Another Light bulb moment...

Location: London

So I tried to do this once a week and well....I have failed horribly haha, but that doesn't mean I don't have so much talent to showcase (not my own)

Today's spotlight moment is Giselle Ali,
I met her during my first year of uni, she has become one of the most talented makeup artists I have come across, whenever I have people say my eyebrows look amazing, she is the name I have on my lips,
Not only is she talented in Makeup, she has mastered the HD Brow, she does waxing, and not the conventional hot wax and strip technique either, and on top of all this, she even gives makeup lessons.

She has just turned 25 and her work has been showcased in fashion shoots, weddings, magazines, birthdays, makeup talks, workshops and more

Follow her work on instagram - @giselle_makeup
Follow her work on Twitter - @giselle_makeup
Follow her work on Facebook - Giselle Makeup Artist
Contact her for her work  - info@gisellemakeup.co.uk
Check out her website - www.gisellemakeup.co.uk

You won't believe how talented she is until you see it for yourself, she loves making people feel beautiful, why not give her a try?

Pelo Malo

Location: London

Yesterday I went to a private viewing of an exhibiton called Pelo Malo, which is Spanish for 'bad hair' that is a term used in Latin American countries to coin people with curly or Afro-Caribbean hair.
The artist Jennifer Kaplan-Ortiz has used her photography and art to capture aspects of this hair,
This exhibit discussed how women are perceived through their distinct hair types,while touching on themes of beauty, along with racial and gender issues currently felt by women globally.

I had three favourite art pieces of the night (some which you can buy), the first as a close shot of hair being blow dried, the second was of shelves of manikin heads with different wigs on, some where even bald and my third was two burnt tiles that had burnt hair glued and painted to it, this to me represents heat damage, hair dye and hair glue. 

It was a very interesting night, there were two guest speakers on the night, both being Black British natural hair bloggers, who told us about their hair journey, how they felt in society and then took to the floor with questions. 

ideas and thoughts were touched upon that I had never thought about myself, one of the biggest things I took away with me last night was the discussion on hair and the job sector, many felt that they could never go into an interview with the natural state of their hair as they wouldn't get the job, society see natural hair as messy, unprofessional and to them it demishes our appearance, I got into conversation with this one lady, who said straight that she would never let her fifteen year old daughter go to an interview with the natural state of her curly hair (whom I met and has the most gorgeous curly hair), because she felt that the employers would judge her in a matter of seconds based on her hair and not accept her, she would advise her daughter to straighten her hair. 

One of my friends asked the two bloggers whether they felt that the world would flip, where natural hair, curly hair would become the in thing rather than straightened hair, they said maybe as we have made a difference since the early 1900s where no evidence can be found of women walking around with curly hair or afros, but in my opinion I feel like it won't, yes the world has slowly started to accept it as so many people are choosing to love and rock their natural hair, but the media show new trends and buy into it, they go where the money goes right, so how long before the natural hair trend dies out? Do you think it will ever grow to be world changing? I think that society tolerates it, and they may continue to tolerate it, but i'm not sure if they will ever completely accept it.

We talked about being able to move up the employment ladder with natural, curly and afro hair, one of the bloggers mentioned that they met a panel of people not too long ago where there was a black lady with cut short hair who was one of the heads of HSBC, but the lady with the two daughters I spoke to made a valid point, she can wear her hair like that BECAUSE she is at the top, but if we asked her what her hair was like before she reached there, would she say she wore wigs and weaves, had her hair relaxed, confirmed to society so she could grow?

