Strolling back to the Original Garden are we ladies?

I am one of those people that believe that you should wear whatever you are comfortable in. Or whatever you think looks good on you. Because that way you will be confident and carry yourself well and of course this will make you look good. Somehow. And if it doesn’t, oh well, you at least pleased yourself.

Anyway, I don’t do a lot of dresses because I am not a dress person. I am a jeans/pants person. If you catch me in a dress, [or a skirt] then you are at a function with me. I am one of those ladies that would say ‘Halleluyah’ if I am invited to a wedding that I am not going to be any part of anything like the bridal train and stuff because I’m getting my pants ironed babe. [I know it is crazy and unheard of but I have a reason but still... ‘I don’t wanna go there’ *in Chris Brown’s voice] I am gradually changing though. Too many beautiful dresses out there.

Someone said my 'wings' were sprouting nicely. Loooool. With my hands down, the wings disappear though. #shrugs#

That thin line between Sexy and Sheer Bravery

Taking fashion risks is quite cool and in the world of fashion, you are even considered as fashion forward. Some of these dresses however, make me wonder and wonder. It takes a brave woman who either doesn’t care about what the world says, is very very confident and thinks the world should see why or just simply well fashion crazy. 

You guys know why I chose the word ‘brave’ right? Because I know that there is no way in this world I would be able to wear these dresses. Ever. There is no way you would wear this kind of dresses and expect not to have a 'wardrobe malfunction.

Dresses that make you wonder: Risque or Honey but why??

 I can't even picture her walking without giving everyone a full frontal view of her 'you know'. But she wore this and paired it with heels that high to the Grammys. #Risque

Uma Thurman

So Uma decided to wear her good old panties under this number but we can all appreciate that it didn't do much good. Everything is on display. #Undecided

Playsuits, Women and Cellulite

A playsuit is probably one of the sexiest things a woman can wear. What with all that skin showing and legs, legs and more legs? It has this way of looking good on a woman no matter her shape and size. 

However, playsuits since they expose most of the thighs also expose other things, mostly cellulite.

I am one of those people that believe a woman should accept her body the way it is and not let her flaws make her insecure but I also think she should also realize that some of those flaws can be treated or well hidden. It doesn’t matter really and doesn’t make you less of a fashionista or less sexy if you dress to hide your flaws.

Source

 I see women in playsuits and other short garbs in movies [actresses], at events and on the streets of Lagos showing stuff that I believe they shouldn’t be showing.

5 items you MUST have in your purse this season.

The dry/harmattan season is here! So it's time to arm ourselves with a few things to battle whatever the dry winds and scorching sun throw at us on the go people. If these aint already in your purse, consider this a quick reminder.

#1. A good lip balm: You don’t want to be going around with dry looking lips. Get a good lip balm and use it before you go to bed and under your lip colour in the morning.

#2. A small tub of a good moisturizing lotion or cream: The skin needs lots of moisture this season. Moisturize on the go if you must.

#3. Sunshades: The sun rays and hot wind isn’t good for your eye area. Cover up to avoid dark patches and sun burn.

Trends that rocked 2012 [Fashion and Beauty]

Now this is my own opinion and what I saw which I am sure most of us did. Ladies went ‘gaga’ on these trends and I wonder if they would continue next year. Anyway, we know how these things work. New year, new trends.

#1. Pink lips [plus or minus the pout]: All of a sudden, pink lipstick, lip stain and lip gloss became essential commodity. 90 percent of the ladies you saw on the streets had a generous amount of ‘pink’ on their lips. Girls even got permanent pink lips. I am still not sure how that works but someone told me about it in a market. The pink lip thingy does look good when properly done. Really pretty actually. I have a couple of pink lips things myself. But when a sister is walking down the road with a tub of pink lip gloss on her lips, errr no. But we do see this sometimes anyway.

  #2. Stylish head wraps: I loved seeing this. Some ladies just know how to get it right. Various colours and styles of head wraps were worn with almost anything. Bad hair days were hidden stylishly. 

