HomeGirl

Makeup Monday: Make your black eyeliner jealous.

I have been trying to wear green eyeshadow for a couple of years now. I have tried green shadows by several drugstore brands, but either the color came out too loud and showgirly or didn't show up enough to matter. On a recent trip to Target (honestly, on any given day I have made a "recent" trip to Target), I discovered Loreal's Hip High Intensity Eye Pencil in Green ($8). It is a pencil, so it goes on with way less effort and with way more precision than a shadow with as much pigment.  

These pics are of my first time wearing it and I.Am.Hooked. In the pics, the green pencil shades my upper and lower lids, a black liner by Stila rims my entire eye and a bit of Lancome Hypnose mascara finishes the look. This eye like two minutes. The green is so subtle and complementary to brown skin that I feel as comfortable wearing this on a regular day of play dates and errands with my toddler as I would at a party or night out playing with grown-ups. It is SO my new everyday liner ( I will avoid saying something along the lines of my black eyeliner being "green with envy" because it is such as obvious play on words...even though I totally want to because it's just the perfect measure of wit and cheese for me, but I will spare you guys this time...OK...nope...I can't take it...I have to say it...). My black eyeliner is officially green with envy. 

There's also a deep purple pencil in this line that is just screaming my name. Purple is my favorite color, you know.

Homegirls, if you want a special eye, with a pop of on-trend color without all the fuss of dealing with an eyeshadow, definitely check out Loreal's Hip line. 

Fashion Friday: Butterfly Things!

Hi. My name is Raquel. I'm 31 (or 32? I honestly can't remember), and I still love butterflies. Can't help it. I have butterfly jewelry, hoodies, tops, hair clips...I'm even contemplating a new butterfly tattoo! I fell in love with them as a girl, like most girls do. Back then, I loved them just because they're pretty. Now, I think I'm drawn to them more because of what they represent: beauty, transformation, freedom. A few years ago, I blogged about listening to a song by Corinne Bailey Rae (note to self--find her album on iPod and hit play/repeat during my drive today) called "Butterfly" and simultaneously seeing and hearing "butterfly" and how I felt it was a sign of some kind. When I have moments like that, I feel like such a twelve year-old. In some ways I feel like that's a good thing. Twelve year-olds dream with a kind of hopeful naivety that I miss sometimes. Although I'm in my 30's now and have traded doodling butterflies on my notebooks in school for sketching potential butterflies tattoos, I still wear them  whenever I can. My favorite everyday butterfly thing is a gold pendant necklace like the one pictured below. My favorite special butterfly thing is a diamond and sapphire pendant necklace my husband gave me on  my 30th birthday (one or two years ago--seriously, I need to check the dates to figure out how old I am). Here are some sweet butterfly things for my fellow butterfly-loving homegirls.

Items in this set:

Wetseal.com blouse, $19; Pewter/Yellow Butterfly Print T-Shirt, 16 GBP; Cocoeve flats, $88; Tory Burch bag, $375;Alex Monroe necklace, $130;Enamel Butterfly Bangle, $42;Butterfly Brass & Topaz Hues Hair Clip $16; Butterfly Computer Sleeve, $45

5 Things I didn't expect to hear today...

1. "Oh, Jesus!" From my 20 month old son as he was finishing his breakfast. He was trying to get that last scoop of oatmeal from the bottom of the bowl and belted the words out. He also says, "Oh boy" at times...and once he said, "Oh shit." These are phrases that, apparently, are used way too frequently by the grown-ups in this house. We really need to work on better phrases.

2. "Your dog is in my garage."
3. "I have your dog."
4. "I found your dogs."
5. "I have your dogs, please call me."

Phrases 2-5 all came from four different neighbors, who live on four different blocks, on the same day. We never check our voice mail on our house phone. I'm not even sure why we still have a house phone. This morning I decided to check the 29 calls we had missed over the past month or so and got all the dog messages, one after the other. Okie and Stella, are huge, black Labrador-Newfoundland mutts, which could seem threatening if seen running towards you at top speed, which they totally do when they're out. I'm glad we live in a dog-happy neighborhood and that we have their names, address and phone number on their tags. I recall coming home one day--weeks ago--to find one of our dogs lounging under the tree in our front yard and the other balled up on the welcome mat at the front door. We forgot to lock the back fence and they know how to open it. I knew they must have run around the neighborhood like crazy dogs when they got out, because they where way to laid back for my taste. Guess I was right.

