Over the knee SATISFACTION!!!

I've been ranting and raving for my NEED for an "Over the Knee" boot for quite some time.  I'm happy to say that I've managed to find one, and for under $100!  YES!

I purchased them from Urban Outfitters, by UO designer Kimchi Blue, they are $98.00 and available in black, grey and cream.  To see all the pics, in all their glory, go to this link here.

Here are a couple of pics...

 

 

In the last pic, you can see that the heel is suede also!  I purchased them in cream - DARING, I know. However, they aren't every day boots for me - they're for special occasions, which require door-to-door traveling. Thus, I think I'll be fine with the color

My Personal Review: They are very comfortable, fit my legs (which are skinny) but I believe they will fit a thicker leg too - they're not tight on me. For the foot of the shoe, fit true to size, nice width also - not too narrow. I do have to pull them up a bit when I wear them over my knee...but I think that's because my legs don't hold them up alone.

EUREKA!!!

Hello Lovelies,

I have GREAT NEWS!!! I was able to braid my own Senegalese twists!!! *Fireworks & applause*

Thus, I'll definitely still have cute hair styles, but they will be geared towards longer hair.  I've decided to shift my focus from hair onto another extension for my blog: Fashion, specifically personal fashion.  This portion will be great for anyone who is looking to:
1. Define your own new style
2. Build/create your wardrobe
3. Shop more efficiently for your current style or in general

I thought to do this because when I got out of college, I recognized that I had NO CLOTHES.  Ok, I'm exaggerating a tad, but I did not have a WARDROBE.  I had a top, a blouse, jeans, a dress, but nothing that worked together to create a single WORKING wardrobe.  I also noticed that I did not know how to shop for a wardrobe. Sure, I could shop for an event, or I could find one cute item, but then I would only wear it ONCE, or find that "I had nothing to go with it."

I found some tips to help me create my wardrobe, and I'm happy to say, I have a solid style and wardrobe AND I continuously add to it when I shop.  I'm not going to reveal my secrets all at once, lol.  But I will start revealing one now: Know your body!!!

When I shopped for clothes before, I bought anything trendy and cute.  The only problem with this is that TRENDY does not always fit your body type. It is of the utmost important that you KNOW and UNDERSTAND YOUR BODY! Know what shapes/cuts compliment you, along with the ones that don't. This will make shopping much easier. For example, I have skinny legs - I highlight them all the time by wearing dresses, skinny jeans and leggings. I LOVE wide-leg pants, but I purchase very few b/c it takes away from one of my best assets!

So, take a look in the mirror and ask yourself...what's my best asset? How can I best highlight this asset with my clothing? What's my worst asset? How can I hide/camouflage this asset with clothes? When answering these questions, think cuts...A-lines, straight, etc.  Also, fashion magazines can be helpful if you're getting started.  I personally love Lucky.

So, Rule #1: Know your body...

Happy Holidays & Winter Hair Challenges

Happy Holidays everyone!  I hope you all will excuse my hiatus, I was away from the computer, spending time with my family and LOVING IT! I hope you all had a great time as well.

As for my hair...rolling eyes...I love style experimentation and all the different questions/compliments that I get when I wear my natural hair.  HOWEVER, keeping it REAL REAL, the ish is a LOT of work! I just want to not have to do my hair, AND not pay anyone else to do it, lol.  Thus, I'm considering getting the Senegalese twists (with extensions). I think the twists will give me a well-deserved break AND are still a protective style. However, I want to put them in myself, but I've already tried a couple of twists, and it is not hittin' :(.

Hopefully I'll get some style inspiration for my own free-strand hair searching youTube.  Who knows, maybe I'll actually try the Curlformers since I'm on vakay next week.  I should have some good photos soon b/c you know my  hair needs to set it OFF on NYE!!!

Holiday Cheer & Bantu Knot Out

**Update** I uploaded the pics again, so they should show up this time, sorry about that :(

I got invited to a lot of Holiday parties this weekend.  Although I'm not into wearing sweaters with reindeer and blinking lights, I do LOVE to be FESTIVE!!!  I found this FABULOUS headband at Anthropologie, it reminds me of a "Winter Wonderland."  Unforch, it looks like they're not selling it online, or they sold out.  I bought it at the Philly store.  I wore it on one of my pinned styles on twist-out hair.  Here are the pics.

On ANOTHER NOTE...I FINALLY got the willpower to try a Bantu knot-out.  Unforch, I did not experience the best results.  I think I needed to do smaller knots.  Here's what my hair looked like.

