Old Spitalfields Market

Ready for business...

On Saturday my online store Naturally Nourishing had a stall at Old Spitalfields Market as part of The African Market, hosted by cultural arts company Open The Gate.

My lovely sister Charlene accompanied me for the day and
I was truly excited about the prospect of selling gorgeous natural goodies there. Spitalfields is such a well known gem of a market and the location is fantastic. It didn't disappoint.

I loved the vibe and the amazing selection of artsy, quirky and eclectic stall holders, not to mention ALL THE FOOD....we ate like queens ALL DAY..(not quite sure that was a good thing lol).

The market was great because not only was I able to connect with and have meaningful conversations with my customer base, but the other stall holders were so lovely and I made some great contacts, who I will most certainly be keeping in touch with. The sense of community after only a few short hours of knowing one another was really special.

Two of our lovely customers. Such stylish sisters.

So will I be doing Spitalfields again? Yes I believe so, business was a little slow, but this was only my first time and the second time the African Market had been there, so it's definitely a case of building a presence and getting established. The African Market will take place at Old Spitalfields on the fourth Saturday of every month, so do come on down. I'm excited about the future, watch this space!!

The African Market at Old Spitalfields -
every fourth Saturday of the month

Making time

Hello lovely readers, I'm writing this post at four minutes to three in the morning. It seems the dead of night is the only time I get to think straight and get my thoughts down in a coherent manner.

I don't know exactly what it is lately, but my mind feels a bit all over the place, you know, trying to do a million things at once and then feeling like you're not doing any one thing particularly well.

I'm sad that my blogging seems to have slowed down as much as it has. There has been so much going on and I have lots to share with you all, (the picture shows me and my store Naturally Nourishing at the Hilly Fields Fayre last Saturday) but time seems to get the better of me. I need to refocus and get better organised. Or maybe this is just a season I'm passing through, where I need to sit back and take stock of everything that's going on.....

Either way I will not fret or worry The good Lord has it all worked out. He is in control. Hopefully I'll be back on the blogging treadmill very soon too.

The perils of over-moisturising your hair

I never realised my hair could be OVER moisturised...but yes, that's what I've been doing it seems. I'm the kind of girl who doesn't like her hair to feel or look 'dry', so I overcompensate by adding a little too much of everything.

Often we forget that our scalps naturally produce oils to keep our roots healthy, hence why when applying products, a little really does go a long way and we should concentrate on the mid and end section of hair as this has been around the longest and requires the most care.

Recently I was left horrified after I got my scalp analysed by the Curls unleashed team at Curlvolution. They used a probe, similar to one that would be used to check your ears, (if my memory serves me correctly). Once the probe had been safely nested in my hair an image of my scalp popped up on the monitor in front of me. I was astonished to see my scalp gleaming before me looking VERY greasy and oil logged LOL......right around my follicles there were puddles of oil. IT DID NOT look good, and I was quite embarrassed. To be honest the night before I'd probably been super heavy handed, spritzing each section of hair with water before adding hair butter and castor oil then twisting. I loved the twist out the next day, but to be honest it did feel a little bit greasy.

The lady carrying out the analysis said despite the oil slick my scalp looked healthy, and there was no evidence of dead skin. I asked what the negatives were of having an overly oily scalp and she said that when the follicles are pooled with oil as mine were it blocks the area, which in turn does not allow your hair to breath or grow and can cause infections. To counteract we must use clarifying shampoos to thoroughly cleanse and wash the scalp and hair of dirt, grease and impurities, and only apply oils and butters to the ends and mid sections of the hair as these are the oldest and driest points. Our follicles create their own special oils which take care of the root, hence why we do not have to apply products directly to our scalp very often.

Needless to say I have heeded this advice and I have been careful to only apply product to the end and mid section of my hair and I must say I am thoroughly pleased with the results. My hair has felt and looked a lot better since.....

Still loving my easy, breezy Mum bun - Lol. Learning to keep
my ends and mid sections nourished.

HAIR CRUSH!! - This is my goal.

Don't forget to visit my online store www.NaturallyNourishing.co.uk to get your hands on gorgeous natural, hair, skin and body products that my family, friends and I have grown to personally know and LOVE. I'm so excited to announce they'll be new lines added soon so watch this space. You can also keep up to date by following on Twitter, Instagram (@NaturallyNou) and Facebook.

Curlvolution 2013 baby!

Well where do I begin? Curlvolution happened on Saturday and let me tell you it was a blast!!

Last year I was an attendee in the audience, this year I exhibited as a vendor...my, my, my God is so INCREDIBLY good!! From the venue, to the location, to the content of the show, to the mix of people....Curlvolution has it going on and then some. It's unlike any event of its kind in my humble opinion. The vibe is one of inspiration, encouragement and love. Seriously, to see black women and men come together as one and celebrate who we are, what we are doing and what we are about to do is awe inspiring and I thank God that the black community is coming together in such a positive and progressive way.

