Microdermabrasion always sounded to me like an intense, scary procedure that women sought out when their skin started showing signs of age. I may not have wrinkles (yet) but I am 33 and I’m dedicated to looking like a stunner when I’m in my Tina Turner years. If I could go back 10 years, I’d…
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Afrobella’s Big Reveal! Healthy Ways to Straighten Natural Hair
In the past ten years, I can remember having my hair blown straight exactly once. It was in Trinidad at my mom’s hairstylist. He said he needed to blow my hair straight to apply highlights. When my hair was straight, my mom took her one and only camera phone photo – she was THAT…
Pay It Forward this Holiday Season
Black Friday. Small Business Saturday. And now, today – Cyber Monday. It’s been a busy weekend for shopping addicts. So many of us are shopping for our loved ones (and for ourselves! Tis the season). In the midst of all of this marvelous materialism, it’s so important to also look around at the tremendous need…
Trinidad, I’m Coming Home!
They say life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans. If you’d asked me months ago, “Patrice, will you be in Trinidad in December?” I would have said no. I had no plans to go back home in the immediate future, but plans were in the works for me. And now…
Coconut Water Smoothies. The New Breakfast of Champions
Coconut water’s explosion in popularity has been amazing to watch. Having grown up with coconut water as a part of my everyday life, it’s been kinda cool to see the beverage be so excitedly embraced by the American mainstream. The American adoption of coconut water means a lot of changes for coconut water purists. From…
The Black Friday/Cyber Monday Breakdown
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you had a beautiful, relaxing day filled with family, fun, and turkey! Now part deux of Thanksgiving weekend begins. The part with the shopping and the shoving and the STRESS. Online shopping photo via Shutterstock Let’s make one thing clear – my Black Friday street shopping days are in…
Spectacular Holiday Seafood Recipes from Chef Julius Russell
Perhaps you’re wondering, who is Chef Julius Russell and why does Afrobella feature his recipes from time to time? I’ll tell you. Chef Julius is an incredibly talented chef who I’ve come to know through living here in Chicago. He’s a private chef who has cooked for a dazzling array of celebrities. He gives cooking…
Delicious Fall Flavored Recipes, Fresh From Target’s Test Kitchen
Thanksgiving is THIS WEEK and I can’t believe it! 2012, you have snuck right by me. It’s the holiday season, ALREADY! This past weekend my in laws came to town and we celebrated with turkey and all the traditional trimmings. Nothing makes your home smell better than roasting a turkey, or the smell of freshly…
Fall Makeup Trends and Building a Name in the Makeup Game – Interview with Bisi Essien, My Go-To Chicago Makeup Artist
From the moment she did my makeup and helped to coordinate my MAC lipglass photoshoot, Bisi Essien – AKA @BisiCrystalEyez of Crystal Eyez Makeup Artistry has become my go-to Chicago makeup artist. She’s incredibly talented, incredibly hard working, and incredibly professional. Bisi is the woman I turn to when I’m involved in an event in…
Monday Manicure. I LOVE Polish Bar of BK!
Every time I go to Brooklyn, I have the BEST time. I know so many amazingly talented and cool people who live there. So many talented folks who make New York the one of a kind city that it is, represent Brooklyn. And on my last visit, I got to go to Polish Bar…