May 2015 – Roots To The Soul

26 May

May 26, 2015June 1, 2015K Joi Self Improvement/Worth No Comments

What’s the Buzz about Eccentric Beauty??

As a women we are forever searching for products we love on our hair and skin. I can assume men go through the same thing, but maybe don’t discuss it as openly. The great thing is once we find a product we like, we may stay loyal to it as long as it is available. The young lady behind Eccentric Beauty knows all too well about this. She has got it down to an art and is sharing what she has learned with us through her products. The products offered through Eccentric Beauty are natural, eco-friendly, and some are dual use products. Did you hear that, dual use products? I have to say I have not seen too many of these. I recently picked up a dual use product by Paul Mitchell’s Tea Tree line that was a moisturizer for your hair and a lotion. I was like, I’m not so sure about this. However, this is a way to save on cost if the dual products work out. Who doesn’t love to save money on products that we love.

The women behind the product is named Bridgette. Bridgette is a stay at home mom, a blogger, a radio show host, and the creator of Eccentric Beauty. She advised Eccentric Beauty was birthed from a desire to provide awareness to people on what we apply and take in our bodies. The brand provides a great balance and insight into her personal life and her personality. She is a sweet spirit, joyful, and enjoys providing products that help others. She started Naturally Beautiful in 2010 as her son, who was under 12 months at the time, was diagnosed with eczema. She began to research ingredients as the crème provided for eczema had steroids and advise you should use it while in direct sunlight. I’ll say, that will bring a different type of motivation to people. The side effects of the crème if used over a long period of time can stunt a little ones growth, skin thinning, and cause enlarged blood vessels. She started learning how what is in your hair and body impacts your health. She started with focus groups, discussing this with her aunt who is a chemist, and putting together a protocol.

Her drive to help her son turned into a love for helping others learn. She would be able to educate people on the importance of natural and organic ingredients in products through her line. She not only was helping others, but had thought one step further. She decided to help the environment as well as her packaging is biodegradable. I don’t know that most people I have met are so focused on more than just getting their product out there, but also looking at the most benefit it can offer in different realms and that is what grabbed my attention. I have eczema and so does one of my nephews so I was stoked to hear about her products.

The bath and body product line offers shampoo/body bars, body/nail scrubs, hair/body balm, and glossing pomade to name a few. She will have lines coming soon for men, children, and the home.

As being natural with my hair, outside of this color, I can say finding those products that work are crucial. The journey alone can be costly and most of us in that journey are constantly researching products and ingredients that are best for our hair.

I truly believe this young lady has a product that has not fully been exposed to the market. So many people are looking for ways to be eco-friendly. What a simple way to help with this then buying products that are in ecological packaging from a creator that is working on a going green home line.

She not only has this platform to share on, but is a radio hostess on TMIRadio.com. She has a show called Hardcore Beauty that airs on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays at 2 PM – 3 PM CST. She views the show as a way to give others a voice on lifestyle, community, and businesses. She also does an annual health fair to promote healthy eating and taking care of our bodies. I blogged and this event in the fall and it can be found under Hats Off to the Ladies of Hardcore Beauty.

We discussed the logo and the colors behind the logo while I was learning about Eccentric Beauty. I love the orange and the blue. She shared that the orange represents the fun wild energetic side while the blue shows the grounding sophistication and depth of the brand. She sees them both as powerful in their own right but compliments each other extremely well creating a dynamic impact. She hopes it will be seen as an elegant mix of modern excitement with natural elements with an unconventional artistic flare. In my opinion, she has done this… the buzz will be there in no time.

Her vision for Eccentric Beauty is that this will become a household name and a one stop shop for families. As there will be products for all parties of the family and the home. I must say I am one that loves to get multiple things taken care of in one place versus having to go to different places to purchase everything. What more can a person ask for… a one stop shop to get natural products that aid in keeping our atmosphere safe. Naturally Eccentric Mom will blog about all things natural. It will focus on beauty, hair, family, health, and home design and details on when you will start to see the blog will be available soon.

Check her products out at her website www.oneeccentricbeauty.com and one Facebook.

12 May

May 12, 2015June 1, 2015K Joi Relationships No Comments

Love Don’t Pay the Bills

The play presented in Dallas for Mother’s Day weekend. I was blessed enough to be able to see the play on opening night thanks to my mentor. My cousin, Monika Teague, and I had a great night out. The play was at TBAAL and started a little after 8 PM. Directed by Laterras R. Whitfield and written by Kendrick D. Young’s.

They had a star studded cast from Chico De Barge, Elise Neal, Shirley Murdock, Toya Wright, and Clifton Powell. One Dallas native, Kyndal Robertson, just to name a few.

It hits on so many areas that need to be looked at for marriage. The title says so much and it iisn’t necessarily about paying the bills. It is more about learning to build a solid foundation for your relationships from friendships to marriages. So many of us that are married or in a serious relationships have found ourselves focused on the appearance of the relationship. I am not sure why this is so important, but it is. I found myself doing this in my last serious relationship and focused on keeping the appearance up that it was perfect versus being transparent to a certain extent. Believe me, you don’t want to share everything. You need to learn to work things out with your mate, without taking in a lot of outside noise. Yep, I said noise. Folks, learn who to talk to for what things. The play hits on hard levels of marriage due financial challenges and the concern for barring kids. I don’t want to spoil this for everyone that may see this in other areas. I will say I think they did a magnificent job of balancing the religion, realistic approaches, laughter, and some ooh moments.

