My friend and former classmate Nigeria asked me to do a few posts on natural hair care, I was supposed to do this post a little ago, but I am now getting to it (sorry). Although my hair is not natural (I considered going through the transition) I did my research and compiled a list of basics and essentials for women with natural (chemical free) hair styles.

Essentials

• Sulfate free shampoo
• Silicone free instant and deep conditioner
• Daily moisturizer or grease with no mineral oil or petrolatum
• Daily leave in conditioner
• Good natural oils
• Silicone based heat protectants.

Reading the ingredients listed for products at the local beauty supply store or drugstore and watching product reviews from other women will help determine which products have helpful ingredients as opposed to harmful.

Basics

• Plastic wide tooth comb
• Denman brush or boar bristle brush (some would advise no brushes of any kind)
• Hair clips that are hair stress free
• Metal free elastic bands
• Satin or silk scarf, pillow cover, or bonnet

Source

1. Nappturality
2. Curly Nikki
3. Motown Girl
4. Miss Jessie’s
5. Treasured Locks

Summer t-shirts and tanks can easily be worn with a blazer and a scarf and you are instantly ready for fall. You can also transition your summer shorts to fall just by adding a pair of tights. UO also has a variety of accessories for $5 as well. If you are looking for quality cocktail rings, dangling earrings, or even a studded clutch bag, you should check out the Urban Outfitters $5 sale.

Click here to go directly to the sale

Mary J. Blige recently hit the streets of New York in this ensemble. She rocked an army green cropped top, comouflage pants and green strappy platforms.

Did she rock it or drop it?

This event was to showcase the fall product lines for Acqua di Parma, Givenchy, Guerlain, Kenzo, and Pucci. There was a great selection of cosmetics and fragrances, not to mention, an incredible gift bag. Here is a recap of the fragrances that will be available this fall.

Acqua di Parma
The Colonia Powder Soap
Colonia, the signature fragrance is the definition of the Italian art of living well. The fragrance is fresh and citrusy and incorporates the values of timelessness and refinement. New this fall will be the Colonia Powder Soap. It contains a unique formula of pulverized soap combined with a delightful softening talc powder as well as rice starch, to keep hands feeling clean, fresh and silky smooth, while maintaining the original scent.
The Colonia Powder Soap 120gr/4oz will retail for $36 and will be available starting in October at select locations within Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Barneys stores.

  Colonia ESSENZA
This will be the highest quality cologne from Acqua di Parma. Like the signature fragrance, it incorporates the essential values of timelessness and refinement. This new fragrance highlights the essence of the original Colonia fragrance. The more recognizable notes and accords that represent the “soul” of Colonia are boosted and enriched using the highest quality ingredients. This cent is a citrus woody creation. It infuses citrus, aromatic and floral freshness, and sensual wood.
Colonia ESSENZA will launch world wide August 13, and will be available in the USA at select specialty stores including: Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Barneys New York, and Sephora.com

Pucci
The newest indulgence from Emilio Pucci fragrances introduces the evolution of the Pucci woman. The newest fragrance from Pucci is miss Pucci. This fragrance embodies the style of the “Pucci girl.” She is colorful, youthful, fresh, and seductive. She ahs an air of freedom while still maintaining sophistication and beauty. Always naturally chic, she exudes femininity and energy. This fragrance is a sparkling floral and musky fragrance, composed by Francois Demachy, Christine Nagel, and Benoit Lopouza.

The bottle, designed by Ora Ito, is based on the small oval motif that often recurs in Pucci prints. The designer imagined “an evolutive, ergonomic and flowing packaged box, whose central point is an open window to the world…a kaleidoscopic, stained-glass window constantly playing with light.” Ribbons of coral, rose and orange make the miss Pucci bottle come to life, evoking the playful feel of the fragrance.

This fragrance will be available August 2010 for $89 (75ml), $74 (50ml), and $53 (30ml) at Sephora, Sephora.com, and Pucci boutiques nationwide.

