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As Fashion and Beauty Leaders Scramble on Race Issues, Black Insiders Organize to Demand an Industry Makeover
“Image architect” Law Roach is one of the most successful talents working behind the scenes of the fashion and entertainment industries—crafting the memorable red carpet looks of stars like Zendaya and Celine Dion when he’s not throwing out biting one-liners as a judge on shows like America’s Next Top Model and HBO Max’s Legendary. Now,…
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A Noble Art: This Fine Photography Sale Helps Support Black Trans Lives and More
With all the time we’ve spent staring at the walls these past few months, it’s no wonder we’ve had art on the brain…not to mention it’s a welcome escape from what has felt like an unceasing stream of bad news. Call it art therapy, but the desire to beautify our lives is more than aesthetic—it’s…
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Supermodel Joan Smalls Commits Half Her Salary to Racial Justice—and Urges Others to Do Their Part Through Donate My Wage
The fashion industry has long prided itself on making statements, but its recent response to outcries for racial justice has left much to be desired in the eyes of some of its most luminous members. The black boxes splashed across social media on #BlackoutTuesday (June 20) have been followed by a similarly echoing silence on…
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A Growing PATTERN: Tracee Ellis Ross Tells The Glow Up About Her Beauty Brand's Next Phase
“This is a revolution,” proclaims the newest video promo for Pattern Beauty, the haircare line launched by actress-entrepreneur Tracee Ellis Ross in September 2019. Though Ross couldn’t have predicted our current state of affairs when she planned the next rollout of products for her already-cult-favorite brand, the words of the minute-long choreopoem (to borrow a…
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Retail on the Rebound? Trump Touts 17.7 Percent Boost in May Retail Sales—Conveniently Ignoring April's Record Drop
It’s safe to say that the retail landscape as we once knew it will not recover with a COVID-19 vaccine—in fact, much of it was on the decline well before the coronavirus reached our shores, with traditional brick-and-mortar locations proving unable to keep up with the increase in online shopping. And as the pandemic imposed…
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Uptown Girl: Teyana Taylor's Upcoming Collab With M.A.C. Is an Ode to Harlem
Harlem, stand up! Homegrown honey Teyana Taylor, already the owner of Junie Bee Nails in the historic New York City enclave, is presenting another beauty-based tribute to her hood, this time in the form of a limited-edition makeup launch in collaboration with M·A·C Cosmetics. Per a release sent to The Glow Up: M·A·C x Teyana…
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Fashioning the Future: Gucci Celebrates Its 1st Class of Changemaker Scholars
If the past few weeks have taught us anything, it’s the difference between promises and platitudes, and actions and accountability. Words of support are empty without effort and quantifiable results, and while multitudes of people are becoming more comfortable with phrases like “Black Lives Matter” all we’ve ever been asking is that they act like…
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Cover Stories: The #VogueChallenge Is a Black Beauty Revolution for the Fashion World
In a world currently consumed with black trauma (and copious amount of white guilt, in response), black beauty may feel like a luxury we can’t currently afford as the moment demands we keep our eye on what feels like an ever-moving goalpost. Nevertheless, beauty is not only necessary to black life, but it is a…
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An End to Product Profiling? Walmart Will No Longer Keep Multicultural Beauty Brands Under Lock and Key
Racial profiling is an issue that remains unreconciled in our country, but we’ll reportedly be seeing less of it in Walmart’s beauty aisle, as the company has announced it will no longer keep “multicultural hair care and beauty products” in locked cases in any of its stores. As reported by NBC News: The practice, which…
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Thanks to Aurora James, Sephora Just Pledged 15 Percent of Its Shelf Space to Black-Owned Brands
Here’s to black boxes that aren’t performative: beauty emporium Sephora has become the first to accept the #15PercentPledge proposed by designer Aurora James (Brother Vellies), committing to devote 15 percent of its shelf space to black-owned products. “What a difference a week makes,” James wrote on Instagram. “A little over a week ago, I wrote…
