STORY TIME: WHEN I ALMOST BECAME A SECOND WIFE

Hey Guys, so maybe my title is a teeny weeny bit dramatic but do you want to read about my story? I have heard you…You don’t have to beg me too much....lol.

So it has been a while since I had a boyfriend and when I went for my masters, I began to wonder if I am capable of feeling any attraction for anyone. All thanks to my epic disaster of relationships. Then one day at work, suddenly…a guy I had never met came into the scene. The boy was fiiiiiinnnnneeee as heck (Petite Diva the dramatic). He was cute. And for an unknown reason, he thought I was pretty (He needs glasses). He was my superior and once when I was struggling he came to help like a knight in a shining armour (as if that is not part of his job) and gave me a tip to make me more efficient but I put up a resistance and felt like I knew it all. But after a while, I found out that his advice worked (stubborn thing like me).

Any which way, we (in other words, I asked to be placed) found ourselves on the same shift but I was not always placed to work with him. However the thing (boy) always found a way to sneak in to say hi. I was swooning. It is not my fault. He made me smile and laugh. He was nice and such a playful thing and I enjoyed bullying him a bit.

But….The BIG but…..He was married. The day I found out was (I believe) a consequence of my discussion with God. You know how we ladies are. I had already started thinking of weddings and the works but I felt something was not quite okay. I think 2 days before I knew he was married, I had said a prayer that I saw on Instagram about having your own God designed relationship or something like that. Then Boom! I find out he is married. I was bummed, I won’t lie. For weekssss….

How did I find out? I overheard a conversation that was none of my business. I am beginning to think that people were gossiping about us and the guy purposely came to talk to him when he was close to me. He was standing close to me and this guy comes up to ask ‘How is your Mrs?’ and I was like ‘what in the world?’. I thought that I didn’t hear well but Ladies and Gentlemen, I did o. I did. And to further prove my theory that there must have been gossip about us (because I still remember one weird look I got from an elderly guy when I was teasing him during one if our lunch break) , I noticed some ladies speaking in hush tones close to me (and I believe I saw one of them look in my direction or so).

Then it so happened that I sat with one of the ladies who now told me that he was married and had 3 boys. That was it! I was scattered. I knew that my ears were like ‘dodo the cartoon character’. It has super hearing abilities like superman. I had heard right the first time.

I had to try to shake off the sad feeling but is that ever easy? I had to behave like a big girl and get on at work like nothing happened. It was not his fault, right? And the thing kept on being his goody self. I remember the day I was feeling so emotional and he was his playful self, I forgot he was my superior and snapped at him. The guy was totally taken aback because I shut him down in front of people (I think 2 or so). But he came and stylishly met me and asked ‘what is wrong with you?’. I told him PMS and he almost ran away. He was shocked that I said such. It was funny the way he reacted.

I tried to be not so smiley at him but whenever we had an encounter it was impossible. I was either teasing him or he was teasing me or people around me were teasing him. While I was trying to patch my heart together, some people kept trying to break it again. I remember that one of my work circle once said to me that we (the guy and I) look good together that if not because he was married that she would have loved us to get together. And I was like ‘what the heck?’. Then another day, we (the guy, myself and some people in my work circle) were talking. Someone asked how many children he had? And I said ‘three…three boys’. I then opened my mouth to say ‘you need a girl’. That is how one person actually repeated the words to him and just had to say ‘maybe she would be the one to give you the girl’. The boy ran away immediately and I attempted to be 'all I don’t do second wife things'. Ta! I was trying to act like I was not bothered.

The truth is when I sat down to think about it, if It was an option to me at the time when I was really feeling him, I would have accepted the offer of being a second wife which is really ridiculous to me considering I am an alpha female. I hate to share my man but you see this thing called attraction abi is it ‘Lust’, it is very dangerous. It can make you do and undo.

How can you overcome it or know when what you feel is right or wrong? I don’t know. I guess all you can do is Pray. Ask God to reveal the whole situation or part of the true situation to you and give you the strength to walk away. I didn’t have the strength to walk away or stop my feelings especially when even on my last day there, someone who I think had no idea about us openly said ‘He likes you na’. Back story to this statement…I was reporting the guy to him. I told him that he was teasing me about my height and he made that statement. We (the guy and I) were both speechless for a few seconds. I gained my senses and made a protest and he repeated it again and my guy couldn’t say anything. The boy just stood there.

