Fashion Focus: Adire Lounge

Nigerians celebrate in different fabrics. With the popular "aso ebi" culture, we can barely do without fabrics, we are one of the largest market for the popular "Ankara" fabric. We have a lot of brands who produce bold or small prints. In the world of African fabrics, Adire stands out for its unique design. 

Adire is an indigo resist dyed fabric that is produced in South-Western Nigeria. Currently, in the fashion industry, Textile company "Adire lounge" is at the fore front of revamping Adire with assorted designs. 

Cynthia Okochu of Adire Lounge 

Cynthia Okochu is the beautiful brain behind the brand "Adire Lounge, she promotes the fabric and has been able to let fashion enthusiasts see the uniqueness of the fabric.

You can see more of Adire Lounge on Instagram. Follow their story by following @adirelounge. We can make the Nigerian fashion industry better when we patronize made-in Nigerian brands, you can rely on a lot of brands for quality, so stop making excuses. Lol!!!


Photo credit: Instagram- @adirelounge 

Connoisseur Of Style: Chimamanda Adichie

Renowned author "Chimamanda Adichie" is one Nigerian woman I admire from a distance. Her books have an excellent narrative of Nigeria. Her views on feminism might be a little offensive to a lot of Nigerians, I don't agree with all of her arguments but I support a few. Empowering women is key, which is what the celebrated author advocates for and I completely agree with her.

When it comes to style, I believe she can do no wrong. If I will rate her on a scale of 1 to 10, she gets a 10. Her style is so effortless yet so elegant. If you are a style fan of "modest and chic", then her wardrobe is probably one you would wish to raid.

She is also a major supporter of Nigerian fashion brands.  The fashion industry in Nigeria keeps improving and it is only fair that we start to promote our creativity. I hope I get to design a piece for her someday. She is the perfect muse.

Do you consider yourself stylish and would like to get featured on our "Connoisseur of Style" segment, then send an email to info@midefashioncounty.com.ng with subject "C.O.S" and we will get in touch with you. 

Thinking out loud: Common Natural Hair Myths

I personally decided to cut my relaxed hair and transition to natural hair. I was never lucky with relaxers, there was always a new brand in the market that a hair stylist would recommend to me but my hair always got burnt and still looked due for a retouch. I have full short hair and this is a miracle for someone who was called ''GORIMAKPA" by my aunties, I think it means ''someone with a hairless scalp''.

Transitioning was stressful at first because I did not have any knowledge on how to manage my new growth. With time, I did my research and discovered It was an easy task. After transitioning for 3 months, I did my big chop.

6 months after the big chop. Length check. You can see me sweating, all thanks to detangling after loosing a protective hair style.

I was in a fast food restaurant the other day, relaxing, chewing my meat pie as I was writing a new entry into my personal journal, I noticed a group of young folks starring at me, the stare was so obvious and rude, then I heard one of the girls say "they only wash their hair once in a year", it dawned on me that they were talking about my hair, the others laughed and someone said "that's impossible" but she continued saying ''people with natural hair washed their hair once in a year''. I had to correct them. When I am not rocking a protective hair style, I wash my hair every two weeks. 

I have a lot of people ask me questions about my natural hair and noticed there are plenty myths about our black natural hair, which are just false or exaggerated. I want to share some and debunk them.

1. “Natural Hair is Very Strong”

This is a misconception. It may look or even feel rough and tough, but it isn’t. Natural hair is actually fragile and has to be handled with much care. Why? Because the strands curl and bend so much that each curl is a possible breaking point because the bend in the strand weakens the shaft. In fact, many people assume people with natural hair have thick and strong hair strands when in fact they can have fine and wiry strands which can break easily.

2. “Natural Hair Can’t Be Combed.”

Naturally curly/kinky hair is not meant to be combed and styled like straight hair. Curly/kinky hair requires a whole new mind set in styling and you can’t work with kinky hair the way you do with relaxed hair. I can not and will not attempt to get a comb through my hair dry — only while it’s soaking wet with conditioner.

4. Natural hair products are expensive

There are low, mid and high priced natural hair brands in the markets. They all do the same job, It all depends on your hair type and how regular you take care of your hair. Just like relaxed hair, natural hair also has certain needs that certain brands cater to. Don't look down on the pocket friendly products because you can also get perfect results with them.

