Exploring England: Chilling in Coventry

So I know I skipped last Sunday's "Exploring England" post but as I explained before. I just didn't have the will... Right now though I'm on some sort of blogging roll, I don't usually write posts and schedule them before they come out but this is my second one tonight and may very well not be my last! We shall see how this Tuesday night pans out...

So last week or was it the week before now... I forget. Let's say last week, it makes me seem less lazy! So last week, I hopped on a train to Coventry to visit my lovely cousin Toms for her birthday, even though technically she's my cousin, she's really more of a sister to me, and even though that was a potential 'awwww' moment I shall ruin it because that's what sisters do. Aside from stealing your clothes and borrowing endless amounts of things of course, but seeing as I don't have a 'real' sister, I guess I don't mind so much. Anyways where was I.... Ah yes, my adventures in Coventry.

Coventry was kind of different from the last few places I've been to because my exploring was all centred on Operation 'Find Tomi A Present And A Cake Quick'. You see it was the day of her birthday and I had neither of those for her... yet. But superwoman Reni to the rescue. I strapped up my boots, threw on my scarf and put my few hours of her being stuck in lectures to good use. I must admit though that this was not my first time in Cov but it was my first time going around on my own. The first thing I noticed when I got to the city centre, which is the first thing I always notice, is how pretty these banks look! Isn't that odd? For a bank to be described as pretty. It's just that with the way most banks in Manchester look seeing one that looks like something out of a cartoon is pretty darn cool!

Natwest is my favourite, for some reason it reminds me of PowerPuff Girls. The mayor's office or something. Random I know.

Coventry is a city with sooo much history though! And I love how a lot of it is packed really near the centre. I saw the ruins of the Coventry Cathedral, it's the perfect picture of the phrase "beautiful disaster", I love seeing things that really are part of the identity of a place still there. I guess I should write something about Lady Godiva too, her and her husband the Earl of Mercia are Coventry's own Kate and William. Almost everything is named after one of them in some way or another, I'm not even exaggerating, the only thing Godiva I truly appreciate is a box of choccies! Which I'm not even sure is named after her but I might as well assume it is.

Coventry Cathedral. I love this picture. The naked tree makes it look all haunted!

View of the ruins. It looks pretty nice doesn't it? Apparently there are some outdoor plays and stuff in here in the summer!

It's such an old school city there, there's still so much influence from the Tudor times. It's all kind of surreal, I can almost imagine living in that era whenever I'm there. It's a very weird thought. Just check this pub out. So many of the places still have ridiculously low ceilings as well.

Oh yeah! I've digressed! Or have I? I did eventually find Tomi a lovely present AND a cake! And I still managed to do all this exploring and noseying about in less than 2 hours! Did I mention my superwoman skills? Lol. Sadly superwoman has zero tolerance and/or resistance for the cold so I quit the exploration and headed back indoors to cuddle with MY Peter Rabbit catch up on some shows! The story of how Peter Rabbit got to Coventry is quite long, I almost took him back but he seems to be in good hands. I've been talking quite a bit about Peter Rabbit huh? First in the Lake District home of Beatrix Potter the lovely writer who brought him to life and then in York where there was a massive one but sadly not for sale. Perhaps I need to see this as a sign... Peter Rabbit for Christmas! Lol.

The only thing good about the winter is December and December is only good because Jesus Christ was born, which I guess is a pretty amazing thing. Plus all the Christmas decorations make it almost worth it.

What's your favourite thing about December?

Well all in all Toms had a lovely dinner and the next day I hopped in a taxi and she went back to uni. Back to real life I guess. Goodbye Tudor times. Once again happy birthday sissy. I really do love you. Most times. I hope all your wishes come true!

One Inch In One Week: Inversion Method Results!

So I promised myself that I would never have to play catch up on this blog again but looks where we are... Catch up time! This time I'm not as behind as I have been but it's still bad enough, blame it on the laziness that came upon me one day and quite simply refused to be shaken off. Not that I was trying very hard, laziness would do that to you. Lol.

On to today's post, the first thing we should catch up on is my last hair post! As you might remember I mentioned that I'd be trying the Inversion Method and I was supposed to post my results up like a week ago... *awkward*. Well you'd be happy to know that I still did all the measurements I was supposed to like a good little blogger but then yeah... Procrastination happened. Anyways, a few mentions before I show you the before pictures of the inversion method. First, you're supposed to do it for 7 days in a row, Reni J did it for just 5! Lol. I completely forgot on day 2 and then on day 6 there was just too much going on, I literally had no time, nope, not even four minutes to hang my head upside down. Lol. Also, my method of inverting was by sitting leaning forward like I was painting my toes for most of the days. On the other days I just hung my head off the edge of the bed. Lol.