Oh well, I had to leave and I am back home and my senses are back or are they really back? I guess I might never know.

I hope you liked this story time post. I realised that it had been a long time since I did an honest post about my life. Hope you don’t sit there, sipping your tea and are judging me like Judge Judy…lol. It has happened  to  the best of us.

Help! I have a swollen upper lip. I ate something and now I am reacting to it. I have taken an antihistamine and I am eagerly waiting for the lip to return back to normal.

Thanks for stopping by.

Luv ya,
Petite Diva

P.S: Did I mention that I also found out that he was a muslim?

LEARN AN ANCIENT CHINESE SECRET TO GROWING UP TO 6 FEET LONG HAIR

Intrigued much? This ancient secret has been used for centuries by the Japanese, Chinese and Southeastern Asian women. The Yao minority women from Huangluo village, in Guangxi province in Southern China are known to have extraordinarily long hair that stays black until they are around 80 years old. They believe that having long hair is an auspicious sign of good health, good fortune and longevity.

The average hair length of the women is about 6 feet and the Yao women even hold the Guinness Book of record award as the  ‘world’s longest hair village’ (Issa real something…). The secret has also been used by imperial princesses in the East also.

This secret is also great for the skin. It helps to heal scars and reduce wrinkles, fine lines and inflammation leaving the skin with a healthy glow.

I am sure that right now you are like what is the secret? Well, for most Africans and Asians I am sure you have it in your kitchen and you never thought of it in this way. What is this secret? It is RICE WATER!! Yes, Rice Water!! The water we get when we wash your rice or boil it. I know right! I was like What? Rice?! Rice ke?! That we eat every week? That I have probably thrown away a tanker full in my lifetime?  Okay o.

Here is the science behind the use of rice water for hair. According to the research, rice contains antioxidants, minerals, vitamin e and traces of ‘Pitera’ (albeit majorly the unpolished, organic type contains more of these than the polished ones). The fermented rice water which is good for the hair contains ‘Inositol’ which helps to increase the hair’s elasticity thereby making the hair strands flexible and defining the hair curls.

It also helps to decrease surface tension thereby smoothen the surface of the hair so that the hair strands glide on each other which leads to less friction between the hair and also less knots and tangles. It also help to make the hair to shine.

The rice water helps in hair growth and acts as a strengthening aid. One great thing about rice water is that the molecules of inositol still attaches to the hair strands eve after it has been rinsed off so that it still continue to works and you supposedly observe improvement after the first rinse.
The rice water is also used to wash/rinse the face as a face rinse and also used as a toner and a makeup refreshing spray. It helps to tone the face, minimise the pores and helps to heal scars.

HOW TO MAKE RICE WATER
It is simple. There are two ways. One method involves getting an appropriate amount of rice (it doesn’t have to be so much …..e.g ¼  – ½ cup of rice) and rinse with water once (to remove dirt). Then wash the rice with water (make sure the water covers the rice…..like 6 folds) and then decant the water into another container with a lid. Place in a cool, dry and dark place for 24 -48 hours to ferment. You would know when it is fermented when it tastes sour or smells funky. You can boil it afterwards to stop the fermentation process if you plan on storing it for a week in the fridge.

Another method is to place the rice and water in a pot (after rinsing once to remove the dirt) and boil for about 10-15 minutes. Decant the water into a container and allow it to cool.

HOW TO USE IT FOR YOUR HAIR
Simply wash and condition your hair then rinse your hair with the rice water and allow to stay on your hair for 15 -30 minutes (watch the video below for more information). Then rinse off with water.
Watch the video here:

Continue with moisturising and sealing of your hair.

To be able to see an improvement, you need to carry out this hair rinse weekly consistently. Also the Yao women also have unique genetics and diet so you might not achieve 6 feet length of hair growth but you would definitely see a major difference as seen in different women who have started using this remedy consistently.

That is all for now. I hope you enjoyed this post and are intrigued enough to try this unconventional hair rinse. Remember that you have to be consistent with it and your daily hair regimen to achieve great results.

Thanks for stopping by. Please remember to subscribe to my youtube channel (Petite Diva).

Luv ya,
Petite Diva.

HOW TO LOOK 10 YEARS YOUNGER/TIGHTEN YOUR PORES AND GET RID OF BLACKHEADS AND WHITEHEADS FAST

Hiya Guys, I hope you are doing great. It is time for another DIY…..Yasss, y’all. I am sure that after you read the title, you must have been shocked to further read that the way to look 10 years younger is with a DIY (Do it Yourself) recipe. Excuse me……Did you think I was going to recommend a surgical procedure?.....Naaaaaa, I don’t play with needles except it is a life and death issue like immunization or when I can’t swallow oral medications.

Anywhoo, I am here to let you into a secret that top models have known for years but has been looked down by most people. So you want to look 10 years younger? You want those pores tighten up to infinity and beyond? You want the nasty blackheads and whiteheads gone? If your answers were yes, then grab a chair for a few minutes, read this article (and watch the video below) then run into your kitchen and your toilet and get cracking.

KITCHEN? TOILET? What is the correlation? Keep reading folks…..This secret of supermodels is a very simple recipe. You need two items….Are you ready? Okay….here it is…..Egg white and Tissue paper…….What?! I know, right! When I first heard about it, I said ‘these people are super crazy’. Then I tried it…. I have been knocking my head since (almost 3 years ago). I was like…. Where has this secret been all my life?

So here is how you apply the mask. You use a foundation brush (I have one dedicated to my mask application) to apply a good coating of the egg white (you don’t need a lot and you can whisk it before application if you desire) on your face. Divide the tissue paper into 1 ply (into 2 if it is a 2 ply tissue or 3 if it is a 3 ply tissue) and place on your face. Cut out the portion that is too long or that covers your eyes, mouth and nostrils. Avoid placing on your hairline or eyebrows. Apply another coating on the tissue paper to make sure it stays in place. Work in sections and repeat the procedure all over your face (Watch the video below to understand better).

Allow the mask to dry for about 30 minutes then peel gently in an upward direction to help mechanically remove the blackheads and whiteheads from your pores. You would feel that your face is tighter and smoother.  And that is it! Simple and easy and I believe it costs less than 50 naira (you use just a little bit of the egg white and very little of the tissue).

Egg white contains one of the purest forms of protein. Egg white is said to be able to help fight acne, reduce lines around the mouth, reduce wrinkles and even rejuvenate the skin. It helps to improve skin elasticity and the tones the skin. It is included in the egg white facial treatments that are offered by a lot of spas and beauty parlors around the world (who would charge you an arm and a leg for it). It is popular because it does not contain harsh chemicals and acids. A lot of people who have sensitive skin are known to choose egg white masks instead of masks with products like retinol and alpha hydroxyl acid.

Here is the short video showing how to apply the mask:

I do hope that if you decided to try it you would let me know how your skin feels and your thoughts about it. Remember you need to do this once a week (for those who are older and already have wrinkle or signs of wrinkles)/bi weekly/monthly to see long-lasting and visible results. I don’t have wrinkles but I have large pores so I do this biweekly because I have other DIY masks that I apply on my face. Be sure to do a patch test of this mask before using it all over your face to check if you would be allergic to it.

I hope you like this DIY post. Have you been enjoying my recent posts? What do you want me to post about next?

Thanks for stopping by.

Luv ya,
Petite Diva….

EXFOLIATE YOUR WAY TO GLOWING SKIN

Relax......Give yourself a good scrub a dub and remove the stress of the week. Step into the new week with fresh and glowing skin.

My personal favourite for scrubs are the non foaming cream based or foaming cream based ones. They exfoliate and moisturise the skin. And the best part, they stay put on the skin and don't fall down like the wall of Jericho....

Here is a small clip showing how I use my (the one I make and sell) foaming  body polish:

Happy Weekend guys.... Enjoy your rest of your rest time. And for those working this weekend, enjoy your working weekend...

Luv ya,
Petite Diva

STRENGTHEN YOUR HAIR WITH A SIMPLE PROTEIN TREATMENT

Here are some reasons breakage occurs from relaxer use:

Over-processing the hair: In which an excessive use of relaxer is used or relaxers are applied to previously relaxed hair. Relaxer should be applied to only the new growth.

Not using a protective cream on the scalp: A lot of hair stylists are guilty of this. They just start applying the relaxer without protecting the scalp. A protective cream (e.g Petroleum jelly) should be applied to help protect the scalp from damage and burns.

Not properly neutralising the hair: when I was relaxed, I made sure that I took my own neutralising shampoo to the salon. I know that some of these stylists use diluted neutralising shampoo and are always trying to cut down on the quantity they use. It is better to be safe than sorry. After the hair has been processed for the appropriate time, it should be completely removed with warm water. A neutralising shampoo should be used to lower the pH of the hair because if it is not lowered, the hair would break as a result of the chemical continuing to work on the hair strand thereby weakening it further.

Not using protein and moisture treatments: Protein and moisture treatments should be used to restore some of the natural moisture and proteins that have been stripped from the hair by the relaxer. Those who have natural hair should also carry out regular protein and moisture treatments to strengthen and add moisture to the hair strands to prevent dry hair and breakage.

Use of excessive heat: This applies to both natural and relaxed hair. Excessive use of direct heat in the form of heat tools such as flatirons will lead to further damage of the hair and dry out the hair. If you want to use heat tools, do so sparingly and always remember to use a thermal protectant.

RECIPE (Depending on the length of your hair)
Egg Mayonnaise (the one we use for salads)……11/2 tablespoon

Oil (any hair loving oil like coconut oil, olive oil, avocado oil, sunflower oil)………1 -2 teaspoon

Egg white……..1/2 of the egg white found in a large egg (or the whole egg white of a small egg)

INSTRUCTIONS
Place the egg mayonnaise, oil and egg white in a bowl and stir continuously till a smooth consistency is achieved…. Ta da! That is it. Your own super duper protein treatment.

Watch the video tutorial below 

HOW TO USE
Wash your hair with a gentle shampoo and rinse. Allow the hair to dry till it is about 60% dry.
Section your hair into four (or more depending on the length of your hair) sections. Apply the treatment to small sections of your hair in the larger section, working your way from roots to ends. It is essential that you don’t forget the ends as they are the weakest part of the hair strands. Twist or clip the hair that is coated with the protein treatment aside so that you can work on other sections without any hindrance. Continue the steps on all the other sections.

When you are finished, you can cover your hair with a plastic bag, shower cap or cling film and leave it on for 15 – 20 minutes.

Rinse with COOL water not hot water. If you use hot or warm water, you would have scrambled egg pieces in your hair (it has happened to me).

Towel dry your hair till it is about 60% dry, then follow up with a moisture based deep conditioner or rinse out conditioner (which you can allow to stay on your hair for 5 – 10 minutes). Always follow up with moisture based conditioner, else your hair would be so dry and it would increase the chances of breakage.

I advise that you carry out this treatment one week before relaxing and immediately after relaxing. You should also carry it out once a month (whether you are relaxed or natural).

I hope you try out this amazing protein treatment and let me know how your hair felt afterwards.

Thanks for stopping by.

Luv ya,
Petite Diva.

POURING A CUP OF COFFEE ON YOUR HAIR CAN STOP HAIR LOSS

Black hair is naturally dry and prone to breakage due to its elliptical shape and when it is chemically relaxed, it is even harder to keep it healthy. Many black women suffer from breakage and hair loss hence the inability to grow long hair.

The hair is made up of the cuticle, the cortex, the hair follicle, sebaceous glands and melanin.Every hair on your head goes through three phases:

The Growing (Anagen) Phase: which is genetically predetermined and can last between 3 to 7 years.

The Resting or Transisition (Catagen) Phase: which lasts between 2 to 4 weeks

The Shedding (Telogen) Phase: which can last from 3 to 4 months

Shedding is a natural process during which the old hairs are replaced with new hairs. It is normal to lose about 50 – 80 hairs/day in which any shedding above 80 hairs/day is classified as excessive shedding. Heat styling, over-processing of the hair and using harsh hair products can lead to the hair’s cortex being damaged which would lead to breakage.

Coffee contains caffeine which can block DHT (Dihydrotestosterone), a naturally occurring metabolite of the testosterone hormone made by the body and is found in both men and women. DHT is a key element of male pattern baldness, alopecia and other significant hair loss. It stunts your hair’s growing phase and increases the shedding phase so that over time your hair follicles become smaller, shorter and has a finer texture that leads to accelerated hair loss.

Using coffee as a hair rinse aids in blocking DHT hence helps to reduce hair loss by reversing its effect on the growing phase. Other benefits of a coffee hair rinse include the provision of shine to the hair and enriching brown to black colored hair (precaution sehould be taken on lightly coloured hair).

