teisha leshea

The moment that everyone has been waiting for, and that is the return of The Lion King. For some, this will be more of a nostalgic experience, for others; this might be the first time you ever heard what The Lion King is.

African American women have always taken pride in their crown, which is our hair. According to the website Hype Hair, which promotes the latest hair trends for women of color, states that black women "spend nearly nine times more than our non-Black counterparts on ethnic hair and beauty products. Add in $473 million in total hair care, $127 million grooming aids and $465 million in skin care preparations, and we spend a whopping $1.1 billion on beauty annually." Other beauty brands are taking notice and are creating products specifically for women of color. The hot comb created by Annie Malone and later improved my Madame CJ Walker, African America's first self-made millionaire, is a staple in women of color's homes for centuries and decades. The hot comb is equivalent to a man's shave kit. It's one of the many stages that reflect womanhood. It's a comb that lays flat on top of the stove, and it heats up and combs through your hair to straighten. It was the go-to product before the flatiron existed.

Like most millennials, I find myself scrolling through Instagram for hours at a time. Depending on your algorithm, you can come across some exciting and fun pages. You have your news pages, beauty pages, gossip pages, health and fitness pages, etc. Let's be honest. I use Instagram as a one-stop shop for my consumer purchases. I've purchased jewelry, art, facial scrubs and treatments, shirts with funny sayings and head wraps. For the last few years, I've noticed that I no longer look for brands that appease me — continuous popups on my feed with products that I'm not interested in using. I get it. I love business savvy people who like to introduce new products and to push their business to the limits. I especially have a love for black businesses. I love to spend my dollars on individuals who value me and my money. Once you put your profile on public, it's a free for all for unwanted DM's and product pushers who want you to try their products.