Saturday 29 June 2013

A Journey to Bangkok

If there's one thing I enjoy, it's travelling. Studying abroad in Amsterdam for a year has given me the opportunity to travel. In this academic year alone, I've been to Belgium, France, Switzerland, Thailand, Malaysia and I'll be going to Abu Dhabi in a few days time for a 21 hour stopover. So if you haven't guessed it already, this post is on my experience in Bangkok! 

On first impression, on my taxi ride to Samsen Road (the road of which we stayed) from the airport, Thailand was not what I expected. From the photos of others, and on the internet, I was expecting something that looked a little less western. A little less western, is exactly what I got, when we arrived at Samsen Road. A bit taken aback by my surroundings, I yearned to see what more Thailand had to offer.

Samsen Road

Transport around the city was amazing, I loved the concept of the 'tuk tuk' (picture below). If you go to Thailand this is definitely something you don't want to miss!!! You have to haggle to get a fair price because they will bump you. The only downside of the 'tuk tuk' was the the drivers constant need to take us 'shopping' as they like to call it, in order for them to get free petrol coupons. The first time it was okay, but walking around expensive jewellery shops and sitting with tailors gets a little tired, especially when you have no intention of buying anything. We had a driver ditch us in the middle of nowhere because we refused to do more shopping, in hindsight we'll look back and laugh but at the time it was far from funny! Another downside of the tuk tuk was the air pollution... I found myself struggling to breathe at times. I guess that was two downsides but hey. We also travelled by regular taxi and by the sky train when we went to Sukhumvit. The sky train was very modern, arguably better than most equivalents in Europe!

tuk tuk

Activity wise, bangkok doesn't have an excessive amount to offer but don't let this hold you back, there are many excursions from the city. Near our hotel we visited the temples, went to the markets, went to a club and so on. Not selling it to you? Sorry, that's how I felt. As interesting as temples are, you can literally see them all in one day. After realising there wasn't much to do we branched out. We spent a day at the floating market, and elephant trekking. Elephant trekking? as great as it sounds, it really opened my eyes to animal abuse.... please when you go to Thailand do not do it. The poor animals are tortured to cooperate, the employees are not discrete about their methods either, each were equipped with a sword or axe to 'control' the elephant if they 'misbehaved' on the trek. Honestly, I felt awful afterwards. *clears throat* On a brighter note, we travelled to Sukhumvit on two nights, definitely a highlight of the trip. It was more built up, the shopping mall and amazing shops where the clothes were handmade. The clubs and bars were awesome! In 'XYZ bar' we got 2 free drink tokens on entrance and a man who I assume to be the manager told me I could have 6 more drinks for my friends and I, if I continue to dance and tell my friends to dance as well. Lets just say by the end of the night we were given 2 free shots, and 5 tokens for cocktails all for free... even without drinking it all I was still busted the next day... drink responsibly guys lol! 'Levels' nightclub in Sukhumvit Soi 11, was also a great night out, Did I mention it was on the rooftop? I wish I had pictures to show you but they wouldn't let me bring my camera in -_______-.

me in Sukhumvit
an outside bar
floating market 
sad baby elephant tied up :(
temple (don't remember the name..oops)
At this point some of you are probably wondering, where the section on food is right? Of course I wasn't going to leave this out. Thailand has a lot of street food, you can get anything from noodles to Scorpions. Personally, I steered away from the streetfood because I have a sensitive stomach and the hygiene just wasn't up to scratch... my friends on the other hand loved what they tried. Thai food in Thailand does not taste like thai food in the U.K, if it wasn't for the food being so cheap and me having the ability to stuff my face, I would have been disappointed. If you're a non-egg-eater like myself, be prepared to ask if the food has egg, they literally put egg in everything! My favourite restaurant that we tried was 'Soul Food Mahanakorn' in Sukhumvit... despite the misleading title it serves mouth watering Thai food... should I add that the restaurant is owned by an American? 

Scorpions
Green Curry in China Town
garlic prawns, noodles and chicken wings from a restaurant on Khaoson road which was just Blah!!!
Rice and Ribs from 'Soul Food' 
'Chicken curry from 'Soul Food' 
chicken wings from 'Soul Food'
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my 8/9 days in Thailand. Although, I'm not booking my next visit, I loved the experience. If there's one thing I want add, we attracted A LOT of attention being 3 black females in Thailand... it was a little ridiculous, people were whipping out their cameras to photograph us... Not cool!!! 

ps. Stay tuned for my post on Malaysia ;).






Sunday 23 June 2013

Quick Hairstyle Update

Hey Guys, I'm currently in Malaysia and wanted to update you on how I'm currently wearing my hair. I've seen many wear this style and decided to give it a go. Considering my transitioning hair doesn't willingly cooperate, I think it turned out pretty well.... do you agree? I still need to work on the back but I'm still pleased.




ps. I haven't forgotten my promise to share with you how my holiday is going, this will come shortly. Also Blogger won't allow me to reply to your comments at the moment, as soon as I get that fixed I'll reply to them all!

Tuesday 18 June 2013

Review: Creme of Nature Argan Oil Moisture & Shine Shampoo



Promise: This Sulfate-Free Moisture & Shine Shampoo is a sulphate free formula that hydrates hair and adds exotic shine, while gently cleansing without harsh moisture stripping agents. It strengthens hair while optimizing the moisture balance of the hair and scalp.

DirectionsApply a generous amount to wet hair and massage into lather. Rinse thoroughly and repeat. Follow with Creme of Nature with Argan Oil Intensive Conditioning Treatment.

