I love what I do, and I love spreading the word about natural beauty! Recently I’ve had some awesome opportunities, and have been interviewed by and featured in some truly amazing ways online. Please allow me to share with you!

A while back I was contacted by the folks at WowOWow.com with a specific beauty question. What is the biggest beauty mistake the over-40-year-old woman makes?

I just turned 30, so my own style identity is evolving from twenty-something, I-still-see-clothes-I-like-in-the-juniors-section sneakers-and-jeans-to-every-occasion into something more toned down and true to my life experience. So how could I answer this question? I spoke to all the women in my life who are over 40, before formulating a response. Click here to read my answer. I think I did them all proud.

Anyone who knows me knows that I love clothes. I love shopping, I love pretty things and just because I am full figured doesn’t mean that I’m not a fashionista. So when the Silhouettes blog wanted to interview me about plus size fashion I was SO! EXCITED!

Click here to read my interview which is all about being plus sized my whole life, and the kinds of fashion that we women of size DESERVE.

The Silhouettes Style blog is written by the fabulous Sarah of StyleIt — she is giving me pure LIFE and so much fashion inspiration with her On the Plus Size feature. Two snaps in a circle for Sarah, and for Silhouettes!

As a strong believe in blog sister love, it was an honor and joy to interview Curly Nikki recently. And it was wonderful to be interviewed back! Curly Nikki recently featured yours truly on her blog, in an interview all about natural hair, my current favorite products, and what the future holds for me. Click here to read it, and click here to support Curly Nikki’s next big move — she’s blogging for Tyra, y’all!

Writing is my main avenue of expression, but of late I’ve been seriously missing being a contributor to radio programs. RIP News and Notes! There still isn’t another program that fills the void. Lately I’ve been lucky enough to participate in some awesome radio interviews.

It began with a special AOL Black Voices podcast on Good Hair. It was fascinating to hear our varied perspectives, and I look forward to participating in future AOL Black Voices podcasts!

The Good Hair discussion continued when I was asked to be on one of my favorite radio programs — Cocoa Mode with Shawna Renee. And even better, the other guest on the show was my girl Deanna Sutton from Clutch! It was a great show and I’m happy to be part of the extended Cocoa Mode family. Call me anytime, Shawna!

And just last night I was honored to be a guest on Womanist Musings on Blog Talk Radio. Wanna hear the show? Click here to listen to the broadcast, which featured myself, the bloggers of Womanist Musings, and professional stylist Shaha, who blogs at Natty Locs by Shaha. Show these bellas some love!

2009 has been a brilliant and blessed year. I can’t wait to see what 2010 brings!

If you visited Newsweek.com’s Human Condition blog today, you may have been greeted by this beautiful photo of two bright eyed, big haired girls. Those adorable little afrobellas are my nieces. Dominique and Isabella! And the article was my response to the latest rebuttal by Allison Samuels.

Hey response to the bloggers, if you will, was titled We Are All Team Zahara, and reignited ire throughout the blogosphere.

One of my favorite bloggers, Latoya Peterson tackled the Baby Z hair police head on in Jezebel. (LOVING all Latoya’s work over there, BTW).

Post Bourgie cosigned Latoya’s take, and Ta-Nehisi Coates took on the topic for The Atlantic.

Then Newsweek invited some bloggers to respond on their site.

Tami of What Tami Said wrote Natural Hair Is Not Unhealthy.

Author Roslyn Holcolmb who blogs at Stormcrow wrote Hair Don’ts Hold Us Back.

Nichelle of 55 Secret Street wrote Its Time To Fully Embrace Natural Hair.

And now you can click here to read my final thoughts about Zahara’s hair. If you could leave a comment on Newsweek’s site, it’d mean so much to me!

I hope that puts an end to these shenanigans, at least until the next trip to a toy store, where this little girl will emerge held by her mother, and surrounded by bodyguards, gawking onlookers, and photographers by the dozen.

If you’ve got a little girl in your life dealing with similar hair issues as Zahara Jolie Pitt and even Chris Rock’s little girls — struggling with loving their hair in its unfettered state and appreciating their natural beauty — you might want to get them an inspiring book for Christmas. Of course there’s I Love My Hair by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley, the sometimes controversial Nappy Hair by Carolivia Herron, and Happy to Be Nappy by bell hooks. Now you can add I Love My Cotton Candy Hair by Nicole L. Updegraff to the list. The book takes into account the diverse background of a modern interracial family, the hair issues of biracial kids, and ultimately it’s “a story about loving yourself just the way you are.” A message any kid (and most adults) should be able to get behind.

Thanks to all of you who have sent me that Newsweek article by Allison Samuels about Zahara Jolie Pitt and “the politics of uncombed hair.”

I know y’all already know how I feel, but I wrote about it for BVHairTalk in a post titled I’m on Team Zahara! Just so everyone else knows.

Baby Z looks fine to me!

Is it weird to quote yourself? Oh well:

“Sometimes when I read posts on gossip blogs about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s children, I’m left feeling lost and alone in the universe.

