LA LA LA

Hello, beautiful! We moved house to our own domain, THEKINKANDI.COM ! You probably already know this, but this is a formal announcement. We are still here for you, to encourage you on your hair journey, just at our new home. Please visit us at THEKINKANDI.COM, all new posts from us are over there :) This post on beautiful hair inspiration from the recently concluded SheHive Lagos…

What Does Your Hair Say About You?

A  few weeks ago, I was in my room o, sitting quietly with my deep conditioner in my hair. Next thing, I saw that mama (Beyonce) had stopped the world with another digital drop. Internally screaming, I went straight for the new video, and was compelled to watch it at least 10 times that night. However, before it was even time to wash out my conditioner, drama was already brewing on the internets;…

Source Hello beautifuls! What’s good? What’s new? :) Pretty sure you agree with us that thekinkandi.com is definitely way cooler than thekinkandi.wordpress.com! We are happy to announce that very very soon, we will complete the move to our permanent site, thekinkandi.com *sprays confetti* For this reason, we are going on a very short break, to tidy a couple of things before the move. We’ll be…

Going Back to Natural: A Throwback Post

Hey beauts! For those of you who have followed The Kink and I from way back when, you will notice that the content has evolved as AB’s (and my) hair has evolved. We do not want our darling newbies to feel out of their depths, though. Below are top 10 tips for you to keep in mind as you go back to natural that AB had posted back in 2013! (more…)

Naturals in The City, 14 x February Giveaway Winners!

Hello beautifuls! Your favourite quarterly natural meet-up is back in less than two weeks, yay! We are pretty excited over here! Naturals in The City, 14 is next week Saturday, 12th March 2016! Where? Cafe Neo, 6 Agoro Odiyan Street, off Adeola Odeku, Victoria Island, Lagos. When? 1pm to 6pm. What is Naturals in The City about? Established 2011, Naturals in the City is a quarterly meet-up in…

4 Reasons Why You Should Blog!

Source: It’s Pink Pot Aaaaand it’s a wrap! Ladies (and gentlemen), we have come to the end of the ‘So You Want To Blog’ series! Dear newbie blogger, dear person who has been thinking about starting a blog but has been putting it off for months, years, for whatever reasons you think are valid (but really aren’t), I especially wrote this series for you! Here’s what we have covered since we started:…

Be Seen! : How To Put Your Blog Out There

Source: It’s Pink Pot Hello boos! In Week 5 of the So You Want To Blog series, we are talking about how to get your blog out there. Last week, we talked about Creating Great Images For Your Blog. To catch up on everything you missed, you can read the whole thing here. So. Your blog is new, right? You may want it to be private- for just you, or just to share with your family and friends. Lovely.…

EATING OUT: Serendib Restaurant & Bar

Its been a while since I did a food-related post on the blog. Hair isn’t all I’m about. Food is also one of my loves. I love to cook, I love to eat-out when the plan permits it, so as part of the perks of reading this blog, you’ll be getting the occasional restaurant review ^.^ I was walking to the Zenith Bank ATM on Aminu Kano one lovely Saturday when I noticed the Serendib sign on the other…

Source: It’s Pink Pot

Hello lovers!

Welcome to our 4th session in the So You Want to Blog series! Just joining us? No worries. Let’s get you caught up. This series is mainly for the newbie blogger, and everyone who has been wanting to start a blog, but doesn’t know how to go about it. In this series, my aim is to ginger you to get started, and sharing the things I’ve learned that I think you should know at this point. Sure, you may be already savvy in these things, but I’m sure you could still learn a thing or two!

Week 1 was about the ginger! Getting you in the positive blogging state of mind!

Week 2, we talked about ‘Choosing The Best Blogging Platform For You’

Week 3, we started talking about your blog content. In this post, we talked about appearances, and some notes about your Writing. Read this here.

Welcome to Week 4, and the word of the day is Images. Let’s talk about your Photos and Graphic Art!

Remember when I said you didn’t need a professional DSLR camera? You don’t need one to start. I did not have one four years ago and I still don’t have one now. Hoping to rectify this in some months, though. :)

If you’re trying to blog about food, or hair, or anything really involving photos taken by you, keep it at the back of your mind that a DSLR is something you should want to invest in eventually- for better images, but there’s still so much you can do with a phone camera, or a regular point and shoot cam- so, don’t wait!  I got my first Sony point & shoot camera (Simon) at the Sony Centre in Victoria Island. I felt really special because I paid for with the money I earned as a summer intern for 4 weeks. You can get one for 20k (more or less), 14 mega pixels and up & you’re good to go.

Aim to take photos in good lighting.

If you’re a selfie queen, you already know that finding the right light is essential. You should not be backing the light, rather, find a nice spot where it hits you, or hits your subject, but not too much of course.

One thing I’ve come to learn is that with phones and point and shoot cameras, you don’t want to use Flash while trying to capture particular detail, so don’t stress yourself. Especially with subjects like hair, and food, this cheap flash lol will not work for you, so strive to find the best light. Start by facing the light, not backing it. If you go somewhere and you’d like to take photos, try to get seated or positioned facing the source of the light, not backing it. If you’re not sure how this works yet, take out your phone camera and see where the light is best. Here’s this post from 2013. The restaurant is no more, but the lighting was awesome. 

If you’re in Nigeria, chances are, they don’t really think too much about lighting where you live or work. I love the universe, but these energy saving bulbs suck and do not do much for photographs. Natural light is best for photos, or great indoor lighting. Yellow lighting is better. I’m considering getting a nice inexpensive lamp to help with my photos. If you are a creep like me lol, you might have noticed that I like to take photos at my front door. That’s the best spot in my house. One of my favourite 3. Find your best spot, improvise.

iPhone camera. Too much light on my neck, but it shows the curl definition, which was what I wanted.

  Do not over-edit your photos!

Sure, with a phone camera or regular cam, you may need to play with some edits- every camera really, but here too. When I take pictures with Simon, in great light, and Simon is in a good mood, I just need an “I’m Feeling Lucky” edit to get the photo to its last bus stop. Overly edited photos aren’t good for Instagram anymore, let alone your blog. Clear pictures please.

Keep this in mind

A photo that looks great on your iPhone or HTC OneZ may not look as good on your computer screen. At a point, I started relying on my iPhone for pictures because I was blogging from my phone a lot. Seeing the same pictures on a bigger screen was a little meh. It’s just one more thing for you to keep in mind.

Arrangement Matters.

How you arrange your post helps you convey your message, and keep your reader engaged. If you have a photo heavy post, you don’t need soooo many words unless they’re absolutely necessary. Still, to balance your text and photos (perfect example is a Restaurant Review), mix them up. Have the photos included where relevant. If you put ALL your long text at the beginning of the post or at the end, you’ll definitely lose some people along the way.

Align Large, and to the Centre.

With photos, displaying them in “large size” is always better. Large, and align to the centre. Aligning to the left or right, is just odd, if you aren’t doing it for any artistic purpose.

Give Credit! Link back!

If you use stock images, or images from Google, images from others’ sites- images that don’t belong to you, always, always, always link back!

State the Source in the caption, and then hyperlink that caption. It’s really important.

You may be thinking- what are the odds that someone in Australia would find that you in Lagos or Nairobi or Edmonton, used their photo without linking back, and sue you or something. Well, it’s a small world. It does happen. Especially if in future, your blog happens to become a thing. Whether you aspire to be the next Linda Ikeji or The Shade Room or not, link back. It’s the decent thing to do.

Though most sites aren’t that strict, still look around. Where you see that the blogger has a notice asking you to ASK FOR PERMISSION, before reproducing their images (usually personal work), email them if it’s really important to you- and if it’s not, just leave it, okay? How would you feel if others were to use your own pictures without acknowledgement? Ehen.

       7. Save Space.

Save space, save data, save time.

Photos taken with a camera or the rear camera of a smartphone, weigh at least 3 megabytes. After doing your edits, you should try reducing the size of the image. This you can easily do with Picasa, or Microsoft Office Picture Manager- or even on some websites. Reducing it to 500kb or less, would not normally affect the look of the photo. It won’t drain the colour out of it, and it should not make it smaller in size (like- length, and breadth) If either of these happen, something is wrong.

In our zones here, Nigeria- where internet is not unlimited, and can be frustrating, it’s faster to upload images that aren’t heavy. It is also faster for people to load them on their phones when they visit your blog. WordPress.com is free, but only to the extent that you have 3GB storage. This has served me very well so far, but I would have saved much more on space if I had been reducing my images from Day 1.

         8. Have Fun, Create Your Own Art

If you would like to add text to your photographs, or make posters of them, there are many fun applications to use. Canva.com is a top resource. I’ve been fumbling there for 2 years. I made the blog header there, and did some art there, but the first thing I felt really proud of was made this year (see below), so take it easy on yourself.

Made with Canva

NN designs our super-cute Naturals in The City flyers on Canva. It’s also available on iPad.

