It's Time to Create Your Perfect Weekend Morning Routine.

 Today I came to the realization that I'm missing a critical component of my life.  I'm currently without an established weekend morning routine.  Some of you might be wondering why such a routine is even necessary.

My answer to you is this.....

For most, the weekend is your time. You have full control of it.  There aren't any stresses hanging over your head causing you to rush through your mornings just to get to work on time. The weekend is all yours.  But if you aren't careful, those two days zoom by. Before you know it, you're laying out clothes to wear on Monday morning.

We need to savor our weekends like a delicious glass of wine.  Let's do that by creating the weekend morning ritual.
You are the artist so you can craft whatever ritual you desire.  I'd like my weekend mornings to mimic the feeling you get when you wake up in a luxury hotel.  I want to feel totally de-stressed and pampered.  Here's what I have in mind.

I see myself donning a cute little satin robe on weekend mornings.  Something I could lounge around in while I carry out my morning routine.  I also think a satin robe will be instrumental in helping me to air dry after stepping out of the shower.

//A TIME FOR SELF GROWTH//
Weekends are a perfect time to fit in self-development activities that we don't have time to do during the week.  For instance, I want to start journaling and reading "actual books" again. To save time, I've been speaking my thoughts into the voice memo app and listening to audiobooks.  Saturday mornings would be a great time to draft a real journal entry summarizing the highlights of the week.

Prior to grabbing my journal, I could create the right environment by lighting my favorite scented candle and preparing a cup of green tea.  After enjoying the tea, I'll fill a large glass with lemon/ginger water to sip on over the course of the next hour.

I hate to admit this but I usually postpone shower time on the weekends until later in the day.  Since I usually have nowhere to go, I sense no urgency in taking a morning shower.  I'd like to change this.  If I don't shower first thing in the morning, I'm more likely to lounge around in house clothes all day.  There's nothing wrong with wanting to relax but in order to feel amazing all weekend long, we should treat our Saturday + Sunday mornings with the same amount of reverence regarding personal hygiene as on the weekdays.

One important aspect to enjoying a wonderful Saturday morning is ensuring your home is clean & organized.  When I experimented with scheduling regular maid service, I intentionally requested the maid to come by on Friday.  That way I can enjoy a clean home on the weekend. Best of all, I didn't have to spend ANY time cleaning the house.  The maid doesn't come every week so, on Friday's I'll usually tidy up a bit so I wake up to a clean home the following morning.

//BRUNCH @ HOME//
Lastly, I'd like to enjoy a breakfast similar to what I would get if visiting my favorite restaurant or ordering room service.  That typically means a veggie omelet, skillet potatoes and maybe some fruit or a croissant.  I came to realize that I never make this breakfast at home even though I always order it when I go out.  That has to change.  Perfecting the at home omelet is on my top list of priorities.

From there, I hope to be operating at such a high vibration that it becomes the perfect time to plan the following week.

//WEEKLY PLANNING//
If you work hard to create the right morning ritual, you'll feel really good. Don't you dare let those good feelings go to waste!  Many personal development and productivity gurus urge us to plan our week ahead on the weekend. It's a powerful exercise.  When I carried out this advice in the past, I enjoy much less stress during the week no matter how crazy work was.  As you draft your plans, be sure to include NEW ACTIONS.  New actions are what takes us one step closer to our goals.  If we keep doing the same things, we will keep experiencing the same life.  

Lazy weekends are the best but it's also the perfect time to work on any side projects, business ideas or whatever.  Instead of dedicating your weekends to catching up on your favorite shows, use it to create something that could impact your future.  Weekends were instrumental in helping me achieve my dream of becoming an entrepreneur.  If you "give up" your weekends for while you'll enjoy the freedom of experiencing every day of the week as if it were a weekend.

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5 Steps To Getting Maximum Moisture From Root To Tip

Having soft, healthy moisturized hair with poppin’ curls and coils is pretty much a universal goal for most naturals. However, it can be difficult to achieve when you can’t get an even distribution of moisture throughout your entire head of hair. Fortunately, there are some steps you can take to make sure you reap the […]

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5 Tips To Creating The Perfect Natural Hair Travel Kit

Traveling with your natural hair is only as complicated as you want it to be. Of course, if you are ill-prepared, your hair can be a source of frustration during your trip. But put your worried mind to rest, sis. That’s not going to happen because you will be prepared for this trip and every […]

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Adding This Step on Wash Day Could Mean Major Length Retention.

