31 Things You May Not Know About Me

Monday, November 25, 2019



1. I have one sibling , a younger brother. We're seven years a part.
2. I’m a member  of Kappa Delta Pi.
3. I've always known that I wanted to be a teacher and spent all my childhood years collecting books for my one day classroom.
4. I am the biggest introvert. I would rather stay home than be around a crowd. Also I’d prefer to listen than to talk.
5. I've worn the same 2 perfumes for the last 7 years. Clinique "Happy" and Jlo's "Glow".
6. I absolutely love traveling. I am in a new city every week or weekend whether its for my job or for pleasure.
7. I am always hot when everyone else is cold. I keep blankets laid out on my couch for guests when they come over. Everyone describes my apartment as Antarctica lol Yes, I sleep with fans on during winter months.
8. I have an addiction with podcasts and audio books. I listen to podcasts more than music. I’m loving  Crime Junkies right now.
9. I am more secretive than I'd like to admit. I've always had a habit of keeping things that mean the most to me private.
10. I truly enjoy LEARNING! I love going to workshops, conferences, etc. I'll be the first to admit that I have more book smart than sense :p. No street smart whatsoever.
11. I am deathly afraid of anything that flies (birds, butterflies, moths, etc). Anytime I go in pet stores, I steer farrrrrrrrr away from the parakeets and parrots. In high school on a band trip, I was chased around and ATTACKED by a flock of birds in an open door restaurant. I nearly ran into the restaurant's low dangling chandelier running from them. I've never fully recovered.
12. I love scary movies.
13. Weighted blankets have been such a game changer for me when it comes to sleeping and helps my insomnia.
14. After years of dreaming of the exact puppy breed, color, etc I've finally got the pup of my dreams. Currently puppy proofing my home.
15. I got the chicken pops when I was in the 3rd grade. I remember my mom bathing me in oatmeal and telling me not to scratch. Well I did. I still have a chicken pop bump on top of my right shoulder.
16. TMI WARNING butttttt I am such a free spirit at home. 99.9% of the time I'm in my birthday suit until I have guests over. Then I have to put on clothes. :p
17. I'm a true EMPATH. I truly sense people just by standing next to them. With that said, I often need time to recharge. When I'm around people for an ample amount of time, I become physically and emotionally drained and or physically sick.  I literally have to have a full day alone to recover. It's a blessing and a curse.
18. I can always sense when someone being untruthful . I was in a room of no shy of 15 people. We were playing the game 2 truths and a lie. I've never met any of them before and didn't know their names. I was able to point to each person until I got to the 15th and told them the lie they said. Everyone faces showed how creeped out they were.
19. I gravitate towards water, oceans, etc. Water is so cleansing and refreshing to my soul. It's probably why my getaway is the ocean. My water bill usually reflects the excessive amount of long baths or showers I take.
20. My home is my safe haven. Incense, candles, or diffusers are always burning. I absolutely love Egyptian musk incense.
21. I  loveeeee Nerds rope candy! I never leave Walmart or a gas station without trying to find Nerds rope candy. I was even more thrilled when I found out that Sonic has slushies with Nerds. I usually order the grape or Ocean blast with Nerds.
22. I am claustrophobic. Being in small closed spaces is an anxiety attack WAITING to happen for me.
23. I am very strong willed and goal oriented. Once I set my eyes on something, trying to convince me other wise won't change anything. I go for it!
24. I'm a FIRM believer in doing people right. You reap what you sow. Speaking kindly of others. I tend to see people positive traits more so than their negative ones.
25. My favorite meal is pasta. I reallyyyyy love spaghetti. It will always be my favorite.
26. I've become a Vodka girl. I love pouring a splash of Ketel One's grapefruit vodka into my grapefruit juice. So refreshing. Don't knock it until you try it!
27. I have Mortans toe which means that I have long toes. My second toe is so much more noticeably longer than my big toe. I have greek feet.
28.  I have an obsession with putting Vaseline on my lips and eye brows through out the day. I keep a jar of Vaseline on my night stand.
29. I truly value my time. Therefore, if I'm not learning anything, engaged, or gaining any insight of something, I'm pretty much overrrr it and it's really hard to reel me back in. RECLAIMING MY TIME.
30. I've probably been in more hotels than the average person. No, I'm not a prostitute.
31. Humility and kindness are character traits that I admire the most of a person.

NOLA: Birthday Edition

Saturday, November 23, 2019



DAY 1







31. It's another year that I get to celebrate LIFE. It is true, the older you get the more

Part 2 : Birthday weekend in NOLA

Thursday, November 21, 2019


The BEST Razor I Have Ever Used

Saturday, November 16, 2019







Let's talk RAZORS. Side note: If you haven't already read my most candid  post about how I really feel about hair, you can read that here. You’re definitely in for a read.

Gone Coastal: My weekend getaway

Thursday, May 16, 2019






Just wanted to share my weekend look from a few months ago. I took a trip to the beach with the

How I keep my hair shiny + voluminous: Formulate

Monday, April 1, 2019



Let me go ahead and clear the air...I HATE wash days. Whether it's clothes, hair, etc. But my hair, oh the hair. Girls with thick hair, you get my drift. It takes me hours to do my hair. I spend several minutes going down the hair care line looking for new products to try. ANYTHING that will make hair wash days less of an EH.