Source

#3.  Colour blocking/ Neon Colours: No, it didn’t go away. In fact, it came back strong and doesn’t seem like it’s going anywhere. Who knows though.

Source

Lessons...

 Life is full of surprises and up and downs and all that. All we have to do is just learn as we go. You do what you can. Share your experiences. Learn from your mistakes and be a better person.

Here are the few things I learnt these few months

•  That a mother looking for her lost child would do just about anything. Being a parent isn’t easy and we all should really appreciate our folks especially those that have been there for us. I know a woman whose young daughter ran off with a shady guy who has no plans whatsoever for her. She left school and ever since, she cut off all contacts with her family. This is a girl her family loves and it’s not like she wasn’t brought up well. Bad company is the worst thing that could happen to any youngster dear readers especially if he or she is dying to belong. Her mum has been everywhere and done everything. Very painful. The girl is finally talking to her family and we all hope she realizes that she’s just wasting away before it is too late.

• That virgin coconut oil is VERY good for the skin. I stumbled on this information somewhere and I was a bit skeptical. But I remembered that my mum had a bottle of it that she bought months ago. Just mix it Shea butter and use it sparingly at night because you don’t want to go about in the morning smelling like coconut. Wash off in the morning with very luke warm water. Don’t do hot. If you have oily skin, don’t use this. The deal is use something natural sometimes. It doesn’t have to be all the time.

I am Phabiluscious...

 I am moving the contents of Phabiluscious to this blog. So you’d be seeing some reviews on beauty products and fashion stuff.  I would also feature some beauty and fashion businesses once in a while. And fashionable people too.  I figured I could do that here without the stress of managing another blog.

Click here for more information.

Have yourselves a fantastic weekend.

Lily Johnson

The wearable and The weird

I love shoes! Every woman does right? It’s just that while some of us buy beautiful shoes when we can afford to, some of us run into serious debt because we just can’t help but buy any pair of shoes we like.

I really need to go shoe shopping after my exams because I need a few more pairs. I was just checking out some shoes online and saved some pictures.  I tagged the collection, The wearable and The weird.

Check them out...

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I love some of them but some, I just wonder why on earth I would want to wear anything like that. Fashion I guess. 

I just want to know which pair of shoes you think isn't what you would go out of your way to buy but you could wear them just to know how it would feel or something.

It is No 10 for me. The shoe looks like something used for home decor but look at the shape! It is just out of this life and it looks wearable.

I think No 18 was designed for a trendy, fashionable, talking peacock.

Thank you guys for wishing me good luck with my exams.

Lily Johnson

Pics from Polyvore.com

The crack of the matter

I love being a woman and yes, I want to turn heads when I walk into a room. (ahem.. not really because I am a little shy). I love fashion. I like looking and feeling sexy. But I don't believe that I have to show my buttcrack to be sexy. That, in my opinion is trashy. Trashy can be sexy but sexy doesn't have to be trashy.

Some days ago, I was looking for a shirt to wear to work and I brought out this fine shirt of mine that I had not worn in ages and wondered why it was so.  So I dressed up and as usual, I took a bike to get me to the next bus stop. I noticed that the air was carressing the lower part of my waist. Then it hit me; that part of my body was exposed and the people in the buses and cabs behind me were..well having a field day looking at my partially exposed behind. My crack wasn't exactly showing when I touched there but it must have shown once in a while when the bike entered a pot hole on the road.

Then my fight with my beautiful shirt began. I would draw it down, it would go up again. Then I had to hold it all the way. I realised why I hadn't worn that shirt in a while.
When I entered a bus, I am sure I must have shown something and some more when I got down and I am sure the passengers would be making fun of me because of the way I was preoccupied with making sure they see nothing and failing woefully.

