questions. I for one thought that to identify whether one is male or female, all one had to do was examine the plumbing. Apparently, it's not so simple, since sex and gender are completely different things. One's biological, the other is how one perceives and projects one's self. So we're still left with some rather confusing thoughts. XX,XY,XXYand variations...Lord have mercy! I sincerely hope, that the tests favour both sex and gender as female. After all, she was born and raised a girl. The fact that she's a natural head(yay!) , made no attempt at make-up or plucking her bushy eyebrows proves her innocence. We cannot pass judgement on this young woman. I hate to think if tests prove she's more male than female. God help us all. I will update when I know the conclusion to this drama.

Daa ke daa by Becca

A Ghanaian song against domestic violence. Basically, she's saying 'if you love me, then don't break my heart- why do you treat me this way? If you don't love me,let me go'

My baby's 18yrs today!

My little sulupops Caramel Cream is 18 this day. Happy birthday Angel. So beautiful, so responsible, with a heart that follows hard after God, a heart for the lost youth of today and a vision so BIG, God must have put it in you when you came from heaven. The vision is for an appointed time and it will surely come to pass. Keep doing what you're doing, keep praying, keep standing in faith, keep reaching out to those God brings across your path.

Updo.. er,well ,sort of.

Growth at the nape

I see growth

Folks, do you see how the locs at the nape of my neck has grown? This area had very little hair. Locs rock! and for me sisterlocks have transformed my hair into a thing of beauty and...I cant wait to henna it some more. Thank you lord for leading me to locs and making it possible form me to get sisterlocked! So..

I was inspired to try an updo for church today. Actually, my hair was too short to do it, but I modified it to suit me. I parted my hair from ear to ear, 3/4in the back half, in a ponytail. I parted the front down the middle and curled one side. The other side I 'brushed' across(I was meant to tuck it into the ponytail but I simply secured with pins. Then I added a few accessories. The bit you see sticking up (the hair pin) was actually put through the ponytail, so it wasn't just sticking up randomly, the way it looks in the photo. Unfortunately the style was a bit messed up by the time I got home and the curls had fallen. I pulled the pin out and was about undo it when i thought of taking some pictures. Still you get the idea of what it looked like when I 1st styled it. I must say although I don't style much, I'm getting keener on trying simple styles.

I confess, I quite like 'messy' updos. That nifty little hair thingy you see sticking up was a pressie from Mary from Spain... but I'll do a post on all my hair accessories later.

another way to save a loc-wrap it in hair!

afro kinky

*ignore the str8 weave on the package*

some strands

begin braiding

Loose hair(left)-loc(right)

I was about to wrap a combined loc with afro kinky human hair, when I realised I should really do a post on it. I combined 2 locs by interlocking the roots, leaving a 2 header. 1 loc was on it's last legs and both had thinned out dangerously. It still looked quite thin between the middle and the roots so I decided to 'fill' it in. So, this is another way to strengthen a loc that's weakened in the middle or somewhere along the shaft of your loc. As long as the roots of the loc is healthy, you can take a small piece of afro kinky (human hair) and wrap it(like you would thread wrap) either the whole length of the loc or focus on the weak spot. (Don't make it as thick as the peice of hair in the photo, I made it thicker, so it'd be clear in the photo.)Make sure you wrap a little below and above the weak area to secure it. Begin by 3 strand braiding the hair - with the loc in the middle. After 2 or 3 turns, begin the wrapping motion. You can end by 3 stand braiding/2st twisting or even make a small knot at the end.

Note: Do this only if the roots are healthy and if the thinning is happening somewhere other than/away from the roots. Just another option to save a loc for the DIY-ers.

If you ever saved some of your own hair from when it was loose, you can use that....I wished I'd kept some of mine.

finished loc