Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
In January I proudly announced that I was nominated for a Fabbie Award — the first ever fashion and lifestyle blogger-created and organized awards, created by the internet superstars of Fashiontribes, Bag Snob and Manolo’s Shoeblog.
I am thrilled to announce that thanks to you, beautiful, wonderful bellas and fellas who took the time to register and vote for moi, I won! I won, I won, I won the Best Beauty category. And I was nominated alongside some really first class beauty blogs, so I am especially surprised and honored. Cut to me dancing like Snoopy in my living room.
Without further ado, the winners are as follows —
Accessories – Knickersblog
Beauty – Afrobella (that’s me!)
Best Newbie – stylenotes
Men’s – Dandyism — which I love, BTW
e-Zine/New Frontier Publishing – NYMag.com
Fashion – I Like Her Style (YAY, Sylvia!!!!!!)
Indie/Niche – The Fashion Incubator
Lifestyle – a tie between Apartment Therapy & the YBF
Parents/Pets – Honest Baby
Shoes – Grand Mademoiselle Shoe blog
Shopping – The fabulous FabSugar
Streetstyle – The Sartorialist.
I am so psyched to have won an award alongside these magnificent blogs, and I can’t thank you enough for voting for me. I promise to keep my head to the sky, and to keep on bringing you more of the stuff you love.
Speaking of which… what would you like to see more or less of on this blog? Beauty reviews? Giveaways (goes without saying)? Hair posts? Makeup tips? Politics? Music? Celebrity rambling? Also, what would you guys think about an Afrobella forum, where you could ask questions and keep conversations flowing all the time? I’m open to suggestions, and I’d love to get your input on ways to take Afrobella to the next level.
Thank you again for taking the time to vote for me. I’m gonna try to make a trip to NYC this September… the Fabbies award ceremony is going to be held during Fashion Week!!
Congrats!!!! You deserved it sooo much. IMO this is the best blog out there, touching every aspect of inner and outer beauty. and before i forgot in september- have a fabulous time at the award ceremony. you rock!!!
Congratulations girl!! Way to go- You deserve it!… I think you’ve been doing a wonderful job, just keep doing what you’re doing. However, I don’t think you should include much ‘celebrity ramblings’- there’s enough of that smut out there already. I love Afrobella for it’s uniqueness, just continue to keep up the good work!!!
I agree with you, Wes — everytime I go to post something like Jill Scott looking gorgeous on the cover of Essence… I realize that 10 other blogs have the same post and I’m too late to be fresh and relevant with it, so I shy away. There’s a whole lotta celebrity coverage elsewhere on the internet, but I just wanted to put it out there for readers who love that stuff. =)
Congratulations Bella! And what happy news to share with Mom and Dad as they are there with you now! Give them both a hug for me, and take one for yourself! I’ll toast you in Trotters tomorrow!!
Congrats Bella! A fabbie award for a fabulous blogger.Much more success.
Hoorah for the Bella! Blessings to you
I’ve never followed a blog as often as I follow yours. I’d LOVE more hair stuff, especially for those of us with the tightly curled hair. I’m with Wes too; the celeb stuff is only great on occasion.
Forums are great if they’re simple.
One of the best things about your blog (other than content) is the simple clean design. Overall, Bella, you’ve got a classy thing going.
Cheers!
I love your blog. It is my “morning crack”. I need to read it to get me going. One suggestion….I have locks. I have had them for over a year. I don’t know how to style them. I know that you don’t have locks but could you find adviceto give or instructions on how to style short locks. The styles I see are for people with really long locks. My hair isn’t that long yet. Any how-to style tutorials would be greatly appreciated.
Congrats! Please keep doing the hair product postings (thats what first brought me here!)
Also maybe do styling tips? I love my curly wash & go but other style tutorials would help!
Wow! Look at you, Bella! You’re on roll. (Singing) “Don’t stop, get it, get it!” =) Congrats! Anyway, I’m so glad you want to know what we want to see. Of course giveaways are always good but more product information on kinky hair would be nice as well as makeup tips (how to’s) and beauty reviews. Again, congrats. Now take a bow and snap in a circle three times! =)
Congrats Bella!!
Big Congratulations to you! I say, don’t change a thing. You have a nice balance of all things wonderful.
Yay ‘bella! Congrats.
Hair posts!! There are so few blogs that do this.
Congratulations! I love the Sartorialist and Apartment Therapy, too.
Congrats! You deserve it. Have fun during Fashion Week.
Congrats on all the constant accolades and awards, girl! Also for postingn this list and intro-ing me to Apartment Therapy.
Please don’t cut back on the political/news content on your site. It’s one of the features that makes your blog rise above the rest of the beauty bloggersphere, particularly because seems like going back to natural has political/cultural interpretations either read into it or motivating it. That decision has more context to it than, say, a white girl deciding to go blond. It’s more like an asian chic getting “eye fold” surgery, yes? So, please keep on with the politcal content.
And Throwback Thursdays! <3 ‘em!
CONGRATS! You are having an awesome year.
Congratulations! I agree, there are enough celebrity/gossip blogs out there. Keep doing your thing.
Congrats Bella! I love anything having to do with beauty, fashion, and music. Keep up the great blog!
Congratulations Bella!!!!!
you deserve it! Are you getting any money/gifts for this? (I hope you do!!)
