embracing your beautifully organic self.

oh man.

::bows head in shame::

i have been on a HIATUS, haven't i?

sigh. i'm sorry. 

life just gets the best of you sometimes.

and so does miami.

i took a trip to my hometown in the gorgeous sunshine state. miami owns my heart and mind. i always achieve such pure mental clarity when in miami. drowning in this grey city of new york, miami is my gasp of fresh air at the surface of this endless ocean...  but now i'm back by popular demand ;p and my love for my blog.

during my getaway, i got the chance to bond with my beautiful girlfriends over drinks, laughs, and girl talk. i don't hang out with too many ladies in nyc so this was definitely a great opportunity. most of our girl talk brought to light many aspects of being a female. in between topics such as fellas and fundamentals, we'd always touch base upon beauty. being girls of course, we had alot of input concerning beauty. i was delighted to see how important natural beauty was to each of us.

to me, one of the most beautiful wonders in life, are females. 

no homo.

i feel every single woman, big and small, short and tall, light and dark, is naturally beautiful. NATURALLY BEAUTIFUL. i stress emphasis on the blessing of natural beauty.  i don't see the need for dissimilation when the reality itself is flawless. why fix what's not broken? us women spend countless hours, dollars, and efforts trying to  fix the unbroken.  adding removing lengthening shortening siliconing coloring, our judgements are deceived.

everything that "enhances" your image, you can have naturally. everything except for bigger breasts/assets. but every woman is different, so why not embrace our naturally distinguished beauty? when coming upon the fork in the road between fake and natural, i understand the fake path is a smooth ride. the natural path is quite tedious. but let's keep it real ladies, cheap&fast or prosperous&worthy?

i am a naturally tanned, brown eyed brunette. years ago i was an unnaturally tanned, grey eyed blonde. epiphanies come in many shapes and sizes, specially when least expected. well, i have had quite a few of these bad boys. i now embrace my organic self.

you'd be surprised what dedication, patience and nature itself can do for your image...  i love au natural.  i try my best to embrace my organic self with a few weapons of mass construction:

HAIR SKIN & NAILS

those long flowy extensions you spent hard earned $$$$$ on look hella sexy. but wouldn't your own gorgeous locks look just as hot if not hotter? my hair used be paper thin and not grow for shit. it would stay in the same exact DAMN length. which was an inch past my shoulders.  my nails weren't anything promising either. brittle cracked and shorter than me, my nails didn't like me either. discouraged throughout the years, pissed as hell yet, driven i decided to stick to my NATURAL guns.

biotin.
wtf is biton? well, Biotin is a B-complex vitamin, also known as Vitamin B-7 or Vitamin H. It is important in a number of metabolic functions in the human body, including cell growth, the synthesis of fatty acids, and the metabolism of the amino acid leucine  Biotin also assists in the Krebs cycle, through which the body converts food into energy, and in the transfer of carbon dioxide within the body. Intestinal bacteria naturally produce biotin, and deficiency is consequently rare.  in other words... biotin is a vitamin that promotes all cell growth.  it's naturally produced within your digestive system. its found in peanuts, meats, oatmeal, mushrooms, etc. biotin is also fucking great for your nails. within 2 weeks of intake you'll notice a change in nail thickness and growth. changes in your hair won't happen overnight, but they are promised with regular intake. i have also noticed wonderful skin changes. but that might be because of my daily water consumption which i will get into later...

apart fom biotin i also take other daily vitamins, that have nothing to do with cell growth, but add strength and volume to my hair as a "side effect".  none of these vitamins are "DOOGROW" or "HAIR FORMULAS" etc... they are simply everyday vitamins that most of us lack. if you want to know SPECIFICALLY which vitamins i recommend hit me up/ comment this post. your hair is DEAD. NOTHING you apply directly ON IT (treatments, conditioners, etc) will do ANYTHING but make it temporarily soft and shiny. the key is in the live root. the key is in YOUR DAILY INTAKES. 

also, i DO NOT dye my hair. ladies the worse thing you can do is DYE YOUR HAIR. specially if you dye it in lighter shades. i've literally had EVERY HAIR COLOR you can think of. i've had up to 5 colors at one point. this shit is never ever ever healthy. yeah it looks cute, but in the end your shit ends up hella fried. it's like meeting a dude who's fly as fuck but inside he's a douchebag. fuck that nigga. please excuse my french by the way.

i tend to be a bit superstitious being colombian and all. i don't let anyone groom my hair or nails. i do my own grooming. no salons. saves tons of $$$$$. except for pedicures. i love that shit. so relaxing!!!

a world renowned celebrity hair stylist can trim your ends one day, and next thing you know, your hair has turned to shit. this does not mean they are not skilled. it just means their techniques were not compatible with you. hard to explain but i know some females out there who know exactly what i am talking about. people that you should trust with your hair are yourself, and your loved ones. when loved ones groom your hair, it grows ever so healthy. weird i know. i am currently learning how to trim my own hair.

another superstition i have is not cutting your hair on your period. terrible thing you can do to yourself. wait til its over. weird i know. i'm just sharing ^___^

