How to come out of any situation unscathed!

These are the things I do when I have gone through a major change in my life. They always get me through.

1. Must have a daily spiritual practice – journal, conscious breathing, meditation, prayer, or reading something inspirational…It’s a practice that you engage in consistently and every single   I find that it takes my focus off the external world and puts it on the internal world so that i can begin my personal evolution
2. Learn radical self care and self nurturing. Imagine that you have 24 hours a day for however many years . How much of that time do you give just for you? This is where you just sit and are present with yourself. Also be really clear about what it is you want. Talk to yourself about it or talk to somebody you care about it. Hear your own voice. Hear you own voice and honor your own feelings. Just be good to you.
3. Forgive everyone for everything. How long will you walk around being pissed off and angry and disgruntled because some idiot upset you back in 1999. Cummon! When are you going to get over it? As you sit around and remember the hurt and rejections, you are giving those people that you are thinking about, your energy. Take your energy back. Forgive
4. Be grateful! Be grateful for every little thing. Be grateful for the love you do have. Be grateful that even in the midst of your worst hour and in the midst of all of you craziness, dysfunction and horrification, that you had enough sense and stamina to be good to somebody else.
5. Have a vision – There is a saying by Fredrick Douglas – “Without vision, the people perish.” Vision in this sense doesn’t mean an outer gazing, but rather an inner knowing. Where you allow your dreams and hopes and imaging’s to play out in your mind. You must have a vision for yo8ur life so that you don’t get sidetracked by things and people that are not going in the direction you are going. Write it out and then imagine it. Feel it. Allow the vision to grow. When you have a vision, it means that you are pregnant with possibility. I guess this is the one time that men can get pregnant too!

🙂

I’m back and Blogging!

I’m back guys!

After 5 long years!

Let me tell you what happened. With all the commotion of relocating back to London, England after university in the States, my priorities shifted and I put blogging on the back burner. I also forgot the password to this blog and to the email address attached to it. Every couple of months I would try and login, only to fail and get blocked. Yesterday I set 3 hours aside to do the whole Microsoft password recovery. This took forever because I had forgotten other related information because I last had the account 5 years ago. Perseverance guys! I FINALLY GOT IT! When it was all done,  I felt such a sense of relief and happiness!

So to update you, I am now 25. I graduated from Law School last year. Childless… [Yes, that’s an accomplishment for me! – More later on that] and I’m now working as a Project Manager/Business Analyst for an International software house in London. My life has changed so much. I am very happy.

Whilst I am still very interested in hair and beauty, I feel my life and my blog have more to offer the world than that. I have therefore decided to shift the focus of my blog and rename it too. I will be calling it ‘NearlyArata’.I really like this name because I believe life is a journey of self discovery and learning. Every day I am working towards achieving my fullest potential. I am therefore Nearly Arata as opposed to fully Arata.

I suppose when I am like 70 I will change the blog name to ‘ActuallyArata’…but then the domain might have been taken,…[Note to self – Buy ActuallyArata.com]… But If I do change the name eventually to ‘ActuallyArata’, it would imply that I have reached my fullest potential and I have nothing more to learn from others, the world or myself. That’s not right!

So here I am. Back and Blogging. I will update this as often as I can. I intend to blog about everything. In person, I’m quite an introvert and can be shy so this will give me the space to write my thoughts on various topics openly.

FYI…I’m still natural. [See picture below]. I wear weaves a lot. Not because I like them but because my edges and nape area aren’t where I want them to be. I’ve been using castor oil but the changes aren’t happening fast enough. More on this later.

So I’m off. I’m off to go see if I’ve been paid yet because today is Friday! J

Over and out
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….busy busy busy!!

….My natural hair club just got approved. Do any of you guys have suggestions on activities, discussions and the like?

…Update video…

….Hair type. Distinguishing between 4A and 4B hair….

Hello everybody. Today I am feeling so good. My affirmation today is

“I give a portion of my time to helping others. It is good for my health”

And in that spirit, today I am going to discuss the textures of 4a and 4b hair. What texture do I have? This is a common question and one I had myself when I first began my natural hair journey.

How to tell if you are 4A or 4B: Many 4′s are a combination of both. However you can tell by testing your new growth. Is it obvious waves of hair that stay that way when you stretch your hair out? If so, you are most likely 4A. If not, and if your waves seem to get straighter or disappear, then you are most likely 4B.

Another no-fail test is the wash test. After washing and detangling, are you left with clumps of curls or more of an afro with less definition. 4A hair clumps and curls when wet, 4B hair does not.

