Sometimes, randomly I’ll wonder what she’s up to. Is she in good health? Is she still lucid? Is she surrounded by people who love her and care for her? I hope and pray she is.

Lena Horne is a living legend who has retreated completely from the spotlight. She turned 92 on June 30, and her last public appearance was in 1999 at an event in her honor in New York. Her final televised singing appearance was in 1998 on the Rosie O’Donnell show.

I wasn’t of the Stormy Weather generation of Lena Horne fans, not old enough to remember her appearances on The Judy Garland Show, or her TV specials. My connection to Lena is directly connected to my childhood.

Her appearances on Sesame Street and the Muppet Show made a huge impact on me at a tender age, when Trinidad and Tobago Television showed endless repeats of Seventies and early Eighties era episodes. Even then, there was something about Lena that just struck a chord with me. Her gentle spirit. The way she carried herself. Her classy demeanor. She reminded me of the women in my family, who held themselves with a certain elegance and dignity even when in less than dignified company.

Lena didn’t teach me the alphabet (I’m pretty sure my mother, my aunty Opal, and my sister Petal were directly responsible for that), but Lena’s funky version sure helped to reinforce the lesson.

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I get frequent e mails from ladies asking me questions about makeup. What’s the best brand? What will last the longest? Where can I find the brightest colors?

I know what works best for me, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to turn to some true divas who know makeup from makeup. Beauties who use makeup to transform their look completely from day to night. I reached out to my amigas in gorgeousness — three of Miami’s most fabulous drag queens.

My last post on drag queen makeup was forever and a day ago, so I’m long overdue for a fresh update.

Who better to ask than three of my favorite divas who live, love and entertain in the 305? As a special bonus, I’m gonna throw in my two cents with a special makeup recommendation for each of these faboosh ladies.

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In the world of eyebrow shaping, there are the laypeople (the ones who wax you at any standard day spa or mall outlet), and there are the superstars — Anastasia, Damone Roberts, and Miss Rashida B., among them. Rashida flits between Miami and Chicago, beautifying the brows of the truly fabulous in both cities. When she isn’t plucking, shaping, holding down her popular Chicago salon, The B Spot and getting namedropped in the likes of Vogue magazine and Daily Candy — Rashida’s keeping it real on Twitter as @beautyschooled. AND she’s got an awesome blog of the same name — where she drops knowledge and interviews professionals in the world of makeup and the beautifying industry.

My interview with Rashida was unconventional in the sense that we were cracking each other up and bonding like old friends (even though we hadn’t met yet!) So without further ado, here are some of Rashida’s best tips and quips.

I had to ask her about the infamous eyebrow weave video — despite the repeated promise of “celebrity status,” Rashida is not feelin’ it.

“I don’t recommend it. It doesn’t look good in person. Maybe you can use it for photography, to achieve a certain look for a photo shoot…” she suggested. Oh, Rashida you are being too kind.

What about the latest no eyebrows trend, as identified by the New York Times?

“I’m gonna say no to that as well, unless you’re a runway model. If you absolutely have to achieve that look, there’s this stuff called spirit gum which you can use to smooth them down.”

One of the things I loved about interviewing Rashida is, she is no nonsense. She broke down her feelings about waxing and threading, without hesitation. And she got this formerly wax-happy bella to think twice.

“Tweezing is my preference, but I’ll give you the facts. The saddest thing I’ve been hearing lately is about clients going to get their eyebrows waxed and walking away with scabs. That’s when you go to a place that isn’t professional. There should be a consultation form when you go into a professional waxing salon. They don’t do that. What if you’re dealing with a diabetic? Diabetics, you don’t wanna lift the skin off them for fear of infection. Are you on Retin A? Are you on Accutane? These are questions that need to be asked before you get waxed. And don’t get me started on the double dipping and the stick… if you think about it, they’re using the same wax for your eyebrows, your upper lip, and your bikini area. And they’re just double dipping the stick into the same wax.”

Um, EW. I never even thought about that before.

