Hi guys!
I disappeared as the time for my dissertation is coming week. I got on more week to go – AAAAHHHHH!
Anyways, once that nightmare is over, you can expect some interesting blog posts.
Until then, I’m just saying hi so that you don’t think I have abandoned my blog. No – never that. Just working hard on getting my degree.
Enjoy the sunshine on this bank holiday weekend – as you now how notoriously how sunny the British summer is #nocomment.
Oh la la! The sun! 
I have changed the blog. After going through my blog I felt like my blog posts were not organised. I want this blog to reflect my passion – cosmetics and the cosmetic industry. For that reason, I have changed the blog name and description. Secondly, I will talk more about industry specific things. Why? I love the industry that I am in. I wanted to be in cosmetics from when I was 13, and here I am.
And so, my blog is making a change. For the better.
Here’s to better days.
Shari
I realised that I have been reading so many books and decided this book HAD to be posted on my blog.
[photo]
Title: The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives
Author: Lola Shoneyin
Date: 2010
Type: Fiction
Theme: the effects of polygamy on a family
My friend gave me this book as a Secret Santa present. Far from the regular makeup kit or personal care gift basket, I actually got excited as I felt like a book is worth more its weight than a bottle of MAC Studio Fix foundation. And this book is weighty. This book has opened my eye to an area of life that I know I personally will not experience. Polygamy. Although this book made me laugh (seriously, I LOL’d on the tube after reading two pages into the book!), I know the laughter only glosses over the trauma of such a situation. Although this is a novel, I am sure there are true stories of polygamy that are not this humorous.
The story is set in Ibadan, Nigeria and Baba Segi is concerned that his fourth wife is not conceiving. After getting advice he takes her to a doctor, rather than the local herbalist, to get her tested. From there, we are introduced to who the fourth wife is and in consequence the other wives. Everybody gets to tell their side of the story and a little about their history. The first wife is controlling and acts as leader over the other wives. The second wife is shy and timid. The third wife is a vivacious schemer. All three are uneducated. The fourth wife is educated – up to university level. She is the smartest one in the house. The tension is there. The other three wives try to plot to get rid of the fourth wife – as an educated woman, she does not have to marry a wealthy man. She can get a job, start her own business, leave the country – better opportunities await her than the other ladies. And yet, it is the fourth wife who, in the end, exposes all the wives.
I have never read a book with such twists and turns about one family. And because it is a polygamous family, all those people bring a different flavour to the pot. Wow. Just wow! I had to write a short synopsis because if I went any further I would be giving the story away. For me, I just that the fourth wife would get pregnant, Baba Segi would love her more than the other wives and so punish them for mistreating the fourth wife. But no, it did not go that way. From a person who comes from a culture that is used to a single-wife marriage and the knowledge of a polygamous marriage I know is between Jacob, Leah and Rachel in the Bible, this book was just shocking to me. Seriously, does this guy have sex with his wives every time?! Like….every single time? Does he not get tired? Is his middle name Duracell battery. Someone please explain to me, but when the other wives talk of their time with him it just sounds like when it is their turns he sleeps with them. Ah… I just hope that I have a misunderstanding of this!
Not only was this book enlightening towards polygamy, but also an eye-opener to Nigerian culture. I heard stories about what it is like to be in Nigeria, but this book shows you what it is. All those stories of police corruption, witch doctors, house girls, village life, the forest, etc – this book touches it. I have never watched a Nollywood film before but this felt like one. Drama at every turn. I truly enjoyed this book. I read it one day – I just could not put it down. I highly recommend getting this book. These are my two favourite jokes from the book:
Joke 1:
Atanda: “Baba Segi, I think you should drag her to a medicine man if she doesn’t follow you. You are the husband and she is a mere wife, and the fourth one at that! If you drag her by the hair, she’ll follow you anywhere, I swear it!”
Olaopa: “Atanda! You want Baba Segi in jail? Who would dare to drag a graduate? When she opens her mouth and English begins to pour from it like heated palm oil, the corporals will be so captivated, they will throw our friend behind bars!”
Joke 2:
Doctor: “Do you and your husband have regular coitus?”
Baba Segi: “What is the meaning of coitus? Don’t think the two of you can bamboozle me because I did not go to university!”
Doctor: “I was asking Mrs Alao how frequently you have sexual relations.”
Baba Segi: “She gets her ration on Tuesdays, and sometimes she gets an extra day. No less, no more than any of my other wives. It is her womb that is not working.”
Get this book!
Yes, you heard right – I cut off all my hair.
Remember I mentioned that I wanted to do the big chop by March? Well, I cut my hair on the 25th of February and got a shape-up on the 28th. I crossed over into March with short hair. A FADE!!!!! Yes! Me! Ha!
The cut itself!
From having my hair at the longest it had ever been, to cutting it to the shortest I had ever had it! So in truth, I was relaxed for as little as two months. I barely even call that as a being relaxed! I remember when I relaxed it and disliked it, everyone was saying how I would get used to it. Even after how easy it was to detangle and style my hair, I still not like relaxed hair. Style options did not entice me. Manageability did not entice. Nothing enticed me. I wanted my kinks and coils. My naps. My comb-breaking-moisture-sucking-sticking-up-instead-lying-down afro. I wanted it for all that it was me – me!
