I’ve been writing posts more-or-less five days a week for five years right here at your friendly neighborhood Afrobella.com, and over time I’ve assumed a certain familiarity. But lately I’ve been hearing from brand new bellas who discovered Afrobella by hearing about me via The Michael Baisden Show, or from the news about the MAC Bloggers Obsession collection. So allow me to reintroduce myself! My name isn’t Hov. My name is Patrice, but often people call me Bella or Afrobella — I respond to any and all of those names. Whatever you feel most comfortable with (quite a few people tell me they prefer Bella!) And this is exactly where I sit and write these blog posts every day!
Photo by Errol Dunlap, makeup by J. St. Jaimes
I was born and raised in Trinidad, migrated to Miami where I attended the University of Miami for my undergrad (film scriptwriting!) and my masters (creative writing. Clearly my mind was not on finding a moneymaking career). I spent a spell working at the coolest bookstore in Miami and then I worked in the calendar section (initially as assistant editor and then eventually as editor) at the craziest newspaper in Miami for almost 5 years.
While I was there, I started my blog because I had views to express that didn’t fit into the parameters of my job, and also at the time there were no other blogs really speaking to natural hair and black beauty and plus size fashion. I’m by no means a professional, but I have high standards, strong opinions and I have always been beauty obsessed, since I was a little girl. I couldn’t find a reflection of my beauty in mainstream media. On one wine-fueled whimsical night, one of our best friends suggested I start a blog, my husband suggested the perfect domain name, and the rest as they say, is history.
Afrobella started out as a personal expression intended to fill a void, and that void proved to be so much bigger than I could have dreamed. Seriously. 5 years ago when I wrote my first ever post, I couldn’t have imagined that Afrobella.com would become THIS!
Afrobella is now my full time occupation. I’m a full time blogger and freelancer for a variety of publications — click here and here to learn more about me. I love writing about hair, beauty, makeup, fashion, spa treatments and of course Caribbean culture. I love traveling and travel writing. On Afrobella you can find a mix of articles about hair, beauty, culture, music, travel and more — always intended to be positive and informative, friendly and fun.
I’m married to an amazing man named Steve, we have a cat named Max who’s a handful and a half, and we live in Chicago. I love summer music festivals and street festivals, purple is my favorite color, and I love all kinds of music but classic reggae and calypso are extra close to my heart.
Enough about me, I wanna know more about you! Where are you from? What do you do? How did you discover Afrobella and how long have you been reading my blog? And most importantly, what would you like to see more of on Afrobella.com? Lurkers, come out and say HELLO!
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