black beauty
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Sephora Is Selling a $38 Jar of Coconut Oil, and Black Women Everywhere Are Unimpressed
It’s the holiday season, so I’ve put myself on a bit of a moratorium from my usual Sephora habit, since I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who deserves presents this Christmas. That said, I occasionally get my fix by drifting through its virtual aisles and living vicariously through friends’ shopping sprees, which is…
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Feeling Good, Finally? Nina Simone’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Is a Bittersweet Victory
In the world of women in music, there are queens, princesses, first ladies and even a duchess—but there has only ever been one high priestess of soul: Nina Simone. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced today that Nina Simone will be among 2018’s group of inductees—which includes rock bands Bon Jovi, Dire Straits,…
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Call Off Christmas: Fenty Beauty’s Taking All Our Money
Today in breaking “Can’t stop, won’t stop” news: Fenty Beauty is bound to break our holiday budgets with the upcoming release of a 14-shade line of lipsticks, coyly called “Mattemoiselle.” In keeping with Fenty’s full-spectrum-themed beauty, the colors range from conventional to conversation-starting, and because she’s never afraid to start—or shut down—a conversation, Rihanna teased…
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The Glow Up Gaze: Mama Cax Is Redefining the Runway
When you meet model, blogger and advocate Mama Cax—Cax, for short—you’re not sure where to look first: at her gleaming brown skin and bald head, her sculpted features, whatever ridiculously sick ensemble she’s put together just to tool around town or her equally stylized prosthetic leg cover (one of 15 she owns)—a latticework of metal…
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Glow-Getter: Santana Caress Benitez Cooks Like Your Mother … and May Just Steal the Scene
Chef Santana Caress Benitez doesn’t call herself an actress. This, despite her appearance as Lourdes “LuLu” Blackmon in Netflix’s recent series reboot of Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It; a scene-stealing supporting role that has literally sent Hollywood calling (as evidenced by the feature-film audition she’d sent off just prior to our conversation). Personally asked…
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Surviving a Breakup: What I’ve Missed Since Going Natural
Sometimes I look at my Afro and still can’t believe that less than two years ago, I underwent “the big chop,” after which my hair basically looked like a fuzzy tennis ball. Now my hair is a few inches past my shoulders and longer and thicker than it ever was when it was relaxed. I…
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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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Unnatural: The Beauty Industry’s Natural-Hair Bias
Black folks have always had a list of unwritten rules for navigating life. A quick Google search of “unwritten black rules” will yield you hours’ worth of pure comedy—there are more than 1 million hits. You’ll find pearls such as “If you drink the last of the Kool-Aid, make some more,” and “Kids, don’t ask…
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Pretty Hurts: The Insidious Side of Insta-Beauty
It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt. Self-proclaimed “makeup enthusiast” and Instagram beauty Victoria Katei (@vicxkat) learned this the hard way when she was brave enough to get real with her over-50,000 followers, showing herself with and without makeup. The comments weren’t universally kind—not by a long shot. Commenters accused Victoria of “catfishing”…
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Bad and British: We Showed Up and Out at the British Fashion Awards 2017—Including The Glow Up’s Veronica Webb
Last night, our very own editor and supermodel Veronica Webb took to the stage of the British Fashion Awards 2017 to honor her mentor and friend, iconic fashion designer Azzedine Alaïa, who died suddenly last month at the age of 77. Dressed in—of course—Alaïa, she was joined by both fashion-industry friends and fellow models and…