During the holiday season you can totally rack up discount deals at major retailers, but you know indie brands have my heart. Especially the ones that celebrate our beauty at their core essence; creating products for us, by people who could be us. So this black-owned indie beauty holiday gift guide will celebrate and highlight…
Skin
Get Into my We Are ONYX December BOGO Box!
I’ve been a fan of the We Are ONYX box since 2013, and I love the space they have carved out for themselves in the subscription box space. To me, they are amongst the very best in catering specifically to beauty for us and presenting a variety of independent brands. So when they approached me…
Beauty Brand History – Vaseline, from Skin Healing Past to Cocoa Radiant Present Day
This post is sponsored by Mirum for Vaseline Cocoa Radiant When I look back at my own beauty history, it was the very first product for me. That would be Vaseline — the multi-use balm that’s safe enough to protect against diaper rash. Honestly, it was probably your very first beauty product too — Vaseline…
It’s Amazon Prime Day! 12 of the Best Prime Beauty Selections
Happy 7-11 everyone! If you’ve been conscious and had online access in the last month, you may be aware that today is also Amazon Prime Day! I’ve been a Prime member for years now, and I feel like in this safe space I can admit to being a bit of an Amazon addict. My wish…
Tried and Tested — The Best Body Washes at Your Drugstore
There’s one beauty/personal care product that I use every day, that beyond a shadow of doubt can help to affect my mood and lift my emotions. And that product is body wash. A good body wash can wash the exhaustedness away and bring me joy in the morning. A trash body wash can diminish the…
Ask a Beauty Expert — 11 Things African American Women Should Know About Makeup
We’ve got “alternative facts” in media and politics, and they don’t stop there – I’ve seen quite a few beauty “tips” or “hacks” that I’d definitely categorize as potentially harmful, couched as advice from a beauty or wellness pro. I’ll admit, I’ve had my concerns when I watch these well-edited, ill-advised video clips of beautiful…
Beauty Brand Spotlight — Nubian Heritage
It was my first ever trip to New York City and we were staying with a college friend who lived in Harlem. He lived in a cool little walk-up above a neighborhood bar, on Manhattan Avenue. It was a sunny afternoon, my husband and I explored as much of Harlem as possible. Strolling along the…
Hero Products – Check Out Clinique’s Best Sellers
Every brand has them – the best sellers, the tried-and-true items, the products they’ve been making for the longest because the people keep coming back for more. In the biz they’re known as hero products, and beauty brands strive to cultivate and maintain them. What makes a product a hero product? Consistency. Quality. It has…
Predict Your Pretty – Let The Cast Beauty App Guide Your Look
Summer weather can throw unexpected curveballs. Here in Chicago, I can expect balmy breezes only to be faced by humid, hot air. Surprise thunderstorms can blow our way at any time – ask anyone who attended Lollapalooza in 2012 and/or 2015. The sky will be perfectly clear and then all of a sudden clouds roll…
Hello, Healing – Why I’m Obsessed with Neosporin and Take It Everywhere
This post is in partnership with Neosporin. To this day I can point to the scars on my knees and remember – this was from riding your bike down that gravel road, this is from when you and Dad fell together on the ten speed, that was from racing on the playing field at school….