Not only do I dislike winter because I hate being cold, I also hate what it does to my hair, skin, and nails. So here are some tips to help make sure you survive the winter while maintaining our beauty. These tips are for everyone! Relaxed, natural, transitioning, etc.

1. Keep hair moisturized- wash your hair once a week and use and deep condition! Leave your conditioner in your hair an extra 10-15 minutes and also use a leave-in once you’ve finished your final rinse.Use water-based moisturizing creams and natural oils like coconut, olive, and jojoba to make sure your hair is hydrated and to also add the luxurious shine.

2. Try protective hair styles like wigs, braids, and weaves to prevent harsh elements from damaging your hair and low manipulation hairstyles like buns, twist-outs, and flexi-rods to minimize the amount of brushing and combing that causes shedding. Also wear hats!

3. Quench dry skin- Drink lots of water to make sure you are hydrated. Water does improve the quality of your hair, skin, and nails

4. Moisturize your skin- avoid using soaps and body washes with drying elements like alcohol. Once you are out of the shower don’t dry off fully, apply a creamy lotion or oil- to lock in the moisture.When it comes to your face, use a slightly heavier moisturizer in the morning before you leave for work or school.

5. Moisturize your hands, feet, and lips- There is nothing worse than cracked hands, lips, and feet. At night, after your shower apply a creamy moisturizing lotion to your hands and feet and put on cotton gloves and socks, respectively, for a few hours to lock in the moisture. Also always carry some sort of moisturizing lip balm. Not the M.A.C. or YSL. Something with moisturizing elements like Nivea or my personal favorite, C.O. Bigelow My Favorite Lip Balm No. 303 with 100% natural shea butter. Your hands, feet, and lips will thank you.

DON’T FORGET TO WEAR SUNSCREEN!

Here are some products that you should try

More Nivea…

What are some of your skin care/beauty tips for the cold weather?

I can’t get mad a person who is out there hustling, and La La is definitely one of them. She is not letting the media define her to only one lane. First we had the reality show, now La La is set to launch a new line of cosmetics specifically for women of color.

She recently joined forces with Motives Makeup to create a full cosmetics line. One of primary focuses will be on the foundation. Too often it is hard to find the right shade for women of color because we are just a beautiful mosaics of browns, so she wants to make sure that there is something for everyone.

Her line will also feature eyeliners, mascara, shimmers, eyeshadow, lipsticks, and 10 shades of lip gloss.

The line is set to launch in February so ladies be on the look out for this!

Take a look at her collection via Twitter

Will you shop this collection?

With only 2-days left in the year it is time to see if I accomplished the goals I set for 2011. In 2010 I declared that I would do the following

Fashion and Beauty (Click here for 2011 goals post)

1. Shop my closet:
2. Create more creative looks
3. Buy more accessories
4. Use my makeup
5. Hair Rules: I want to try different styles.
6. Nails, Nails, Nails do manicures weekly

• I am happy to say that I accomplished 5/6! I began utilizing more of the pieces in my wardrobe. I did a lot more mixing and matching and in the end created more versatile and creative looks. I killed two birds with one stone.
• I did purchase quite a bit of accessories this year. I bought  more statement pieces and included a lot more color
• I wore a full face of make up at least twice a week for the first half of the year and also September-October. I limited my makeup use during the summer for obvious reasons.
• I cut my hair!!! I can’t believe I did such a drastic thing. I went from having hair just below my shoulder to this asymmetrical cropped look. It was such a huge change but I loved it.
• I did not do my nails every week like I wanted. I tried, but this did not happen. Maybe next year.

 Now the goals that I had for the blog were (click here for the full post)

1. A new look/layout for the blog
2. Do more giveaways
3. Exclusive reporting of stores and boutiques
4. Host an event
5. Styling/Wardrobe Consulting
6. Better content

I accomplished 4/6 goals set for HGB!