Essence Magazine: The Root of the Issue

I am slowly making my way through the November 2009 issue of Essence Magazine. GREAT articles. I recommend The Root of the Issue starting on page 137. On their website, Essence describes this conversation between singer Solange Knowles; singer Ledisi; TV host Tanika Ray; celebrity hairstylist Ursula Stephen; and writer and producer Tonya Lewis Lee as provocative, hilarious and heartbreaking at moments, and I could not agree more. Essence Magazine, can we please have more of these conversation pieces? At one point when Ledisi was talking about how she reacted to seeing herself as beautiful for the first time, I was nodding and cosigning as if I where right there on the sofa next to her. A friend of mine reacted the same way as she read some of Nia Long's comments. And Solange is so smart and funny! I already knew that since she's one of the few celebrities that I follow on Twitter. Getting to "hear" her in a conversation like this was like confirmation. We could totally be friends in real life. I mean that. *hoping I don't sound like a crazy stalker or whatever because it's SO not like that.* Moving on. Readers get to be a fly on the wall as these smart, beautiful black women discuss their relationships with their hair with insights into the broader topic of our standards of beauty. There is laughter and there are tears--y'all know we can turn on the waterworks when we get into these types of discussions. I really enjoyed reading it and was disappointed when it was over. Have you read it? You should.

Winner! Funky Coco Bead Earrings by ShaNic Design!

Y'all there where 104 eligible entries to this giveaway!

I hope those of you who entered and who only visited ShaNic Design's Etsy shop saw some things over there that you liked. I loved the earrings I bought, which is why I wanted to introduce her to you in the first place. I knew you would like her shop. Lucky for one of you guys, she agreed to let me host a giveaway of this pair.

Congratulations to #20, Melissa W.! Your number was selected using random.org.

Thanks again to everyone who entered and best of luck to you everybody else in upcoming giveaways!

I have some awesome ones coming just in time for the holidays!

Super Z!

Today, one red balloon. Tomorrow, The Universe! Hehe.

My baby loved being Super Zack this weekend. He handed his costume to me this morning and said, "Super Zack? Thank you." So I'm going to let him be Super Zack today too. I think everybody will feel much safer on the playground and in the grocery store with Super Z around.

Fashion Friday: Let's talk about sequins.

While Beyoncé and Carrie from Sex and the City and maybe Cher circa 1982 would look right at home sequined from head to toe, it takes some careful thought for most of us regular girls (if I may speak for you) to pull it off. Not that we'd ever need to be sequined from head to toe, but we might be in the mood to sparkle a little bit along with the rest of the stars this fall.

This Fashion Friday post was a challenge, because I'm not one for shine unless it's on my lips or on my fro. But I wanted to give sequins a chance. Most of the time I dress for comfort. I wear jeans (structured ones) to church...sometimes even with my chucks. I don't dress to draw attention to myself, rather to look cute and decent should someone's eyes land on me. So choosing sequined pieces to potentially add to my fuss-free wardrobe took some work, but I found some that I would actually wear and still look like HomeGirl Quel.

Sequins make a statement, but are wearable everyday if the statement is small. Start with very simple pieces like the black t-shirt dress or black skinny-jeans and white tank I have chosen here:

Items in this set: Premium Sequin Blazer, $124, Betsey Johnson 'Law' Pump, $150, Monsoon Flutterby Butterfly Multi Sequin Clutch, $49, Juicy Couture | Sequined silk scarf | NET-A-PORTER.COM, $204, Black Sequin Ladder Beanie, $20

Then simply add one sequined accessories to finish the look. I chose the short, black t-shirt dress because of the red sequined heels I found. Shoes like those deserve to be showcased along with a good pair of legs...y'all know how I have a thing for my legs. The dress is plain enough to allow the shoe to shine, and simple enough for a plain dresser like me to wear flashy heels, yet not look like I'm playing dress up. Similarly, the sequined blazer or scarf can top a plain white tank and black skinny-jeans without making a fuss. I'd pair the blazer with a pair of black boots or pumps. With the scarf or the beanie, black and white high-top chucks will work every time.

