I finally achieved silver hair!

I had attempted this before in December of last year then again in January of this year. Only the ends of my hair were light enough for the silver to take. Over the past several months, I’ve been bleaching (and consequently trimming/applying protein treatments) to get my hair to a light enough yellow.

I actually was going to stick with blonde for awhile, but this last time I bleached the roots and decided to try silver again.

After lightening, there was still quite a bit of brassiness so I applied the Fanola no yellow shampoo and left it on for a bit. The ends took as usual but the upper area was still stubbornly honey colored. I had some left over Manic Panic “alien grey” from before so I put that on the still brassy roots.

I rinsed and it helped a lot. The next day, there were still a few blonde places, so I put the Fanola no yellow conditioner on with a plastic cap for a few hours. That helped blend some more, though it left a lilac cast.

Next wash, I shampooed to get the excess purple out and dried it to apply one more batch of “alien grey” on any remaining patchiness. After rinsing again, I was so pleased with the results.

Lastly, I ordered the Overtone silver conditioner line to maintain. Having all three shades will allow me to mix and distribute differently on particular places on my hair. 

All-in-all, I’m glad I was able to make this color possible. It’s fun yet still a neutral hue that matches with all my outfits. And I can refresh it with color depositing conditioner, so no more risk of damage on these weary ends!

Keeping these in mind helped me through the process:

1) Patience

2) Multiple Bleaching Sessions

3) Not afraid of trimming/cutting damaged ends

4) Protein Treatments + Deep Conditioning

5) Purple/Silver Toning Products  

Until next time, stay Sheek!

-Shekinah

Not sure how long the distancing will last, so I’m still keeping comfort at the top of my priorities. Thankfully, once summer hits I LIVE in sandals, my most favorite type of shoes. I gave up the cheap, flat ones from my youth and have been investing in really comfortable, supportive ones from various brands over the past few years.

Going to add in softer earth tones to my usual palette to mix things up. Plan to utilize various headwraps for protective styling as well as have fun with all of my statement necklaces as they really jazz up simple looks.

Main pieces include:

Supportive sandals, light denim shorts, Arq tanks, boxy linen tops, maxi skirts, flowy pants, and midi dresses.

Outfit formulas-

Fitted tank + maxi skirt + sandals

Fitted tank + shorts + sandals

Fitted tank + flowy pants + sandals

Boxy top + light jeans + sandals

Boxy top + flowy pants + sandals

Boxy top + shorts + sandals

Midi dress + sandals

Until next time, stay Sheek!

-Shekinah

I’ve had major success with simplifying my fall/winter style over the last few years, so I want to bring that over to spring as well. 

We don’t have real spring in MI anymore, I’m sure the climate crisis has affected where you live these past 20 years as well. Amidst the slushy wet days there are a few nice ones sprinkled in however. So though I’ll still have to wear a coat or jacket most days, I may be able to wear a lighter under layer.

Excited to finally trade my turtlenecks for tees. I’m going to stay within my palette (black, white/cream, red, with stripes & polka dots for fun.) Went through my tees and found quite a bit to purge (too small now) so I set note on my wishlist to eventually replace those.

I’ve grown to really appreciate the idea of uniform dressing, at least in terms of basics that I can mix and match. Here are some specific outfit formulas I plan to try out.

Polka dot top + light jeans + red glove shoes

Stripe tee + light jeans + rorange mary janes

Graphic tee + light jeans + white derbys

Flowy white top + red flowy pants + black babos

Flowy black top + red flowy pants + white glove shoes

Fitted tee + cream wrap pants + glove shoes

Fitted tee + black balloon pants + glove shoes

Midi dress + glove shoes

Until next time, stay Sheek!

-Shekinah

It’s ok to buy a bigger size.

Let me repeat that.

It’s ok to buy a bigger size.

So many of us have had it drilled into our heads since youth the notion that small/thin/skinny is “better.” I’ll just jump in and be another voice that assures THAT IS NOT THE CASE. In life, our body changes, it grows & morphs, it may shrink & sag or plump up.

All of these changes are normal.

Sometimes we may have weight fluctuations due to hormonal changes, digestive issues, and/or stress, at least I know those are all the case for me. Due to that, I’ve recently picked up some bigger sizes of my favorite pants to wear.

I know minimalists go around saying if it can’t fit, purge it to make room for something that does (or just purge it for the sake of owning less.) While I agree on donating/selling items you don’t like or wear, fit is a bit more complicated. If you have a favorite pair of pants–that took a long time to find initially–that aren’t fitting comfortably right now, I say buy the bigger size! Now if you still love everything about the smaller size, don’t purge it immediately.

I’m not suggesting someone hold onto something that doesn’t fit and that makes them feel terrible about themselves. I’m saying to hold onto the extra size in case your weight does fluctuate back down so then you won’t have to keep going out to buy those same items because you already have them, which will save you money down the road.

My examples are shown in the images. Core pants for me are light wash jeans and black & cream trousers. The jeans are the exact same style of levis, just in a bigger size and they fit great. The trousers are everlane, and I haven’t wanted to support them as a company for a bit, so I tried out some Only Child pants instead. They are also comfy, but very thin and more suitable for warm weather, so my search continues for black & cream trousers in a thick cotton and/or denim material while I’m in this size range.

To recap, if you have found an awesome item but it doesn’t fit quite right anymore, don’t feel guilty about buying a bigger size. Don’t feel guilty about holding onto it for a few months if you want to. Don’t feel guilty if you decide to part with it and the bigger size does wind up working after all.

I can’t make you love changing sizes, but I hope to normalize that part of life by sharing that I have accepted it and refuse to feel guilty because it.

Until next time, stay Sheek!

-Shekinah