As you can tell there was a lot of inconsistency in my one week living life on the flipside! However! There were still some decent results! Here's the before pictures just to remind you.

Top Left: Back left, 8 inches. Top Right: Back Right, 8 inches. Bottom Left: Front, 7 inches. Bottom Right: Edges, 5 inches.

And now, for the moment you've allll been waiting for *drumroll please*.... 

(is this enough suspense??)

(okay surely this does it!)

The After Pictures!

Top Left: Back left, 9 inches. Top Right: Back Right, 8 inches. Bottom Left: Front, 8 inches. Bottom Right: Edges, 6 inches.

So there you have it! My hair did actually grow an inch everywhere and I only did it for 5 of the recommended 7 days! That's pretty impressive considering the fact it would usually take up to two months to grow an inch! For some weird reason though, the right side of my nape didn't seem to grow.... Tres strange. I always used to blame the hairdresser for not trimming in a straight line but perhaps it was never really their fault... I shall be investigating this more soon.

Well, what do you guys think? Would you be trying the inversion method? Or have you already tried it and got results? Let me know in the comments box :)

Reni xx

Ouu see those fun looking icons below? Click on them and watch the magic happen! Lol. The g+ one is actually bloglovin.... Don't ask.

The Naked Convos: War Paint

Hey peoples, this is a post I wrote for The Naked Convos today. The comments were quite funny sometimes so I was wondering what you guys thought!

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Hey guys, Reni here again. Twice this week, aren’t you lucky? Today we will be talking about war paint. War paint you say? Yes. War paint. For those who are still a bit confused, war paint is a “pigment or paint used to decorate the face and body before a battle.” Still don’t get it? Fine, I’d just come out and say it. We are talking about make-up! Now I’m sure all the males want to run away but please stay with me guys… Your input is most definitely required on this one.

As I’m sure most of us know by now, Tiwa Savage got married last weekend and her party was full of celebs and socialites alike. Everybody was dressed to impress, as they should be, but what really struck me was not the different styles that were contorted from the aso ebi of the wedding. No no, it was the paint that each woman seemed adorned with, from Tiwa herself to all the distinguished ladies in the house, everybody was at the ready. It was a war and it was every lady for herself, war paint looking just right in order to outshine the other ladies in their quest to finding the perfect single or not-so-single guy to call their own. These days it almost seems like if you don’t have a professional make-up artist on speed dial for these sorts of events then you will most certainly be carrying a big fat last.

But why is it though? When did the make-up artistes job go from doing “wedding make-up” for just the bride and bridal train to doing it for the entire congregation as well? Even those that clearly have no access to a MUA or even YouTube and a mirror find their way in order to hop on the bandwagon. Why do some people allow themselves to be oppressed?? Using foundation that is clearly about 3 or 4 shades lighter than their skin tone and all sorts of nasty colour combinations on their eyes just to be part of the club? Even those women that go for my personal favourite, the “natural look”, whilst I would be the first to admit that they look absolutely flawless, the amount of pancake-ing that goes into achieving that look is phenomenal! Trust me, I’ve seen it done before. The other day an uncle of mine made a remark about how one girl in a group was the most down to earth because she wore the least make-up. I’ve never laughed so hard in my life; it took that girl 1.5 hours to look that way sir! Beliee dat.

Okay, I feel like I’m starting to sound like I’m anti-make-up or something, which I really am not. I’ve even had my make-up professionally done once before, just for fun by my good friend from Eeda’s Atelier and whilst I do enjoy wearing make-up, I feel that some women have the wrong intentions. For instance, people always say that make-up should enhance your natural beauty but isn’t giving yourself a smaller nose, a cupids bow on your lips and higher cheekbones just a face-lift in disguise? Some ladies pile on the powder and foundation, layer after layer hoping that it will eventually be thick enough to conceal some of their deepest insecurities. Unfortunately, it will never be enough. Ever.

I’m quite curious as to why girls wear so much make-up sometimes though. I know for me personally, it gives me a little extra confidence boost and I would feel oppressed if I was the only bare-faced girl in a room full of nicely made-up people so I wouldn’t go out looking stupid. But, is giving my face a beating every single time I want to step outside truly necessary? Or is it better to be at the ready at all times? I just don’t know, and this is where you guys come in to help me!

