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Coming Clean … With Lauren Napier
Lauren Napier wants you to take it off—take it all off. She’s the CEO of Lauren Napier, maker of a single product: a luxury makeup-remover wipe. Her corporate values are triple mint, even by the most conscious of consumer standards. Her 4-year-old company is not only black-owned; it’s 100 percent operated by women. And her…
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Beautifully Flawed: The Ageless Beauty of Angelique Miles
Angelique Miles is a stunning, ageless beauty who knows how to survive and thrive. In conversation with The Glow Up’s Veronica Webb, she shares how her biggest losses made her stronger and more beautiful than ever—like being downsized out of her decadeslong career as a record-label vice president who signed Timbaland, Missy Elliott, Lil’ Kim…
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Get Twisted and Braided in Harlem
The numbers don’t lie: 71 percent of black Americans wore a natural hairstyle at least once in 2016. To find out more about protective styles and the amazing practitioners behind them, I took a journey up to 125th Street in Harlem, the international mecca for the natural-hair movement that’s taking black Americans of all ages…
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Gift the People What They Want! Why Beauty Is the Best Buy on Our Christmas Lists
The Skin Store polled 2,000 American women to find out the five most important items on their lists this holiday season. Turns out it’s not as hard to make a woman happy as you might think—we want more beauty in our lives! (And cash, but that’s another story.) From twinkling eye shadows to top facial…
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This Christmas: Less Stuff, More Love
This year, I’m less about stuff under the tree and more about substance in my life. Everyone is asking me what I want, and I keep drawing a blank. The thrill of materialism just ain’t what it used to be. Somehow it’s all Gucci for me this year—without the Gucci. What I want lies more…
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Let’s Get Something Straight: The Real Talk of the Curl Talk Project
Put 100 curly-haired women in one place, and you’ll get at least 100 different stories about their curls. That’s why Johanna Yaovi created the Curl Talk Project; a “portfolio of experiences” about the curly-hair experience. While beauty tips for curly hair abound, Yaovi was seeking a more meaningful dialogue with deeper answers, interviewing 100 curly-haired…
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Women Who Inspire: Meet the Legendary BFFs of Patrick Riley
When future President Barack Obama said, “It’s never hard for me to extol the wonders and beauty of black women,” veteran TV producer Patrick L. Riley was right there. Of course, Barack was looking at wife Michelle, the woman he loves. Meanwhile, Riley was gazing out at a room full of women he loves, including…
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Sole Purpose: Gift Style With a Conscience for the Holidays
Christmas is only two weeks away, and I haven’t done a thing. (Don’t even ask me what to do about Kwanzaa; I’m hoping for some celebratory guidance from my new colleagues here at The Root.) But whatever you’re celebrating this December, these chic shoes from Uwezo add a dash of boho style to your closet…
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Susan Akkad Is Making Beauty More Multicultural—and Knows Black Women Don’t Need to Be ‘Fixed’
“Egyptians believe that they invented beauty,” says Susan Akkad. She’s a woman who would know, given her degree from Harvard in ninth- to 14th-century Arabic literature and diplomacy. For nine years, Akkad has held the position of senior vice president of local and cultural innovation at Estée Lauder, overseeing multiethnic innovation for some 25 brands…
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Say It With Your Chest: These Tees Have People Talking
“I had 50 white people in my house for dinner who I didn’t know,” says Ayana Smith, the creator of #AskMeTees, laughing, as she recounts the night that started the launch of her conversation-starting T-shirt line. We’re chatting on the phone while Smith drives to her day job at the Escape Lounge on H Street…