Another thing mentioned was how we feel about her hair, some may have heard the expression "your hair is your beauty" which I know I was told as a child growing up, how many of you felt you didn't look that pretty because your hair wasn't 'on point'? We find it is our own kind who has the negative thoughts, brainwash us so we find a problem more with our hair than many of the outsiders do, I know I have come to work with my natural hair out, and hardly anyone noticed, and I usually always wear a curly wig, I have also come to work with kinky twists in and received lots of compliments and I work in a place where there are only a handful of black people. 
It did get me thinking though, if I had applied for this job or others with my natural hair state, would I have been offered the job? I'm lucky in the sense my company hires people from all walks of life so the answer would probably be yes, but if I wasn't here, how easy would it be somewhere else?
How many of you have had parents say "you're going out with your hair looking like that?' and all it is, is your hair is in its natural state, I find it's the friends and family members that seem to have the most issues with your hair than the world you move around in everyday, their negativity grows and embeds in you so it always seems worse off than it is.
This lady who was caucasion mentioned that she had gone to the hairdressers and this african lady was getting her hair done, when they had finished, she said the lady's hair looked amazing, but the lady put a wig on top to leave, she said everyone pleaded with her to leave her hair the way it was, why spend all that time and money just to cover it up and the lady said "there's no way I could go to work looking like this" 

Do we really have to keep our hair 'tame' to be accepted, to feel comfortable, to move up in the world? Will society ever see it's beauty and help people with curly hair, afro hair, Afro-Caribbean type textures to feel their natural hair state is their beauty and they are beautiful wearing it? 
Only time will tell......

Don't forget to check out the exhibition if you have time (it runs from today until 10th August), I have included links to the exhibition and to her kickStarter video that helped make this possible and a success:

Pelo Malo Exhibition - Anise Gallery : Click Here

Jennifer Kaplan's website: Click Here

KickStarter Video: Click Here

Mirror mirror on the wall...

Location: London

'You are so used to your features, you don't know how beautiful you look to a stranger'

I saw this and used it as my Facebook status yesterday, it really appealed to me, I guess after reading over it a few times, I saw its depth, 

Who ever really thinks about things like that?
I started to get curious (which is a usual thing for me) and I thought, how cool would it be if something was designed so that you could see how other people perceive you? In relationships when people say to their other halves "you're beautiful" or "if only you could see yourself the way I see you" etc their other half will smile, or feel warm inside for awhile, until they go back to not liking something about themselves.

Imagine having a partner and children, and you could see the way they see you, I've always wondered, when I look in the mirror, is what I see, what others see?

You're so used to seeing yourself everyday, when you're brushing your teeth, washing your face, fixing your hair, applying makeup etc you've seen and touched every spot, discolouration, wart, you've thought to yourself that one of your features is too small, too big, too wide, too narrow etc and you're constantly judging yourself, to the point it becomes second nature, subconscious, but only you are very aware of all of these "issues" other people are not, the very thing you hate could be the very thing someone else loves.

Take me for example, I've scrutinised my nose, yet I've had friends call it cute, like a button nose, 
I've always thought my lips were too big or as a kid my eyes were to huge, yet those two are apparently my best features as they are the two i'm always complemented on, it's just so strange how it works, 
Beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder, and I would love to look through those eyes....

I have this memory, where i'm brushing my hair in the mirror, and my boyfriend at the time comes up behind me, looks at me in the mirror and says "you're beautiful" and I instantly pull a face, and then remember to smile, how I wish then and there I could have seen what he saw...

I was having this discussion on the phone yesterday night and I mentioned how sometimes I wish my mum hadn't taken me to boots and got them to do my makeup and then proceeded to buy me the products, because I was comfortable in my skin back then, now I feel ugly without it, I wonder how I look without makeup to other people, do they pull a face and think "oh wow, she's not that attractive" or do they even notice?  The reply I got back was "you look the same to me with or without makeup on, the only difference is when you're wearing lipstick, then your lips are purple, pink or red, you're still pretty without makeup" again, I wished then and there I could see myself the way they do, to see if there really is as huge difference as I think there is when i'm wearing or not wearing makeup, or if there's only a slight difference when perceived by other people.