The longer 4B hair gets, the straighter it gets. With length, unlike 4A hair, the mini curls and z’s start to disappear. 4B’s have to be careful when texlaxing/texturinzing because 4B hair can be mostly zigzags of hair, and not actual strong curls, it is easy to end up with straight hair.

4a hair is also known as “grease and water” hair if you are familiar with the term. It’s hair that will go from looking 4b to curling up with grease and water – showcasing it’s true texture.

4b hair can sometimes mimic curls and sometimes not, or at least does not LOOK like it curls because they are so small. Some 4b’s say that their hair does not even have small curls and that their hair is more of a “z” shape v.s. the 4a “s” shape.

There is a debate among naturals that 4b hair has curls (“s” shape), while others say it does not (“z” shape). In the end, whether it has curls or not does not matter

Once you know what your hair texture is and what works for it is all that matters most as well as learning how to care for it so that it is healthy and vibrant. You can’t treat 4b hair like 3a hair, so proceed with your hair care accordingly.

Finding a hair twin that can relate to your woes can also make the process of learning to care for your natural hair go a lot smoothly. I have 4b hair all round the edges but 4a hair in the middle of my scalp

I have recently started using suave naturals tropical coconut shampoo and conditioner. (As pictured) On the container, it says it is infused with coconut extract and vitamin E. I was very happy to find these products because they were only a dollar each. And so far they are working just fine. I co wash every day and shampoo once a week.

 

…All about Co Washing…

Hello everybody,

Co-wash is a way to clean the hair with out using shampoo. I co-wash by rinsing my hair in the shower. Then applying Conditioner to scalp and hair and gently rubbing my scalp as if I were using shampoo. I rinse thoroughly then add more conditioner and let it sit on my hair while I shower. When done showering I rinse hair thoroughly and get out the shower . That’s it.

I have two favorite conditioners for co-washes Suave naturals tropical coconut conditioner and Aussie hair insureance leave in conditioner (which i apply after towel drying my hair)

I co-wash everyday and shampoo once a month.

Why I love to Co-wash…

Keeps my hair moisturized

• Keeps my scalp clean
• I can clean my hair all week without drying out my hair
• Helps me retain my growth by keeping hair moisturized
• Feels wonderful in this heat

Products I use: (from Walmart)

• Suave Naturals Tropical Coconut Shampoo ($0.84)
• Suave Naturals Tropical Coconut Conditioner ($0.84)
• Aussie Hair Insurance Leave In Conditioner ($2.44)

…Quick note…

…So I just came back from seeing my acadeimic advisor so I could register for next semesters’ classes and she told me that I now I have a 3.0. This is great because to be quite honest, I have never had that beore. It seems like this haircut was the best thing for me after all….

But anyway, she noticed that my edges were begining to thin out and she asked me if I use a brush on my head and I said yes. She said that I should only comb it. This should stop the thinning at the front hairline….

I Just thought u would share that tip with you. I’m learning something new everyday. I’ll try it and let you know what happens.

Have a nice day.

…This is too cute!!

…What I have learnt so far….(About my hair)

I don’t know what everyone else calls it but I call it a brush cut. (Or a slap head). *smile*

Anyway, I came up with this idea because I am finally beginning to develop a routine for my hair. At the beginning I did not think it was a big deal to take care of my hair cut especially because it’s such little hair. But I realized that I actually still have to take care of it or it WILL look a mess. I do not want pepper grains at the back of my head. Even though my hair is super short, I do still have hair that needs to be taken care of. It still gets frizzy in humidity and gets dry.

Twice a day I put  Dr Miracle hot gro (Super strength) in my hair. I still co-wash my hair every day. I need the moisture it gives. My hair still curls up afterwards. I apply a leave-in. Giavonni Direct leave-in.

 And I brush my hair all back (but you can do it anyway, that’s just the style I choose) and place my silk scarf on to lay my hair down until I go out. If I don’t lay it down with my scarf, it’s going to look like a mess. Laying my hair down also helps with creating waves. If I do this when my hair is wet, I get better results. When my hair is cut I only have to worry about keeping my hair oiled. And I brush my hair constantly but I don’t think I will be getting my hair cut as short as I had it the first time because its getting cold and I hate feeling cold on my head. I am looking forward to the new growth.

Well, I hope this helped for anyone with a brush cut.

..Finalised the natural hair club on campus.

..Good morning all,

Today I finished my proposal for the NH club and gave it in to the lady on campus who deals with all that stuff. She liked the proposal and said it was a great idea and that she would put the proposal on record. I was like GREAT!!

My only issue now is that i have absolutely NOO idea about how to run a club or anything like that. I mean, I know I will have to have meetings and have a commitee but that’s just about it.

I am going to find out exactly how to run a club and get back to you all. I will NOT fail!!