Tyra Gets It Wrong, Again

This week, aspiring model Kacey Leggett was given the boot from cycle 15 of America's Next Top Model. Did she take amazing pictures? Not really. She was also potrayed as a spoiled, entitled, brat on the show but there's no way we can know how much of that was real or manipulative editing.

I saw a lot of potential in this girl. The level she was on when she left the show was nowhere near what she would need to be for Italian Vogue. I know models like to think they are just born with amazing talent, but sometimes talent can be made with a lot of hard work and fine tuning. With a little more practice and coaching, Kacey could have an amazing career. It's disappointing that Tyra didn't see that.

Here's to hoping we'll see Kacey again in the future!

Style Icon: Keri Hilson

I have to admit, usually when I refer to someone as a style icon, a lot of times what I really mean is that I secretly want to steal their wardrobe! That wouldn't really be true about Keri. I love her style (and I'm sure she has an amazing shoe collection), but I don't think I have the confidence required to pull off her looks. It takes a lot of guts to be unique. There really isn't another celeb out right now that looks like her and I can't really think of any past artist's that she is imitating. Sometimes having style is about being true to yourself even if it makes you stand out from the crowd or is slightly different from what most people consider "fashion". Need proof? Just look at Keri. You can't deny, she looks stunning!

Here are a few of the looks that I really like.

Forever 21 Pants Not For Petites?

I love Forever 21. I own a lot of skirts and dresses from them and usually, a S (and sometimes an XS if it is available) fits me perfectly. A few weeks ago I brought two basic, leather skinny belts like this one.

I was really nervous about whether I would like the color (I ordered one in tan and one in red) but when they arrived I was actually pleasantly surprised. A few weeks after they arrived, I decided to wear one of them. It was so baggy on me (I ordered the smallest size). I tried to make it work with my pants but it just looked really bad. Finally I pulled out a knife and cut another hole in the belt which did make it wearable. I guess for only $3.50 what did I really expect? But it was still the first time I ordered something from F21 that was too big for me.

But it was not the last time. My birthday is coming up in a few weeks (the big 2-5!) and my sister bought me some pants from F21. I got two pairs of Ponte pants and a few pairs of knit leggings. The Ponte pants did not fit me at all. See how nice and fitted they look on the model.

Well they did not look like that on me! They were loose everywhere, except for around my ankle, and I had a big bulge in my crotch area. I quickly sent them back. I kind of wish I had taken pictures of them so you guys could see how bad they were but trust me they were bad!

I had a similar problem with the leggings. Because I am petite (5'0), there was a lot of extra bunched up fabric on the legs which is not cute on leggings. I contemplated just taking some of the length off of the bottom but since I was already sending the other pants back, I sent those back as well.

It's not often that I make purchases from F21 that don't fit. They are one of the few stores where I can make online purchases without worrying about fit so I'm kind of disappointed.

Have any of you petite ladies had any success with pants from F21?

Review: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Polish in Boca Mocha

I've been trying to find a brown/beige shade of nail polish that I actually like. I wanted to try OPI Barefoot in Barcelona but was not able to find it. Instead I purchased Sally Hansen's Complete Manicure Polish in Boca Mocha from my local Target. These polishes run for about $6.98 a bottle.

The product is just ok. The application is pretty smooth and the polish itself hasn't chipped yet and I've been wearing it for a few days. The color was not quite what I was expecting. It looks a lot lighter in the picture than it actually is in person. Overall I'm not disappointed in my purchase, but I'm not excited about it either.

This is three coats including a top coat (forgive my sloppy job).

Melyssa Ford Versus Essence Magazine

I've talked about Essence magazine before on this blog and I have been a faithful reader for a while now. Recently, a conversation that Melyssa Ford, an ex hip-hop video girl, had with a friend of hers about Essence magazine surfaced. She claimed that the content of the conversation was revealed by a friend she trusted (shame on him!) without her knowledge.

Anyway, I thought the comments she made were pretty interesting. Here is a portion of what she said (with some portions removed for content).

"Right now Essence has on the cover, three of the most gorgeous black men ever created on the face of this [redacted] Earth. They have Blair Underwood who has always done it for me, Boris Kodjoe whose definition in the dictionary is fine, and then they got Lance Gross—chocolatey loveliness. And you know what they [redacted] have the nerve to have as the [redacted] title of the cover story? “How To Keep Black Men Happy and Faithful.” And faithful! How dare you?! It makes me [redacted] sick. [It’s like saying] ‘Women take note—how to keep your black men healthy and keep from straying from you ‘cause it’s your fault.’ And black women wrote this to their [redacted] counterparts. As if to say, ‘If he strays, it’s your [redacted] fault. You didn't cook enough. You didn't do enough to keep your [redacted] man happy or faithful. O-M-G."