Today’s question is kind of simple; Guys, do you like it when ladies come to weddings and other social events looking less like themselves and more like Nicki Minaj? Or are you for the “natural look”? Ladies, the question today is even more straightforward; why do you wear make-up? Haha.

Use the comments box to express you!

Exploring England: Sunrise on Barry Island, Cardiff

So it's another Sunday in November, the very last one might I add. I can't believe how quickly this last bit of the year is rolling on by, I know it sounds so cliche to say, but time really is flying! This last week has been pretty busy for me, I seemed to have a whole lot of writing assignments to submit by the end of the weekend, but alas. I have fulfilled most of them right now and would definitely be done by the end of the day so I will call this a productive week all in all.

Last week, I went to see my cousin Koki in Cardiff, she's in her 5th and final year of uni now and the work is piling on high so I decided to go just for some moral support and to use the chance to explore a little bit of Cardiff as well! Kill two birds with one stone why not? She's been doing various studies of change and finding inspiration in different places for her upcoming final design so she suggested we go to Barry Island and document the sunrise. You see, I would have much rather gone for the sunset because I'm lazy and didn't want to get out of bed so early but she'd already been for the sunset earlier that week! Boohoo. So one morning, we dragged our tired selves from bed and met up with Molly, another one of my cousins in Cardiff to go and document the sunrise.

There was a slight delay in the morning train times and we grew quite worried that we would miss the best parts of the show so we snapped a couple of pretty pictures on the train, waking up that early couldn't have been for nothing!

I love the completely accidental symmetry of this photo. You can see the sun peeking through.

We made it to Barry Island in the nick of time and dashed down to the beach to catch what was left of the sunrise, and can I just say we were in for a real treat and surprise?? Turns out, the time that is said to be "sunrise" is when the sun just begins its ascent into the sky so we really didn't miss much at all! Words really can't describe the next set of pictures I took on my phone, I was so upset I didn't have my camera but the iPhone 5 turned out to be better than I could have ever expected!

Everything kept changing, from the position of the sun in the sky to the clouds surrounding it, to the colour of the sky and it was truly magical watching it. Nature always has this way of reminding you of the little things in life, like the rainbow in Lake District. They say the only thing that remains constant in life is change and I'm trying to learn to embrace it. My current situation has so much uncertainty and that used to fill me with a certain unease and dread until I realised that in order to grow, I have to be willing to accept changes. Some of them just might be as beautiful as this sunrise. We were there for probably 45 minutes to an hour and spent about 30 minutes taking pictures every 15 seconds, it was freezing outside but I don't think anyone really minded. Who would?

When we were done we explored the area a little bit more and I managed to take a few more interesting shots. I felt like some professional photographer, exploring different angles and compositions.

I really like this one because it looks like the man down there is walking on water. But it was just a thin film of water from when the tide was drawn in earlier.

I used the iPhone filter "Noir" on this one. I love the effect it created, it looks like a thunderstorm is about to hit or something.

Koki and Molly posed for a couple of silly pictures with the tripod and I couldn't resist the urge to draw in the sand but the cold was becoming unbearable so we said one final goodbye to the rising sun and we were on our way from the enchanting Barry Island.

Coolest Kids! :D

Hope you've had an amazing Sunday everybody, did you have any mini epiphanies like myself? Let me know in the comments box.

Reni xx

Let's Talk Hair: Inversion Method and Going Natural

Wow, I can't believe it's been like actual months since I did a hair related post. Like 3 and a half months at that.. That's crazy! Well a lot and a little has changed ever since my last hair post here's a quick run through.

1. Inversion Method

I'm trying out the inversion method! After seeing loads of my favourite hair bloggers try it out and get results, I decided to give it a shot! I started on the 18th of November and so should have results by the 25th, let's see if I get that promised 1 inch of growth! For those who don't know the inversion method involves massaging warm oil into your scalp and then slightly inverting your head every day for 7 days. No need for headstands here! Read more on it on Naija Hair Can Grow where blogger Dabs results  really inspired me to try it. Here are my starting length pictures, sorry they aren't the best, it was a real last minute decision to actually measure

Top Left: Bottom left, 8 inches. Top Right: Bottom right, 8 inches. Bottom Left: Front, 6-7 inches. Bottom Right: Side, 5 inches.

2. My Regimen has changed A LOT!

I realised that I was trying to do too much and copy all my favourite hair bloggers and incorporating what they ALL do, instead of finding out what's good for me and my hair and sticking with it. I was essentially missing the point of this whole hair journey, I'm glad I realised it before the year ran out though.