You know… I have never been married. However, I have heard these same issues time and time barreling through marriages. After researching, many sites brought up top three marital issues are money, sex, communication; in no particular order. However, I would have to say the breakdown of communication will start the breakdown of others. Or the lack of honesty about money or lack of reaching your sexual pleasure can start the breakdown of communication. I could see them all being reciprocal. It is a vicious cycle. The play hits on all of these.

I think many times people start to forget over time why they decided to marry the person in the first place. We know not all people marry for the same reason. However, if you are marrying based on love and feeling that this is who God had for you… I think these are all issues that will come up at some point. You may want to understand before entering a marriage, if the other person takes their vows and marriage seriously. Don’t skip the hard discussions as it leads to more turmoil later in the relationship. Now do know, there is a time and place for these conversations. As things get more serious and you two are discussing seeing a life together, it may be a good idea to know how that party views marriage, what they want in a marriage, what are deal breakers, religious views. You just want to know you have opened the door for discussion and have a healthy flow of communication with your mate. In many times, this also has some to deal with knowing yourself. It is excruciatingly hard to explain to your mate what you want or need, if you don’t know yourself first. Please don’t put unrealistic expectations on your mate to know things about you or what you prefer if you keep the lid on communication. Take time to get to know one another and be willing to discuss strengths, weaknesses, what cheating means to you, if family is a priority. The additional thing that comes with that is just keeping your eyes open and realizing if what they are saying to you doesn’t add up… don’t make up why it doesn’t, discuss it.

If you enjoyed the blog on the play, take a look and see when it is coming to your area. Feel free to also check out the blog called 3 Core Values of a Relationship.

05 May

May 5, 2015June 1, 2015K Joi Family One Comment

Mom, Momma, Ma, Mother: What do you call her?

Unconditional love, generous, kisses booboos, a parent before a friend, careful, your first teacher, strength, passion, pain, tears, smiles, joy, and starts to set the standard for how you view the world. I don’t know that there is a difference between Mom, Momma, Ma, and Mother as they all tend to be names of women that hold the qualities above. I know mine went by the names of Mommu, Mom, Ma, Auntie, Aunt Dot, Grandma, Gran, Aunt Lisa, Aunt Linda, Momma Sharon, Mrs. Boykin, Mrs. Ferguson, Ms. Mallard, Mrs. Belino, Ms. Harge, and I am sure there are a few more I may not have gotten to list.

From the moment they get to hold you first in their arms and have a star in their eye…they felt you were perfect. They knew their blessing in God trusting you with them and vowed to take being a mom seriously.
I think of my own relationship with my mother as far back as I can recall. I was always considered a daddy’s girl, but I love my mom. We haven’t always seen eye to eye, but I know she has unconditional love for me. She doesn’t always agree with the way I cut my hair, share my opinions, etc, but I know it is just because she wants what is best for me.

A mother many times is the first example we have of love in our lives. She teaches us without even knowing it or trying. If she holds us when we cries, when she wipes the tears, or if she takes time to discuss the concerns that are causing those woes. The undying love of a mother is something not everyone knows. The smallest things from wiping your nose, to teaching you the proper way to speak, and brining smiles to your face. It is something about a bond of a mother and their child. She many times knows the things her child will struggle with long before the child or anyone else does due to being observant. Just my two cents on what I have seen from the mother’s in my own family and many family’s close to me. They are often referred to as momma bears for a reason. They can be the kindest, gentlest person, and change in the blink of an eye to protect their child.

They sure know how to make a house a home. If it’s the smell of the aroma from the dinner, snacks, or homemade chocolate fudge for ice cream sundaes. The way they make the bed or tucked you in at night. The kind words they shared when you didn’t make the cut, or the cheering for you like no one else would or will. The joys they share as they see you growing and becoming more independent. They want to cry because they aren’t ready to see their bird take more steps on their own, but they give you enough room to enjoy the new avenues life is taking you on. They want to save you from all the bad things of the world and keep you safe from your first heartbreak, the injury, the car accidents, the daily challenges of life. However, they can’t protect us from the world, yet they choose to share us with the world.

Moms don’t always get the credit deserved… but their day is coming up on Sunday. I believe we shouldn’t just show our appreciation for them one day out of the year. I can’t say I always make a big deal out of that day due to that. However, I do acknowledge and do my best to make sure my mom knows that I love and appreciate her throughout the year. It is the little things that matter to my mom. So spending time, making dinner, shopping, looking around, and time with the grandkids.

We don’t always turn out the way they think we should. Nor do we always follow the path they prefer. They may judge here and there, but it isn’t because they want harm upon us. They love us no matter what because to them we will always be their babies. They never give up hope on the ones that are disrespectful. They may not always be so forth coming on how things happened in their life due to appearances, but will eventually let that wall weaken to attempt to save their own from walking that same path.

I know everyone doesn’t have a flowering relationship with their mother. I have to wonder for those that were given up for adoption if one day you can find solace in maybe she gave you up to save you. If she was molested and concerned she would only see the pain in which you were created. If she is an addict and knows she won’t keep you safe or not sale you for the next high. Or if she just knew and accepted that she wasn’t ready to put someone else’s life above her own. I commend her for not keeping a child for the sake of being called mom and trying to be a mother when she knew she would not arise to the occasion.

So this goes out to all my family, extended family, and girls that are mothers. I pray the day my day comes, I will encompass so many of your qualities as being a mom.

Love you ladies!!!!