• The new layout, header, and featured gallery debuted this year!
• I hosted a total of giveaways this year!
• I did not do any exclusive reporting or host an event because I did not manage my time well or utilize all of my resources, but this will change in 2012.
• I began offering personal styling services and have acquired new clients! Book me here for a consultation
• I started new segments on the blog called What to Wear and the Luxe List. I also enlisted the help of a friend/fellow blogger  Rob to do the writing for men’s wear.

This has been a great year for Her Goody Bag so here are my goals for 2012

1. Time management! Manage my time between God, family/friends, work, social life, and the blog of course
2. NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK! I am a terrible networker. I have a problem striking up conversations with random people. I know in order for the blog to grow and for me to grow as a person I need to break through this ‘shy shell’ and get out there! I need to meet and build relationships with more bloggers, designers, boutiques/stores, and brands.
3. Comment more on blogs/facebook- I visit a lot of blogs but rarely leave comments. I love reading your comments and I am sure other bloggers feel the same. Also share links of posts that I enjoy reading
4. Improve social Her Goody Bag’s media presence- I need to engage my readers more on Facebook and Twitter. So if you haven’t already follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook
5. Host an event. Even if it is something small and only 15 people show up I would be grateful.
6. New look for the blog. It’s that time to revamp again.
7. Better content and I want to focus on developing my YouTube channel more as well.
8. Community Service! I have to start giving back, so I will be looking in to volunteering with women’s shelters and other organizations to help women Look Good. Feel Great. Live Better.
9. Interact more with my readers! I truly appreciate all of you and there will be a new segment added to the blog next week focusing on you! Stay tuned.

Well this will be an interesting ride. My vision board is almost completed. 2011 has been great and I am looking forward to 2012.

What are some of your goals? Have you created a vision board? Share your goals with us by leaving a comment! I will be featuring vision boards on the blog next week so get  yours done to make it on HGB!

Happy New Year!

2011 has been an incredible year. God has truly blessed me in all areas of my life and I am forever grateful for everything. I realize that I could have done more for myself, others, and the blog, but everything happens for a reason and I just pray that I will have the opportunity in 2012 to do even more great things bringing honor to his name.

I have so many wonderful moments in 2011 and this can be an extremely long blog post, but I will narrow it down just to my top 5 greatest moments in 2011.

1. Best Fashion/Beauty Blog Nomination/Finalist for the Black Weblog Awards

So this was  TOTAL shock to me. I was in Target and checked my email and I started jumping up and down like a crazy woman. People were looking at me like what’s wrong with this chick? I was so surprised because there are so many great fashion/beauty blogs in the blogsphere and I didn’t realize that I had so many people who supported me. I was up against blogging gurus like Claire from the Fashion Bomb and Patrice from Afrobella. It was such an honor to see Her Goody Bag in the same category as them. It is a great feeling when you are recognized and this would not have happened if it wasn’t for all of you so thank you, thank you, thank you!

2. Attending my first New York/Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week

(Joy Cioci SS 12)

When I started this blog almost three years ago I never thought that I would attend any shows at the infamous tents. I would see bloggers post about shows and their photos from shows and I always wondered how they were able to attend. It was always a dream that seemed so far way. I never thought that Her Goody Bag would get invites to shows but it goes to show you that hard work pays off. I did my research, connected with the right people, and I was off to my first Fashion Week! I attended so many shows and hung out with some of my favorite bloggers (Kitty Bradshaw, O So Chic, Tineey, Fashion Steele). I also got my first Street Style feature on Essence.com.

3. Meeting Jeannie- Mai at the Open Sky Event

Now if you know me, you know I live for What Not to Wear and How Do I Look. I love all style and makeover shows because I love seeing a person’s transformation from an ugly duckling to a beautiful swan. When I first started watching How Do I Look I was just mesmerized by Jeannie’s style and personality. I wanted to do for people what she did and meeting her was just awesome. I went totally groupie and my friend Kim laughed at me lol. I didn’t care! Jeannie has such a great personality and is so down to earth, the perfect match with great style.