Small wonder I got a dose of kiddie hair relaxer at age 7 — I didn’t exactly make myself easy to handle.
When I see Baby Z — and the same goes for her sister, Shiloh — I see two happy, loved, very independent-minded little girls, and an indulgent mother who allows them to express their own style.”

“I disagree with the conclusion of that Newsweek article: “…there will come a day when this beautiful little African girl will understand what it means to be an African American woman in this society and realize unlike her younger sister, hers is not a wash-and-go world.” That sentence revealed more about the author than she may have realized. For some African American women, the expectation isn’t that hair needs to be tamed into submission. For many natural hair bloggers and our readers, this world is whatever we want it to be. I’m comfortable and happy with a wash-and-go style, and I dare you to look at a natural-hair Web site like Le Coil and tell me those women look unkempt or “a hot mess.”

So there you have it, and for further reading allow me to recommend Roslyn Holcomb’s take, and Gina of What About Our Daughters, who titles her post Leave Zahara Alone!

Cosign THAT.

I’d love to hear your opinions on this, seeing as any photograph of this four year old child will invariably be torn to shreds by writers, bloggers, and commenters who apparently are all experts on black hair styling. Is Baby Z under a different kind of scrutiny than other celebrity kids her age? What are your feelings on that? And if you have advice for Brad and Angelina about her hair, what would it be?

Not to sound conceited (hopefully you know by now that is not how I roll) — but I’ve got some GREAT news to shout to the world!

Yours truly is honored to be part of an all star team of beauty bloggers on a brand new site.

Who’s The Fairest is the blog for beauty private-sale site The Fairest. Click there to sign up – we’re talking about 75% discounts off name brand makeup here!

Led by editorial director and all around awesome lady Nadine Jolie, my fellow contributors include Lianne Farbes (The Makeup Girl), Julia Coney (All About the Pretty), Shannon Nelson (A Girl’s Gotta Spa!), Michelle Mismas (All Lacquered Up), Christine Mielke (Temptalia), Robyn Cohen (Relevant Beauty), Marta Walsh (Talking Makeup), and Carolyn Hsu (The Daily Obsession). Together we are like a Justice League of beauty knowledge! Wonder Twin powers, ACTIVATE!

I’m going to be contributing regularly and writing about what I believe in — all things related to black beauty.

In fact, my first post there is a direct response to an Afrobella reader, Willow. Willow is a high school girl who left me a comment on an old post that I had to add my two cents to. So Willow, I hope you’re reading.

A Reminder: Black is Beautiful is dedicated to you and the other bellas like you. Every now and then, we all need a reminder to show ourselves the love we deserve.

Please comment, and share your views here, there, and everywhere. And expect the best from Who’s The Fairest!

I thought I told you that we don’t stop!

Ya girl Afrobella has been grustlin’ grustlin’ grustlin’ (hat tip to Hajj Flemings) and this is a trend that won’t cease anytime soon. So I’m creating a new category, Afrobella Around the Web, where I’ll share my latest exploits in the world of freelancing, interviews, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

First up, I’m going to be writing regularly for cool culture website Rumbum.com. I was lucky enough to cover Lollapalooza for Rumbum, and twas AWESOME. What’d I write? A LOT.

Locals Rock Lolla.

Hip Hop Comes to Lollapalooza.

Jane’s Addiction set review.

Snoop Dogg set review.

Atmosphere set review.

I’m planning to continue freelancing for Rumbum — bar and restaurant reviews, and more music — so expect to see more of me over there!

Over at BV Hair Talk, I’ve been bringing the Afrobella flavor. I tend to do lots of celebrity hair stories over there, but one that was different recently was Where Does Your Hair Come From — all about the source of weaves and extensions. Recently I also did Queen Ifrica’s best tips for locs, and YouTube’s Best Hair Bloggers. I’m planning to regularly feature YouTube hair bloggers so if I left you, or your favorite off the list, holla at me and let me know!

I was featured in a great interview over on Aesthetic Elevation, an informative, engaging Baltimore-based blog that covers sports, beauty, and finding achievement in life!

Last but CERTAINLY not least, I’ve got wonderful news to share. When I first started this blog and dared myself to dream, I wanted someday to be featured in the magazines I grew up reading. This week, one of those dreams came true.

Essence Magazine did a piece on the top online black beauty bloggers, and yours truly made the list!

Click here to read it all. I’m in EXCELLENT company with some of my favorite beauties in the biz. Julia from All About the Pretty. Tia Williams of Shake Your Beauty. Erin Scandalous of Scandalous Beauty! So proud of us gals. I also gotta say I think a few other black beauty bloggers should have also been included — Lianne the Makeup Girl, Nichelle of 55 Secret Street, and Brittany of Clumps of Mascara come most immediately to mind, and I know I’m forgetting to mention quite a few others… so I’m hoping Essence continues to show us beauty bloggers love! It’s our time to shine!

Thank you all for allowing me to share, to grow, and to follow my dreams! I’m gonna close out this week with a special giveaway to celebrate!