See?! Sequins are doable. How would you do sequins? Or would you?

Coffee with coconut milk is my new jam.

I brewed some coffee this morning then realized I was out of canned milk--my creamer of choice. I use to drink regular milk in my coffee, but my husband uses canned milk in his tea (I think it's common in the West Indies where he's from), and eventually I started using it in my coffee. It's a staple in our pantry right alongside coconut milk, which we use for cooking. I have tried soy milk with my coffee, but am not a fan. So I tried the coconut milk because I was not going to not drink my coffee and I could not drink it black.

Y'all, fresh, hot coffee plus raw sugar plus coconut milk equals pure awesomeness. It's not pretty though. Coconut milk is kind of grainy and it separates in the coffee so it does not make a creamy blend, unless maybe you use a little cow's milk, which I might do the next time.

While happily sipping away, I googled to see if other people are drinking coconut milk in their coffee and of course they are. I ran across a few good recipes worth trying. I'm looking forward to trying this recipe, which I found it on grouprecipes.com, especially now that it's cold outside.

This happened because I'm awesome. I mean that sarcastically...but then sort of literally.

So I'm just getting home from a day at the park with my son. It's 2 in the afternoon. As soon as I get him down for his nap, I hear a knock at the door. It's Mr. Incredible--you know, my perfect neighbor guy? If you don't recall my post about him, click on his name to catch up. Anyway, so he's at the door. Normally I don't open the door when I'm home alone, but it's Mr. Incredible, so of course I open the door. He wants lawnmower gas. He's almost done with his yard and ran out of gas so I told him to meet me at the garage, I'd check to see if my husband had any. Closed the door. Locked it.

I go through my laundry room and open the garage. Mr. Incredible enters the garage to inspect the gas containers. One of them has gas. He thanks me. We're gossiping about our Mormon neighbors with twin boys who had an ambulance, firetruck and two police cars blocking everyone's house the other day as I'm walking him out of the garage and closing it. And locking it. I am now locked out of the house. My 20 month old son is now locked inside asleep in his crib. That's what I get for gossiping. As soon as I hear the garage door lock, I stare blankly at Mr. Incredible and say, "I just totally locked myself out of the house." Of course, he's Mr. Incredible, so he tries to open the locked garage, convinced that he has a trick. I'm surprised that it does not work. I tell him I have my cell phone on me and am sure the back door is open--I'm not. He goes back to his yard work and tells me to come get him if I need anything.

Makeup Monday: Go Natural!

Whew! As you may already know, I saw Good Hair this weekend. Y'all, when I saw what sodium hydroxide, the active ingredient in chemical hair relaxers, did to that poor innocent piece of chicken? It made me wonder how many of us actually question the ways in which we systematically poison our bodies and those of our children knowingly or unknowingly. I only used chemical relaxers for about 6 years, between age 13 and 18...and twice over the past 12 years during my natural hair journey. I'm glad to be off relaxers completely now, but can't help but wonder what, if any, long-term effects exposure to those chemicals may have caused me. Is that a major downer or what? Basically, I said all that to say, I'm inspired to go natural...for a minute.

Just Felt This Flick (but not in the good way): Good Hair

If I had seen the actual preview for the film before going to see it, I might have been prepared for what I was about to see. But I didn't see the preview, which has a very lighthearted, comedic edge. Going into the film, I had only read bloggers' reviews and overheard conversations about the Oprah episode and the backlash from women who where not pleased with the film. So I went in expecting too much, I think. 

The documentary, Good Hair, was supposed to be a look into the black woman's quest for "good hair", but it should have been promoted as a look into everything you never thought you ever wanted to know about The Annual Bronner Brothers Hair Show, with a few segments about chemical relaxers and the hair weave industry in India. It's a good documentary for what it is--a Chris Rock comedy. Not sure I agree with the rave reviews. After watching it, I'm just annoyed. I guess you can visit a couple of hair salons in a couple of cities and interview a few Hollywood actresses and claim to have lifted the veil of mystery behind back women and their hair issues. Whatever, if that's what you want to claim--free country and all that, but it's just annoying.