4. Joining NYC Fashion Bloggers Meet-Up Group

Earlier this year I joined the NYC Fashion Bloggers Meet-Up Group. Thanks to those ladies I was able to attend many great events and build new friendships with many of them. I stepped out of my comfort zone and started taking more risks because these ladies are fly. I also completed my first ever DIY project and started shopping at more vintage/thrift stores.

5. Attending IMATS and the Makeup Show

I absolutely love makeup, not as much as a MUA though. I was able to attend two top trade-shows for the beauty industry. I learned great techniques, met great people, and also received some amazing products. I had so many swag bags it was ridiculous. I have to send a special shout out to my friend Kim the MUA because she has helped me tremendously in this area.

I am very pleased with the progress Her Goody Bag has made in 2011 and you can only expect greater things in 2012. There were many more great moments, but

What were some of your top moments of the year?

With Christmas only a few days away, we have probably wrapped most, if not all, of our gifts. If you haven’t you might want to get going with the wrapping so that all of the cutting and taping won’t interfere with your holiday inspired manicures. I usually just do a simple manicure in a bold color like candy apple red, or something with lots of glitter, but this year I want to take it up a notch and truly get in the holiday spirit.

Here are some great ideas for holiday inspired manicures.

Yes, some of these designs are EXTREME. I am not going to have a huge santa hanging off of my ring finger. That is definitely not going to happen, but the idea is cute lol. I probably won’t get a design on each nail, but I will jazz it up a bit. Stay tuned to see the outcome of my holiday inspired mani. In the meantime check out a few more designs in the gallery.

So with only 11 days left until Christmas we are running out of time when it comes to finishing up our shopping. Well for those of you who have hung your stockings over the fireplace I am here to help you fill those stockings with something that won’t be thrown away. Usually people stuff stockings with things regifted items or something that we will never, ever use. To ensure that your gift is appreciated and your money won’t go to waste, follow this guide…oh and everything is under $20

For Her

More Sephora…

For Him

More Stacy Adams…

On November 29th, I had the opportunity to hear from various sponsors and also network with other bloggers at Kitty Bradshaw’s Meet N’ Tweet. Kitty is one of my favorite bloggers because one she has no filters and keeps it all the way real. She is always willing to help those up and coming bloggers and she has been a great help to me and my blog. 

So at the event I got to mingle with some of my favorite bloggers such as my Kim from I Have a Degree in This, Melanie and Melissa of O So Chic, Shanequa from Temple of Glam, Patrick from The World and Mr. Sykes, Chrisitine from Tineey.com and of course my friend Kim from Makeup by Kim Porter. There were about 45 bloggers in attendance so it was great to see familiar faces and meet new bloggers.

The whole purpose of the event was to build new relationships with bloggers and sponsors. The drinks were sponsored by Barefoot Bubbly & Wines which I absolutely love and the event was held at the nRelate offices.

Many of the brands that sponsored the event were new to me so it was great to hear about their products and what they had to say.

Familiar brands like Hanes Hosiery provided all of the female attendants with the Silk Reflection Blackout Coverage opaque tights. I wore mine recently and they are amazing, seriously. Some tights that claim to be opaque are somewhat sheer, but these tights are really opaque and comfortable.

CND provided hand and body lotion from their Vanilla Collection and nail polish from the Plum Truffle Collection. Covergirl Queen Collection provided the female attendnts with lipstick. I received the cool khaki color.

Other brands that were sponsors that I was not familiar with was Squeem Magical Lingerie and Pencil Me in Cosmetics. Squeem provided all attendants with waist cinching body shapers to prevent the muffin top, or souffle top as Kitty calls it. Pencil Me in Cosmetics is a line which features vitamin enriched eye liners. How awesome is that?

