DIY Shea Butter Bars (via @IAmLisaPrice)

Back in the day (i.e. 2009) I used to go HARD for Carol's Daughter "Body Jelly." I seriously thought it was made of magic and would have a full on meltdown if it was out of stock.

I can't exactly pinpoint when it happened, but during the time Lisa Price's company went mainstream it felt like the quality of the products changed.

Fast forward a few years later and I'm now hooked on raw Shea Butter from the beauty supply lol. 32 ounces of raw Shea Butter for under $10 is hard to beat. Nevertheless, when I saw this video of Carol's Daughter founder Lisa Price showing how to make DIY body butter bars on YouTube I fell in love!

For some reason it felt like the "old Lisa" popped back up in this video. There she was, the passionate woman alone in her kitchen with great ingredients, a warm smile, and desire to take away your ashiness 1 butter bar at a time. I fell in love.

So many people are experimenting with DIY recipes and this is one that should definitely be added to the list. I'm adding this to my "must have" list for Fall. I'll be sure to share the results.

#SCARYotypes of Black Women in the Beauty Industry (via @GarnierUSA)

At this point in my life I've gotten used to seeing the one, token brown face used in beauty advertisements. I guess that solitary brown face staring back at me on the boxes, magazine covers, and ads of my favorite products is supposed to make me as a black woman feel include. Part of the team. Not forgotten or viewed as an after thought.

Most people are familiar with the bright green, borderline obnoxious packaging of Garnier USA products. Packaging aside, I'm actually a fan of a handful of items.On a recent shopping excursion in Walgreens (i.e. I ran out of toilet paper and needed a new tooth brush), the one brown face in the latest Garnier USA ad campaign jumped out at me... but for all the wrong reasons.

Not goddess, glamour, princess, or siren... But black girls must be "Urban attitude?" @garnierUSA Very disappointing. pic.twitter.com/EeHONlD3XZ
— EYE-sha (@sixtwentyseven) September 1, 2014

As I looked at the images I saw headlines next to each face... then got to the black girl. "Urban Attitude" .... (insert deep pause) Urban attitude? Really? My eyes rolled into the back of my head and I felt a bit slighted. Like, must the black girl always represent urban attitude? We couldn't get the tagline of goddess, glamour, princess or siren? It "urban attitude" really the best the Garnier USA team could come up with? Better yet, how many people saw this copy and smiled... big, cheesy ass grins thinking 'we nailed this!'

This entire campaign wreaks of a non-black team of people throwing together the type of marketing they thought would appeal to black women. "Black women are so feisty and urban. They had attitude and I'm sure they'd love to see themselves represented on this product in this way." The entire thing is annoying as hell, but more so disappointing. A brand that I've supported for years has blatantly dropped the ball on representing me and those who look like me.

Garnier USA - - black women represent more than "urban attitude." Do better.

This child is exasperated by life and I love it

As a child I was always encouraged to speak my mind and was actually rewarded for having an opinion. I provided endless hours (and years) of entertainment for my parents and still put a smile on their faces to this day.

I have zero filter and have been known to say quite a few things that make them chuckle. I'm sure it's made it easier being my parent over the years lol...

Seeing the video of this adorable and outspoken boy has put the biggest smile on my face! What a cool kid. I only hope that my future kids are full of this much spunk, personality, and opinions!

Not to mention he actually uses the word "exasperated" correctly in a sentence. Y'all... I know adults who can't use it correctly lol. This kid is my hero.

The Illest DJ You've Never Heard @jayilla

People in Chicago have an affinity for day parties. The drinks, the sun, the people... but most importantly the music. Many people have grooved along to the melodic magic of DJ Jay Illa, but have you ever wondered what life is like behind the scenes?

"Don't Sweat The Technic" is a new web series giving viewers a peek inside the world of Chicago DJ Jay Illa as he balances life between his 9-5 and grinding it out on the 1s and 2s.

"A product of the Chicago underground hip-hop scene, he was dubbed iLLaNOise by Chicago legend Twilite Tone during his days with the League, eventually settling on the moniker Jay iLLa aka iLLaNOise.  

As a Chicago nightlife scene veteran, Jay iL currently has residencies throughout the downtown area. He also has a standing monthly event, TGIFresh, hosted at Tantrik and other venues throughout the city."

Being from Chicago I've had the pleasure of hearing DJ Jay Illa spin a ton of times and can genuinely count him as one of my favorite DJs. I'm really excited to get a behind-the-scenes look at what life is like from his perspective. It's also dope to see the overall production and editing quality of his web series. Kudos to him and @E_Seals for putting together what I think will be a landmark series of its kind!

Indique Bounce Coil Curl: 7 weeks

It dawned on me that I never I ended up rocking my Indique Bounce Collection Coil Curl hair for 7 wondrous weeks and was smitten with it every step of the way.

What Matters in Life?

I had about 10 blog posts in "draft" status, but the #MikeBrown murder in Ferguson, MO happened and everything seemed so trivial in comparison. I wanted to crank out fun, light-hearted posts about hair, dope food spots in Seattle and how poor I felt shopping at Ross, but none of that matters in this moment.

An unarmed man was gunned down in broad daylight in Ferguson, MO by the police and my disappointment is impossible to hide. I wish I could say I was shocked, but I'm not. I'm sad.  It's hard to put into words how tragic this murder is... it's another reminder... another senseless murder of a young, black life... just another "in your face" example of how little value black lives hold in the eyes of the majority in the US.

I am not Kim Kardashian. I wasn't blind to the racism and bullshit black people have to deal with in the United States. I can, however, say I'm truly stunned looking at the side by side images of the protesters around the country and old school pics from the Civil Rights movement. It's haunting.

Earlier today my best friend Lontier headed down to Ferguson, MO along with her BF (television personality Felonious Munk) and their camera crew to provide additional coverage, support, and aid to the city and protesters. Please follow their firsthand coverage of the events via Twitter: @LVictoria_ and @Felonious_munk.