In case you didn't know, I'm BLACK. Okay, now the we got that out the way...lol I just want to say that  hair care for afro centric / coarse hair (shampoo +conditioner) is VERY limited in stores. And if it is offered at a store, it is twice the price of regular shampoo and conditioner. Don't argue with me. I was a little skeptical when Formulate reached out to me. My thoughts: Do they know that I'm not white? My hair isn't fine. It's coarse, dry scalp, and sometimes itchy, etc. But this company seemed to cater to all hair types.

How to get started.
I took a short quiz that asked questions about my hair goals, the texture of my hair, the scents I'd like for my shampoo. Yes, this line allows you to customize your kit. And let's not forget the gorgeous packaging. The shampoo and conditioner are packaged in this fancy bottle with a dispenser at the top. Oh yeah, I feel so luxurious using it!

After completing the quiz, they curated shampoo+conditioner using specific nutrients that would help me accomplish my hair goals. Within a week and half, I received my kit in the mail. The packaging was very nice. The package included a personalized note and ingredients in my hair care kit.(I hate I deleted my Unboxing video of my kit)

Wash day.
I washed my hair with the green apple scent. After washing it, I went ahead to detangle and blow dry it. Yall, I did not have to use a detangler! I'm SHOOKETH. What kind of sorcery is this stuff? I ALWAYS need a detangler! Not this time. After I blow dried it and straightened it, my hair looked like it got a whole new uplift and was touched by the Gods*inserts praise hands emoji

My goal is to share my latest obsessions and this one is a gooood one you guys. I want you all to experience it for yourselves! With that said,  I’m to giving my followers a chance to win your very own personalized shampoo and conditioner set! It’s super easy and takes literally 20 seconds:D You can enter my giveaway with the link below. This is perfect for those who wants to try a new hair care line but for FREE!!! I will announce the winner in a follow up post. Have any girlfriends you want to participate in my giveaway? Send them the link below. Sharing is caring! :D Love you guys and good luck!!

 https://www.formulate.co/u/biancashakara





New Years Resolutions + GIVEAWAY with Smile Brilliant

Thursday, January 3, 2019

How are we already in the year of 2019?! Christmas and New Years went by so fast! You know we're in a new year when you see everyone excited about making New Year's resolutions and others who could care less about making them. Now in my 30s (Yeah, how did THAT happen?!--eek!) I am all about self-improvement. I did not want to overwhelm myself with a long list of resolutions that I may or might not accomplish by the end of 2019. However, I do want to make a short yet attainable list. So here's mine.



1. Journal Challenge

I am joining in on the Pinky Promise journal challenge. Over 70,00 women across the world are joining each other by reading their Bibles, journaling, and praying for each other. It focuses on being intentional about your relationship with God. Want to know more about it? Check out Heather Lindsey's blog. Her website also features cute journals to help you get started or just use any journal of your liking. 2019 will be about ELEVATION.


2. Smile Brillant (GIVEAWAY)

With the new year, I want to smile more--confidently with pearly whites! I admit that I have a love affair with red wine, pasta , and coffee. We all know these things can have a horrendous effect on our teeth. I'm soo excited to announce that this will be my second collaboration with Smile Brilliant. I got the amazing chance to work with them a little over a year ago and I haven't look back since! They were nice enough to send me whitening and desensitizing gels for my customized tray. Talk about a perfect Christmas or any holiday gift *inserts praise hands*












If you want to read more about the custom-fitted tray whitening process, I  blogged about the entire process here. Smile Brilliant is the real deal people. Talk about boosting your self-confidence and it's AFFORDABLE. I saw results immediately after the first application--not kidding! And here we are a year later, and I still swear by this product. 

****Now on to the best part! You can enter my give away here and receive $20 off your first tray using code: biancashakara20 Currently whitening my teeth now while watching Game of Thrones--(when the bf wants to watch a new show together and now we’re both HOOKED). Team Khaleesi! Haha:-) You can check out Smile Brillant website here.


3. Build more professional relationships through blogging

I'm often asked a lot of questions by others about how can they also get "free stuff" as a blogger. Yes, I admit that's one of the perks of blogging is the "free stuff" but I want to build long lasting relationships with companies. That includes becoming a brand ambassador of companies that I personally connect with. Being a style influencer/blogger calls for a lot of strategic planning. Bloggers just make it look easy. 


4. Communicate effectively

I want to listen more and learn more. I plan to work on communicating my feelings and not be too quick to write someone off (This excludes toxic friendships, co-workers, relationships, etc). I'm an empath and if I sense negative vibes I will instantly cut the tree from its roots. But everyone deserves compassion (if it's NOT abused).

5. Dare to dream BIG.

It's so cool to see bloggers that you followed for so long reach that 20 k milestone, soon they're invited to all the NYFW events shows, hosting live pre-party events on the red carpet, collaborations with huge store brands. I love seeing others succeed. It inspires me. If they can do it, so can I! I'm daring to dream BIG this year and so should YOU.

What are some of your New Years resolutions?