Thrift Society

I'm proud to call myself a lifetime thrifter!! I never would have thought that thrift stores would add such a joy to my shopping experience. 4 years ago I wouldn't have stepped foot in a thrift store, thinking all they had was old, smelly, outdated crap...in my head that's what I associated it with. Well I gave it a try with a friend one day and baby it changed my life!!! Now you may see a good bit of the old and unfashionable pieces BUT have patience!! Cause when you dig through the trash you just may find unique treasures. Many fashion trends repeat themselves so you can definitely find something you like in any thrift. The coolest part though is that it's like a one stop shop department store. Clothing (new or gently used), jewelry, shoes, books, electronics, home decor, and the list goes on! When I can find banana republic dress pants with tags for $7...who gon' check me boo?!? Lol That price is right!! I can easily get a bag full of items and pay less than $50 for it all.  I understand that some people have an issue with "recycling" clothing and shoes in particular but I don't. Especially with 2 kids and living on a budget, saving money is a must. My motto is "I don't pay full price for anything, unless it's already cheap (under $30)". Now there are going to be your once in a while exceptions for shoes, handbags, etc. I'm a woman who loves quality pieces, so although I'm cheap I do have standards to it. I hunt for my bargains. I have an eye for lux materials and quality craftsmanship. Look in your area for local thrifts, and I'm not talking Goodwill or Salvation Army (they typically cost a little more because it's a chain store). I made a run to one of my fave thirfts yesterday and found some really awesome pieces that called my name. All pieces were between $3-10 and you can't beat that with a bat. Check out some of my haul!!!

Faux Fur Vest with a satin tie

Real Fur headband/earmuff 

Men's leather gloves 

Suede leather heels 

Nelly <3

Time for a trim

Hey Peeps!!! I hope everyone is having a blessed holiday season and eating really good too Lol! I've seriously been doing my best with trying to treat my hair better since I cut it 2 months ago. Well I recently noticed some splits in the middle of my mane and I knew I had to get rid of 'em before it runs up my scalp. I needed to even it out too so I chopped like 1-2 inches off last night. I washed with Eden's coconut cowash and handled my business. My styling products were a leave-in condish by Taliah Waajid and a curl creme by Beautiful Textures, which by the way feels and smells awesome!! I put my hair in small two-strand twists for now and I'll unravel in a few days. Until next time Loves! 

Nelly

Black Friday and Sally's Beauty

While everyone else hit the stores on Black Friday, I kept my behind out of the madness this year and went online.  The only thing I was interested in we're hair and beauty products anyway.  I landed at Sally's beauty where I was able to save 20% off my $50+ purchase and I got free shipping.  Now let me say, I've been going to Ms. Sally for a while now but never ordered online before.  I got some oil, leave-in, cowash, deep conditioner, and some retinol products. 

I got the package exactly a week after ordering and this is what I got...

The packaging obviously wasn't the greatest because my deep conditioner was all over the box and everything else. Presentation is half the battle and the crumpled up packing slip didn't help either.  I called Sally's customer service first thing Monday and they offered apologies and said they would ship me a new bottle of deep conditioner, which was my expectation.  I can't say I'd order online with them again, especially when the Sally's rep I spoke to said that shipment damage is common.  If the discount is right though I'll give it another go Lol. 

Nelly

What's new this week

I got that "experimental" itch this week and tried my hand at some things.  I bought some Dark and Lovely Go Intense golden blonde hair color a while ago and was nervous about using it.  Now I've had this color in the past so I knew it would go well with my skin tone but I wasn't so sure I wanted to do a chemical treatment.  Then I said to myself why not just do henna instead as a more natural coloring option.  I did use henna once before and loved the results.  So I bought the henna and read up on chemical based hair colors vs henna.  I found out that you can use henna over permanent hair dyes but not vice versa. Even bleaching (stripping your hair of previous layers of color) won't work on Henna'd hair, it must grow out.  Armed with that info, I went ahead and tried the golden blonde color to see how it would turn out.  Worst case scenario I can henna over it and be good to go!  Well here is the turnout...

I got a slight lift in my roots but the color is not what I anticipated at all....I left the color on for an extra 10 mins since my hair is pretty resiliant when it comes to coloring.  The main reason I wanted to color was to cover my gray's and it did absolutely NOTHING to them.  I'll rock this highlight for a bit and then I will use the henna because that covers the gray with no problems.  

After the color process I blow dried my hair and put in about 25 single braids and rolled them into Bantu knots. In the morning I took that down and got the hairstyle pictured below.  This is not what I expected but I worked with it...channeling 1960's vintage hair.  As the day went by it got bigger and fluffier...the day ended in a small ponytail cause I couldn't take it!!  I was extra happy to be able to make a ponytail too hehe!!  

Nelly <3