BODY

one of the toughest beauty aspects to tackle naturally is your body. first of all, it all depends on YOUR view of outer beauty. do you feel a huge ass is what makes you gorgeous? do you feel big bouncy boobs do? this can be a variable.  or it can simply be that whatever you have been blessed with, IS what's truly beautiful. 


but what most of us girls CAN universally agree on is weight. not many of us want to embrace  extra weight. YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT. cliche as fuck, but ever so true. let's start with WATER WATER WATER WATER WATER. and no NOT just a bottle a day. try about  A LITER OR TWO a day. WATER. filling, cleansing, metabolism fueling... its amazing. completely give up on sodas juices etc. any liquid with color in it, give it up!!! not just for a month or so either (although you WILL see changes within just a month) but how about months and months and MONTHS? pretend that aliens have ambushed earth and have poisoned ALL of our sodas and juices. and all we have now is fucking water. make up whatever you have to, to build discipline.

like i mentioned before, i'm colombian. and colombians, like many other hispanics, grow up DEVOURING huge plates of greasy fattening filling delicious mouth watering food. growing up, i was always told to finish EVERYTHING on the plate. this is good if you're a growing girl of age 5. now, when you're past puberty and weight watching, this isn't a great idea. you eat with your eyes. eat NOT until theres no more, but until you are FULL. and NOT BLOATED full, but MODERATELY full. i am very on-the-go so i eat out all the time #pause. and most food places can be quite generous with their portions. that does not mean you have to devour it all. you must catch yourself. you are your own coach. DISCIPLINE yourself. eating consistent small meals. rather than 2 or three LARGE meals is much more beneficial and just as filling. keep your metabolism awake baby! you are "supposed" to intake 2,000 calories a day. i went from intaking 2,000 cal a day to 600-1,200 a day max. made up of good shit too. plus vitamin intake.

it's quite unfortunate that nowadays fattening food is what is most affordable. but you mustnt let that stop you from achieving your goals. avoid fast food. i know it's hard specially for the working girls out there. hard but not impossible!!! i personally do not eat mcdonalds. i made a promise to myself a year ago to not have a single french fry. i won't even purchase a bottle of water from mcdonalds. mind you, i work down the block from one. i'm hoping i turn this dedication to a cross-fast-food-chain-avoidance soon. rather than just mickey D's. i also do not drink coke or pepsi soda. i have not drank a single drop for  going on 13 years. sure i'll have sprite/fanta (if theres no water or cranberry juice which are my favorites) but never coke or pepsi. it's more of a personal reason rather than the whole "weight" thing. but that helps me out too.

working out is awesome. and probably your fastest and BEST BET into achieving natural weight goals. i was working out with a good friend of mine for a while and had WONDERFUL results. but like i mentioned before, i am usually on-the-go. so i barely ever get a chance at the gym anymore. hence my strict food intake.

weight loss can be incredibly simple:

burn more calories than you intake.

white bread < wheat bread

eggs < egg whites

pastries < veggies/fruits

500 calories < 250 calories

soda < water

juice < water

you < WATER!

all this is elementary!

all of this stops being a "job" and becomes second nature. 

with time, dedication and consistency! 

WATER

the #1 beauty/body/health/miracle is W A T E R. regular and constant water intake is literally the BEST remedy. the #1 beauty/body/health/miracle is W A T E R. regular and constant water intake is literally the BEST remedy. yes i purposely repeated this. drilling into your braaaaaaaaainnnn!!!!

i try my best to intake 1-2 liters of water a day. this coming from a girl who used to drink about a cup of water a week and soda/juice every day. soda is obviously garbage. but don't think that juice is good either. most juices are composed of 983609% syruppy sugar flavors and -1% water/fruit juice. this includes crappy vitamin water and sugary gatorades. this is all bullshit. pure crisp water is the truth. it acts as a FILLER, CLEANSER, HYDRATOR, AND METABOLISM FUELER. start your day off with drinking a tall glass of water right when you wake up. this WAKES UP your metabolism, speeding it up from the beginning of your day. fast metabolism = happy you.  i'm weird and i have certain waters i DO drink and others i DON'T. i prefer FIJI only because it contains silica... which does wonders for skin and hair. SMARTWATER is superb because it's rainwater not springwater where froggies and fishies have sex and stuff >_<. i also do poland spring since its found literally everywhere but i don't trust it too much. I DO NOT DO DASANI, OR AQUAFINA. if you are truly curious to know why, hit me up/comment the post. its hard to get into the knack of mainly consuming water, but with discipline, determination and time, it becomes second nature. you just get to a point where you literally become ADDICTED to water.  which is what i am now. i also enjoy cranberry juice very much <3 which is a great detox by the way. i need water on the side with anything and everything i consume. when you see me you will most def see a bottle of water next to me. ask about me.






many people will probably look at me as quite silly for "giving away" health/beauty tips. others might see me as a conceited "wannabee beauty guru" boasting along. i honestly, am none of the above. i don't know all the tricks and trades of achieving what's physically desired.  and if i did, i definitely would not selfishly keep it to myself. i am just giving in my two cents, hoping that i somewhat have been a part of an inspiration.

thanks for reading and i promise, no more hiatus <3

sources: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-biotin.htm