Ingredients: Aqua, Trideceth-7, Carboxylic Acid, Decyl Glucoside, Glycol Stearate, Polyquarternium-10, Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Disodium EDTA, Quaternium-15, Perfum (Fragrance), Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, CI 14700(Red4), CI19140(Yellow 5).


Verdict: This is the best shampoo I've tried to date. It leaves my hair feeling clean without the stripped feeling. I love the way this shampoo detangles my hair, it is amazing... Seriously! The shampoo is yellow/orange in colour with a slight shimmer and somewhat creamy in texture.  All these benefits for £2.99... can you believe it? I would definitely recommend this to others. I was so excited about this when I tried it, that I insisted my friend use it... with one wash she was won over and now owns a bottle. The only bad thing I have to say about this shampoo is that the ingredients could be better. Taking this all into consideration, I award the Creme of Nature Argan Oil Moisture & Shine Shampoo 4/5.

Thursday 13 June 2013

Holiday Hair

Hey Guys, I hope you're all well. Guess what? I'm going on holiday... Yippee. I'll be setting off today to go to Thailand and Malaysia for 18 days... if we're lucky possibly one day in Abu Dhabi also. For a while now I had been contemplating what to do with my hair for my holiday. I didn't want to be confined to one style but at the same time I didn't want to style my hair daily. With one of my friends sporting chunky senegalese twist and the other kinky twists, I had to up my game!
I went for the wild card and done my first ever flat twist style... not bad for a first attempt aye?  It took me just over an hour, on freshly washed hair, and I'm loving it! I'll keep these in for about 5-7 days then switch it up. Do you have any suggestions on what style I could do next?

ps. I promise to keep you updated on my travels :)

Friday 7 June 2013

14 months post relaxer

I can boldly say that I've been transitioning for 14 months now :). I can't believe it's been that long, sometimes I have to whip out my calendar and manually count the months to make sure I'm not lying. Who knew transitioning to natural would be so exciting? Since I've got my moisture under control my hair is a lot easier to maintain. I'm no longer finding it necessary to moisturise my hair twice a day... which means my bed time routine has become less of a marathon and more of a sprint. I'm also no longer anxious about my hair texture or should I say 'as' anxious as I was at the beginning of my journey. At the start of my journey lets just say I was hoping my hair wasn't a certain texture... boy did I have to challenge my way of thinking... Thank God for growth!!  Although cutting my relaxed hair off is consistently on my mind, I know I'm just not quite ready to let go. For the final 8 months I'll enjoy the rest of my transition because once this moment is gone, it's gone forever.


Monday 3 June 2013

Beware of the Gimmicks

Beware of the Gimmicks. Today I went into my local hair shop for a browse. I mainly buy my hair products online but I occasionally like to see what new stuff they have in store. A tub with the writing '100% African Shea Butter' caught my eye. I asked one of the men in the store which part of Africa this product was from exactly. He told me 'Made in Africa' as if I couldn't read. I had to explain to him that Africa is a continent and that description means as much to me as 'Made in Asia' would mean to him (he was indian). It is very important that we are aware of what we were buying. Many products claim to 'promote growth' and 'stop breakage' but before we buy do we research how the ingredients support the claim. Many products will promote the fact that the product has for example 'Moroccan Argan Oil' in it to catch the consumers eyes but half of the time the Argan Oil is close to the last ingredient. As consumers we need to understand that we dictate the market. I personally prefer to know exactly what I'm buying. With a lot of the smaller hair care lines this information is readily available, if I need extra information I can get a prompt friendly response to my inquiry. If this is the service and products that we want to get in our local shops, we need support these businesses in order for them to grow. Why am I buying products for my hair from people whose main goal is not promoting healthy hair care but instead to make a profit.

Saturday 1 June 2013

New Products

Hey Guys, Happy first of the month. If you haven't guessed it from the title, I got some new products y'all. As I'm currently studying in Amsterdam, I only get new products when I fly home, products are too expensive there... long story short, I got back last night. So what Did I get? I hear you ask!

1) Hairveda Whipped Creme Ends Hydration 9oz - After buying the sample size I fell in love and had to buy it full size. Check out my review if you haven't done so already.

2) Hairveda Sitrinillah Deep Moisturizing Conditioner (Sample Size)- My Bee Mine Deep Conditioner just finished so I'm in search of a replacement.

3) Hairveda Acai Berry Phyto Keratin Foritified Conditioner (Sample)- I stopped using protein treatments last year when I discovered that my hair wasn't responding well to protein. I'm concerned about this affecting my protein/ moisture balance so I decided to try this to see how my hair responds.

4) Hairveda Cocasta Shikaki Hair Oil (Sample)- I'm almost all out of oil and was curious about trying something new. Speaking of being out of oil, I had to throw away my Almond oil 2 weeks back because I arrived at the airport 30mins before takeoff and couldn't check in my bag :(. 

5) Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Transitioning Milk 8oz- My mum brought this back from America for me, quite excited to try Shea Moisture for the first time.

6) Herbal Essences Totally Twisted Conditioner 23.7oz- My mum also brought this back for me. I gained interest in this after reading that it helped to keep curls defined after washing. 

For my UK readers you can get a vast majority of Natural Hair lines at Curly Emporium, only bummer is P&P is £4.99, so maybe share an order with a friend. I think it's safe to say that I won't be buying anything new for at least another 5 months, I don't want to earn the title 'Product Junkie'. New Products mean new reviews so keep your eyes peeled! If you've tried any of these products, please share your thoughts.

ps. I haven't got my SLR with me so I'm using my phone camera.


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