Kenzo
Flower by Kenzo
This is a classic floral powdery fragrance and the power of a fragile, singular flower. It comes in an eco-friendly refillable bottle, which allows the consumer to reduce waste by simply unscrewing the pump and using the eco-friendly pouch to refill when the scent runs out. The refill itself is an easy to use 100ml plastic pouch that retails for $78. The cost is 15% less than buying a totally new bottle. $56 (30ml), $72 (50ml), and $92 (100ml)

KenzoHomme Woody Eau De Toilette
This fragrance is a lively and deep aromatic woody fragrance with an intense vibrant trail. The energy of fresh, fusing leaves, mint and basil, mingles with the power of woody notes of vetiver and Atlas cedar. The fragrance of a free spirit who draws his strength from nature, between sky and earth. Kenzo Homme is packaged in a bamboo bottles and comes in the matte brown of tree barks. It is engraved with vibrant leaves and will launch August 2010. $54 (50ml) $72 (100ml)

Once Upon A Time, Kenzo
This year, Kenzo celebrates is anniversary with 2 new limited editions. A patchwork of flower print, faithful to Kenzo inspirations. Kenzo, EDT for Woman, Kenzo, EDT for Man. For him, a woody eau de toilette fresh and intense, the character of a classic; nutmeg and vetiver, with a spicy trail of ginger and coriander $72 (100ml). For her, a floral eau de toilette, woody and colorful. A flower explosion; peony and freesia, printed on a voluptuous bottom notes of sandalwood and musk $72 (100ml). These fragrances are Kenzo USA exclusive, available October 2010.

Guerlain

Shalimar Eau de Parfum- A New Design (Rock Royalty meets the imperial House)

Guerlain took an edgy approach with their new bottle design for their classic fragrance Shalimar. The bottle was designed by Jade Jagger, daughter of rock icon Mick Jagger. She is ‘modern glamour.’ She revisits Shalimar with respect for its history, giving it the shape of a basin and a base reminiscent of its early years.  Her rendition is a bottle sculpture with curves that are soft, full, and extremely sensual. She carves the upper part of the cap into a fan and it is a jewel-like stopper which is an elegant grey blue. She keeps the rock n roll edge with a leather midnight blue ribbon.

The newly designed Shalimar Eau de Parfum will be available September 2010 at select locations of Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales, Macy’s, and Bergdorf Goodman. It will also be available at Saks.com and NeimanMarcus.com $72 (30ml) $95 (50ml) and $123 (90ml).

The information on each product was provided by each of the companies

So I spent last Friday night at church with other 20-something and 30 something year olds having “Real Talk” with my pastor A.R. Bernard. They are starting a new ministry for people within this particular age group, because many people believe that being a Christian you can’t have “fun,” which is simply not the case. So Pastor Bernard wanted to talk with us to find out how the church can better serve us in finding our place and a good balance as young developing Christians. The meeting started at 8pm and ended around 10:30pm, but none of us wanted to leave. We were having such a great time with great discussions and A LOT of our questions were answered. It was a very interactive meeting that provided a lot of clarity for many of the young adults in attendance.

One theme that Pastor Bernard focused on, is also a theme that he has been preaching about for the past few weeks which deals with different aspects of life. Here are just a few notes from the meeting on Friday…enjoy

• Establish a clear sense of self. When you know who you are and know your goals, values, and self-worth, your relationships and life will greatly improve.
• We do not only relate to people, we relate to God, self, places, and things. We need to have a great relationship with ourselves before we can relate to other people, places, and things. If we don’t establish self-control then people, places, and things will control/dominate us.
• The most important thing to bring in or to a relationship is : A LIFE! Get a life! Without a life it shows you are looking for a sens of self, security, and identity in someone, some place or something. You will find that what you are searching for can only be found within yourself and this causes hurt, pain, anger, and resentment
• You cannot look for an external solution for an internal problem.
• Having a life is more than having something to do- it is about protecting yourself. If you breakup with your significant other, lose your job and your possessions what is left? Don’t use people or things to define you because they can be taken away.