3. “Trimming Makes Natural Hair Grow.”

Even though trimming will improve the overall health of your hair by getting rid of split ends, it has nothing to do with the hair that grows out of your scalp. By trimming your hair, you are able to hold on to strands that don’t split, so you are able to see length because it’s not breaking and splitting. I had a friend who would hold on to her split, see-through ends in an attempt to grow her hair long. But she had to get a major haircut once a year to get rid of the splits, so each year she had to cut her hair shorter and shorter to make it healthy again. It was a never ending cycle that could have been prevented.

4. “You Shouldn’t Wash Natural Hair Too Often”

I grew up hearing that you can’t wash too often because our hair is very fragile. Maybe with relaxed hair, but washing is wonderful for natural hair. However, strong shampoos can be drying. If you do use shampoo be sparing with cleaners that contain sodium laurel sulphate. If SLS is too harsh for your strands, try a “conditioner wash”, using conditioner to cleanse your hair instead of shampoo.

5. “Water Will Dry Out Natural Hair”

Water is the best moisturizer for natural hair, so don’t be afraid to apply it! The key to maintaining a moisture balance is RETAINING the water that you do apply to your hair via sealing. Here is an article listing the two steps to effective moisturization.

Our hair is beautiful, whether relaxed or natural, the key to having healthy relaxed or natural hair is taking care of it, just the way we pay attention to our skin and body in general, our hair also needs that tender love and care. 

XOXO

THINKING OUT LOUD: Let's talk about training up a child.

I owe my dad a basket full of gratitude, my father was always there to let you know the difference between right and wrong or good and bad. There was no avenue for spoiling us, he wasn't the type of parent to spare the rod if you did something wrong as a child. There were days where he would correct with his mouth and there were days where he would correct with punishment. His favourite was one he called "stool down", some of you know it as "pick pin".

I remember how my sister and I used to tear out pages from our notebooks to create funny crafts. Our exercise books never lasted, my dad explained to us why it was wrong to play with our exercise books and to stop that silly behaviour, he numbered all the pages. So if page 15 was missing, you would have to give a very good explanation. He had a full time job as an Engineer and a full time job as a father. He never took anything for granted.

This affected the way we behaved outside the house, it made us respect his presence and absence. Our training was both formal and informal. This is why I was never the type of girl to fall for peer pressure, if I want something, I work for it, if I cannot get it at the time,  I remain contented till I can buy it for myself. I can say 80% of the kind of woman I turned out to be can be blamed on my father's ability to understand the importance of training his children. I have so many stories of my dad but I will leave that gist for another day. 

My BabaTee (That's his nickname, lol! a short form for Babatunde) and yours truly.

 These days, most young parents leave the duty of training their children to anyone. Charity begins at home, when you decide to let your children behave in a wrong way without any correction, you are leaving that child's future to chance or luck. I hear people make comments like this when their children misbehaves "he's just a child or she's just a child" and I don't understand them. Should the training of a child begin when he or she is a teenager or an adolescent?

I was in the hospital last week, while waiting to see the doctor, a little boy kept jumping all over the place, at first it seemed adorable because he was really cute but after a while, it became too much as he was disturbing a lot of adults. His mother kept shouting and chasing him. You could see that she was tired. A man seated close to me caught the toddler and held him down. He cried for a while, then became calm. The man looked at the mother and said "stop acting like he is bigger than you", she laughed and said "aah!!! he is bigger than me o!". I have seen people let their children stay up late on school days, they let them watch anything on tv till when they are ready to sleep. As a child, if the movie wasn't PG rated or strictly for children, there was no way my dad would let you see the movie. Children should have a time when they go to bed especially when they have to go to school. Just like some adults who have schedules, I believe children should have schedules too.

There should be a time for everything in their young lives. A time to play, a time to read, a time for siesta, a time for fun. Guide your children, don't let them do the guidance for you, it's your responsibility as a parent and remember this "If you don't give your children the proper training they need, society would assist you and in many cases, it won't be the kind of help you would like.   

Let's talk about the movie "HIDDEN FIGURES"

This past Friday was date night for me and bestie, the good Lord knows how much we needed one. The past few months has been all about "work and no play", that is what setting up a new business does to a couple who are partners in the same business. We decided to see the movie "Hiddden Figures", I didn't know what the movie was about and film house had run out of movie catalogues, just seeing Taraji  Henson and a little girl scribbling some maths on a chalk board caught my attention. It had to be an inspirational movie and so that's what we saw.