LOL @ my facial expression...I just woke up and undid the knots...I did one knot very small, thus this is what all of my hair would have looked like had I tried it.  Here's what I think it was SUPPOSED to look like.

  For the newbies who don't know what Bantu knots are, there's a pic below.  You  basically twist the hair and roll it into a knot.

My Staple Style

As you all know, I LOVE ME SOME TWO-STRAND TWISTS!  I have come up with my staple two-strand twist style.  If I don't find any new style to try, I go to this style.  It features bangs and a twist up around the sides of my head.  I know...I'm not good at explaining things with words. that's why it's great that a picture says 1,000 words!

**Pics are from 4-day old twists
I rock this to work, on the weekends, everywhere.  It's cute enough to rock out at the club, yet still protective!  This style is also VERY EASY...if you know how to twist, you should be able to do it.  To get the bangs, just be sure to twist the hair towards the front.  Give yourself 3-4 rows of twists for bangs for the size of twist that I do.

For the back twist up, it's the same style as my bun twist referenced here, except this time you're doing it on twisted hair.  It's a quasi flat twist/roll effect.

Soul Sista...Power to the People!

Whenever I rock my unaltered afro (I.e. natural coil/kink shape, no twist/braid-outs), my bf seems to go into this mode where he constantly calls me "Soul Sista."  It's as if he feels we're in the 70's...the conversation will go something like this:

He sees me and says, "What's up my sooooul sista, my beautiful black queen, my nubian princess?"

Me: "{Laughing} You're silly"

Him: "Do me a favor and put your hand up like THIS [makes black power sign]"
Me: Still laughing
Him: "You are a SOOOUL sista!"

I just think it's funny that some type of convo like this happens between me and him when I wear my fro.  It makes me laugh. 

This post is for my ladies and fellas rockin those unaltered fros, "What's up my SOUL SISTAS and BROTHAS?" :-P

*I did have the fro clipped up on one side in the pic to give me "bangs"

Oyin Handmade...I FINALLY got on it

Hello Lovelies!

My cousin and other 4bers on the Wonderful World Wide Web *I love alliteration* have been ranting and raving about products from a black-owned company called Oyin Handmade.  Ladies & gents, I finally got on it and visited their store in Baltimore the last time I went home.  They were so friendly at the store, I felt at home!

I picked up the following products: Whipped Shea Butter, Shine & Define and Frank's Juice.  Of course I love the Shea butter, it's soft and supple unlike the raw shea butter I normally use.  The Shine & Define lays my curly edges down well.  It has a light scent and made my twists soft and added a little shine.  Finally, Frank's Juice gives my twist-outs the "pick-me-up" they've been so desparately longing for.

Overall, I'm very satisfied with the products.  If you are transitioning and searching for products, I haven't heard any poor reviews about Oyin or Aubrey's Organic hair products on 4a/4b hair.  Plus, my hair clearly likes both of them a lot.  One product I feel the need to really RAVE about is...Aubrey's Honeysuckle Rose Moisturizing Conditioner for deep conditioning - it's FABULOUS, my hair LOVES this stuff!!!  It leaves my hair feeling soft as a baby's butt...NO, UGG fur...NO, a winter throw...SIGH, you get the idea ;)***

***DISCLAIMER: Though these products do *magic* on my hair, they  may not yield the same results for you.  Try a sample of the products first or buy them at a place that welcomes returns for things that don't work out well so you don't waste your $$$$.  Whole Foods, though expensive, welcomes returns.

Peace,
Moni Mo

December Greetings & Cinna bun hair style

Happy December!!!

I love this time of year, the cold winter weather allows me to layer up and look fabulous, and who doesn't love the spirit that is around us during the Christmas season!

As we prepare for the holidays (parties, large dinners, etc.), it's VITAL that we have some sharp hairstyles to match our attire.  Thus, I'm hoping to find new hairstyles weekly to blog about.

Here are the deets on my first new style...I was perusing youTube on Sunday and came across another FAB hairstyle.  It's called the "Cinna-bun hairstyle", here are links to the tutorial: Part 1*FYI, the first half of the vid is a response to something I'm totally unfamiliar with* and Part 2.

Here are pics of the style on me.

Back View *love that you can see the texture*

Front View

 Anyway, I think this is a great conservative hairstyle, but it still is very cute/fashionable.  I did this style on dry, stretched hair.  I washed it and kept it in braids overnight and styled in the morning.  It took me about 10 minutes to pull this look together.  I pulled my hair back with an elastic stretchy that I got from Rite Aid. :) and did the style.  I would try to explain how to do the style, but I don't think I would do a good job, so just watch the video.  If you try it, let me know how it turns out!