How to get a life

1. Establish a sense of self- self-worth, self-esteem, self-concept.  Who am I? It can’t be what you do or what you have.
2. Get a social life. Learn how to be social
3. Set personal development goals. Invest in yourself.
4. Think with your brain! The ultimate decision we make is emotionally based but use reasoning because it helps you get beyond the fairytale illusions

Ok so this is just the beginning. I can’t give you all of the goodies at one time. Stay tuned for more!

Outfit of The Day- Featuring items from Wet Seal, Forever 21, Charlotte Russe, and Old Navy.

So once again subscribe to our YouTube Channel! www.youtube.com/hergoodybag

Until Next Time…

5. What keeps you motivated?

 Honestly, I have a very strong faith in God, you know my lord and savior Jesus Christ. I’m not afraid to claim it. You know I don’t know about the illuminati stuff going on, but I’m gonna claim it once again. Make sure I say what it is. I talk about him on twitter. It’s all real for me. Besides that, just moving forward and seeing progress. There are some people I feel, will keep doing something because they said they will do it, there is no progress.but you really have to assess yourself. Every morning I try to wakeup and assess well what am I doing wrong? What am I doing right? What progress have I made? what do I need to work on? who do I need to contact to try to create a better bridge? Who do I kind of need to let go in this situation, because there are plenty of people you need to let go of everyday. I think I’m just real with myself. I think that as hard as I am on people on interviews, I’m hard on myself too. It’s not like i’m just out to get people, it is to make sure I’m at my best. I don’t like fluff interviews I don’t like to give myself a fluff assessment. Like oh girl you so good, look at all the stuff you are doing, that’s not what I’m saying to myself every morning. I’m saying lets be real, you messed up here but we are going to work it out today and that’s the motivation for me.

 6. What has been your most challenging interview?

People recognize a lot of the video interviews because they see me get posted on a lot of sites and such. But I think the independent interviews are often the most challenging because I really sit down with these guys or women for a good hr and we talk and we really delve in to a lot of topics, and it hurts me to see someone who I know has talent and can’t get on a mainstream level. It hurts me to really talk to somebody who is really oblivious to the fact that they are whack. It hurts me to talk to someone who is a good and genuine person, but they just don’t have it talent wise. It hurts me in all those different areas and to me that’s a challenge because I want to be like the person who is encouraging them, but the reality of the situation is, that it’s just not going to happen. How do you convey the objectivity of the journalist and yet hold back the emotions of a human. Its not rational when you think about it, but those are the things that come to my mind and those are the challenges that I have to face when I interview people, who partly you become invested in because you are sitting down with them for an hour. Even in the short time that you talk to somebody, there is a certain investment that is made because you are sitting down with them looking at them giving eye contact and you are really trying to make sure you convey your message and they are really trying to convey their message.

 7. You have been compared ot Wendy Williams and Angie Martinez, to influential women in radio, how does that make you feel?

 It is definitely a compliment. Nothing is negative because you have to take the good with the bad, and a compliment is not always the best thing. You need honesty and to be able to take constructive critiism. I take the good with the bad to better myself. Like, take away the negative from Wendy Williams and see what she has done. I have no complaints being compared to either and I am glad people put me in the same category.

 8. With the name Drama, people will atutomatically assume that you like to cause or start trouble, but what are the common misconceptions of Ms. Drama?

  Its not about the “drama” I cause, it is about the drama I expose. Drama is short for dramatic. I give dramatic or dynamic interviews. I am reserved, tactful and professional, but I will make the artist get emotional and that is where the title drama queen came from. I am not into attacking people, but I am not going to shy away from the question. I always put out a disclaimer- I am tough but you will get a real interview. If you are not about real things then my show is not the show you should be on.

 9. So when Ms. Drama is not involved with all of the “drama” what can we find Ms. Drama doing?

Traveling. I love to travel, especially if it is work related and I can get paid for it. I like chillin with good people and pampering myself, you know with sleep and go to the spa. This time is not about Ms. Drama, it is about Candic. ou have to take care of yourself.