As a fashion enthusiast and a lover of all things vintage, I was immediately hooked, I wanted everything they wore in my wardrobe, vintage fashion is so classy, stylish and modest. Asides the fashion, I loved the story and related well with it because it was based on true events. Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson were female computers and pioneers who did their jobs during a time of racial and gender discrimination while acting with dignity and humanity. Lessons learned from the movie are patience in adversity, fortitude, integrity and perseverance in the face of discrimination and condescension.

They pushed the boundaries of what it meant to be a mathematician, a scientist or an engineer. This can be applied in every field of life we find ourselves, we should always thrive to do to the best of our ability.


xoxo...
Chioma Mide

Team Jesus Christ. What team do you belong to?

Do you postpone talking about Jesus to friends? Do you hold back when you see a friend backslide? (like it's a competition to make heaven). Do you compromise on God's standard because grace abounds? Romans 6:1, I beg you to desist from such ways.

"Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first works or else I will come quickly and will remove the candlestick out of thy place, except though repent "- Revelations 2:5

Be proud of whom you profess you love to, share this love with your family and  strangers, ask for the in-filling and out-pouring of the Holy Spirit; and don't be scared to shout God's fame. Who would you rather be, the smart five virgins or the virgins left behind? Matthew 25:1. The choice is yours. God is so forgiving, Jesus Christ came for the sinners and not the righteous, so every time you fall out of love with Him, don't give up because He won't give up on you. Run back to him. He is waiting with open arms.

 ...........................................................................

Testimony: God healed my friend's mom of cancer. "Health is Wealth", you will never understand this until you or your loved ones have to battle with any sickness.  Thankful for her life.

Thinking out loud: HE turned my mourning into dancing

On the 18th of March 2016, I lost someone precious to me, I went through an ugly experience on this day, it was the most painful experience I have ever had as an adult. Crying didn't seem to be enough, I was depressed, the nurses and doctors consoled me, my family provided their shoulders for me to lean on, my husband was more than helpful, while others asked me not to cry, He would ask me to let it all out.

I managed to sleep after crying a river, when I woke up, it felt like I had a bad dream but it was real. I was lost in my own thoughts, I smiled when I was spoken to, but deep down inside me, I was a mess. Completely heart broken. I took a break from life. Is that even possible? Oh Yes!. When nothing seems to bother you again, you simply do not care, when you focus on only work and nothing more, when all you want to do is be alone, that is what it feels like to take a break from life. It's gradual step towards depression. 

It was recommended I read the bible, study it and make a conscious effort to memorize the words in it. I took the advise, I started with Matthew, I decided to start with the new testament because I needed to hear Jesus Christ speak to me through the words about his promises for me. I started feeling better and all my depression was released, the mysteries in the bible were revealed to me and suddenly everything that mattered became a mirage.  I lost someone precious, it was an awful experience.  I was scared and hid in my closet, I almost let the grief steal my joy. 

Through studying the word of God, I was healed. No one should ever have to go through such a painful experience but the bible helped me understand I was going to see this person someday. Life on earth is a temporary journey, we are just spirits occupying a body, immortality can't be expressed through the flesh, we will have to die first. So death is inevitable, my prayer is that we get to live to an old age, get married, have children, dream, turn our dreams to reality, be merry, love, be fulfilled, serve the Lord in truth.

Before this ugly experience, I got hurt emotionally by some people I thought I knew. My dad had taken his time in the past to make me understand the world is brutal and you have to stand up for yourself when people either take you for granted or treat you in an ill manner because for some reason, they misread your meekness for vulnerability. Psalms 28:3 and Jeremiah 20:11 gives me comfort. The good Lord sees the heart and He will be the judge between me and anyone who persecutes me. 

The world is a battlefield, the devil is constantly trying to steal the joy of our salvation and the best way to get by is to be armoured with the words of God, prayers and fellowship. God will never fail you, I am a witness, He has saved me countless times. If you are going through something that makes you hopeless, sad or depressed, know that the truth in God's words can set you free. 

"Psalms 30:11 ~You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy."