COLOUR ME YELLOW!

I've been wearing yellow nail polish for the better part of the past week and I love how heads are turning every time people realise that I am wearing nail colour to begin with. I think it's a bit of an obsession. I find the process of putting it on simultaneously tedious and therapeutic, funny enough. When I put this colour on, I think about two days ago, I was fuming about a situation that transpired between a friend and I. He was being such a douche! I was so pissed off at him, I was chain smoking as I uttered fire under my breathe thinking; 'This nigga though!'. I eventually decided to just try and forget about it and put some nail colour on. It made me so happy! At least for a few moments I was able to smile. Love nail colour!

SHOOTING THE BREEZE: 'BEST FRIENDS FOREVER' ARE FOR THE PLAYGROUND

‘Me and my BFF,’ a friend recently wrote under a picture of himself with, well, I guess another friend of his on Facebook. The first thing I thought when I saw this picture was; ‘Are the rest of us not as important?’

This is someone that I, and other friends, spend a lot of time with and this person in his picture: we hardly know. They didn’t grow up together or anything- none of us did- yet he had publicly declared that she is more important than the rest of us. As you might have gathered; I was quite offended by his declaration. Offended as I was, I’m not quite a believer in BFF’s. In fact, I think of it as a very childish concept. Honestly! I do not believe there is such a thing as ‘best friends forever’.

It’s just something I’ve never been able to grasp in all 26 years of being on this planet. Even on the school playground I knew there were people in my friendship circle that were more close than others, I just never warmed up to the idea that I should be finding my confidant within the group too. If we are all such chums why do we have to skinner about the others anyway? Why are some afforded special time and privileges over others? What is it that this other person has that the rest of us don’t? Psychologists suggest that children who grow up this way- having a BFF- tend to be more confident as adults. Personally, having never been that person who plays the ‘birds of a feather’ game, I find it desperately childish when an adult goes on about ‘my best friend...’. More than immature I also find it insensitive to the other people in your life that must now be made to feel less important than the one you’ve declared your best buddy. That’s how the playground works; there’s the popular kids and the not-so-popular kids. The more popular ones, by virtue of being, automatically become the more important ones.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying you should be having six ‘best friends’. I’m saying you need to get over the fact that a best friend exists to start with. I have several people I call friends, as I hope most of us do. I relate to each of them differently. There are categories of personal issues I can share with one friend that I can’t with another. There are friends I can borrow money from when I need to and those that I cannot ever speak to about anything finance related. There are friends I love going out on the town with and those whose enthusiasm about the social scene makes them a schlep to take with to a club, for instance. There are friends I discuss current affairs with and those who don’t even know what the hell it is I am talking about when I refer to Nkandla. None of the people I know fit in all of these categories, yet they all have a special place in my life. In my mind, if you are going to designate this one person as the ultimate then they must fit into all these categories to make them such a perfect being that others can’t measure up to. I’ve learnt to appreciate my various friends for their individuality and not for their ability to fit into my little BFF box. I can’t imagine calling one of them more important just because they lend me cash when I need it, for instance. It’s either you are a friend or acquaintance. There’s no in-betweens and most certainly no hierarchy.

- This column was originally published in the Sunday Independent newspaper on the 28th of April 2013

BEYONCE FOR H&M 'STANDING ON THE SUN' VIDEO

BLOGGER x PUMA

It was with delight that I read the news yesterday that my friend and fellow blogger Mahlatsi James has been picked by sportswear brand PUMA to become one of their South African ambassadors. MJ joins the likes of BLK JKS and DJ Kenzhero but this makes him the only blogger to be a public face of the brand. Congratulations, MJ and you too PUMA for making a good choice!

NEW DAY, NEW HAIR COLOUR!

Ever since I cut my dreadlocks about three or so years ago I haven't been able to decide what to do with my hair. It's been fun wearing my hair short for a while but I've always felt like something needs to be done on this head of mine. I'm not yet sure if I'll be keeping this blond look and/or experimenting more with it, but I think I like how it looks. So, it stays. At least for today. They do say blonds have more fun!

