These Are Hands Down the Best Dressed Black Politicians
Queen Latifah’s Best Hair Looks Through the Years
The Black Man Behind The Quarter-Zip Movement Explains the Deeper Purpose Behind It All
Do You Know Zelda Wynn Valdes, The Black Designer Who Helped Shape The Legendary Playboy Look?
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Blow Me: Airbrush Makeup Puts a Smile on My Face
One of my longtime trademarks is the “no-makeup” makeup look. When you see me on the red carpet or the cover of a magazine, my face is usually clean and simple. And until a few years ago, I’d always had perfect skin. But between multiple childbirths and the hormonal changes that come with babies and…
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Flight Time: 48 Hours in a Supermodel’s Suitcase
I’m en route to London, a city I love and know well. Sadly, I’ll only be there for two days, to honor my dear and recently departed friend Azzedine Alaïa at the British Fashion Council Awards. This trip to London requires an overnight flight, and my ass will hopefully get some sleep, since upon landing,…
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Like Father, Like Daughter: 20 Years After His Death, Biggie’s Legacy Launches a Clothing Line
T’yanna Wallace was only 3 years old when her father, Christopher—the rapper the world recognized as the Notorious B.I.G., or Biggie Smalls—was brutally killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles. I was 22 and a college senior, living across the street from his mother, Voletta Wallace, on St. James Place in Brooklyn, N.Y.’s Clinton…
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A Facial Fit for Queen Bey: How I Got My Own Beehive
Someone just asked me if I’d had a face-lift! Honestly, the comment might’ve stung if I hadn’t just been treated to a Valmont Majestic Bee Venom Facial, which, at $725 for a 90-minute session, costs about as much as a face-lift. But this VIP glow up happened at the über-fabulous Valmont Spa in the five-star…
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Killer in the Sack? Why You Might Need to Learn CPR This Cuffing Season
Scenario: It’s a cold winter night, and you’re happily snowed in with bae. You’ve Netflixed. You’ve chilled. You’re now in the throes of passion, but instead of clutching you, all of a sudden, he clutches … his chest? What would you do? Sex has long been one of our favorite winter sports—and has been linked…
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Dapper: Fashioning a Queer Aesthetic of Black Womanhood
“Ain’t I a woman?” Black feminist pioneer Sojourner Truth famously asked that question of an all-white audience of abolitionists and suffragettes in 1861, to point out the erasure of black women from the social “protections” of womanhood. A century and a half later, black women, from Misty Copeland and Serena Williams to first lady Michelle…
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I Am Not Your Token: What Rihanna Taught Us This Week About ‘Diversity’ Casting
This week, one lucky Rihanna fan got an impromptu lesson in tokenism—from the star herself—after they suggested that she include transgender women in her next Fenty Beauty campaign. The new beauty mogul, who rocked the cosmetics industry this past September with her full-spectrum beauty launch, responded kindly and clearly on why even the question was…
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Pigment on Fleek: Why these Juvia’s Place Makeup Tutorials Are So on Point
Makeup and I made friends a long time ago—and we ain’t never gonna break up, either. In fact, all we do is fall in love over and over again. So it was love at first sight when I laid eyes on the dazzlingly rich eye shadow palettes from black owned-and-operated indie brand Juvia’s Place. With…
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Before The Glow Up: The Root Staff Reveal Their Younger Selves in a #FlashbackFriday Series of Embarrassing Photos
It’s never all work and no play here at The Root, y’all. Though we work hard, we always make time for fun—including making fun of one another—because we’re one big ol’ happy, dysfunctional family. And because our family is spread out across the country, most of these hijinks take place on our messaging system, Slack.…
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#NappyGirlMagic: She Left the Corporate Grind and Became America’s Natural-Hair Whisperer
You can see the precision of corporate influence in every crevice. The customers don’t wait a second. Appointments are tightly regimented. All scheduling is online. Kinky Curly Beauty’s Hair Studio in Birmingham, Ala., is like the love child of a Fortune 500 engineer and your favorite girlfriend’s beauty salon, but with more melanin and fewer…