So here's my new regimen; I should say though that this has only been for this month of November mostly. August was filled with experimenting and my hair was in braids for most of September and all of October!

Wash days are on Thursdays, I:

Shampoo with Elasta QP Creme Conditioning Shampoo

Swapping to ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo at least once a month to clarify.

Deep condition with ORS Replenishing Conditioner

This is definitely my favourite deep conditioner, it's one of the few things that I'm absolutely certain that my hair loves!

Air dry

I use the t-shirt method to air-dry were I wrap my hair in a cotton t-shirt for at least half an hour to soak up the moisture.

Apply leave-ins and detangle

I'm still struggling with this, I was originally going to use the Cantu Shea Butter Leave-in which my friend brought me from America but I read the ingredients and it's packed with protein! I'm trying to tip my hair back in the moisture rich range after I had a massive fail with protein treatments. So right now I'm using Dark and Lovely, Corrective Leave-In Conditioning Therapy, which is alright so far I suppose, it's a bit early to tell.

Moisturise

After applying my leave in, I moisturise with Elasta QP Olive oil and Mango Butter Moisturiser and seal with sweet almond oil.

Co-wash on Mondays

I started co-washing with Tresseme Luxurious Moisture Conditioner to really kick my moisture levels up and help me moisturise my new growth I'm currently 19 weeks post with the intention of stretching till the end of the year, more on the "why" later.

And there you have it! My current regimen :)

3. Naturalista time!

So don't scream or anything, I'm not sure yet! It's not 100% but I have been seriously considering going natural. Part of the reason I'm not texturising till the end of the year is because I want to see what my natural texture is like and decide if I love my ziggly, coily tresses enough to full embrace it! I might big chop in the new year... Or maybe I'd decide to be a long term transitioner... Or maybe I'd just texturise! Lol. But no decisions are going to be made till 2014 that's for sure!

Well that's all for now on hair folks! As usual please drop comments, especially advice about my regimen! I found the last ones so very helpful! My biggest question right now is...

What's your favourite leave-in conditioner?

Reni x

Exploring England: Misadventures at the Lake District

So after finishing my dissertation I really have been feeling a huge amount of wanderlust, sadly I can't go out of the country *my money doesn't fall from trees!* so I decided to go around places in England that I've never been before instead. I already wrote about my trip to York to see my brother in York Day, Fun Day. Check it out! I'm thinking of making this "Exploring England" an every Sunday affair till the end of the year! It also challenges me to keep going to more places which would be fun.

The past week has been kind of slow, hence the lack of blogposts but I was looking at pictures on my camera roll and saw some pictures I took in the Lake District with my coursemates after we handed in our dissertation. We arrived to what was possibly the gloomiest, darkest day in September. Like it was awful! The rain wouldn't stop, or would stop briefly and then thunder down again after 5 minutes and on top of that it was freeeezing! Oh yes I should say, we were in Windermere in the Lake District, home of Beatrix Potter, the amazing author behind my childhood favourite Peter Rabbit. Sadly we didn't get to go to "The World of Beatrix Potter", I don't think my flatmates shared my enthusiasm, plus did I mention the rain? We walked about from shop to shop trying desperately to find an umbrella for myself and two others who were really not dressed appropriately for the weather but they were all seriously over-priced! For me at least.. £18 for a broly that will destroy in the wind?? No thankee.

So we walked when it was dry and ducked when it was wet. Walk, duck, walk, duck until we saw one of the very first lakes! Beautiful isn't it? I'm not sure if I've mentioned my love for water before, there's something so calming about it. I could sit by this lake all day and just watch the water move, so serene, just there in it's natural habitat.

I love this picture because of that little house across the lake in the midst of all the greenery. I wonder who lives there.

This was one of the few pictures I took when we were on a boat cruise down the Lake Windermere methinks.

The water and the skies match each other so well. Both intimidating shades of grey, they look like they are both about to burst open at the seams.

After getting off the boat, we decided it was time to be on our merry way home. Everyone was freezing and hungry as well so we started the long trek back when we spotted this!

The rainbow was literally there for five seconds and I was so happy I managed to capture it. It's definitely my favourite picture from the trip, look at the vista of hills behind the houses. So amazing. It's so easy to get bogged down with the details of life and let that gloomy feeling follow us around for ages, be it about school, university or even friends. But my rainbow (yes, it's mine, Reni's Rainbow :D) my rainbow shows that these things never last for long and if we stay focussing on the things that are wrong, we just might miss out on all the things that are going right. The rainbow, God's promise to never flood the earth again. Isn't it beautiful?

