The story Continues………..
In my previous post, I commenced the story behind shoot no 1, I am going to be picking up my story from where I dropped the pen.
Remember I had made payment for shoot no 1 which was scheduled for the 18th of August at Adesuwa’s residence. I was still over the top with my 2 stunning looks, though I hadn’t sourced for or found the perfect outfits. All I was sure about then was that my braids were kempt and good to go.
I did a great maintenance job if I do say so myself. My major mistake however, was not sharing my plans with the photographer.
For this particular shoot I decided to use my all time, favorite make-up artist @bellevousmakers because the shoot was happening in the heat of my active work week. There was no way I could pull off the kind of look I desired with the pressure work was dealing me.
MJ @bellevousmakeovers felt my braids were still top notch and continued to encourage me with its maintenance.
While I felt my hair style was sorted, I had to purchase outfits for my shoot! Getting the perfect outfit was no walk in the park, but I eventually got around it after many sleepless nights and vigorous search.
My first outfit is the sequined blue short dress from the pictures and it was purchased from JOJOandcoofficial , while the second dress was purchased from a clothing store on the island called KYLuxury.
I was in love with both outfits! In my opinion everything was set! Make up 
outfits accessories ……Hair…. or so I thought!
A few days to the shoot, my able photographer puts a call through to discuss the looks we were going for. She absolutely digged my two outfits but there was a slight problem, she wasn’t feeling my braids for the looks.
This was coming after almost 3 weeks of scheduled braid maintenance, sleeping with one eye open and double bonnet coverage!
Eh! God, this wasn’t happening, I refused to agree that the braids won’t match my look and stubbornly proceeded with my braid plans for the shoot.
Lo and behold as the shoot date approached, I started to lose faith in the braids, knotless braids that I made with expensive money. You don’t want to know how this braid issue pained me o.
If you have been following my hair care journey you would know that braids and I have a weird relationship. Love them, but could hate them sometimes too.
I love them because, common they are gorgeous and versatile, but I fear their ability to give traction alopecia and rip edges off.
This was my debut back to braids, knotless style, after over 5 years of staying off them. I fought to see if I could keep it together with my braids and still ace my two looks, but my efforts failed, I am glad they did.
I texted my photographer the evening before the shoot and informed her about my decision to take the braids down, she was elated, and she gave me maximum encouragement.
“Sis you would not regret this,” she said.
The braid take down was hectic, especially because I had karashika nails on. The story of that one is for another day. Ladies do you care to share how y’all cope with these long artificial nails?
I literally felt handicapped, little chores became big deals! Abeg o Artificial nails are a pain, I honestly can’t deal but I flaunted the nails with pride while they lasted.
Back to my braid take down! Guys I was up till 2am taking down my gorgeous braids with a heavy heart.
The next morning, I made a quick stop at an amazing saloon on the island to install the gorgeous pony tail you see in my pictures.
Next stop was MJ’s @bellevousmakeovers studio and she slayed my face to perfection before I headed for Adesuwa’s residence.
The ambience there was friendly! Asides the beautiful sets and creative ideas, her assistants were super helpful. They made amazing bts (behind the scene) videos with my phone at no cost at all.
I literally felt fulfilled after this shoot guys and I won’t have had it any other way.
You can find pictures from my first shoot in the gallery below for your viewing pleasure.
I am just getting started, kindly check back for my second shoot story.
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