As I was a vendor with my store NaturallyNourishing.co.uk this year I didn't get the opportunity to watch the show in its entirety, like I did last year, but I could hear a lot of what was going down. Action Jackson was again hosting with his unique mix of straight talking motivation, encouragement and laugh a minute jokes. The man is truly one of a kind and he does a great job at hosting the event and getting everyone fired up.

There was an interview with the actor Jimmy Akingbola aka Dr Antoine Malick from Holby City and American blogger Afrobella, for more details about the show you'll have to pop over to other blogs because I'm sure to miss out the juicy bits. It was so good to catch up with all the fabulous bloggers out there; the gorgeous Nicola of BelleNoirBride and her beautiful bump, Leilu from online hair and beauty product store and blog Afro Deity, Michelle from Cherished Crowns blog, Neffy Fro Fro aka Laila-Jean of Fusion of Cultures vlog, Crystal Afro aka United Kinkdom blog, Stacey of The Naprika vlog, Ketishia from Sugar Kinesis, and Elle and Neecie from the mighty Natural Hair Daily, every single one of them completely gorgeous and lovely (I'm quite clearly in gush mode, but it's all truth).

A special shout out goes to Curlvolution extraordinaire Bukky and her husband Tola...you guys tore it up!!! Thanks too to my little sis Charlie B who swopped her days so she could get time off of work to help me out, thanks sis and thank God for little sisters, without whom I'd be totally and utterly lost.

As a vendor the experience was equally as inspiring as it was when I was an attendee last year. All the other vendors were absolutely lovely too; superfunkyme selling customised jewellery, my girls Mane Diva's with their own line of hair products, as well as weaves and tropic isle lines, lovely Imanmade and her wonderful homemade skin sensitive body butters, root2tip and iloveafro with their amazing natural hair product ranges, Sheabutter Cottage, Beunique Hair Care, Ayamour, it was so great to see so many budding and established black businesses pulling together and supporting one another through networking, planned future collaborations, awesome conversations, so inspiring. I was there selling the products I love by Anita Grant and Fountain oils, they were so well received and I did really well. I also got an opportunity to get up and speak and plug my new venture; www.NaturallyNourishing.co.uk I can't quite believe that the seed that was sewn a few years ago is finally coming to fruition. In a few short weeks things have just come together so smoothly and my table looked so professional I felt shocked and proud that the good Lord has enabled little old me to step out and do what for many years I couldn't see how I would be able to do. I'm telling you guys, through Jesus Christ anything is possible. Praise be to God and God willing Curlvolution 2014 here we come !!

My birthday

My birthday meal was SENSATIONAL. I want to eat it again.

It was my birthday yesterday and I had the BEST time. Despite some issues I am going through, the good Lord blessed me with a birthday I will remember for quite a long time, it was FABULOUS.

It started off with lovely cards from my mum and nephew which brought tears to my eyes, then both my little sisters had the day off, so they came over with lunch and flowers - I felt so pampered.

I launched my online store www.NaturallyNourishing.co.uk on my birthday too, which felt like such an achievement, plus I  made my first 'official' sale; granted it was to my sister, but hey, a sale is a sale right?

In the evening we had dinner at the fabulous 'Burger or Lobster' in Soho. My sister did all the organising as she had been there previously with work friends and oh my it was bliss. My cousin and one of my good friends were also in attendance which was a wonderful surprise, the day just seemed to keep on giving, I was in my element. So back to the food and the menu was really simple, yet so astonishingly delicious. There were three options; burger, chips and salad or lobster, chips and salad or lobster roll, chips and salad. Super simple.

After dinner we pootled onto Haagen daz for more delicious treats and laughs aplenty - Such an extraordinary day.

Gulp...

On a separate note I'll be attending this years Curlvolution 'Curlfriend's day out' event. It takes place on Saturday 25 May at the Crowne Plaza Docklands and it is certain to be awesome. Last years event was a blast, so I'm expecting bigger and better this year and if the line up is anything to go by, I know there will be no disappointments. It's hard to believe that last year I went as an attendee and this year I'll be there as a vendor. I'm telling you God is so good, and SO ABLE!!!

If you haven't already got your tickets then what are you waiting for? This is an event not to be missed. They'll be giveaways aplenty. Plus the lovely AfroDeity are providing some excellent Castor oil and Pimento oil samples courtesy of Fountain oils, so I'll have some goodie bags and giveaways up my sleeve.

See you there.

Stepping out in faith....

Thank you to the wonderful  Amy at Dotty pink Designs
for designing my fabulous logo.

So for a while I've been contemplating whether I could actually do what I'm about to do.....we can spend so much time pondering and analysing whether we are capable enough, whether we have enough of this, or too little of that. Well ENOUGH. The good Lord has provided us with everything we need and with Him in control, I've decided to step out and take the plunge....

www.NaturallyNourishing.co.uk
Twitter: @NaturallyNou

I'll be exhibiting at The Nubian Spring Event on Saturday 27th April in Hackney, East London, selling gorgeous Anita Grant goodies. Come and say 'Hi'. Details are here.

See you in 8 days!