PS as far as the forum goes, an alternative idea to think about is having a Open Thread post from time to time, you could start the ball rolling by asking a question from one of the many comments you receive or just let readers have at it. I know ApartmentTherapy and Temptalia do this and personally it’s so much easier than having to go through the hassle of yet another registration and yet another user/password to remember and also for you as the moderator in keeping the forum active.
Just my 2 cents
Congrats! Bella ,you earn your rewards.I love hair post,because they have truely helped me maintane my hair.I did not know what a pre-poo was until you wrote about it,and my hair is so easy to comb through now.
Yeaaaaaaah Bella! — Go Bella – hey hey – Go Bella!
Congrats to you on your Fabbie Award. I love your blog because of the variety. I think that you keep a good mix of everything moving on the blog. Congrats again…and do what you do girl!!
Congrats!! It’s an award well-deserved.
Congratulations. You deserve the award. I like the content you have now.
I think a forum would be cool. And I think we come here as much for the beauty, fashion, music, politics etc, as for the woman who created the platform. I agree with those who say keep doing your thing! This is your platform, it’s authentic and that’s your best foot forward right there.
Congrats, you deserve it!!
I don’t think I’d like the forum idea too much if it took time away from your blogging. I personally enjoy the make-up, hair & skin tips the most. I really like the fact that you include a budget option even when reviewing expensive stuff. That said, I’m happy whenever I see that you’ve posted something new, so just keep writing your wonderful pieces and I’ll keep reading!
Congrats, Bella! You definitely deserve it. =)
congratulations bella! good for you, all the awards just confirm what we already know; you’re fabulous! i got turned onto your blog a few months ago; it’s a wonderful mix of beauty, political and social issues. i concur with cosmicsistren and homeinkabul regarding locs info and budget options, respectively. and if i may i add my two cents, i would love to know more about the music you are listening to. because of you i got turned onto santogold and am digging robert randolph and the family band. your taste in music (in my opinion) is great and i LOVE that you’ve been flashing us back to music of yesteryear. keep it up, i love it!
Congrats bella!
Congratulations Bella!!! This is a FABULOUS site indeed!!!!
congratulations bella! this is a well-deserved honor. love your blog and I agree with tanya , comicsistren and homeinkabul about info concerning locs . As a baby-boomer , your flash backs are great. You can pass on the celebrity stuff and the forum.
Congratulations! I agree with everybody about the celebrity stuff…that’s everywhere, a little is more than enough. One thing I REALLY like is how you keep this blog clean and basically foul-language free…I choose not to use foul language, and when I occasionally read another blog (usually because I’m linking to it from your site) and see all those f***, etc., it’s a real turnoff. I think if you had a forum, it would be harder to control all that.
I’d like to see more stuff about straight up kinky hair, too. The longer my hair gets, the more challenges I face. Anyway, I love what you’re doing, it’s my little bit of big girl time everyday.
Hey Bella,I think that it would be cool to pick your readers from time to time to be “Afrobella Of The Month”.
Congratulations!!
I would like more hair posts, giveaways :-), make-up tips for sure!
WELL deserved.
To be honest, Bella, I love you just the way you are. I think you have the perfect mix. I never know what you’ll be talking about when I pull it up and I like that!
If I had to choose something – hmmm, maybe more product reviews, specifically stuff that’s affordable as you usually do. I get so disgusted with Essence sometimes for posting stuff that their average reader couldn’t afford…or even if they could, they are smart enough to know the money would be better spent on something that’s appreciating!
Makeup tips are also great – maybe some application tips as well to create different looks. I know what makeup to buy but don’t always know about different effects I can create by layering colors or blending…etc.
As for a forum, NOOOO. But that’s only because I don’t need another feeding ground for my online addiction
Hey there m’dear Afrobella!
Well done!!!
I hope you are making space for all those awards that you’re winning?!
As for suggestions I wouldn’t go for a forum unless you are willing to shell out $£$£$£ for the domain and bandwidth. Plus it’ll be a lot of work to moderate posts & keep the forum running just ask Deecoily of http://www.nappturality.com
Perhaps you could use http://nouri.sh/ to turn your blog into a newsletter for those on the go. http://nouri.sh/ is free to use.
Instead of a forum why not start a Fan Club on Facebook?
Folks could upload pictures, you will get to see your Fans, us Fans can ask questions on there and you could show us all of those well deserved awards you got etc.. and it’s Free to use.
Twitter Afrobella Twitter.com
..and lastly.. what about using http://issuu.com to publish your own online quarterly magazine once again … it’s free.
Well don again, dear heart!
Must go and tend to my Diva Child ;0)
HTH
Anita
OOooppsss that was WELL DONE not WELL DON.. I have my little one on my lap as I type.. :0)
Hey congrats honey!!!!!!!! I am so proud of you! Look how far you have taken Afrobella girlfriend *applauding*
I just started reading the blog. I love the different mix. I agree with everyone about the celebrity stuff. I like that you give us a taste of it but only when it is relevent to the blog. I really like the product reviews and the comments afterward. It is very helpful. My daughter, 5, has natural hair and I find products I might not normally come across. So I would definitely like to see more blogs for natural hair possibly with tutorials or pics.
I also like that your page isn’t too busy, with flashing lights and games and craziness.
Congratulations on the award, from what I’ve seen so far you deserve it.
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