  10. HGB is mainly a fashion blog, so I have to ask you a style question, what three words describe your style?

Comfortable, I hate to be uncomfortable. I like fashion, but I don’t let it hold me up. Sometimes I just feel like putting on jeans and a shirt. I do not stress over fashion but I feel stressed because of the pressures of the industry

 11. What are three things you can’t live without?

God, he holds me down, food, I love to have a good meal, and family and friends.

  12. If you can interview any person, dead or alive, who would it be? Why?

Wendy Williams, Oprah, Barack Obama, Jay-Z, just to get in their brain and to try to figure out their thought process.

 13. What is next for Ms. Drama?

 Doing everything bigger, better, harder, stronger-that’s my motto. I want to be on a bigger and better platform. I have met a lot of great people, but I would like to go national on radio and or tv. Also to travel and interview people all over.

Check out more video footage

Ms. Drama was so down to earth. After the official interview, we stayed around just talked “off the record” She gave great advice on how to survive in the business. She said

1. Develop tough skin
2. Focus on your goal
3. Be true to yourself

Follow Ms. Drama on Twitter: @MsDrama

Visit www.MsDramaTv.com and her YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/msdramatv

At the Shecky’s Girl’s Night Out event, I received  MAVEN  New Humidity Shield and recently tried it. One thing that I love about this product is that it is specifically made for women of color with both relaxed and natural hair. Here is a product description:

MAVEN (source)- Heals and repairs skin cells to promote a healthy scalp and aid in the growth of well nourished, healthy hair. MAVEN Humidity Shield seals cuticle to resis humidity to keep style smoother and straiighter untl next shampoo. Works wll to slkien Natural or Relaxed styles. It can be used on we or dry hair.

Key Ingredients-Conditioning Enzymes

1. Pomegranate
2. Flax Seed
3. Abyssinian Oils

The Humidity Shield does the following:

I actually jsut recently found this product when I was looking for my leave in conditioner and was excited because the summer’s humidity is brutal. I have used it for a few days and what I love about this product is that it keeps my hair soft and conditioned. It does prevent hair frizz and it is very light weight. It is not oily or greasy and it will not clog your pores.  It acts as a great leave-in conditioner and helps prevent breakage. It is also really inexpensive. It retails for about $6. To purchase click here

Other Products by MAVEN Beauty

• MAVEN Hydra Moist Shampoo
• MAVEN Rebalancing Conditioner
• MAVEN Mineral Relaxers
• MAVEN Nourish Mist Leave-In Conditioner
• MAVEN Condtioning Cream Gel
• MAVEN Therma Shine Holding Spray

 In today’s time when one hears the word “drama” they may automatically associate the word with conflicts and confrontation, but in fact the word drama, short for dramatic, actually means powerful, expressive, highly effective, and striking. Well those are also a few characteristics that describe Ms. Drama, the Drama Queen of Radio. Born in Long Island, but raised in the Northern Virginia DMV area, Ms. Drama is not here to give you fluff information about what’s happening in the music industry, she is one who definitely keeps it real and isn’t afraid to let anyone know that.

Ms. Drama is used to being on the other side of the table as for interviews, but I had the opportunity to turn the tables and speak with  Ms. Drama and she dished the “drama juice” on the politics of the industry, major corporations wanting people to conform and compromise their values, and also her feelings on being compared to Wendy Williams and Angie Martinez, two influential women in radio.

 Here is what Ms. Drama had to say-Pt. 1

 1. Who is Ms. Drama?

  -Ms. Drama is a media personality. She is the woman behind a lot of the kind of explosive videos and interviews. She is the woman who created a company based on what she loves to do which is interview report and be able to give people entertainment but in a very tactful, yet kind of exciting way that really is kind of no holds bar. She is the person who you don’t see necessarily because she is kind of reserved in a kind of way, but she still wants to get her voice and what she is about out there.

