Miss Africa Canada-soo close to a dream come true

Hey guys!
 Sooo I know it's been so long(according to me) since my last post but I decided to drop by and share something with you. I am actually a finalist in the upcoming 2012 MISS AFRICANADA PAGEANT! My platform is a very unique one-Breast Ironing in Cameroon,which is a form of female mutilation whereby a young girl's breast are pounded in an attempt to stop them from growing! I was a victim of this form of female mutilation which drastically increases your chances of getting breast cancer. I really really want to win the crown in order to fully establish my charity (Breast Ironing in Cameroon) back home.

This is a "cleaner" version of what the process looks like:

The stone used to pound the breasts is actually very hot and kept in the fire!

  I know I get so many views a week so I am kindly pleading that you my viewers take a few seconds to both:

 A) "LIKE" MY PROMO VIDEO on YouTube-hey, you get to hear me actually speak for the first time!

anddddd
B) VOTE for me by clicking on my name and then "vote" at the link below!

http://www.missafricanada.ca/brenda_chuinkam.html
(You'll get some message saying you have to be an administrator to view the page, but that's fine. As long as you select me and then vote, you've voted for me. )

If you would like something to be done about Breast Ironing, vote, Vote, VOTE for me!

The show is on August 11th at the University of Toronto Macmillan Theater and tickets are $30!!
It was a sold out show last year and people had to be turned down at the door.

If you view this post, you just HAVE TO vote for me/like my YouTube video!

  And here's what part of the flyer looks like:

PLEASE,PLEASE,PLEASE VOTE FOR ME & LIKE MY YOUTUBE VIDEO! You actually have to click on "like".

Empire State of Mine,New York on my mind...

Sooo I am super excited for my upcoming trip! I am headed to NYC (THE actual New York City!) for my vacation this week! I'm supposed to be packing right now but decided to take a break and share with you why I am sooo stoked!
 First off, I grew up in NY (we lived there for about 8 years of my life before moving to Cameroon) and have not been there ever since we left in 1997! We actually stayed on Roosevelt Island (where I'll visit for a day) so I will get to take the tram to my hometown! Roosevelt Island lies between Manhattan and Queens and my sister was actually born in Manhattan.


 Isn't it beautiful!

We used to stroll down here with my family on warm summer nights.

This was our church!-The Good Shepherd

And of course! The famous tram! The only one in N. America.

 I am obviously excited about the (window) shopping that shall be done while in NYC! I'm going to be looking for interesting prints,brights,classic bags,neon,colour blocking garments and chiffon.

Have a good week people! I know I will :)

African Print, (tribal print): It all started in Africa...

Everyone knows that African print is "in" according to the fashion world. Well, I don't know why it took them so long to figure it out but it has always been "in" in my opinion and I love me some african fabric or anything that is designed with that concept in mind. Our fabric is just so attention-grabbing,it always always turns heads!
 I actually attended Afrofest 2012 held in downtown Toronto this past weekend and was able to score myself some good fabric at decent prices! I can't wait to have my pieces sewn and of course I shall be sharing them here once they are ready.
 Along that note, this look came about thanks to this shoe I knew I had to have from Aldo because it just screams "tribal":

To be honest, they are not the most comfortable pair of heels I own but they do look so good-very eye-catching indeed! I got them at 50% off from aldoshoes.com and ended paying so much less than what everyone else did-see there,smart shopping!SOmetimes it pays off to wait a little.
 The shoes made me think of a 50s inspired vintage skirt I had seen on asos.com so I paired them and voila! A cool summer look came about.

Check out my kick! :)

My transition-enlisting the help of Carol's Daughter

    Sooo, a lot of you did not see this coming but I have officially started my hair transitioning process from Relaxed to Natural! I had my box braids in for about 2 and a half months in order to further let my natural hair grow out so that I could chop it off. I usually stretch out my perms (I used to relax my hair about every 3-4 months,unlike most people who would relax/perm their hair about every month!)
 I took out the briads (which was what I had been busy doing,lol) and got my hair dresser to chop off ALMOST all of the relaxed part. (I only left enough hair to be able to do corn rows with so that I can wear wigs and even full head weaves). I didn't even feel anything (emotionally) when she was chopping it off... Just lighter. I shall continue to grow and chop off until I am at my natural roots only.
 My main reason for doing this is because I feel like a few bad perms had damaged my hair and really stressed out my scalp. I just want to leave it natural, at least for 1-2 years...who knows, I may stay natural forever! I'm not one of those talented girls who can do all these cool things with her natural hair like "finger braids" and "twists" etc so I shall be using a lot of youtube.

To aid in my transitioning process, I purchased the Transitioning Kit from Carol's Daughter! (http://www.carolsdaughter.com/Portal.aspx?CN=C0B4D6EFEFD1&BCID=&utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=hair&utm_campaign=p-button1)
 I have not purchased many items from Carol's daughter but I know that their products are as natural as they could be and smeel very very nice. I currently have their Hair Elixir Duo that helps prevent front hair breakage. I'm sure you've seen the ads for the transitioning kit-they're everywhere! Solange Knowles is the spokes person for the kit. According to her blog, she used Carol's daughter wayy before she became their spokes model.

Here are a few shots of what it looks like now:

You can see a little bit of the frontal damage.:)

Showing off my "basketball wives" earrings

Colour me Red

I know it's been a while since my last post but I've been so busy! You shall soon be kept abreast of what I've been up to! I promise,it's juicy. Anywho,this weekend was Canada Day!!! I'm not Canadian but I live in the country so I took advantage og the holiday and the official Canadian colours (which are Red and White but I stuck to just red) and came up with this outfit that ended up reminding me of the Oscar/Academy Award Statue!
 This dress is fa-bu-lous but very body hugging so no carbs before putting it on and start working out before you purchase it because it shows everything!-In a good way though. The price is also very affordable.

Enjoy the many pictures I took :)

 Take note of the choker necklace, it's quickly becoming one of my staples! It goes with so many outfits! I got it at a steal price of $6!

Dress- Missguided
Clutch-River Island
Choker necklace-H&M
Heels-Aldo
Earrings-Naori's bijoux