My last wash day experience started off like normal.  It all began with a pre-poo using coconut oil. I have to admit, I was a little nervous. I waited way too long to wash and was a bit fearful about the possible consequences I'd have to face.

As I gently divided each section to apply the coconut oil, I was pleasantly surprised by how little breakage I was seeing. I hadn't done a protein treatment in a while but my hair was still doing A- OK. 

Everything seemed to be going exceptionally well. Even while I cleansed the shedding was minimal and there were no signs of excessive breakage.

I was in the clear......or so I thought.

After stepping out of the shower, I began the arduous process of applying conditioner section by section.   Recently, I recommitted to being diligent with my deep conditioning practices.  This meant that I'd reinstitute the strand ceremony process.

As I painstakingly applied conditioner, I noticed something quite alarming.  Suddenly, I could see tiny broken strands as I removed the shed hair.

What was happening?  Why is my hair breaking all of the sudden?

The answer is simple.  The combination of wet strands + manipulation + unconditioned hair = recipe for disaster.

Basically, I was employing heavy manipulation at the time when my hair is the weakest.  Earlier, during the pre-poo, I didn't experience much breakage because the strands weren't bloated with water.  As you may know, water molecules are notorious for lifting the cuticle layer (hence why we experience frizz in high humidity).  Our strands are slightly swollen after washing which leaves them highly vulnerable.

Suddenly I start to manhandle the hair while it's in fragile condition.  It makes sense why I was seeing broken strands seemingly out of nowhere.  I had to think fast.  The solution came after a couple of moments of reflection.  I needed to pre-condition my hair before actually conditioning it.

Stay with me here......

 I ran to my hair product storage area and grabbed the bottle of Grund ProDesign's Protein Leave-In.  I've written about the glory of this product in the past.  Basically, it strengthens my hair without ever leaving behind any protein related stiffness.   To me, it feels like a hydrating leave-in that also fortifies.

After grabbing the bottle, I sprayed a little to each section before applying conditioner.  It was like a miracle had taken place.  The breakage reduced dramatically and detangling was a breeze.  I also found myself having to use much less product on each section because my hair already felt pre-conditioned.

The pre-conditioning step is a must for me.  I rarely comb my hair during the week and the only time I ever experience excessive breakage is on wash day.  All that manipulation of wet hair is a deal breaker.  If I  systematically reduced wash day breakage, this could bring my retention to new levels. After reflecting, I came to the conclusion that pre-conditioning could actually enhance the deep conditioning process.  It's all about penetration and I'm pretty sure that a leave-in can better penetrate than my thick conditioners.  I might be conditioning the hair on 2 levels.  The leave-in penetrates, while the creamy conditioner coats the exterior.

  I plan on experimenting with variations of this process such as misting with leave-in and allowing it to sit on the hair for a few minutes before adding conditioner.  I should also mention that I still use a leave-in after rinsing conditioner prior to styling.  Basically, prior to any heavy manipulation, I pre-condition.  Yes, it's an extra step to an already long process, but this step is so powerful that I can't afford to skip it.

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4 Turban Tutorials You Should Absolutely See

  Towards the end of the week most of us are winding down getting ready for the weekend and for me, it also means getting a bit more relaxed with how I wear my hair. One of my favorite styles to wear on the weekend is a good old fashioned head wrap or turban. head […]

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The "snack" recommended by this fitness guru can actually help you lose weight.

I was checking out some fitness tips from Lana Ector, half of the mother-daughter fitness duo responsible for Gymnetics fitness program.  They often coach women who are ready to create physical transformations in their lives.

Their meal recommendations contained commonly known fitness advice like avoiding white carbs, drinking lots of water, etc.  But there was one tip in particular that immediately caught my attention.
For snacks, they suggested that their clients enjoy either fresh fruit or green tea.  Fresh fruit, I completely understand, but how on earth is green tea considered a snack?

My mind was racing as I tried to make sense of it all.  The very next move I made was to Google the words "green tea + appetite."  The reason why I chose the combination of these two terms is because fundamentally, we snack when we feel the sensation of hunger.  If Lana is suggesting that we drink a cup or two of green tea when hungry, there must be something about it that impacts our appetite.