On your Android or iPhone, you could also try Over, Adobe Post, Mextures, A Beautiful Mess and A Color Story.

Very simple caption added with Over.

This list is by no means exhaustive. There is soooo much more about photography, and I am definitely no expert. Every other day, I’m trying to learn new things. In the future, I may do more posts as I learn, but this series is not get you overwhelmed, I’m here to get you started on the basics.

Cassie Daves has this really nice post here about taking flat-lay photos. Check it out :)

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Next time, we will be talking about putting your new blog out there and getting found! Ever heard the term SEO (Search Engine Optimization)? If you’re already blogging, has anyone tried selling SEO services to you? I’ll tell you how I figured it out myself, without even knowing what SEO meant.

But for now, if there’s anything else you’d like to add to these points- any apps that work for you, tips that work for you, please share in the comments. Thank you!

Love,

AB,

xx

Hey beautifuls! How are things? We apologise for not having our posts in the So You Want To Blog & Salon Stories series last week. This was because I had a hectic week spiced with tech glitches, and MeeMee is away, having a blast on vacation- but more about this later. :) In January, we hosted an Ultra Black Hair Giveaway on Instagram. If you are on Instagram, we hope you’re following us! It’s…

Product Review: Ultra Black Hair

Hello loves! If you’re on Natural Hair/ Healthy Hair instagram, you’ve probably seen some buzz about this American brand: Ultra Black Hair. Created by Cathy Howse, these American products are in the motherland now, and the campaign is fairly serious. Cathy is also an author. Her first ‘Ultra Black Hair Growth Book’ was published in 1989, so even without reading it, big props to her for being…

January was a tough month for me. It could have been worse- actually, some pretty good things came through for me this last week but, it wasn’t smooth sailing for the most part. On January 2, I nearly had an accident. My right tyre’s ball joints gave out, so the tire dislocated. I had just begun to ascend a small flyover bridge, so thankfully, I wasn’t speeding. I was alone, it was kind of late,…

Ready to Blog, Let’s Go! Part 1

Image Source: Create Her Stock Hello lovelies! You are welcome to Week 3 of our “So, You Want to Blog?” series. Yay! In Week 1, you got the extra ginger you needed to get started. In Week 2, we talked about choosing the best blogging platform for you. I believe we are ready to move on to the main, the main, blogging itself. You know what you want to blog about- pick anything, how does the spirit…

Choosing The Best Blogging Platform For You

Image Source: Create Her StockThis is the second Wednesday in the ‘So You Want To Blog’ series, whoop whoop! The first one is still here. Welcome, welcome. I’m happy you are here. :D For the next couple Wednesdays, we are here to demystify the process with the inspiration, encouragement, and information you need to start your very own blog. If you’ve been thinking about starting, if you’re a…

Hey guys!

Back in 2013, I got some products from Midas Naturals. I loved the healthy butter in particular, and I reviewed it here.

As the saying goes, the only thing that is constant in life is change, and since then, the brand has been through some changes. Currently, they have a new line of products- Brazen Curls, and they sent it to me towards the end of last year to review. I have used them, and so has MeeMee, so, here I am with our unbiased views on the products.

This is not a sponsored post. Though made in the UK, Midas Naturals is owned by a Nigerian woman, so it gives us great joy that these products are quality stuff, and we definitely think you should know about them.

The line consists of 5 products:

Kiwi Moisturising Shampoo. N5,900

Kiwi Restorative Deep Conditioner N7,980

Kiwi Moisture Rich Hair & Body Butter N6,700

Kiwi Crème Leave-In Conditioner N5,900

Nourish & Grow Elixir N5,310

First Impressions:

These products are cute. Sure, looks may be deceiving, but I have high expectations of well packaged products. Beyond the labelling and branding, I think the containers are functional. The deep conditioner and the hair butter come in tubs. The shampoo and leave-in come in slim bottles with nozzle caps, and the oil comes in a bottle I’m going to keep after the product has finished. Remember this post from MeeMee about product packaging? The oil bottle has a pump you can push to release product. Makes more sense to me, abeg. I don’t like dealing with more oil than is necessary, and this really helps.

They have a light scent- nothing too distinct, but it’s pleasant. I assume it’s a kiwi fragrance since everything is kiwi- kiwi- but I’ve actually never eaten kiwi fruit before so I don’t know for sure.

These products are silicone free, sulphate free, paraben free and mineral oil free. They also have yummy ingredients, as you will see.

Before We Proceed…

My hair is kinky, tightly coiled 4C, low porosity hair. I had no issues with my hair before using this product, it was already in good shape, as in, I wasn’t battling with anything in particular. What works for me may not work for you, this is just an account of MY experience with these products.

