Fairies are known as mythical creatures who grant human beings wishes with a wand and a pinch of fairy dust, but what if I told you there were fairies who can fulfill all your sweet dreams IRL? Think I'm kidding?
Well, meet Melissa Woods and Michele Burton-Oatis, sisters who are widely known as the CupCake Fairies.
Located in a peppy pink building on the historic Bayou Road, CupCake Fairies isn't just a cupcake destination, it's a café that carries pies, brownies, cake pops, éclairs, custom cakes, designer cakes, wedding cakes, hummus, coffee, teas, fraps and vegan options. They also offer low sugar and gluten-free. These delectable treats are big and bold and a reflection of their fun-loving personalities and vibrant hometown. And it's truly evolved into a family affair with their husbands and children helping with the execution of their famed desserts.
"It's love. We bake with love. When we're baking we're listening to music, laughing, and having a good time. It's a lively place to be. If you've ever been to New Orleans, you feel the energy," Melissa shared.
Since its inception in 2009, the CupCake Fairies have risen to prominence thanks to the cultivation of their specialty treats and unbelievably moist cupcakes comprised of only the best and finest ingredients. The ladies were even featured on Food Network's popular baking competition Cupcake Wars. For all intents and purposes, noteriaty and a thriving NOLA-based business have been the creamy icing on the two sisters' proverbial cupcakes. What many might not be aware of however is just how humble their beginnings actually were. Especially because baking for a living was never in either of their plans.
Growing up, Melissa and Michele were always close, even with a five-year age gap (Michele is the oldest), but they never thought they would ever go into business together. Born and bred in New Orleans, Melissa and Michele cultivated a business out of the pure love they have for their community whom they also credit for the start of their delicious entrepreneurial endeavor. "We always baked at home. Michele and her husband Michael always did the desserts at holidays. I baked for my kids and so, from that, it just started to become too much so we started giving it out to one of the organizations we worked with and they ordered from us," Melissa explained.
It was also an unconventional healing opportunity for the residents of New Orleans who were recovering from Hurricane Katrina. Michele chimed in, "We had a big event to do with them the following day and they asked if we could bake some cupcakes and we said yeah. Later on that day, I asked how many, and they said 300. And that didn't make Melissa and I happy because we don't bake regular size cupcakes, we bake jumbo cupcakes and we only had two pans at my house. So, I had to realistically do the math and try to figure it out."
After baking all night and the following morning, Melissa and Michele showed up to the event with 300 jumbo cupcakes in hand and with a simple bite, guests began inquiring about the desserts. Playfully implying that they had a little help from fairies to accomplish such a massive order, everyone began referring to them as the "cupcake fairies."
With no plans of turning their fun hobby into a profitable business, they had no company name and when the non-profit decided to write a check for their hard work despite the ladies being volunteers, they wrote it out to CupCake Fairies and thus, their baking business was born. "We felt this is where the universe wanted us to go, so we drove to Baton Rouge with check in hand and [the] LLC Cupcake Fairies and we opened up a bank account that day," Michele said. "When we got home, we were happy, we were excited. But then, the next day, reality set in and we were like 'Ok, what do we do now?' Luckily, we built up a good reputation with our non-profit that those organizations started to support us on that journey. So cupcakes found us."
With their signature Fairy Cakes, which are twice the size as a traditional cupcake, Melissa and Michele captured the attention of people in New Orleans and its surrounding areas, but when they landed on Food Network's Cupcake Wars, they had also captured America's attention."Two of the most memorable experiences that we had on Cupcake Wars was we had a lady, her and her children were going through a rough time and she wanted to do something special for them and her children just loved her, so they planned a family trip to come down to meet the fairies. When we heard that story, it just brought us closer, [and] brought tears [to our eyes] because we were so honored and so we made it so special for them," Melissa shared. "Those are the things that we hold near and dear to our hearts and that's why we push so hard and try to be a good representation of the people that are our family, our city because we understand the impact our presence will make."
Having a positive impact on others has always been their number one passion. Prior to becoming the CupCake Fairies. Michele, who worked in education and Melissa, who worked in finance, developed a non-profit called New Orleans Video Voices after Hurricane Katrina. The non-profit taught documentary film skills to community members and organizations as a platform for empowerment and engagement. Its purpose was to share the real-life stories of the people of New Orleans and the reconstruction of the city.
While their non-profit is no longer active, they still partner with other community organizations to give back and with next year marking CupCake Fairies' 10-year anniversary, their community can expect a special treat. "When we first started out, I called us the funky train. It was an old funky train on the track that wasn't working and nobody wanted it. Now we're on the track and we're beautiful and shining, so everybody who believed in us when we were the funky train, we want to celebrate them as well. It's amazing what this business has done and the people it brought into our lives so that's what the celebration really is about," Michele shared.
For more CupCake Fairies, check out their site: www.cupcakefaires.com and be sure to follow them on Instagram @cupcakefaires.
RELATED
These days, it's for a completely different purpose, though. Now that I am in the hopefully latter stages of perimenopause (I’m not sure because my mother had a full hysterectomy at 29, her mother died at 53 and I don’t deal with my paternal grandmother because…chile… ) — although I have always had relatively easy cycles and I could definitely set my watch to them, about two years ago, my periods started to show up whenever they felt like it and it was damn near a crime scene once they did.
It was driving me crazy, and so, my nurse practitioner recommended that I take progestin-only pills to shorten, if not completely stop, my cycle: “After a year or so, we can wean off and see if you are entering into menopause on your own.” (Whew, perimenopause, chile.)