For more information on black hair care tips and how to use coffee as a hair rinse, check out these links:

https://youtu.be/-EiLeeY8biM

http://www.hairfinity.com/us/en/article/black-hair-care-tips-and-info/

https://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/learn/how-to-stop-your-shedding-with-coffee/

I hope you enjoyed this post. Thanks for stopping by.

Luv ya,
Petite Diva

STARTING A YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Hey guys, it has been a while. I have been at a cross road in my life. It has not been easy. I feel so overwhelmed right now. Right now I am so discouraged and dejected. I remembered that writing always made me feel better so I decided to type away.

I recently revived my youtube channel and I have been posting some videos. I was super concerned some days ago by the few subscribers I have despite the fact that I sent my first BBM and WHATSAPP broadcast message to my contacts in months. I got encouragement from some older youtubers who said it takes time to get the views and subscribers that might make youtube/vlogging encouraging.

But I kid you not, it is not easy to motivate yourself. I am always buying data plan because uploading a video takes about 1GB of data and sometimes when the video has uploaded to a certain extent, something happens and it is unable to load and then I have to reload the video (more data is being consumed). Financially it has been really draining.

However I really like recording videos, editing and doing voiceovers. I have so much content that I want to put up but I am slowly beginning to think I might not be able to continue for a long time. I just need a little bit of encouragement. Oh well, we would see how long I can financially sustain my youtube hobby.

How are you guys doing? What project have you carried out and you were not able to complete for whatever reason? And when did you let it go? I would love to read your comments….(I hope someone is even reading my blog).

Thanks for stopping by.

Luv ya,
Petite Diva.

HOWDY PARTNERS......

Okay, where do I start? I have been the definition of annoying lately. I just abandoned my blog and you guys for donkey years. There is no real excuse weeeellllll……..except for the fact that I have been super lazy and there was really no one to encourage me to write until a couple of days ago.

So how have you been? I know that life has been crazy for majority of you. Life has been…..not too crazy for me. I finally got my master’s degree….Bless the Lord. I am back in Nigeria (still a bit sad that I am back especially when there is no electricity…It is so annoying) and I am about to start a new adventure.

I really did not feel inspired to start writing again until I talked with a friend. She was curious as to why I had stopped writing on the blog and unknowingly gave me the biggest motivation I could ever need. Being a blogger is not easy especially with crappy network, lack of stable power supply and a laptop that doesn’t want to connect to my WiFi modem (Lord, I need a brand new laptop. Maybe I should include it in my #HallelujahChallenge request). She said she got a hair protein (steaming) treatment technique from my blog, taught it to her local hair stylist and now the hair stylist recommends and charges 1000 naira from her clients! You guys! I was ‘shoke’ (like the Americans would say). She said the lady used to charge 300 naira but with the technique I wrote about, she was able to charge more. I couldn’t believe that what I had written has been able to increase revenue and knowledge for someone I have never met. I am still astounded. And I always thought that my content was not useful. Therefore I have decided that I would be including a lot of ‘Do it yourself’ content. Who knows if someone could build a brand from my content?

Luscious and Cookie

So what have you guys been doing? What TV series are you following? Lately I have been checking out Youtube clips of Empire. My Goodness, I love Cookie. I don’t know where I have been all these years. I know. I never follow trends and with school, I decided that I didn’t want to watch television so that I don’t get distracted. Back to Empire, Cookie and Luscious……whaaaattttt? I want some of Cookie’s fire and I need me a good Luscious (because we all know that Luscious is evil at times). Can someone tell me why Jussie Smollet is Gay? Like hmmmm, the brother is fiiiinnnnneeee. Oh well….

What else have I been up to? I have been turning my ‘cheap ass’ life into a business. My Love for ‘Do it yourself’ and product formulation is slowly and hopefully turning into a business and possibly an international brand. I would write about this venture in future posts (I had better write more. I paid $15 to GoDaddy.com for my domain name so my money had better not go to waste).

To find out more about my products, you can check out my business handle on Instagram or on facebook which is @handmadebypetitediva. I am about to offer some samples at a highly discounted price so hurry up and follow the pages and don’t be left out of this revolution…lol.

Free samples....Limited offer

Thanks for stopping by…

Luv ya,
Petite Diva