Solange Knowles’ Met Ball Beauty

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Photo: vogue.co.uk

Oh Solange, Solange, Solange… while your contemporaries were dipping into the dressing up box, your insouciant take on anarchistic theme meant a halo of curls which embodied the anti-establishment sensibility that defined the 1970’s. Along with a dreamy, statement-making mane Solange proved her punk credentials with inky black nails and a midnight blue twist on the kind of sooty eye make-up once blearlily daubed on by patrons of CBGB.

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Falke Perfect Skin Colours

Falke Perfect Skin Colours dark skin

Falke Perfect Skin Colours: when hosiery meets make-up. 

Flesh coloured tights are a tricky proposition at the best of times: too shiny and your legs take on the glossy sheen of a baton twirler; too flat and you’ve bagged yourself a supporting role in 80‘s cult movie, Mannequin. While Kate Middleton may have helped boost the sale of tights by a whopping 40% at Selfridges, brown-skinned girls still struggle to track down the fashion staple that for most women can be casually purchased everywhere from Agent Provocateur style boutiques to motorway service stations.

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“We have to approve of ourselves before anyone else will. Women need to celebrate their God-given beauty instead of always trying to be something else”

Iman

Butter London Summer Holiday 2013 Lacquer Collection

Butter London Summer Holiday 2013 Lacquer Collection

Butter London Summer Holiday 2013 Lacquer Collection: Bit Faker, Sunbaker, Champers,  Poole, Marbs, Bobby Dazzler

Summer’s here, it’s really here and the proof’s in midriffs being skimmed by crop tops and frayed denim; thirsts being quenched with designer cider; skins being slowly sautéed a shade of golden brown salmon and my sinuses are struggling with the onslaught of dust and pollen- hurrah! 

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Bioré Combo Deep Cleansing Pore Strips

biore combo deep cleansing pore strips

Photo: ‘borrowed’ from Garance Doré because I’m lazy & she makes everything look stylish.

After super-expensive cleansers and sybaritic straighteners it’s time to readdress the balance with a beauty buy that promises to sort complexions fast and for just over a tenner. 

In my twelve years in the beauty game cleansing strips are a skincare category that’s never quite made it onto my radar. However, as a sadist who gets satisfaction from the eye-watering painful technique of extraction (where facialists squeeze gunk out of your pores), these brand new Bioré Deep Cleansing Pore Strips should be right up my street.


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the ghd eclipse styler launches this month, but is it worth the money?

ghd eclipse afro hair

I’ve never owned a pair of ghd’s. The last pair sent to me were whisked away by a drooling editor and a constant supply of competitor brands means I’ve never been that fussed about pursuing another. Ironically though it was after being switched on to the luxe straightener market by noteworthy brand Cloud9 and rooting through a dusty junk yard of knackered stylers that’s made me respect that yes, there’s a lot of marketing genius at play, but sometimes you do get what you pay for when it comes to quality, innovation and durability.

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Gorgeous afro illustration from Parisian fashionista Garance Doré & some honest musings on beauty too: Click the picture to discover more… Let’s talk about beauty. There are moments when we think we’re beautiful, sublime even. And then suddenly, you catch your reflection in the mirror and realize that your hair is flat, your skin is oily, and your bottom has declared a state of independence. Argh. There are moments when we think we’re ugly. And that’s […] High-res

Gorgeous afro illustration from Parisian fashionista Garance Doré & some honest musings on beauty too:

Click the picture to discover more…

Let’s talk about beauty. There are moments when we think we’re beautiful, sublime even. And then suddenly, you catch your reflection in the mirror and realize that your hair is flat, your skin is oily, and your bottom has declared a state of independence. Argh. There are moments when we think we’re ugly. And that’s […]

Love…Naomi Campbell, Vogue Brasil, May 2013Photography: Tom Munro Do blondes have more fun? Naomi Campbell covers Brazilian Vogue with flaxen tresses and bags of supermodel confidence. Inspired to lighten your locks this summer? Click here for super-stylist, Eugene Davis’s tips for going blonde without breakage (yes, it’s possible!)

Love…

Naomi Campbell, Vogue Brasil, May 2013

Photography: Tom Munro

Do blondes have more fun? Naomi Campbell covers Brazilian Vogue with flaxen tresses and bags of supermodel confidence. Inspired to lighten your locks this summer? Click here for super-stylist, Eugene Davis’s tips for going blonde without breakage (yes, it’s possible!)

I’ll always love the sumptousness of a glossy magazine still-life, but seriously these girls are taking the way nail art’s showcased to another level. Click the link for the giogoshow ladies take on spring 2013 nails and visit giogoshow.com for more sartorial inspiration.

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BLACK WOMEN CARE LESS ABOUT AGEING. FACT.

Beverley Johnson: Admittedly good lighting, make-up & a bit of trickery…but seriously, she’s SIXTY! 

I’ve got very little fighting spirit when it comes to what seems like modern society’s ongoing battle against the ageing process. Although I’ve spoken to enough dermatologists, cosmetic surgeons, facialists and nutritionists to know that smoking, sunbathing and slacking when it comes to skincare can screw over your looks no matter what your complexion- despite hitting my mid-thirties (gulp!) the whole getting older thing just doesn’t really phase me. It seems I’m not the only one with a survey by Allure magazine confirming that black women care less about ageing compared to those from other racial backgrounds.

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