Melyssa is referring to the October issue of Essence Magazine. About a month ago, I was having a dinner party at a friend's apartment so I took my copy of Essence with me so I would have something to read while the food was cooking. I left my magazine on the table and when one of my girlfriends (who happens to not be black) saw it, she commented "wtf, how to keep black men healthy and faithful, what about how to keep black women happy!". I have to admit, before she commented I didn't even really pay that much attention to the title. But once I did, I could easily see how someone might take offense to it. I don't necessarily think that Essence meant to convey the message it did however a woman can NEVER make a man stay faithful. He has to be faithful because he WANTS to.

Melyssa went on to make some other comments about the types of women Essence usually features on the cover and the recent change of the content of the magazine. You can read the rest of her comments here.

What do you guys think? Does Melyssa have a point?

Review HerStyler Magenta Flat Iron

I hate flat ironing my hair! After spending up to an hour going through my hair section by section, my hair still always looks frizzy. I was always jealous when I saw girls who had the "fresh relaxed" look every time I saw them. I knew that it couldn't be that all of these girls were getting their locks relaxed that regularly (I knew for a fact most of them weren't). What did they do to keep their hair looking straight and smooth everyday?

Well after reading through message boards and talking to other people, I realized that most ladies swore by their flat iron. I was told that I needed to try Chi, FHI, or Sedu to get the results I was desiring. Before I was just using a Conair flat iron that I purchased from Wal-Mart about 2 years ago for 30 bucks. I also own a Conair Infinit 3/4" straightener that does give slightly better results but still doesn't make my hair lay flat.

In case you are unfamiliar with Chi, FHI, or Sedu let me tell you, if you purchase one of these straighteners you are looking to spend $150+. That is a lot of money to spend for a flat iron that you are not even sure will work for your hair.

In a few of the forums I read, some of the women were talking about HerStyler flat irons. Personally, I had never heard of them. When I googled them, the nearly $200 price tag floored me. But that's why there's Amazon! I searched for a Chi, FHI, Sedu and HerStyler. The HerStyler was the only one I could find for less than 50 bucks. I ended up ordering it for just over $30. I couldn't help feeling that I had just wasted money on a flat iron that wouldn't be any different from the two I already owned.

I was wrong! I still had to spend quite a bit of time straightening my hair (about 30-45 minutes). The first time I ran the straightener through my hair, I didn't feel like it looked any different than it normally does when I flat iron it. It wasn't until I got about 85% done that I realized that my hair was actually flat and I was getting that relaxed look even though I was more than two months post relaxer.

Of course no product is perfect so here are some of the negatives. I will say that I have never seen my hair smoke so much when I used a flat iron. I used a Chi heat protectant and I definitely wouldn't recommend using this (or any other flat iron) without first applying some kind of heat protectant to your hair. Also, the particular model that I ordered does not allow you to adjust the temperature setting. And this flat iron gets really hot fast! It's so hot that if you brush it against your ear while flat ironing, it will definitely burn. Also the flat iron looks really cheap. Though I was happy with my results, I still don't think it is at all worth the $165 price tag. I probably wouldn't pay more than $50 for it.

So now what you all want to see: the results.

This is my hair before. I had just finished washing and blow drying it and it had been about 2 months since my last relaxer.

My roots look terrible!

And here was my hair after.

And this is one week after flat ironing my hair. (My hair looks a little rough because I was just getting up)

You Can Do That?

I am currently getting ready to go out of town for a while so I was trying to take things out of my fridge that I thought could go bad before I returned. I can never quite figure out the shelf life on eggs so I decided to be on the safe side and hard boil them so that they would still be good when I came back. Well I put them in a pot of boiling water and left them on the stove while I went into my room to try and complete an assignment I have due for a class tomorrow morning. Almost an hour later I heard a loud popping noise almost like gun shots. I instantly remembered the eggs and thought one of my roommates was just moving the pot off the stove because the water had boiled over. Well not quite. When I made it to the kitchen, the water had boiled completely out of the pot leaving just my burnt eggs which had literally exploded (hence the loud popping noise). I didn't even know you could burn hard boiled eggs! I hope my roommates won't be too upset with me about the smell...