Thursday 6 February 2014

The True Definition of 'Beautiful'.



When I think of someone as 'beautiful', it goes far beyond skin deep. There will always be people that are aesthetically beautiful, it's a global blessing. Women with beautiful slim or curvaceous figures, sparkling doe-like eyes, smiles that melt hearts... all of these aesthetic qualities however, should only be considered as pretty accessories in addition to a warm soul, as that is where the essence of beauty is found. You'll understand what I mean if you've ever met someone, naturally judged them via there appearance, and then surprised you as you got to know them. A cheerful spirit or a loving heart are qualities that make someone appear twice or thrice times more attractive. fact.

Looking happy and healthy is a timeless attraction. What is more beautiful than a healthy, happy face or just someone who looks comfortable and relaxed in their own skin? As simplistic as these qualities maybe, they form the basis of all strong relationships, and should not be underrated! I feel as though society today places too much emphasis on the physical and the aspiration to become 'perfect'.

Sometimes competitive fashionista's or make up fanatics can be a little obnoxious, and although I feel that it is a great way through which to express creativity and individuality, when used to an excess, it can be suffocating. Coating the beauty and personality that exists beneath it, and becoming dependent on material things to shape an artificial version. As much as I love fashion and make up for the diversity it provides...when depended upon too heavily and sought to boost happiness, it can break you rather than 'make' you. Love the bare faced, fashionless you first, then accessorize.

Wednesday 5 February 2014

My Sister's 'Big Chop' Hair Inspiration

After hours of enthusiastically sifting through 'Big Chop' photo's - Before and After's of women going from having long dead, bone-dry relaxed hair, to lustrous curly fro's, my sister was nothing short of inspired to take on a pair of giant scissors and chop chop chop! She certainly cut away over half of her hairs initial length, but decided against cutting her hair down to stubble, in spite of her impulse to cut down to the new growth .
I admire her bravery for committing so massively to her hairs health, going so far as to cut off ALOT of her relaxed hair in a bid to stop breakage between the natural and processed hair. I know I would find it very difficult to part with my locks. 'I plan to cut my hair really short for next college term' she told me defiantly while braiding her fro into a protective style. I admire her ignorance towards those in society who wouldn't understand the goodness, beauty and health benefits that arise from mixed/black girls who do 'the big chop'. Natural will always be beautiful to me.
So far my sister has had some healthy looking new growth and her au naturelle future is looking wonderfully promising!
As much as I love to see a Big Chop in progression, I could never take on this enormous, waiting waiting feat myself. Even though the ends of my mostly relaxed hair may be dry, I am lucky in that my hair grows about 2 inches a month and I am determined to pamper each strand back to health using some gloriously rich natural products like Coconut and Argan oils that my hair soaks up appreciatively. I need to ditch the heat products to embrace the wild curly mass I was born with.

Monday 3 February 2014

Why '12 Years a Slave' is the Best Film of 2013...



Some films have the capability to touch and break your heart and open your eyes. 12 Years a Slave did just that and more.

Steve McQueen has laid bare the unflinching truth to give a purposefully uncomfortable, achingly painful insight into the 19th centuries most brutal social structure.
Based on the 19th century memoir of Solomon Northup, 12 Years a Slave follows the struggle of an educated family man from New York who was kidnapped in 1841. Enticed by  the irrefusable offers from a pair of 'fellow musicians'; Solomon is lured to Washington where he is bound, beaten and stripped bare of his identity.

Chiwetel Ejitor (Solomon Northup) captures and summarizes the brutally 'real' and raw sense of being broken into a whole different world, through more than his pained expression that speaks oceans more than words. His performance is flawless. Portraying a man that is slowly broken and beaten into a submissive role containing only the remaining fragments of his former pride...somehow Northup grips onto his sanity and hope in a bid to grasp on to his former freedom. Ejitor's earthy natural, pained, melancholy eyes are heart wrenching

McQueen has fully exposed a frightening reality that for so long has been brushed beneath the carpet, in a way that makes you realize how much freedom is worth, how fortunate we are and how much we have to appreciate in this life...



Lupity Nyong's portrayal of (Patsey) gives blunt insight into the treatment of slave women, a women who is both beaten and bloodied by Tibeats (Paul Dano), the master, through his mixture of sexual lust and hatred and yet Patsey still retain a composure consisting of both delicacy and defiance - a girl with a broken spirit and yet a glimmer of hope . This newcomer captures the raw essence of a girl so caught up in slave survival mode, meaning that morality was inevitably disregarded. In spite of being given the master's 'special attentions', she withdraws guiltily and expresses brokenly to Solomon about how her conscience suffers from it, how she pleas pitifully to Solomon to do what she 'don't have the strength to do myself' - to relieve her with the freedom of death.
She demonstrates how even the most strong and experienced of slaves eventually crack beneath the surface,their dignity, ravished.

12 Years a Slave will masterfully touch your soul. It's delicate execution will break you.
This film will linger in your mind for as long as you breathe.