Author Archives: thenaturalistachronicles

My Journey From Relaxed To Natural Hair

Posted in Natural Hair Chronicles by

I’ve been through some major ups and downs with my hair!  I’ve had my high points where I’d be swinging my hair like I was in a Pantene Pro-V commercial, and a few low points that brought me to tears. Yes – I was in tears after removing braids and ending up with a knotted mess.  Two of my Besties attempted to detangle my hair but it was a wrap.  I combed out 1/3 of my hair then reached for the scissors and chopped off the rest of the dreaded hair.  I cried for days after that fiasco!  (Ohhh the college memories…sigh) Whew!  Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s get down to the knitty gritty…

My hair’s been relaxed most of my life.  I got my first relaxer when I was about 10 and from that point on I dealt with a lot of chemical burn, some breakage and stunted growth.  I was a hands-on type of girl; I started relaxing and styling my own hair when I was a pre-teen.  I rocked it all – the bob, the short cut, the bangs, the asymmetrical cut and my all time favorite…the infamous duby wrap. (I still LOVE this style and it will always be one of my favs.)

So, let me make this clear for the “Hair Police” (they deep in these streets…LOL), I have no hang ups or issues with the creamy crack and those who choose to indulge in it! I see healthy beautiful relaxed hair daily.  Heck, when I was relaxed my hair was LAID, but it was not at its healthiest state and the continuous manipulation, heat and relaxing caused my hair to become extremely thin, weak and break a lot.  Because my hair was constantly breaking it would not grow past my shoulders – once it hit that point it would break and I’d have to cut it.

My relaxed hair…

Continue reading →

DIY Shoe Storage

Posted in DIY & Organization, Fashion & Style Chronicles by

A Shoe Lover + Minimal Closet Space = FRUSTRATION & SHOE CLUTTER!

I love a sexy pair of heels, unique eye catching sneakers, or a chic comfy pair of flats, but I have a MAJOR issue with shoe storage.  Closet space is pretty much non-existent in my house so I resorted to buying those expensive shoe containers ($2-$10 depending on the size of the shoes/boots) from the container store and stacking them against the wall in my bedroom to store my shoes.  Imagine buying shoe containers for 35+ pairs of shoes – you do the math!  It was just too damn expensive.  I also had the worst time retrieving my shoe of the day.  My containers were stacked vertically up against the wall, so when I wanted to get to a pair of shoes at the bottom of the stack really quickly it would end in a shoe avalanche! SMH

Thanks to good ole Pinterest  (WARNING:  This site is addictive!  Don’t say I didn’t warn ya!) I found a great shoe storage option.  Convert an old bookcase into a shoe storage unit.  This is such an awesome idea for people who have lots of shoes, with limited closet space like myself.  I had an old cheap bookcase that I was planning to rid of, but instead I got rid of all of those containers and moved the bookcase upstairs against my bedroom wall.  This freed up soooo much space!

I have approximately 28 pairs of shoes stored on the bookcase (top row of shoes not visible in the pic).  Each shelf holds about 5 pairs of shoes.  They are extremely easy to access and it looks so much better than my old plastic container shoe wall.  Although I wasn’t able to store all of my shoes, I was able to store some of my favorites on the shelf.  The ones that didn’t make it on the shelf are stored in containers in the garage.  I still have plenty of space on the bookcase, so I plan to add 1-2 additional shelves to make room for this winter’s newbies!

My shoe lovers out there, how do you store your shoes?

I’m Not A Model, But I’m Dope!

Posted in Fashion & Style Chronicles by

I’m not a model.  I’ve never aspired to be a model, nor have I felt the need to be photographed by a photographer while sucking in my stomach, poking out my butt and holding awkward poses that emphasis my sexiness or beauty.  It’s just NOT ME.

Dionne “Freebird” McDonald, Founder of Hodson Exposure, is an up-and-coming photographer that does an exceptional job of capturing the rawness of YOU.  I’ve fallen in love with so many of her amazing shots from play dates with her daughters (my beautiful nieces), intimate weddings, conceptual photo shoots, and the list goes on… She’d been egging me on – insisting that I drop in for a quick session to let her shoot me.  I really wasn’t that interested but I gave in and decided to let her capture my untamed mane and awkwardness.  After all, my hair was my new love…so wild, rebellious and out of control.

So I’m up at 6:30am on a Saturday after a night out with the ladies, prepping for my shoot, fluffing out my fro’, tired as all hell and not in the mood for anything but my cozy bed.  (-__-) I head to The Carriage House Studio located in Downtown DC and attempt to “give it to the camera”.  LOL Not really…I didn’t bring loads of sexiness and model posses; I brought myself…and my “Dopeness”. After a few snaps of the camera, I said to hell with this hair, just capture me being ME!

Peep my style details below.  I literally threw this look together in about 10 minutes. I’m obsessed with electric blue and cobalt blue, and mustard is new favorite color! I’d been experimenting with color blocking and this color combo was perfect. If you know me, then you know that I love a well-put together look, but I scour the sales racks of Macy’s, Nordstrom, Express and your everyday ladies fashion havens and websites for cool finds and bargains.  Who says that a chic and fierce look has to be pricey – not me…

Outfit Details:

Cobalt Blue Mesh Top:  Forever 21 – $18

Mustard Skinny Jeans:  H&M – $20

Cobalt Blue Suede Stilettos:  Bakers – $70-$80

Oversized Gold Earrings:  Aldo Accessories – $15

Gold Bangle:  Charming Charlies – $10

Hair Details: Second day wash n’ go – I’ll be doing a separate post on how I do my wash n’ gos.  Stay tuned…

Photographer Details:

Hodson Exposure specializes in portrait, conceptual and wedding shoots. Samples may be presented upon request.

Check out some of Hodson Exposure’s work HERE.

For bookings and inquires contact Freebirdbooking@gmail.com