One of the most compelling parts of the night came from the Angel Street Thrift/LES Service Center Charity. Kitty Bradshaw has her own line of cookies courtesy of Tasty Morsels, and 10% of the proceeds will benefit the Angel Street Thrift and Lower Eastside Service Center. Check out more information on how you can purchase the cookies and donate to a great cause here.

Other sponsors include: B Braxton for Men, Zebra Pens, Accessories Remix, Modern Courteson by YS (perfume) Emergen-C.

Thank you to all of the sponsors and a special thanks to Kitty Bradshaw for putting on a fabulous event.

The holiday shopping season is now in full swing! Hopefully you all got some great deals for yourselves and family members. If you did not partake in the Black Friday or Cyber Monday madness, we are now starting our holiday gift guide, but with a twist. Instead of just doing 2 posts, one for men and one for women, we will have a series of posts called 25 Days of Christmas.  So for Day 1 we will start with the woman who can never have enough perfume, The Perfumista.

Perfume may seem like a typical gift, but you must have various fragrances for various moods. Every woman has her “go-to scent,” but you also need scents for work, date night, ladies night, etc. You can never go wrong with this gift. Just learn her preferences. Does she love strong scents, floral, fruity, etc? Whether you are shopping for a co-worker, girlfriend, wife, mother, sister, aunt, etc., perfume is always a great choice.

Some of my personal favorites are

• Gucci Flora
• YSL Parisienne
• Flower by Kenzo

Here are some other great choices

More Kenzo…

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the press introduction of a new haircare collection called “Beautiful Textures” presented by The Garner Circle at the Tribeca Grand Hotel

Beautiful Textures “Intense Moisture” is a new haircare collection designed for mixed textures- curly, wavy, kinky-coily, and frizzy. At the press introduction National Marketing Director for Strength of nature Global, LLC Charlene Bastien and Natural Hair Stylist, Tress Talk, and Beautiful Texture Ambassador Kimberly Walker were the presenters.

Charlene Bastien shared with us the history of the company and the goal Strength of Nature Global, LLC,  through Beautiful Textures which is to  provide innovative hair care solutions that specifically address the critical hair care needs, styling, and desires for consumers of color

Kimberly Walker of Tress Talk and BET.com gave great styling and haircare advice. One thing that she STRESSED was the importance of keeping your hair moisturized and hydrated. Most of the time our hair breaks and lacks shine because of the lack of moisture. The first step in having great hair is using a great shampoo. You can have one of the best conditioners, but if your shampoo is not a moisturizing one your hair will lack moisture.

She also showed us various styling techniques like elaborate pompadours and two-strand twists.

The collection is extremely affordable. Every product is under $7. Here is a list of what the product line consists of

• Tangle Taming Shampoo $6.29
• Tangle Taming Leave-In Conditioner $6.29
• Rapid Repair Deep Conditioner $6.49
• Curl Control Defining Pudding $6.49
• Moisture Butter Whipped Curl Creme $6.49
• Shine & Silken Growth Oil $6.49
• Curlty to Straight Flat Iron Silkener $6.99

The products are enriched with Aloe Vera, Coconut, Olive, Soy, Argan Oil, Shea and Mango Butter. These are great products that will provide moisture and shine to your hair. These are some of the best ingredients. What I love most about these products are although they are designed specifically for natural hair wearers, the products also works well on relaxed and other chemically treated hair. Kim Walker also mentioned that the products are great for transitioners as well.

I attended the event with my friend Kim and we ran in to Danielle of The Style and Beauty Doctor  and Carmen of Lipstick Fashion Mascara (Love all of their blogs!)

They had three HUGE gift bags to giveaway and I was lucky to be one of the winners! I got the full product line! I started using the products this week. I will have a complete review in the near future, so look out for that.

Beautiful Textures Intense Moisture Collection will be available this winter. So be on the look out! In the meantime connect with them on Twitter @lovinmytextures and on Facebook