I watched this video the other day, one of those 'Dove - Real Beauty' videos (why don't they show them on TV over here??) it was of a Forensic sketch artist, he got people to describe themselves and he would draw them (he couldn't see them, only hear them), he then got a stranger to describe them, so by the end of it he had two pictures per person, one they described themselves and the other someone else described and it was crazy to see how different they were, how we criticise ourselves so harshly.

You are so used to your features, you don't know how beautiful you look to a stranger

Light bulb moment...Lights, Camera, ACTION!!

Location: London 

So while writing up my latest Instagram post (CC_London) I had a brainwave, how awesome would it be to showcase a talented friend a week on this, get their name out there, I have so many followers on my various social networking sites (I have no idea why) that I know lots of people would see it, and I have sooo many talented entrepreneurs as friends, it would be a crime not to.



So as I was working on Joelle's post, I shall use today to be her spotlight:


She has her own company call BlueBird Pictures, with the website being bluebirdpictures.org (how easy is that to remember?)
If you head to her website, she has lots of posts on there,  documentaries, series and shorts that she's been working on. 
If you google her (Joelle David), her short documentary on BBC 3 pops up, or if you're lazy, you could just click on the link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01rjf6f 

You can also become a member of Bluebird Pictures, they support creatives in all areas, so whether you have a documentary, short film etc

Her latest thing she is working on is called "Being 20 Something" (makes you interested in what it's about right?)  It's a documentary exploring love, sex and relationships in your twenties.

Where she will attempt to interpret some of the communication barriers we seem to encounter as twenty somethings in the modern era when it comes to dating.

If this sounds interesting to you and you would like to take part in this, and talk candidly about relationships, head over to the website and/or email  shout-outs@bluebirdpictures.org.uk

Tune in next week for my post on Giselle Ali - MUA

I wish I was a glow worm, a glow worm's never glum....

Location: London

Everyone talks about how to care for an introvert, how it's hard for them to put themselves out there in life, how they have to struggle with social settings, and where I do not disagree with these truths, I do wonder if people realise how hard it is to be an extrovert.....

I am known for my bubbly demeanour, which is great, I love that people come to me for a good time, to lift their spirits, someone to talk to etc, but it's hard work and it's tiring.

I like to talk to everyone, get to know who is in my surroundings, if I pass someone I will smile, I will make polite conversation if I have to be within that person's vicinity, but what always usually happens, and shocks me every time, is that if it is a guy, unless they are a homosexual, they assume I am flirting with them....

because I am being nice, I am acknowledging your existence, does not mean I am interested in you in a sexual way, why can't you just take it as me being friendly, 

this also leads to the part where guys say they get on so well with me, they feel a connection, we just clicked so easily, I have come to realise this may not happen to many people which is why they run with it, but in my world, I click with everyone, I have a connection with everyone, so for you thinking there is some sort of significance and it's rare, it's just a normal everyday thing for me.

Sometimes after being happy and bubbly for so long, I need to take out my batteries and recharge them, I might be like the Duracell bunny, but even they need to recharge, but for some strange reason, when I come to work, or finish work, or just chilling with friends, they automatically think something is wrong and pester me with questions as if I'm hiding something, I have to explain that I am content, I am good, I am happy, the only thing I am not is hyper or super smiley, sometimes I need to be like everyone else for a minute, I have no idea why that is such a hard concept to understand.

This brings me onto my point about having to always talk, does anyone know how hard that is? It may come natural to an extrovert, because they are bubbly and I guess some are well rounded, it's easy to strike up a conversation about anything and talk about everything, I recently had a conversation about feet, diarrhea, vomiting and farting, there is no limit to my choice of conversation, but in saying that, sometimes, there is that rare moment, when we fall into silence, I then get nudged or told to say something, create a conversation, I don't think people get that a conversation is a two way thing, I've been lucky enough to have conversations with people who seem to be skilled in carrying it, but when they don't, obviously I will struggle, as much as I would like to be superwoman, I am not, I do not have a C on my shirt for Conversation Girl.

