Worth A Click

I’m number two! Allyuh.com, Trinidad and Tobago’s user driven social content website, ranked Afrobella number two in the list of top ten Trinidad and Tobago blogs, right behind Saucydiva’s perennially popular Trinidad Carnival Diary. I’m beyond honored to know that so many people at home are reading, and to share the spotlight with so many of the Trini blogs I habitually read. Yay! Thanks so much, Allyuh!

I hardly ever do step-by-step makeup application tips, because I’m not a makeup artist. Yet. (In the interest of actually knowing what I’m talking about when I talk makeup here, I’m seriously contemplating doing some professional makeup courses. If any of you know of good ones in the Miami area, let me know!)

But I love to try the techniques I find in books and online. I’m late to the party, but I loved the looks in this slideshow titled “A Cultivated Eye,” in last week’s New York Times Style magazine — scroll down to multimedia. I love the natural inspiration for these shocking looks, and I discovered a shade of eyeshadow I didn’t know that I always needed. Until now. MAC Bitter, you will be mine. Oh yes, you will be mine.

On Saturday afternoon, I attended the Macy’s Women of Color beauty event in Aventura. Bellas, I can’t say it enough — the local department store is your friend. Here in Miami, between Macy’s Dadeland and Aventura, there’s a makeup or cooking event every weekend. A week or so ago I attended an Elle magazine/Clinique event (look for a Clinique review soon!), and this past weekend, experts from Lancôme, Chanel, MAC, Clarins, and Dior (among many other brands) gave demonstrations, makeovers, and consultations. It was a beautiful sight. The first floor makeup area was filled with bellas of all shades and ages, getting makeovers, checking out the bright displays at the counters. There was a DJ and modeling, and the vibe was like a big, fabulous pretty party. I went with a clean face and comfy shoes, and was lucky enough to snag a makeup artist on a break at the Lancôme counter.

I wound up at Lancôme because I’m a sucker for shimmery water colors. What can I say? I’m a Pisces. The shade in the Color Design Survival Palette practically called my name. It’s a bright yet translucent aqua that’s both delicate and bold. And lucky me; Lancôme’s regional makeup artist Richie Paschal had an empty seat and a vision. He blended the dark and medium brown on my lashline and in the crease of my eyelid, and highlighted the lid with that fabulous blue. Then he brightened the corner of my eyes with the Color Design defining and brightening eye pencil in Island Bronze.

The shades of the eyeshadow quad seemed a bit daunting to a relative makeup novice like me. I mean, I like to play with eyeshadow, but when it comes to creating looks like the ones pictured above, I prefer to leave that kind of thing to the experts. But Richie assured me that I could do it. “Makeup is all about blending and having fun with it,” he said.

So of course, at the end of the mini-makeover and lots of compliments from passers-by, I bought the $42 eyeshadow quad — how could I not? The colors were amazing, Richie made me look and feel gorgeous, and the quad comes in a beautiful shell compact. And I’m gonna learn how to blend like there’s no tomorrow!

This is dedicated to the homie E-Fresh, who wrote in requesting a new music post for my “male readers”. I’ll be honest, I’ve been kind of musically starved these days. I’m pretty bored with the latest hip hop, and even my beloved VH1 Soul has become mind-numbingly repetitive. Four out of five times that I switch to that channel, one of Beyonce’s B-Day videos is on. I’m over it. I haven’t seen any R&B, rap, or hip hop videos that have really inspired me recently. (If you have, please turn me on to some new tunes).

So I’ve been exploring other musical genres, and I saw an amazing video that totally transported me to my teenage years, when I dreamed of being a video music director myself. Yes, among the amazingly impractical jobs I wanted to do when I grew up (farmer, astrologer, aromatherapist, movie critic… apparently making money was never a part of my daydreams), I yearned to be the female equivalent of Hype Williams or Spike Jonez. I found inspiration late at night on MTV’s 120 Minutes, which in those days was all about visual stimulation and quirky indie artists. 120 Minutes was where I discovered Bjork and Pavement and Wesley Willis (rest in peace, dude).

This video by Canadian songstress Feist took me back to those days, when seeing a new music video made me feel like I was opening a shiny new present on Christmas morning. I love the bright colors, the Busby Berkley choreography, and Feist’s blue glitter jumpsuit that looks like something a dancer would have worn on Solid Gold. This video made me happy that I saw it, and I hope it gives you some of that sense of wonder, too. This is 1,2,3,4.

So there you go, E-Fresh! I’m getting back to the beauty reviews later in the week. But that’s especially for you and I hope you like it.

Happy hump day, bellas!