-BY MELANIE MERCEDES –

Faith. Life. Style.

Recent Posts

May 4, 2020

The Top 10 Best Affordable Curly Hair Products in 2020 2 years ago, March 2018 I got my last relaxer. I had tried for 2 years prior to go natural and in all honesty, it wasn’t working for me. All of the curly influencers had giant, soft curls, they looked nothing like mine. They could use maybe just 2 quartered sized drops of shampoo and a nice squirt of conditioner. I couldn’t. They picked out their hair to make it bigger, I couldn’t get mine to behave. They split their hair in two halves and did the prayer hands method.

March 29, 2020

-by Melanie Mercedes- A reflection on a message called A message preached by Pastor Mike Todd of Transformation Church in 2018 Much like the rest of the social media world, I discovered pastor Mike Todd about a year ago on YouTube when he first began a series on relationships. If you followed me then on IG, you have seen that I just about reposted the entire message to my stories. And again, much like everyone else in the social media world, I saw (several times) the video of him preaching at Elevation church a message entitled “Marked”. It went viral.

July 3, 2019

About Melanie

Melanie is the creator of Thirtyone30. She is a feisty Puerto-Rican and Dominican woman, who fiercely loves her friends, family, pizza, her fur baby and most importantly people and the word of God. Her passion for people is exhibited through her service, whether it be working for a local non-profit, teaching special needs children, helping to lead worship or speaking and teaching the word. She is the life of the party and that shows through in everything she does, even in the way her hair naturally has a mind of its own. Speaking of hair, it can be said to have become another passion, helping other young women learn to love the hair they were born with, through sharing products, techniques and everything curly hair journey.

Frequent Q's

Where do you live?

I moved from New York City to the Phoenix area of Arizona with my husband + fur baby.

Where are you from?

I am half Dominican + half Puerto-Rican

What do you use in your hair?

Click here to find some of my favorite products. *inserts wink emoji*

Latest Blog Post

Trusting in Provision

May 4, 2020

There’s Always a Raven Ahhhhhh! I can’t believe I’m doing this! That’s literally all I thought when making this. I wanted to do something a little different and realize that it is always easier to hear or see because there isn’t always time to stop and read. Well, I did it, I made a youtube video. I’ve been waiting to do this for a while and frankly, I’ve been holding onto this video because it isn’t perfect. I can see all my mistakes, things I should’ve done beforehand, things I should’ve done after, shoot, even things I should’ve done during. But something amazing happened after I made and edited this video. I made this video not because all my provisions were met the minute I asked, not because everything was going smoothly, and definitely not because I had the perfect faith and not a worry in sight. – No worries?

Get in touch

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For business inquiries, email Melanie@thirtyone30.com

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mercedesmel_

Hi. I am obsessed with home decor. 😍😍😍⁣

First selfie in my new home. ⁣⁣⠀ ⁣⁣⠀ C

I did it!⁣⁣⠀
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I told myself a year ago to “just try it” for a year. I was so used to seeing my long straight hair that seeing all these coils and kinks come of out my head was strange. I would give myself a year to see where my hair would be and then I could go back to straightening my hair if I still felt ugly. ⁣⁣⠀
I battled with feeling “not beautiful”, “not put together”, “not neat”, “how will I do my hair in professional settings?”. Yes. I thought ALL of that, about the hair that naturally grows out of my head. Beauty wasn’t being defined by how God made me. ⁣⁣⠀
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So I did it. I did the year. ⁣⁣⠀
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And I love it. I can’t wait to see my hair in another year! I feel confident in exactly how I was created. My hair is bra strap length when wet and shrinks to shoulder blade length. I remember when it wouldn’t pass my chin lol⁣⁣⠀
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I even wore my hair natural for my wedding. Something I never pictured myself doing. ⁣⁣⠀
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Here’s to one year! I’m never going back lol

Happy National Dog day to this little guy who thin

You see this kid on the right?⁣⁣⠀ ⁣⁣⠀

ｒｅｓｔｉｓｇｏｏｄ ⁣⁣⠀
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I’ve been MIA for a while + I’m not sorry. Life happened. 2020 has been crazy. We’ve had some amazing highs and low lows. ⁣⁣⠀
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I needed a break. Life was calling me, so was my peace + mental health. ⁣⁣⠀
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My heart was so broken + hurting for what has transpired the last few months. ⁣⁣⠀
I learned the hard way that people harbored hate in their hearts + called it normal. I learned people considered racism a “difference of opinion to be respected” + they were asking me to “respect their opinion”. NO. Just no. So many things wrong with that. ⁣⁣⠀
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A pandemic became political. Wanting to love your neighbor became political. Wearing a mask became unsafe, not wearing a mask became unsafe. The church became political. ⁣⁣⠀
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I missed church dearly but going back wasn’t the same. ⁣⁣⠀
I missed friends dearly, but grew apart. ⁣⁣⠀
I miss the kids I work with, + probably won’t see again. ⁣⁣⠀
We lost one of our kids to gun violence + I was angry, upset + sad. ⁣⁣⠀
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Social media wasn’t helping. ⁣⁣⠀
So I took a break. I will slowly be back, once I’m settled in our new home. ⁣⁣⠀
Thanks for sticking around.

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I knew that I was marrying a great man. What I didn’t know was that he was much more than that. He’s amazing. Caring. Patient. Kind. I feel every bit of loved. ⁣⁣⠀
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My lovely single ladies, PLEASE, PLEASE, BE PATIENT. ⁣⁣⠀
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I understand the pain of waiting. The tears no one sees, the jokes about marriage and babies, the questioning. ⁣⁣⠀
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Trust me! I understand being single when all your friends are getting married and having babies. I understand the pit in your stomach when you ring in 25, 26, 27, then 30, still single. ⁣⁣⠀
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Marriage is serious work, I couldn’t imagine having to do it with someone who didn’t love me as Christ loved the church. Someone who didn’t put me first while I put him first. I don’t say this lightly when I say; WAIT ON GOD. I know waiting isn’t easy but do it. ⁣⁣⠀
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In the waiting, steward your singleness well. Learn about yourself, learn about God. Learn what you love and don’t like, get hobbies, be ambitious. Don’t just prepare for a future husband, take the time to cultivate the woman God has intended you to be, all on your own, all because of Him. Your relationship status does not define you. Please don’t let it define you. ⁣⁣⠀
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#curlybride #wedding #husbandappreciation #singleadvice #marriageadvice

ＴＩＲＥＤ. ＤＲＡＩＮＥＤ. ⁣⁣⠀

⁣⁣⠀ I need to be honest. ⁣⁣⠀ ⁣⁣⠀

⁣⁣⠀ I said a prayer⁣⁣⠀ That someday I

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