Introverts are known to like their own space, they may feel drained from too much social activity whereas I would thrive from it, but even I need a holiday, I like my own space as much as the next person, sometimes going out and being bubbly is such a chore, nevertheless, I have my moments where I go out of my mind being on my own, I crave adventure and spontaneity, which is hard to find in others, they like the idea of wanting to do something fun or crazy, but when it comes down to it, they can't be bothered, and I am left on my own and being on my own for too long never leads to anything good, I remember one time, I burned my top lip while trying to use those sand paper buffer things you can get for your legs....curiosity and experimenting on my own body when I'm bored is something I need to learn NOT to do.

Another thing is confidence, people associate my outward bubbly behaviour with confidence and I have no idea why, I like a challenge or an adventure as much as the next person, but that doesn't mean I am full of confidence, If anything I'm usually faking it, if you fake confidence, people generally don't know that you're not, I tend to do the things no one else will do only to move a situation along, I hate having to wait around for someone to pluck up the courage for a 2 second job, but if people haven't noticed, I sit around with everyone too, I have to coax myself up to do it, and learn to laugh at myself when the situation fails or doesn't go according to plan, so stop making me do the dirty work because you guys feel I'm the most confident, I am sometimes, but no more than the average person.

That ladies and gentlemen concludes my little rant about being an extrovert, I even have friends that are introverts and we get on like a house on fire, just because they may not do well around crowds, doesn't mean they aren't as bubbly and crazy around less people, stop treating them like kittens and stop treating us like giants.

It's my life, it's now or never...

Location: Glasgow


So I came across some of these pictures a few days ago on a friends Facebook page:

And I thought they were amazing, there are a few more like these.

It's crazy how we subconsciously or consciously allow people to help dictate our life, we forget our mind and bodies are our own, we were born as individuals, we have different thought processes and are unique as a person, but yet the world is trying to brand us, put us into one pot, anyone that tries to break free or doesn't fit with the norm of this pot is something other than amazing

How many people overlook someone in a wheelchair? Pities them and talks to their carer (if they have one) rather than speak to them, acknowledge them as a person, notice that behind the chair is an actual person, why has their beauty diminished because they have something to help them live, what stops them from doing what you can do?

Why hasn't the legal sector changed the way people look at rape? Why are women made to feel that it was their fault somehow, that because of their freedom to choose how to dress or because of genetics making them look appealing, it was their fault, they asked for it or they must have provoked the man somehow, why can it not be the man's fault? Why is society trying to teach women to watch themselves rather than teaching men that this is wrong and no woman openly asks for it, which is why it's called rape and not consensual sex? Why are the courts making the women's life a misery, trying to get them to admit it was them who provoked a man, rather than making the man's life a misery, just because the woman isn't physically dead, doesn't mean they did not kill something inside, only 7% of rape is reported and yet the number is so much higher than that.

Why can't women be smart? Why must we look "unattractive" or "geeky" to have a good job or a job that's in science or maths, people need to read into their history and see how many women have done so much for the world today, gender does not define intelligence, a woman can be both, if you can not love that, then you lack intelligence yourself.

Because a woman dresses like a tomboy or something less "girly" doesn't mean anything other than the fact they are comfortable in it, we can wear whatever we want and still be a woman, if woman are happy with what they're wearing, what is it to you? Everyone is the keeper of themselves, who said we have to dress the way society and the media said we should, to me, being an individual is way better than being the same.

A sprinkle of this race with a dash of that race and presto I just made a super race

Location: Glasgow

What do I mean by a super race?

For years now mixed race people have been the forgotten race, or the ones no one really knew what to do with, because they were half of one and half of another, then they became the race people liked to joke about, that they were half breeds or couldn't take part or truly represent because they weren't "full blooded".

But no one has really taken the time to think about how deep being mixed raced can go.

Science has concluded that being mixed race is actually better than being one, why? Because they are less likely to suffer from genetic disorders that arise in single race mating. 