Although the first five months of being on this particular pill made me wonder if it was worth it to take this approach, I actually re-upped for another 12-month cycle because the extra progestin (a synthetic form of progesterone) has benefitted me in other areas as well because I am sleeping more soundly and my weight is more stabilized (by the way, when these things are “off,” they are signs of low progesterone levels). However, I did ask my nurse practitioner if, once I do decide to wean off of the pill, would there be any issues.
Her response is what inspired me to write this article because, until she said “post-birth control syndrome” to me, I had no idea there was such a thing. Anyway, if you give me a sec, I’ll explain to you what it is and why you should care if hormone-related birth control is currently a part of your life.
Yes, Post-Birth Control Syndrome Is a Very Real Thing
GiphyOkay, so it’s important to always remember that the way that birth control works is it “manipulates” your hormones so that you can significantly reduce your chances of conceiving. This means that taking them could result in some side effects including nausea; weight gain; headaches; irregular periods and/or spotting; increased stress; depression; blurry vision; breast tenderness, and/or a lowered libido.
That said, even though birth control pills are basically 99 percent effective (when taken correctly and consistently), if the side effects that you are experiencing are making you close to miserable, you should absolutely share that with your healthcare provider because…what’s the sense in preventing pregnancy when you don’t even feel up to having sex because you don’t feel good or your sex drive is shot? More times than not, your provider can find you another pill brand or option that will help you to feel more like yourself.
With that out of the way, think about it — if going on the pill can produce side effects, why would going off of it…not? And this is where post-birth control syndrome comes in.
For the most part, it’s what can happen to your body once you decide to come off of birth control. Typically, the symptoms will last anywhere between 4-6 months and, although the symptoms seem to present themselves most intensely as it relates to going off of the pill, any hormone-related birth control (like IUDs, injections, patches, the ring or implants) could produce similar outcomes.
Outcomes like what?
- Irregular cycles
- Breakouts
- Excessive gas and/or bloating
- Weight gain
- Anxiety and/or depression
- Fertility issues
- Migraines and/or headaches
- Shifts in your libido
- Sleeplessness/restlessness
- Hair loss
Whoa, right? And if a part of you is wondering, “Okay, if this is indeed the case, why have I not heard of this syndrome before?” It’s because it’s not a term that conventional method uses nearly as much as alternative medicine does. Still, it makes all of the sense in the world that if your body has to adjust to an uptick in hormonal intake, it would also need to adjust to removing those extra doses of hormones from your system as well. COMMON. DAMN. SENSE.
Anyway, if you were thinking about taking a break from birth control and taking all of this in has you feeling a bit…let’s go with the word “trepidatious” about doing so, I totally get it. There are some things that you can do to make experiencing post-birth control syndrome either a non-issue or a far more bearable one, though.
7 Home Remedies That Can Make Coping with Post-Birth Control Syndrome Easier
Giphy1. Take a multivitamin.Something that’s fascinating about what going off of birth control can do is it sometimes has the ability to lower your nutrition levels as it relates to certain vitamins and minerals; this is especially the case when it comes to vitamins B, C, E and minerals like magnesium, selenium and zinc. So, if you don’t currently take a multivitamin, now would be the time to start (along with consuming foods that are particularly high in those nutrients as well).
2. Up your vitamin D intake. Speaking of nutrient levels, a vitamin level that commonly drops after going off of birth control isvitamin D. This is hella critical to keep in mind as a Black woman since many of us tend to be naturally deficient in the vitamin as-is and vitamin D is important when it comes to fighting off diseases, regulating weight and keeping your moods stabilized (for starters). So, make sure that your multivitamin has vitamin D in it. Also make sure to consume vitamin D-enriched foods like fatty fish, eggs, mushrooms, yogurt and fortified orange juice.
3. Drink herbal teas. Since going off of birth control will cause your hormones to be all over the place for a season, consider drinking some herbal teas that will help to stabilize them. Black cohosh contains phytoestrogen properties, Chasteberry can help to level out your prolactin levels and green tea can help your hormones out by helping to balance out your insulin (which can sometimes directly affect them).
4. Keep some ibuprofen nearby. The headaches and migraines? Until those subside, you and ibuprofen are probably going to become really good friends; although I will add that ginger tea and inhaling essential oils like chamomile and lavender can help to ease migraine-related symptoms too.
5. Do some meditating. Waiting for your hormones to get back on track can be stressful as all get out. That said, something that can get your cortisol (stress hormone) levels to chill out is to meditate. If meditation is new for you, check out “7 Meditation Hacks (For People Who Can't Seem To Do It).”
6. Get massages. As if you needed an excuse to get a massage, right (check out “12 Different Massage Types. How To Know Which Is Right For You.”)? However, there is some evidence to back the fact that regular massages (somewhere around once a month) can help to lower your stress, boost your dopamine, increase blood flow and drain your lymphatic system so that you will have more energy.
7. Sleep/rest more. There is plenty of scientific research out here which says that sleep deprivation can throw your hormones out of whack — and since your hormones are already trying to stabilize themselves, you definitely need to get 6-8 hours of sleep and not feel the least bit guilty about taking naps sometimes too.
____
Post-birth control syndrome may not be the most pleasant thing about getting off of birth control yet it is manageable. So, now that you know all about it, you can feel more confident about taking a birth control break (or getting off altogether) — without the surprises that can come with doing it. Give thanks.
Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.
Featured image by Unsplash