KIWI MOISTURE RICH HAIR & BODY BUTTER

Ingredients:

Aqua (Deionised water), Shea oil, Babassu seed oil, Camellia seed oil, Kiwiseed oil, Glyceryl stearate SE, Cetearyl olivate (and) Sorbitan olivate, Hydrolysed silk, Panthenol, Behentrimonium methosulphate (and) cetyl alcohol and (butylene glycol), Stearyl dihydroxypropyldimonium oligosaccharides, Pomegrenate oil, Rose hip oil, Stearic acid, Cetyl alcohol, Ceteareth-20, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylexylglycerin, Fragrance oil.

This butter is my fave! Absolute fave. Midas Naturals products are handmade, do you know? While I like everything on this line, the butter stands out for me, it is the best thing.

For a few weeks, I used it on my skin. It is of a perfect consistency. Light, not too oily.

I used it to twist my hair a few times, and the twist outs were bae.  And they were SOFT.

my chunky braidout at NITC 13, a couple of hours old.

More than the twist out results, is how nice this butter makes my hair feel. Twisting or braiding my hair with this after washing or even when dry, leaves my hair feeling really good and my strands are super smooth. I don’t have a microscope but I think it means my cuticles were flattened, as in, super conditioned. Very smooth, and soft, it’s a very good feeling!

If you need a good sealant that doubles as a great twisting product, this is it.

KIWI MOISTURISING SHAMPOO

Ingredients:

Aqua (Deionised water), Carpryl/carprylyl glucoside, Cocomidopropyl betaine, Glycerin, Sodium benzoate (and) Potassium sorbate, Hydrolysed wheat protein, Xanthan gum, Citric acid, Phenoxyethanol, Aloe vera leaf powder, Kiwiseed oil.

If you’ve been around here long enough, you know that I don’t really care much for shampoo. All I ask of a shampoo is that it cleans my hair and it doesn’t dry me out. This shampoo lathers lightly- not much (it’s sulphate free) but it’s not entirely suds-free.

It cleansed my hair and scalp without leaving my hair dry. Score.

KIWI RESTORATIVE DEEP CONDITIONER

Ingredients:

Aqua (Deionised water), Behentrimonium methosulphate (and) cetyl alcohol (and) butylene glycol, Babassu seed oil, Baobab seed oil, Hydroxypropltrimonium honey, Avocado oil, Aqua (and) glycerin (and) Bamboo shoot extract (and) Sodium benzoate (and) Potassium sorbate, Hydrolyzed milk protein, Centrimonium chloride, Kiwiseed oil, Cetearyl alcohol, Hydrolysed corn protein (and) Hydrolyzed wheat protein (and) Hydrolyzed soy protein, Panthenol, Nettle extract (and) Horsetail extract (and) Sage extract (and) Lavender flower extract (and) Sweet Almond Oil, Cetyl alcohol, Glycerin, Sorbitol, Glyceryl stearate SE, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylexylglycerin, Ceteareth-20, Fragrance oil.

This DC is thick and very creamy. It’s a mild protein treatment, so if you are really protein sensitive, you may be a little wary of this. My hair can be weird about protein, and it was fine. I think this is because though it has proteins (highlighted in red), it also has many humectants, fatty alcohols and softening ingredients (highlighted blue) so I think you should be okay. Being a protein treatment, it’s great for strengthening weak, brittle hair.

I wasn’t dealing with weak, brittle hair, so I cannot attest to my hair feeling stronger. However, I applied it to my hair (because of how creamy it is, a little goes a long way), detangled and wore a plastic cap for about an hour. After washing, my hair felt really good, and really soft.

With some conditioners, my hair can feel dry before I’m done twisting after a wash, but this was not the case with this product.

KIWI CRÈME LEAVE-IN CONDITIONER

Ingredients:

Aqua (Deionised water), Behentrimonium methosulphate (and) cetyl alcohol and (butylene glycol), Kiwiseed oil, Camellia oil, Bamboo shoot extract (and) Sodium benzoate (and) Potassium sorbet, Watermelon oil, Aloe Vera Butter, Hydrolyzed Silk, Stearyl dihydroxypropyldimonium oligosaccharides, Glycerin, Sweet Almond Oil (and) Nettle extract (and) Horsetail extract (and) Sage extract (and) Lavender flower extract, Cetyl alcohol, Panthenol, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylexylglycerin, Fragrance oil.

Slip, check.