Some ladies do not think it is wrong to show that part of their body when they are on bikes or any where for that matter. Every day you get to see all colours of booty and g-strings all over the place. I am not going to talk about the 'secrets' exposed in the process. You know you can see that on the beach but on the road in the morning? Comeon!

All I am saying is that a woman can look sexy even when she is decently dressed. There is nothing wrong with showing a little skin once in a while but not the way that people would call you what you are not. And wear your confidence baby. Afterall a lot of men think that there is nothing as sexy as a confident woman.

Keep looking good people!

Lily Johnson


Pics from http://www.pbase.com/

So you want to lose weight?

Yeah, yeah, you have been told by everyone in the world that you are FAT. Those who care about you have said the same thing using nicer words and encouraging you to do something about it. Maybe you’d like to try something or maybe not. Maybe you are living in denial and again maybe not.

So what do you want to think about yourself?….
Okay your BMI doesn’t say you are slim. Your friends are talking endlessly about weight loss programs. Your co-workers attach the word ‘big’ to whatever they have to say about you then there are other people like people you sit beside in buses and trains, your mother in-law, your boss, your shrink…these people may have unkind things to say sometimes. Or maybe not

Listen my dear; the opinion of the entire galaxy is just secondary. No one on earth should be swayed by what people think about him (or her). You should look deep into yourself and find out what you think about yourself. Believe me; you don’t need hours of counseling to discover that. Just look at yourself dispassionately and say what you see. After all, you are the one living in your skin.

The moment of truth is here! Are you ready? You would need these:
A pen and a paper
A full length mirror
Your favorite casual wear, dinner wear, work wear, night wear and if you swim; swim wear
Your critical thinking mind

Wear these clothes one by one and observe yourself carefully and critically but don’t be too hard on yourself. Just write what you see. Please do not look at the clothes, look at the body wearing them. I bet you’ve never really observed yourself in a full length mirror before going to work or before going out with your close friends. Yeah, when you’re going out for a dinner party, you could spend hours before a mirror trying to find the right dress but I bet you never did it with a pen and paper!
So does your body flatter those clothes? You know, does your body look attractive in those clothes?
Or do you just wear drab and unfashionable clothes?! Why for God’s sake?

Source

Okay, okay…so do you think you are fat and pathetically so? Do you think that those clothes are just for covering for you and never to make a fashion statement? Or do you think you are just a little overweight and you are just fine with it? You just need to update your wardrobe with more fashionable clothes and key into the ‘phat’ culture?

Girl, make up your mind because you are about to take on a harder task. Alright.
Now take off your clothes. Everything. Remember don’t be too hard on yourself. Believe me nobody is flawless. People just love themselves and try hard to keep in shape. Others of course visit plastic surgeons.
Now stare at the mirror closely and write what you think about your face, arms, boobs, stomach, thighs and legs. It is not an easy feat I know but it is something you have to do.
Now wear your clothes and go out for some fresh air. With the paper and pen in hand. Sit and take a deep breath. Good. Now try to summarize what you have written. Remember the words are your own and you want to establish reality.

So what do you think about yourself now that you have seen yourself? That is the big question.
If after what you have seen, YOU GENUINELY FEEL YOU LOOK OKAY and believe that YOU ARE NOT IN DENIAL and you are HAPPY with your appearance and believe that your weight is not (or should not be) a source of worry to people that care about you unless (or until) there is a health problem involved; then sweetheart, you shouldn’t feel any pressure to loose weight. And if you have to do it, it should be when you decide to do it. No pressure at all!!

But if the first reaction when you saw your naked body in that mirror was a cringe, if you looked at the cellulite on your thighs and belly with horror, if the way you look makes you want to puke, if you are always insecure or just got insecure after looking at yourself in that mirror, if you wear clothes to desperately hide yourself, if because of your weight you don’t want to go out and have fun with your friends, your relationship is suffering because of your low self esteem and you think you are just going to die of weight-related health problems; girl you just have to get on a weight-loss program! And fast!
 
Have a fabulous week..

Lily Johnson