I am not implying that being mixed race is the god of all races and that we should shun anything else, 

but in the world we live in, is anyone really "one race" yes you can say this group are from the Caribbean, this group are from Europe etc, but ever since the beginning of time, species have been moving, changing, evolving and mixing.

You hear people say I'm Nigerian, but such and such is from Brazil, and these people used to live in China and I have this and that in me too", so in a sense are we not all part of this growing/evolving super race?

It is predicted that in 2020, most of the American population will be mixed race, so what does this mean for our life span?

The innocent smoothie company say that scientists have predicted that the person/people who will live to be 150 years of age has already been born.

If you think about it, "pure bred" dogs have a shorter life span than "mutts" why? Because in a sense, mutts are mixed race, therefore not being prone to specific one-race diseases, there is a lesser likelihood of recessive (inbred) diseases, such as sickle cell common in black people or Tay Sachs common in Jewish people.

I see your eyebrows raising, I don't mean inbred in the sense that your mother and her brother are creating children together, but in the sense that the same "race" has made a child, so anyone who has both their parents from the same race, that child is more likely to have the dominate genes for a inherited disease more so than someone who has come from two different races.

I can only imagine what the world will look like in a few years time

This is the link to the mixed race project, just portraits of multicultural families 

http://www.themixedrace-project.com/

This is the link to the documentary Channel 4 did awhile ago about mixed race being a super race, I'm not too sure if the videos are still there but the information around it will give you an idea as to what they looked at

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/is-it-better-to-be-mixed-race

To infinity and beyond....

Location: Eastleigh/Southampton

So I'm sitting here at the train station staring down the platform until I can't see where the train would turn and disappear, my train comes in 4 minutes and it will take me an hour and twenty minutes to get to London Waterloo,
Then I thought wow, I say it to myself as if it's only round the corner, I've only been here for five hours, I had people say to me, oh you have far to travel, or, you don't have to come today, but to me this journey isn't long at all, and not because I have the tendency to fall asleep within 20 minutes of any journey but because the world (well the UK in particular) doesn't even seem that small anymore,

Before my job, even the thought of travelling to Cambridge which is an hour and 35 minutes away by coach seemed like a big effort and a long distance, but I've now been blessed with a job that allows me to really open my eyes and see what this country has to offer, I've travelled to Scotland and back in one day, I've travelled to Sheffield and back in one day (although out of the 10 minutes I spent actually doing work in Sheffield, I actually spent 6 hours travelling), nowhere seems far anymore and now I feel as if the world is my oyster.

Sometimes when I haven't travelled in a while I get that itch, to just go to Waterloo, pick a place I've never been to and just get on the train, have you ever felt that way?

People always talk about travelling, going to places they've never been to but seldom do they do it,
How awesome would it be to show your children pictures of all the places you've seen, share all the stories you've collected, give them a glimpse into your world, how cultured would you be, how thankful and appreciative of breath taking sites or home comforts would you be?

Only two days ago I was in Glasgow, today I'm in Eastleigh and I'm already itching for that next adventure.

Is warn whoever wants to sample this drug, it gives you a high that only lasts so long, you'll be itching and foaming at the mouth for another adventure, to explore and live a different life even for the shortest amount of time.

I've noticed we don't travel around our own country, yet I've had foreigners tell me of all the places they've been to in the UK, how could I possibly not know my own home?

There's only a few places I've left unturned, Ireland being one of them,
The drug is wearing out and I'll soon need my next fix, who wants to get high with me?

I said oops upside your head...

Location: London

People say I have the craziest thought process.....I don't think it differs much from the next person to be honest,
So I have decided to list the things that have been currently moving through my head.

1) The term basic bitches......since when was there a level to being a bitch? So i'm guessing there's professional bitches?...at what point is someone upset because they are a basic bitch instead of a high profiled one? Someone best make sure to not slide that term over here, no bitches (basic or professional) are over here.