Water-based, Moisture, check.

Again, that “smooth” feeling!

Not the best leave in I’ve met in my life, but it’s good stuff.

NOURISH & GROW ELIXIR

Ingredients:

Peach kernel oil, Sweet almond oil, Fractionated coconut oil, Avocado oil, Baobab oil, Watermelon oil, Shea oil, Camellia oil, Kiwiseed oil, Pomegrenate oil, Rosemary essential oil.

I mainly use this oil on my scalp. I only started to use it to seal when I realized I had almost used up all the butter haha. It’s a blend of lightweight oils, and it’s a good sealant. As I said earlier, I love the pump function. It makes sure I don’t use too much. It can also be used as a hot oil treatment. Kemi Lewis likes it as such, but I personally haven’t tried. I haven’t done a hot oil treatment in ages, so maybe after I take out my braids. You’ll hear how that goes in the Washday post when that happens.

A word of caution, please.

Pregnant women are warned against using Rosemary essential oil. Though it’s the very last ingredient on the list, you are still advised to stay away from this elixir if you are pregnant. I confirmed this from Somi, Madam Brazen Curls herself. She didn’t use it while pregnant, and so she would not advise you to either!

ALTOGETHER,

In sum, this is a great line from Midas Naturals/ Brazen Curls. The products are waterbased, and full of humectants, with super softening agents like BMTS & fatty alcohols. I really like it.

Though on the pricey side, the ingredients are very worth it in my opinion. Awon pomegranate oil, kiwi, babassu and co, they are NOT cheap. I mean, I’ve seen some expensive high-end natural hair brands whose ingredients are pretty basic. I don’t want to call no names, ahem.

I like the entire line, though the butter is my most favourite. I brought them for MeeMee to use while she was in Nigeria and to paraphrase her, while she didn’t feel anything instantly during her washday, she felt the effects for days after- until she got braids. Moisture on fleek. Plus that smoothness, it’s a very nice feeling I hope you experience on your journey.

If these products could work so well during the harmattan season, I have no doubt that they’d even be better in more humid times of the year.

Harmattan is the driest time of the year in this part of the world. Very little humidity, the air is dry, and dusty, and for people like me, full of allergies. It also tends to be a very weird time for hair. Because of the low humidity, twist outs and presses tend to last, but it’s very hard to impart and retain moisture. At the slightest feeling of HAR- I don’t even wait for the word to complete lol, I go and protective style. But we had a mini photoshoot planned at the end of the year, and it was for this reason that I did not go get braids as it would have been a waste of money. I felt, you know, that maybe harmattan wasn’t so bad, because of how fleeky my hair was, but now that I’m in braids and I have to contend with this dryness at the base, spritzing with water and stuff, I now understand that my hair was great because of the products I was using.

So, thank you Brazen Curls for making my harmattan bearable. Rachel of Beautifully Nappy feels the same way about her Brazen Curls, so maybe I’m right and this isn’t just conjecture.

WOULD I REPURCHASE?

In theory, yes. 

I have no complaints about this line. I think it’s good value, for the money. I really recommend it. But to be honest, between *my* budget and the fact that I tend to be very heavy handed with products + I am not the type to commit to using an entire line… I’m really not there yet. I’m still here for the basic brands as long as their prices agree. Not going to buy your basic stuff for big money, NO. 

But hear this, I will be replacing the lovely butter in a bit! It is a proud honoree in my personal hall of fame of favourite products everrrrrr. 

On the flip side, as a cash madam (help me hail her, lol) MeeMee has ordered the whole line. Whoop!

WHERE TO FIND

Brazencurls.com

Beautifully Nappy

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This has been a super long post, and you are the real MVP for staying till the end! :*

If you have tried any of these products, as always, you are welcome to share your experience in the comments (good or bad) :) If you will or will not be trying Brazen Curls, also share why!

Love,

AB,

xx

So, You Want To Blog?

Image Source: Create Her Stock Hands up if one of your new year resolutions is to start a blog. Hands up if it’s something you have been thinking about for years now. Or, you haven’t really thought about it and I just put the idea in your head? Okay. You want to blog? Do it. This is our message to you- ou- u. (more…)

Book Review: Year of Yes

Hi guys! Let’s start the week with something we haven’t done in a while. On January 2, I finished reading Shonda Rhimes’ ‘Year of Yes’.   Shonda Rhimes is a person I admire so much, for her excellence and badassery in the world of TV. How do you spend your Friday nights? I don’t really go out. If I get home early enough, the typical Friday night for MeeMee and I is a synchronized visit to…