Sassy Southern Curls

One of the joys of social media is being able to share and connect with other people. When I first went natural, I joined several popular online groups. I was very passionate about sharing my hair journey and offering advice to others.  I quickly found though that not everyone felt the same about natural hair. I would often come across someone who felt that "natural hair isn't for everyone" or better yet "not everyone should wear their natural hair." Honestly these types of comments baffle me; especially since they come from other African Americans. I think many of the people making these comments assume that natural hair is supposed to look a certain way.  Or perhaps they aren't educated on natural hair... the journey one takes in learning how to properly care for their own hair.  Such comments can be damaging to our women and community. Instead we should be encouraging and empowering each other. Not everyone is going to have a looser curl pattern o...

Oh the joys of planning a wedding.  Getting married is perhaps one of the most stressful life events that a person will endure. All of the planning...expectations...decision making and let's not forget MONEY it takes to plan your big day.   I knew early on, way before I even got engaged that I wouldn't have a big wedding. Both of us come from fairly large families so the thought of planning a huge wedding was exhausting.  When we finally decided to say "I do" this year I knew that I wanted a small and intimate wedding.  Here are several tips on how to save big on your wedding day. Keep it Small One of the first things you should consider is how many people you want at your wedding. Numbers matter..especially when it comes to the venue, catering, gifts for guests etc.  Elopements are very popular nowadays and many couples are opting out for the traditional wedding.  Now don't be afraid of the word "elopement".  The Vegas drive through elop...

Charlotte Lacroix recently sent me their products for a review. I will be adding all five products to my skin regimen and will follow up with a detailed review within 3-4 weeks.  Products: - Firming Face Serum $79         - Gentle Cleanser $39 - Activating Night Cream $55 - Renewal Eye Cream   $79 - Firming Day Cream $55 * Product description: https://goo.gl/IJBnpT * Get 15% on your order using code: ANNETTEMINT15 **Charlotte Lacroix is a luxury French brand, selling a unique line of products formulated with natural ingredients to protect and regenerate the skin.** Check out the review here

So there aren't too many things that I won't do with my hair but this one is for sure...I will never color my tresses. Don't get me a wrong.. I love color and frequently dyed my hair while I was relaxed.  I had red hair, purple hair and soon settled for jet black. It was fun playing with color. Natural hair comes with it's own challenges though once you add hair color. Damage isn't guarantee and sometimes it isn't even noticeable until after several applications. I've seen this first hand with  other bloggers who've now admitted that they've regretted coloring their hair. I think a lot women add color to try something different and frankly because they just want to.  Know though that if your already experiencing hair issues such as breakage or dryness, hair color will make it worse. Check out blacknaps.org article on coloring natural hair for more information: https://blacknaps.org/2015/01/15/the-truth-about-dyeingcoloring-type-4-natural-hair/...

Wow!! I'm digging this video. One of the many reasons why I've stopped putting my hair type in my video titles.

Can we talk about breasts for a second? Now I love my girls...no question about it. But the reality is after nursing for two years and losing weight my breasts are starting to become a problem.  They are big, floppy and unshapely.  I wear a size 38DDD. Even though I'm am a 12 waist..my breasts are clearly a 16. Last year I started experiencing some back pain that landed me in a chiropractor office. I won't bore you with his findings and recommendations..but let's just say I wasn't willing to dish out $1200 for therapy. Around the same time I seriously started looking into how I could get a breast reduction covered by my insurance.  I knew it would be struggle. Sure enough the surgeon I found refused to even see me without having at least 6 months of therapy. So I dropped the idea. Now this year I wanted to get a couple of appointments out of the way that I wasn't able to get to last year. One being a mammogram. I have a new OBGYN whom after doing an examinati...

Hey yall!! I know it's been forever since my last blog post but I wanted to fill you in on my health journey. First thing, I've battled being overweight all my life. Last year I got down to the smallest I've ever been though and DRUM ROLL. I did it all without stepping in to a gym.  I really focused on cleaning my diet by eating less processed foods and meats.  I went from 192 to 163 just by changing my eating habits. Here's a before and after picture of my results. Then I gained nearly 10 pounds back in only 2 months!! I'm now at 171 pounds with most of  the weight being around my midsection. NOT GOOD. Slowly I've been changing my eating habits and drinking more water. I even tried intermittent fasting, which frankly only lasted me 4 hours. haha Yes I have to eat. Now that I'm in a better head space, I looked at my workout options.  For nearly a month now I've been doing HIIT routines at home along with light weight training.  It's b...