A few of my favourite things- June + July

Posted in Current faves by Jen

Bonjour mes amis,

Did anyone notice I didn’t post any June favourites? I was too lazy or maybe I forgot or maybe I didn’t have any favourites or maybe I had favourites but I couldn’t remember what they were. I really don’t know what happened but I’m sorry about not posting.
As a result, I’ve decided to merge both months and post a bit more favourites than I’d normally post so here we go!
1. Funny viral Instagram videos:

Instagram keeps me so so entertained (but doesn’t do the same for my data bundle). Below are a few videos that kept me laughing these last two months. (I hope they play since this is my first time uploading videos)

If you know any funny videos I should check out on Instagram, please tag @nigerianandnatural
2. Gidi Up +Titilope Sonuga:

I heard about Gidi Up sometime ago but only just got around to watching it. It’s a Nigerian TV show that revolves around the lives of four friends and trust me, their lives are interesting! To watch it, just search for “Ndani TV Gidi Up” on YouTube.
My absolute favourite character is Folarin even though he’s basically the bad guy. He just has this air of mischief and his facial expressions are gold!

Folarin is bae!!

One of the characters, Eki, recites this beautiful poem in one scene and I just had to google the lines of the poem so I could find the full thing for future reading. Turns out the character, Eki, is an award winning poet in real life and she wrote the poem. Her name is Titilope Sonuga. Read the poem I’m referring to below:
Becoming
“When the world unravels before you

and even your dreams are crumbling stones

when everything you dare to touch is set on fire
and all around you is ash and smoke
remember this

rock bottom is a perfect place for rebuilding
remember that you are your mother’s daughter

your grandmother’s answered prayers

a whole bloodline of women
who bend in response to raging winds
there is nothing broken here

nothing damaged or discarded

each scar is a badge of honor

your smile is an act of defiance against the sun

every misstep is a victory dance waiting to happen

You are a woman becoming

learning the complicated language of forgiveness

the intricate lessons of the universe

Your heart is just a muscle waiting for exercise

and you were born for this sort of heavy lifting

You were born one part saint

one part warrior woman

Loving yourself without shame

is the most important thing

you will ever have to fight for”

_______________________________________________

Check out more of her on her website.
3. Taking pictures of the sky:

Lately the sky has been giving me life! Some days it’s so pretty that pictures don’t do it justice. I think it’s trying to make up for all the time it couldn’t show off during the rainy season.
4. Coffee with cocoa:

If you’ve never had coffee mixed with cocoa (or tea as we call it in Nigeria), you are missing big time! Just a little bit of coffee added to your cup of cocoa escalates the flavour to a whole new level of yummy. Here’s how I make mine:

A heaped teaspoon of coffee
Lots of cocoa (I use Milo or Cowbell chocolate)
Milk
Sugar
Add a bit of hot water and stir to melt it all down
Top it up with very cold water. Ice too if you can
Enjoy and thank me later!

5. Savvy and Chic shea butter cup:

Remember this?

This is where it is now.

I like this stuff as you can see and I use it a lot! My dislikes would be:
-I wish it were more fragrant.
-I wish it came in a better container.
-It contains Mica and I wonder why. I would have preferred it all natural.
6. Flower crown:

If only this flower crown could cry or run or slap me! I’m sure it is tired of me!
If you know where I can get more at super affordable prices, please let me know in the comments.
7. Saving:

I have been struggling with saving for so long and I am so proud to say that I have now started saving. I started in May/June and I’m not doing too badly!
I think saving is super important because you never know when you will need that money. I have set a goal for how much I want to save this year and so far I’m not doing badly. Any saving tips? Please share in the comments.
8. TV in my room:

You guys know I moved recently. At my former house, I had a TV in my room but at my new house, I didn’t. I’d be watching TV in the living room and my mum would just come and change the channel. And let me tell you, sharing a TV with my mum is the worst experience for me because her idea of premium entertainment is Telemundo (her favourite), Afmag in all its varieties (including Hausa), and one Indian channel I had no idea existed on DSTV.
So imagine my joy when this last month, I got a TV in my room! Hallelujah somebody!
9. Blank Space by Taylor Swift:

This song has basically scratched and cracked on my phone because I listen to it every blessed day! I just love it!
That’s it for me guys!
P.s. If you got an email for this post twice, my apologies. I mistakenly posted it earlier when I wasn’t done writing so I took it down.
Do you share any of my faves? What are you currently loving? Share with me please!

31May2015

A few of my favourite things -May

Posted in Current faves, Giveaway, protective styling by Jen

Hey guys,

How’s your Sunday going? Hope you have Sunday rice planned, ready, cooking or in your tummy because eating anything else on Sunday is a sin according to some unwritten but binding rule.

Here’s what happened when I tried to boil yam one fateful Sunday:

As I mentioned in my last post, I had a hard time figuring out what I loved in May but here’s what I came up with.

1. Things in threes:

I like to take pictures! And I tend to take pictures of the oddest things according to those who know me.

Anyways, I recently found that taking pictures with a theme in mind helps keep things a bit ‘organized’. It’s not as fun as being spontaneous but it’s fun nonetheless.

The theme I had in my head for the three pictures below is ‘things in threes’.