I went to a salon in Brixton called Adornment365 which is a natural hair salon. Yep, a natural hair salon, in London, that was actually good! They are better than good, amazing! It is actually an experience. I say this because, what I had in my head of a natural hair salon, this was the opposite. You can check out their facebook page. Going to this salon was the best decision I made and just the best salon experience I ever had. I never thought that I would ever like a salon, much less trust a ‘professional stylist’ to do my hair (I suffered at the hands of stylists during my trip to Jamaica last summer 
). Yet here I am highly recommending Adornment365. I totally see myself going back there. I wanted to get my hair coloured but did not have the funds. It is a good thing – I need to check my goals before I jump on any bandwagon! Although…I still do want to experience once in my life having green, purple or pink hair. Sigh… one can dream right?
My hair that I cut off myself prior to going to the salon. Look at the thickness!
As for now, I’m enjoying this short cut. Cutting my hair felt very liberating. I never knew that cutting your hair could feel this good. I am very happy that I decided to do this to my hair. Can’t explain it but I am very happy indeed. I plan to keep it this short till summer and then grow it out baby! Here’s to happy hair days .
The saying don’t judge a book by it’s cover rings true for this book. I picked this book up last summer whilst in Florida and forgot I had it. Whilst scanning my bookshelf for what to read next, I saw it. I fought with whether I wanted to this book now or later but I gave in. Nothing could have prepared me for this novel!
Veil of Pearls By MaryLu Tyndall
To be honest, the only thing that drew me to buying this book was the secret of the leading lady, Adalia Winston. She is a part-black runaway slave from Barbados who tries to blend into American society. I thought wow – another twist to the slavery story. What I did not know was that this book was a romance novel. I gave up reading romance novels for a long time. I can’t even remember the last time I read a romance novel. I gave up romance novel as they would get me to dream and I knew in real life, that does not happen. Not that I am against love stories – I just find real love stories make much more sense than the ones in romance novels. Secondly, I always end up angry at the leading lady in the novel. Must they always be so head strong? In the story, the girl always does something to be an ‘independent’ woman or guard her heart and doesn’t consider the guy’s side of the story. I commend them for going to great lengths for their own personal peace, but sometimes it is just too much. You know you like the guy – just get with him already!
The leading man, Morgan Rutledge, just happens to be the son of the richest man in the area and falls in love with Miss Adalia Winston, who finds work as a doctor’s assistant. I bet you are guessing what happens – family disowns son if he chooses to marry her and he declares he will marry her anyways, right? It is more than that I can tell you!
Despite it being a romance novel, I found myself gripped to this book. It is more action than romance, but it is still a romantic story in the end. I couldn’t wait to find out what was going to happen next. I finished this book in 3 days. I could have finished it on Sunday but it was so emotionally intense for me, I had to put it down for a bit. I’m a bit sad that it is over. I feel like I have to take a break from fiction because it was so good and because emotionally, I’m not ready. I guess because it had that romance touch was what made it so emotionally draining for me. I did not prepare myself for this – HA! This book has 122 reviews on Amazon.com. 122 reviews! And this is coming from a Christian romance novel. And that is what I liked about it – I have never read a Christian romance novel before.
I felt like the author really did her homework. It was a really well written story. I appreciated the message running through – how clever to right a novel and yet bring people to think. Two main lessons from this book:
This book is for all the girls who see themselves as princesses. You will love this book!
Hey guys! Great news – I’ve been featured on a blog.
I was very humbled when I got the email and I took one week to make sure I answered the questions correctly and honestly. So go check it out! You can read it on the amazing blog Keep It Kinky: Natural Hair. PS – the childhood pic of me was the photo that inspired me to go natural .
Enjoy
Despite being relaxed, I still get big hair when I blow dry 
Yep, there is a type of butter that is going around under the name of shea butter. But it is not!
I am currently doing research for my dissertation which involves looking at exotic butters. There are so many different varieties that I am sure many of you have never heard of before. Upon my research I found a butter from Western Africa that caught my attention. It was Kpangnan Butter or Painya Butter. I was intrigued by this butter – this butter grew in the same area as shea butter and yet it was shea butter that has taken the lead in this ‘butter war’. How comes? Why wasn’t painya butter just as popular? Why weren’t people singing the praises of this butter as they were singing the praises of shea butter? The thing is, they were!
Have you ever heard the dispute over white shea butter and yellow shea butter? Well…. white shea butter is shea butter but yellow shea butter is painya butter! Yes! In fact, the butters are from different type of trees and even have different chemical names. They even feel different on the skin and hair. I had used shea butter a long time ago and the butter I am currently using I thought was shea butter but in fact, it was painya butter! Do I feel deceived? Yes, but I am not angry. This mix up has allowed me to experiment with a butter I probably would not have known other wise. I have heard of people using the butter in soap recipes and others commenting on the dry feel it produces on the skin. I have heard good praises and bad praises. Me personally, I want to get real shea butter and compare them for myself.
in the centre, the painya butter with a top that says african shea butter. note the golden colour
So when you are buying shea butter, make sure it looks white or ivory. If it is yellow or golden, it is more likely to be painya butter.
Have any of you tried painya butter? What were your experiences?
Write your response in the comments section below 