 2. How did you get started in media? (full response in video)

 Well honestly my first taste of media reporting was in college. I went to Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, and I had a great experience there. I was an English major. They didn’t really have communications it was a liberal arts school and so they had English as a major. That was probably one of the closest classes that I got to actually, you know learning the whole thing of journalism. My real experience started when I worked/interned for WSBTV which is in Atlanta channel 7 news station. I was a sports reporter. I am a big sports fan but more so like basketbal fan. I love watching that whole thing. That to me is exciting. I had the opportunity to interview athletes and go to the locker rooms and stuff like that. I really got a taste of reporting and interviewng people and being in the whole entertainment outlet which to me was exciting. Then I moved forward after I graduated there, not knowing what I really wanted to do and we were all kind of like ok do I get a job. What is the next step. So for me I really wanted to achieve something higher in my life. So I wanted to get my Master’s and I went to NYU and I was in the journalism program for a year and a half. I completed that. I was an MTV intern VH1, Newsday that’s kind of where I gotmy foot in the door in the sense of experience wise, but it really didn’t get the full on extent until after I graduated when I had to get a real job….I started off part-time at ABC Daytime as a youth marketing consultant and all I did was watch TV and give reports. I was only there for three months and they wanted to bring me back on which would have been great, but I really started to feel the passion of radio which is always been something I’ve always wanted to do , but never had it come into fruition at the time. I had the opportunity to do something part-time at Hot 97 so I was like I have to pick up on this part-time opportunity, even though a full-time opportunity would have been great at ABC Daytime, but I don’t know what it would have been if I followed up with it. I did the part-time thing at Hot97, I also had the opportunity to do some teaching for journalism and media arts.

 3. This business can be rough. Has there ever been a point where you wanted to walk away?

 Yeah I think there have been some times when I said, maybe I should’ve stayed in Atlanta, got married had some kids you know something like the very 9-5ish thing. but I think that everyday and every year when I reflect back and I see where I was and see where I am today, it keeps me motivated. If you are not making any moves or progressing forward yeah definitely that maybe something to reflect on. I feel like I’ve been continually making moves forward and when you are its like do I let up on all the things I have achieved thus far or do I say I’m in it, people have recognized my brand, my name, and that’s a great great claim to fame. It is rough a lot of the times partly because of the politics or whatever you want to call it, but I have learned, especially at Hot 097, you have to have tough skin. If you can let that go you can get really far. You can focus on what your goals are.

 4. Have you ever in a position or situation where people wanted you to compromise who your values and beliefs? (full response in video)

 I keep it pretty real, so I’m not gonna be oh I can’t talk about that, but whatever. I feel that a lot of the major corporations are looking for certain things, they are looking for certain cookie cutter things, and while I may fit into a certain realm, they may want me to do something else. What’s really popular that I see is power to the people who are doing it and feel comfortable doing it, but a real big thing that I have noticed in radio is the whole sex talk thing. Yeah like yeah umm soo how did he do that, and its with women. I don’t really see a lot of men doing it, but that’s just not my thing. If a woman wants to do that, that’s fine and she feels comfortable and that’s how she was brought up or feel thats what you need to do to be in the game, hey do whatever it is. I have no beef with you on that, but that was never my thing. And opportunities have come up that have been on a great platform and I felt have wanted me to go that route which to me is not what I’m about. If you look at what I do as a journalist, key word-journalist, its about researching, reporting, getting to the nitty gritty kind of finding background information you know. I am not the best and I am not the greatest, but I make stuff happen… 

Check out footage from the interview

Stay tuned for PART 2

Ms. Drama tells us about her motivation to stay in this industry, the most challenging interviews, and her feelings on people compared to Angie Martinez and Wendy Williams

Photos via Ms. Drama TV

• Ms. Drama TV.com
• Youtube Ms. Drama TV
• http://www.twitter.com/msdrama

Its great when like minded bloggers can come together and form a networking circle. So I present to you the first FAB Link Round  Up. Check these FAB links. We have everything from Makeup swatches from MACs In The Groove Collection to the Top 5 Apps for all of you iPhone users. Check out these links from my fellow bloggers.