After the rainbow the skies let up considerably! There was actually some blue in it! We found this hotel on a hill which reminded me of a 1940's love story. Maybe something along the lines of dirty dancing! Haha.

And then we posed for one final picture and said bye bye to the beautiful Lake Windermere. 

In the words of Wordsworth "None of the other lakes unfold so many fresh beauties to him who sail upon them" I certainly want to visit the Lake District again, with any luck it will be on a drier day. But incase it's not, I'd have some waterproofs and a nice £4 umbrella at the ready! Haha.

Hope you've had a great weekend.

Reni x

Exploring England: York Day, Fun Day

It was my brothers birthday on a lovely Friday in October and I went to spend the day with him up in York where he's just started uni *brownie points for sibling of the year!* I took him mountains of food to stock his fridge with as well as other bits and pieces to help him settle down into properly living on his own *more brownie points* 

Doesn't he look so excited to see me?? Hmph, "teenagers"!

But he actually was and together we went around exploring York. I knew it was going to be an exciting day when one of the first things I saw was this sign... I hadn't been there for 30 minutes and already we were being rebellious!

"Students are advised not to use this footpath"

Obviously we ignored the sign... It's a stupid thing to do I know but according to my bro, the way round takes sooo much longer. Plus we wouldn't have had the time to scare each other shitless and imagine how awful it would be to walk there at night, which I made him promise to never do!

There were horses in the fields on either side of us and I would have taken pictures but I don't really like animals in general plus I'm scared shitless of horses! There's just something so dominating about them, especially the ones that the police use!

If I'm completely honest I actually kinda like the look of it. It's so green and that branch going horizontally across looks perfect for swinging, from a proper swing obviously!

We went to the city centre and were greeted by the prettiest stalls in the farmers market. Everything felt so vibrant and colourful, the atmosphere was lovely. Is that a weird thing to say about a city centre? It just seemed so different from the usual Manchester/London rushed vibe even though it had just as many people, everyone was just minding their own business but in a much more pleasant way!

Even the melons looked yummy in their greens and yellows!

There are so many quaint little stores that sell all sorts of bits and bobs. My nose was glued to the window where this Peter Rabbit was, I loved reading the book by Beatrix Potter when I was younger and watched countless VHS videos on the little guy, I would have gladly bought him and given him a nice loving home and family but unfortunately he wasn't for sale :( that really hurt.

We also happened upon the York Minster, I say happened upon because truly we were just having a random stroll whilst my brother tried to remember the way to the River Ouse which runs through the city, but honestly, this would have been pretty difficult to miss! Apparently it's the largest gothic cathedral in Northern Europe, my picture barely does it justice!

Hello to the pillar on the right which completely kills what could have been an 'alright' picture!

So I found one that better shows just how vast this cathedral is! Pretty epic isn't it?

(Original Source)

And as if Peter Rabbit and the York Minster weren't enough excitement for one day, these group of guys had the most angelic voices, I could have stood there listening to them sing all day long. They even did that song "Chama-chama-chama-chameleooon, you come and go, you come and go-oooo", yes I have no idea what the song title is, no I don't want to google it, I'm sure it's called "Chameleon"! Lol. My mum and baby brother used to sing it all the time a few years back, it brings happy memories to my mind.

After a bit more walking we finally found the River Ouse! My brother used a word to describe it, I don't remember exactly what it was now but it was along the lines of "average" and "not-that-great". But that's easy for him to say seeing as his own city centre isn't filled with horrid canals instead of lovely rivers!

I can imagine coming here on a lovely day and just reading/writing by the river. So inspiring.

He also told me the story of the great wall, built during the War of the Roses between York and Lancaster for the throne of England we believe. We started walking across the wall until we got to this bit with no more rails on the left hand side, looking up to the grey skies and the infinity of wall we decided to abandon this mission for another day and head to Nandos for his birthday meal. *Just give me all the sister of the year awards already!*

York's City Wall built during the War of the Roses.

I would much rather have gone to this cute coffee shop in the watch tower but it was his day so he was calling all the shots. Next time I'd explore somewhere a bit more true to York that Nandos!

All in all it was a pretty spectacular day spent bonding with the bro but my train conductor was making the final calls and I had to hurry back home!

But the journey can't be over yet, not until I show you my new favourite picture! The spectacular orange tree I mentioned in "The Phantom and The Sushi"

A perfect autumn tree! Just look at that perfect mix of reds, oranges, browns and greens, it brings happy tears to my eyes!

That ends my York day, fun day! Don't forget to like and share :)
Reni x