make-up

  • Black-Owned Beauty Month Takes Wing—and Whew, Are My Arms Tired

    It’s officially happening, y’all—I survived my first weekend of The Glow Up’s Black-Owned Beauty Month—or Black-Ass Beauty Month, as it’s already fondly known in my household. And nearly four days in, I’m already exhausted. (No, really, my arms are aching.) Day 1 Where do we begin? Well, at Sephora—the three Sephoras in downtown Chicago I…

  • The Blackout: It's Black History Month and I'm Blacking Out My Beauty Routine

    Folks, it’s once again Black History Month—a month that tends to sneak up on me since I’ve been on staff at The Root, where every day is steeped in black past, present and future. But as February 1st approached, so did the uncomfortable feeling that I haven’t been doing my best for the culture; specifically,…

  • Umm … Did North West Just Inspire Us to Try a Beauty Trend?

    Maybe it’s the falling leaves or the onslaught of Halloween and its attendant pumpkins and color scheme, but we’ve had orange on the brain lately—and apparently, so has one five-year-old famously-parented fashionista known as North West. However you feel about her parents, the eldest child of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West seems to be…

  • More Full-Spectrum Beauty: Milk Makeup Increases Its Shade Range

    Devotees of Milk Makeup’s Blur Liquid Matte foundation may now have a better chance at meeting their perfect match. The vegan, cruelty-free cosmetics line just added eight new shades to its year-old, oil-free foundation-range, expanding its options to a full 24 shades, launched Tuesday. While 24 obviously pales in comparison to, say, 40, Milk’s new…

  • 'Mother' to Mogul: Pat McGrath's Makeup Line Is Now Valued at $1 Billion

    The “Mothership” has landed. Famed makeup artist and creator Pat McGrath, who has been the fashion industry’s most respected name in makeup for over two decades (and honored by Queen Elizabeth) just officially became the top earner in the beauty industry (sorry, Kylie) after global investment firm Eurazeo Brands bought a $60 million minority stake…

  • Amazon Prime Day Is Monday. Ready for New Beauty?

    Amazon Prime Day officially kicks off on Monday, July 16 at 3 p.m. EDT, but as many of us steadfast Prime members know, great deals are already available—including some exclusive beauty finds. That’s right; the ultimate online marketplace is making a big push on beauty this year, with four established brands—Tarte, No B.S., and K-beauty…

  • Baby Girl … Aaliyah for MAC Launches June 20!

    Here’s some news that’s hot like fire: There is an unexpected new release inspired by the “princess of R&B,” Aaliyah, coming this June. MAC announced in August that it would be debuting a 2018 collection inspired by the late icon and has finally revealed the launch dates—June 20 online and June 21 in stores—in response…

  • Inclusion Is Easier Than It Looks—Just Ask Revlon  

    In 1992, our own Veronica Webb made history by becoming the first black model to land a major cosmetics contract. The brand? Revlon, which at the time was also launching ColorStyle (ColorStay’s predecessor), a line formulated for the then-neglected black consumer (I was one such consumer). Of course, these days, there’d likely be an outcry…

  • She Got That Glow: We Got the Secrets Behind Yara Shahidi’s All Grown-ish Up Look at the SAG Awards

    The 2018 Grammys are tonight, but the fashion world is still raving about the looks from last Sunday’s Screen Actors Guild Awards. And we can’t breathe one word about that evening’s red carpet without acknowledging our current and forever #Fave, Yara Shahidi. Like, we may have to come up with a concept stronger than #Goals…

  • Love Without a (Price) Limit: Love Mary J.’s Look at the SAG Awards? Get It With Black Opal!

    It’s no secret that we’re all about Mary J. Blige’s glow up this awards season; in fact, we’re not sure we’ve stanned this hard for her since What’s the 411? The singer and actress has been nominated for Golden Globe, Critics Choice and Screen Actors Guild awards, and now a history-making two Oscar nods for…