(‘Trees in threes’. Try saying that three times fast)

2. Semo:

When I was younger I hated a number of foods. The major culprits were beans, boiled eggs, fried rice and especially swallows in all varieties. I now eat these things but I’m still very picky about swallows. I only eat semo, wheat and pounded yam.

Allow me to say that semo is bae! I ate semo at least 1-2 times a week this entire month.

Unfortunately I’m so bad at making it. Yesterday I made some and my brother said “Jennifer this part is not done”. I gave him the look of death and told him to shut up and eat.

Any tips on making perfect semo? Please tell me in the comments.

3. My current protective style:

These are twists done with about 16 packs of wool/yarn and I’ve had them for a little over 5 weeks now.

I have been super lazy with them that’s why I’m loving them. Since I’ve had them, I’ve moisturized 2 times, cleaned my scalp once with baby wipes and oiled my scalp about 6 times.

4. My butterfly print plimsolls:

I bought these about a month ago on Jumia for N4495 (although I had a voucher so I only paid N2695). It comes in a variety of prints and colours. Just search for ‘shoe republic la plimsoll” on Jumia

5. Fresh Yo:

I’m obsessed with this Fresh Yo stuff yo! I buy it everyday(which is so unhealthy). And it’s not even cheap sef (N200). But it’s so yummy. It also comes in a strawberry flavoured version.

And those are my favourite things from May!

Also guys, let me tell you about this giveaway you shouldn’t let pass you by!

Visarn Hair Line, a company that sells human hair is having a giveaway which is open to entries nationwide in Nigeria and ends on the 4th of June.

They will pick three winners and although the prizes are a surprise, a little birdie told me they will give away some of their luscious high quality human hair, a mini spa treatment and 3 packs of their recently launched Marley hair.

It is the Marley hair that me I want so you can be sure I will enter the giveaway!

To enter, head over to their Instagram page. They are @visarnhairline on Instagram.

All you have to do is follow them, repost any of their beautiful pictures with the hashtag #hairyoucantrust, tag them and tag 3 of your friends. C’est fini!

So don’t dull guys! You could win some of their amazing hair! Check them out on Instagram and you can see some of the beautiful hair that could be yours.

What are you currently loving? Do you share any of my current faves? Got tips on making perfect semo? Please share in the comments!

Xoxo

26Apr2015

A few of my favourite things- April

Posted in Current faves, Not hair by Jen

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes; snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes; something something something bla bla bla bla; these are a few of my favourite things

I enjoy reading what people are loving every week/month on their blogs and I always wanted to write about things I was loving too here.

I’m not sure I can keep up with doing it weekly but I can do monthly.

So here are a few of my favourite things from April:

1. Cocoa butter:

I was recently kind of bored with plain old shea butter and decided to try something different.

I stumbled upon cocoa butter and other exotic butters such as murumuru, avocado, mango etc on the Beautifully Nappy blog shop.

I initially wanted mango butter because I love the smell of mangoes but a quick Google search informed me that it actually doesn’t smell like mangoes so I went for cocoa butter instead.

I loooove the smell of cocoa butter! It’s like chocolate but not Dairy Milk kind of chocolate; think Richoco or King’s Bite(That Ghanaian chocolate with a red wrapper).

My baby brother actually tries to lick it sometimes when I’m not looking and my sister and mum keep trying to steal it.

2. iOS 8:

If you’re not into Apple devices, this one won’t be interesting to you but I recently upgraded from iOS 7 to iOS 8 and I’m really liking iOS 8.

The camera features are better, there’s now a ‘recently deleted’ album so you don’t lose mistakenly deleted pictures (Love this!), you can send voice notes on iMessage etc

The difference between both isn’t so major but it’s the subtle changes that just make it so much better and cooler.

3. One-a-week styles:

If you’re like me and you like to dress up at the last minute and rush out the door, you will appreciate styles you can put your hair in for a whole week.

They save me time and stress and save my hair from excessive manipulation.

Here’s what I do these days:

Wash my hair on Saturday and twist.
Wear it in a twist out on Sunday.
On Sunday evening, put it in a style for the week.
Forget about it till Saturday.
On Saturday, moisturize it and twist.
Wear a twist out on Sunday.
On Sunday evening, put it in a style for the week.
Forget about it till Saturday.
On Saturday, start from step 1 again.

This means I now wash my hair every 2 weeks which is good for a lazy girl like me; although I must admit that it itches during the second week.

4. The view from my balcony:

You might be wondering “but it’s not a fantastic view”.

I’m moving to a new house soon and that house has no balcony or view.

I’m seriously going to miss sitting in this balcony enjoying fresh air, watching people and cars go by and listening to the sounds of Lagos (i.e shouting, car horns and generators).

I’m also going to miss my annoying dog, Kiara, who will not be moving with us. (Hopefully she annoys her way into the hearts of her new owners)

5. Cardboard:

Did I hear you go “huh?!”. Don’t worry I’m not crazy.

Sometime ago, I read on Cassie Dave’s blog about how cardboard makes a great background for pictures and I thought ‘Wow! How come I never thought of this?!’. Anyways, I have gotten myself a few and I will be using them when necessary as they do make great backgrounds for pictures.

I used pink for my what’s in my bag picture; did you notice?