self-love
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'Let Your Curls Do What They Do': Gabrielle Union Reaffirms the Flawless Freedom of Her Children's Hair
Gabrielle Union is all about expressing yourself—your truest self. That goes for everyone and anyone, including her children. When it comes to Black hair, specifically, the actress-producer and beauty/fashion mogul is making sure she instills self-love in her children, especially her two youngest, Zaya (currently 13 years old) and Kaavia (currently 20 months) in terms…
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The Mane Attraction: For Queen Kelly Rowland, Her Hair Is Her Crown and Glory
“The first message that I honestly remember receiving about my hair was that it was hard to manage,” singer-songwriter Kelly Rowland told The Root. As a black woman who has hair that’s been referred to as “a rat’s nest,” I can relate. First question: Do rats even have nests?! Follow-up question: Why are you concerned…
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This Year, I Am My Own Valentine
Each year when Valentine’s Day comes around, those of us who are un-partnered are reminded of our singleness as we watch couples expressing love for each other at work, at school, in public and all across social media. The holiday is sometimes jokingly called “Singles Awareness Day” for the simple fact that the flurry of…
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International I Love Braids Day Brings Black Self Love to Brooklyn
Debra Hare-Bey is a proud and self-proclaimed “braider”—by trade and tradition. In fact, the Brooklyn native has been braiding for decades—she recalls being “that girl,” on the stoop braiding people’s hair. Years later, Hare-Bey decided to make a career out of braiding. After all, braids—and the rich culture and traditions from which the styles come—are…
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The Face of Resilience: Beauty Brands Come Together In Support of Human Trafficking Survivors
“Beauty is an inside job.” We can hear it said a million times. We can genuinely believe the statement. And yet the desire for external attractiveness remains paramount, both within our society and across cultures. The importance placed upon aesthetics may be due, in large part, to the fact that one’s assessment of one’s own…
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An Hour With Her: Debbie Allen Teams Up With Dove to Talk Mentorship
If you’re of a certain age, there’s a likelihood that you remember the iconic words spoken by the character of teacher Lydia Grant in the opening credits of the ’80s hit television series Fame: You’ve got big dreams. You want fame. Well, fame costs. And right here is where you start paying: in sweat. Multihyphenate…
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#SaggyBoobsMatter: Are You Good With Your Girls?
True-confession time: My girls and I haven’t been getting along lately. In the 30 years we’ve been together, they’ve graduated from fairly budding B cups to delightful Ds to a recently voluminous … I’m not even saying the letter. Let’s just say my days of laughingly referring to them as “Dionne and Diana” (because double…
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Fashion Models Are Changing–and It’s About a Lot More Than Clothes
Is fashion really more inclusive? If you ask Edward Enninful, British Vogue’s first black editor-in-chief, the cover of the magazine’s May issue—featuring nine models “changing the face of fashion”—defines diversity. “Even five years ago—and certainly 10 or 20 years ago—if you were shooting a group cover like this, the girls would not have looked like…
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‘The Body Is Not an Apology’: Sonya Renee Taylor Is Leading a Revolution of Radical Self-Love
With six words, Sonya Renee Taylor accidentally started a movement. When a friend with cerebral palsy confessed that her disability made it difficult to be sexual—so much so that she didn’t even feel entitled to ask a casual partner to use protection—Taylor quickly responded, “Your body is not an apology, and it’s not something you…
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Popping the Question: What if I’m the One Who Got Away?
“Auntie Mai, why aren’t you married?” Ugh. My 5-year-old nephew has apparently reached the age where bald curiosity meets peak candor, because he’s taken to asking me this question every time we see each other, as we did a few days ago. My response is always the same: “Honey, why do you want me to…