I am a woman, a black woman at that. I feel being a black woman is beauty mixed with pain. Some people, mostly men drool and get hard over the ones that have an hourglass figure with their brown skin glowing like the sun. Those are the ones mostly put all over the gram, the web, and magazines that people get.

Several makeup brands have misrepresented women of color for years. Personally, I do not wear a lot of make up. I'm a simple kind of gal who only beats her face for the occasion. I like to experiment with a little bit of concealer and foundation. Also, I crave lip-gloss and mascara. Unfortunately, when I shop for makeup it's hard to find my shade. Usually, I have to mix (experiment) with colors to find the match for my skin. I should have more options as a woman of color.

I remember looking at myself in the mirror when I was a kid and thinking how ugly I was and how I couldn’t wait to be able to afford plastic surgery.

In recent years, there has been a surge of female empowerment and girl boss-style advertising campaigns. The world is marching forward and media is becoming increasingly open to positioning women as leaders of that march.

She Ain’t Pretty (Thank god)

Sitting in my kitchen, so nervous I was shaking, I decided to shave my head. I remember all the weeks I had paced about within the confines of my mind, rolling the idea around like marbles, popping the 'yes' and 'no' in and out of the realm of possibility. Around this time, I had suffered a tremendous breakup, and in my acts of stress, I resorted to my cyclical shaving and dyeing and re-dyeing and growing... and found myself with about two inches of growth, and pastel pink locks.

For those of you who don't know, I am currently working with Queens and Future Queens (a non-profit organization determined to assist young girls in becoming future leaders through mentorship programs consisting of female CEOs, CFOs, etc. of big companies as well as inspirational speakers, artist, etc.) to create an event called Champions for Change Leadership Awards 2020. Now one of the things I needed to do was find empowering music for women to feature at the event and I found one song that really made me think. The song is "Strip" by Little Mix.

Have you ever wanted to have a look that makes men's heads turn and women jealous? Chances are, you're just a few short steps away from achieving it.

As I met my friend for lunch, I noticed her lovely pink nails and complimented her choice of colour. “Sorry they’re a mess, I haven’t had time to get them done recently,” she said. That’s when it struck me: women apologising for their appearance is an all too common occurrence. And there’s undeniably no reason it should be like this. There was absolutely nothing wrong with her nails that day. And even if there was, she doesn’t owe me anything?

“I am not my hair”…it sounds good. It has a ring to it; I’d love to feel as though no matter what happens to my outward appearance, I feel glorious.

Besides weekend trips and rising temperatures, summer brings with it an urge to be fashionable. It could be because those weekend trips require cute outfits or the weather will heat up. However, the following summer tips can help people brave extreme temperature levels and still look hot.

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