WHAT I WORE AT THE TRAFFIC LIVE SHOW LAST NIGHT

This pic was shot for afashionfriend.co.za and I've just nicked it from their website. Here I am wearing a shirt and gilet from Woolworths, print pants from Topshop, brogues from Mr Trickett @ Mr Price and a sling I bought at 'It's A House' in Cape Town. If you didn't notice; I am also wearing yellow nail varnish. That's also from Topshop. Lol.

TRAFFIC LIVE WINTER 2013 SHOW @ SHIMMY BEACH CLUB

Cape Town based retailer Traffic Live held its winter 2013 fashion show last night at Shimmy Beach Club. As one would expect from a retailer, the collection is quite trendy and bound to be a hit with those of us who are into current trends. From the highly popular camo trend to berry tones, metallics, hints of baroque, embellishments, what is often referred to as nudes (for a black person like myself it is senseless to call it nude) and, of course, the trend that refuses to die- the peplum! I thought it was a well styled show, perfectly presented to hit all the right notes with the ordinary consumer. What I did find odd were the models walking down the ramp holding on to their Blackberry phones. I understand that the smart phone maker was a sponsor, but jislaaik, that is like 'in-your-face'! Found it a little bit too much, but hey, I guess it does not take away from the clothes. Traffic Live will be launching its e-commerce business later this year, so do watch out for that if you live outside of Cape Town. Will keep you posted! Although I did not put up any menswear looks on this post, do note that Traffic Live does offer menswear! Shops are located on Long Street, Canal Walk as well as Cavendish. According to the press release; a new V&A branch will be opening soon.

Photos: SDR

LANA DEL REY'S 'GREAT GATSBY' SINGLE (AUDIO)

'GREAT GATSBY' STARLET CAREY MULLIGAN (PINTEREST/VOGUE)

The much anticipated 'Great Gatsby' starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan hits the big screen next month and while I've been waiting- ever since I heard it was in the making- to experience the world of 20s glitz and glamour, for the past couple of days I've been more excited about the soundtrack. I love Lana Del Rey and I am looking forward to hearing Beyonce's version of Amy Winehouse's Back to Black. Hope she doesn't stuff it up because it really is one of my favourite Amy songs. Her hubby Jay Z helms the star-studded project as executive producer. Lana's single is the lead and it dropped online some 24 hours ago.
I've gone and found it so you and I can give it our first proper listen:

I WANT THESE PRADA SHADES!

I was busy just browsing the net this morning and somehow landed on the Prada website. I am not sure how I landed on this one particular video, but it's a charming ad (as most Prada ads go) showcasing Prada's Poeme sunglasses. If you follow my tweets (@Sandiso_N) and this blog you probably know that Prada shades are a favourite of mine. I have three pairs in my collection so far and I can't wait to find out from my friends at Sunglass Hut if and when they will be bringing the Poeme sunglasses to the South African shores. I think the collection is quite new because there isn't much about it on the web and I recently spotted someone rocking them on Bryan Boy's blog. So, let's cross fingers and hope they will come down south very soon. I needs me a pair!

EAT LIKE A MODEL

I have to say; I'm a big fan of good food. I just don't have the patience to make the good food though. And by 'good food' I mean healthy food. Another thing I am a fan of is beautiful people. Lol. I know what you're thinking; how shallow, right? Well, at least I'm admitting to it. With this combination in mind; when I saw via Into The Gloss that male model Cesar Casier (isn't he just gorgeous?) has put out a cookbook I just had to read the post and I have to say, the salmon, avo and poached egg salad (pictured below) looks delish. There's also the detox juices (also pictured below), which is an absolute must for someone like myself. I do a lot of socialising and with that comes a lot of sipping, which often leads to problematic skin- breakouts and all. How handy it would be to have those juicing recipes! I reckon I should make this my first ever cookbook purchase!

Pictures: INTO THE GLOSS