2) When will AirWick realise they would make a lot of money and a difference to mankind if they sponsored the trains and buses, because when summer time comes, people's bio starts to bubble and boil and well, i'm not sure how sturdy my nose is for such smells.

3) This has been a long term thought process - Do people who suffer from bulimia have serious abs? because when I go through the regurgitating process several times i'm feeling those stomach muscles working.

4) This one wow'd me the other day - The Wizard of Oz is practically, the Wizard of Australia *waits for it to sink in*

5) This is another one that wow'd me - The dry cleaners, clean clothes...dry.......*again waits for it to sink in*...now I know the clue is in the name, but be honest, how many of you actually thought about it, you just assume they have some massive washing machines or something, but no, the clothes don't get wet at all, they cleaned with chemicals....I won't lie, after coming to this realisation a year or two ago, I now want to go on a field trip to the dry cleaners.


See my thought processes aren't even that bad =]

*sneezes* bless me, I think I've caught feelings, can you hand me that situationship?...

Location: London

Situationships and catching feelings are my two new favourite phrases, (they may be old, but they're new to me) the joke is...it's not even a joke, this is the hard stone truth.
When did getting into a loving relationship become a battle? A chore? The uncool thing to do? 

Everyone's trying to get what they want without putting in the work, the hardship etc but that's what makes you stronger as a person, "there are too many mediocre things in life for love to be one of them", (a great quote I once heard) so why treat it like a game?
Why be the clown juggling different decisions, hearts, people? 
When did everything become indistinguishable shades of grey rather than the straight up black and white? 
You either want to date or you don't.
You either like that person or you don't.
You either want that person or you don't.
If you like more than one, the answer isn't to see them all, it's to pick one or pick none, 
I'm getting too old (in my young age) for these secondary school games, I tell it like it is, I'm selfish, I want one guy and I wanna be the only girl, I want emotion and I want affection and I want it in a good proportion, no I don't want to marry you and have your babies straight away, chill out, not every girl is programmed to be Betty Crocker *rolls eyes*

I thought as you get older you become more picky with who you date, and even then, you go and date or get into a relationship, now you have people just "kinda" seeing each other, in a non exclusive way so they can see other people o_O
I personally can't work that way, if i'm "kinda" seeing someone, believe they are the only person i'm "kinda" seeing.

If this is how the world is changing, I can only feel nothing but pity for my future children's....I wouldn't even know what it would be called by the time they're old enough to kinda have a situationship *sigh*

Break the shackles off my feet so I can dance

Location: Glasgow

Such a powerful painting, this can be interpreted in different ways I guess, but the way I interpreted it is instead of black people breaking their chains of the past, fighting for their freedom, fighting against racism etc they're allowing these things to define them, they make the very things their ancestors fought for, a fashion statement.

When people say I'm their nigga, I tell them I'm not, why use the very word that belittled your people as a way to greet your friends and family? Black people planking, allowing themselves to be sucked into their stigmatises of being in gangs and drugs because they get in gangs and do drugs saying their gang is their family, killing etc instead of fighting for a better life, an education, rappers talk about it like it's the only option they had, yet there's so many who come from similar backgrounds who make something of themselves.

All I know is, I'm no ones nigga, I'm no ones bitch, I'm proud of the "posh" accent I have and the "nerdy" life I live, because one day when I'm successfully running my own business, what will you be doing? Painting your chains gold pretending you're flashing jewellery while those higher mock and laugh, it's time to stop using your ancestors slavery as an excuse, it's time to stop wearing your ancestors struggles as a fashion statement, help your race rather than stepping on them to get a quick buck, look past the slavery, see who your ancestors once were and strive to be those kings and queens once again, while you're calling yourself the baddest bitch or allowing yourself to be addressed as my nigga (no matter how friendly it's meant).
I'll keep calling myself a king and laugh at those who laugh at me because I know I hold more self-worth.