My suspicions were correct.

Turns out that green tea is rich in a phytonutrient known as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG).  This wonderful nutrient has the power to reduce our appetites.  In fact, rats injected with EGCG derived from green tea lost their appetites and ate much less food after receiving injections consistently for 7 days.

How does this happen?

Well, EGCG has the ability to activate our leptin hormone.  Leptin is the master hormone responsible for controlling our hunger and our ability to feel satisfied.  We want is less of it in our bloodstream.  The more EGCG we have, the more our body tends to feel like it's starving thereby causing us to eat more.  EGCG does just that.  Researchers also found that EGCG helped reduce abdominal fat in rats and the fat that appears just below the skin's surface. This sounds like answered prayer if you ask me.

be sure to check out @cocoaflowerr's full beauty routine. 

I track my eating via the MyFitnessPal app.  One thing I notice after reviewing my entries is that I tend to reach for high calorie or high sugar snacks.  Although the amount of snacking I do has gone down, I literally told myself the other day that I need to snack on lower calorie foods so I can save those calories for meals.

Days later, I attracted this solution into my life.

The study went on to explain that taking EGCG orally didn't produce the same type of results when as when injected.  The reasoning for this could be that the digestion process may have interfered with the EGCG absorption.  I take this to mean that green tea could be more effective for us when taken on an empty stomach.  Which is another reason why this could be a great "snack."

I'm not an avid fan of the taste of traditional green tea but I'll experiment with blending it with bamboo tea and maybe adding a few drops of flavored stevia.  Another option is to opt for matcha green tea (lattes), which I love.  Instead of getting one loaded with sugar from Starbucks, I'll transition to making them at home instead.  At the very least, I can opt for a green tea extract supplement instead.  Drinking green tea is not guaranteed to make you lose weight unless you're strategic.  If instead of consuming a high-calorie snack, you enjoy a cup a green tea (and are satisfied) you would potentially make a huge dent in the number of calories you take in daily which could ultimately impact your weight.

I'm going to fill a couple of my little juice bottles with chilled green tea to have on deck for when the next snack attack hits.

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[Try This] Mariah Carey's Bed Time Beauty Secret.

I was on SnapChat the other day living vicariously through bloggers traveling for New York Fashion Week.  This blogger happened to share several pics of her travel essentials.  One image in particular immediately caught my attention.  Sitting near her bedside was a gadget that looked very familiar.

But what was most interesting was the caption included with the image.

This young lady is so dedicated to maintaining hydrated skin that she packed a humidifier and traveled with it cross country.  The reason for doing so is because she once learned that Mariah Carey was diligent about sleeping with a humidifier on a nightly basis.

That was my assumption.

In order to verify if this was indeed the case, I performed a quick Google search for verification.  To my surprise, I learned that Mariah doesn't just sleep with a humidifier, she runs "like 15 of them!" Basically, she sleeps in her own personal steam room. Part of the reason for this strict humidifying ritual is to promote healthy vocal chords.  But we all know that sleeping in a humid environment also promotes a myriad of beauty benefits.

I've talked about the wonders of humidifiers before. Since then, I've amassed a small collection (4 in total).  But lately, they haven't been getting much use. The air isn't as cold and dry as it used to be.

After capturing the screenshot, I immediately dusted off my old trusty humidifier.  Within seconds, I noticed the difference.  Even though the humidity in the room was already at 52%, the humidifier made a positive impact.

*side note: I grabbed a humidity monitor last year to keep track of air moisture levels at all times.

Minutes after being in my newly humid room, my lips felt softer and I instinctively started taking deeper breaths. It just made the room so comfortable.  Then I wondered, "does it make sense to run the humidifier all year long?"  

The answer is a resounding YES!  Here's why.......our A.C. units draw moisture directly out of the air as it cools the home.  So we might be experiencing dry summer air without susptecting it.  Also, when we're out in the sun our hair & skin dries out.  If you jump in the pool, you could be creating dry, itchy skin.  A humidifier could save your skin this summer.

I'm completely committed to using my humidifier all year long (even when I travel).  I'm also intrigued by the idea of using multiple units at night for maximum moisturization.  I can imagine how hydrated the skin would feel in the morning if we went to bed greasy and slept with a humidifier by our bedside.

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