I had to mention a popular chain of wax salons that ahem — I had a ghastly experience with back in Miami. Now they’re offering “celebrity brows,” where you can go in and ask for let’s say, the Megan Fox brow. It sounded ridiculous to me. And Rashida agreed.

“That’s… insane. You don’t have Megan Fox’s face, or her eyebrow shape. You can’t go into an eyebrow shaping like that. Don’t think thin, don’t think thick. Beware of eyebrow trends. It should be all about your face, your brows, and what’s gonna look right on you. It happens all the time, where ladies will say to me “I want eyebrows like my friend.” Well, unless your friend’s gonna give you her face, that’s probably not gonna work.”

So what are the perfect brows, according to Rashida B?
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Bellas, my love for Nina Simone is no secret — but every so often I’m reminded of her genius. That just happened with this video, and I had to share it with you.

So many things about this 1968 performance clip are striking. Her powerful performance, yes. Her energy, yes. But especially – the regal strength of her beauty. I love a big, wide headband and Nina wore hers like a queen. Set off with a little makeup – smokey eye and a berry lip — paired with a beautiful ivory strapless fishnet number that’s so vintage chic, there’s no wonder that what’s old is new again. I know many bellas who’d wear that outfit right now if they could!

Enjoy, bellas – Nina forever!

Before I give tribute to the many, many famous and beautiful black women at the BET Awards last night, first a word to their publicists.

Where ARE you?

Holla at a blogger!

It seems that whenever a cast member of Gossip Girls sneezes, I get a press release. If Paris Hilton strolls through a boutique, I get a press release. If Speidi or Lauren Conrad, or some other former cast member of the Hills goes shopping at freakin’ Target, I get a press release. But when it comes to readily getting info about celebrities of color… *crickets*

I wish my inbox had filled up with press releases gushing about the makeup artistry and fashion choices of celebs like Taraji, Monica, or Estelle. That was NOT the case and I would sincerely like to see that change. If celeb makeup artist Ashunta Sheriff hadn’t reached out to me to detail the looks of her clients Alicia Keys and Tatyana Ali, I would have been stuck where I always am — guessing what products these fabulous women used in an effort to share the info with you, my fellow beauty loving bellas.

Here’s hoping some celeb PRs see this and get a dose of act-right when it comes to promoting their clients of color.

Off soapbox. On to the award-attending beauties!

Bellasugar did a fab job of highlighting the trends of the evening, so I’ll just shout out my faves along with some product recommendations I can vouch for. Photos are from Oh No They Didn’t.

First up, Janet. I can’t express enough admiration for her strength under such incredibly painful, difficult circumstances. She maintained her composure with grace and she looked like an angel. Cascading curls and beautiful bronze makeup gave her a restrained beauty. To recreate such a gorgeous bronze eye, I recommend Bobbi Brown. I said it already and I’ll say it again – those shimmer bricks are the business! For a more subdued glow, it’s possible Janet’s artist used the new nude collection — which includes an eye palette and a shimmer brick that includes gorgeous pearl pigments. My beauty blogging homegirl KarlaSugar swatched the whole shebang, so check her out for color details.

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I missed the BET Awards but I didn’t MISS the BET Awards, if you know what I’m sayin’.

Judging from the various indignant responses on Twitter, it seems I didn’t miss much. But thanks to some of my favorite sites — Oh No They Didn’t and Crunk & Disorderly, I saw all I needed to see. Red carpet fabulousity! And if you’re like me, you might be wondering — exactly how did these stars get so amazingly dolled up?

Today’s your lucky day. Celebrity makeup artist Ashunta Sheriff wanted to share her special makeup tips and tricks exclusively with Afrobella readers, and here’s the scoop on her lush looks for humanitarian award winner Alicia Keys, and one of my favorite child stars who’s gorgeous and all grown up, Tatyana Ali!

Take it away, Ashunta!

Alicia Keys
Inspiration: Moroccan inspired due to her recent trip there in May for the Mawaline Festival. Alicia’s short bejeweled shift dress in its soft aqua truly brought out her golden complexion. I wanted to give her a touch of sun kissed glow and egyptian/moroccan eyes with coral lips remniscent of the colors of a Moroccan Paradise.

Body: my secret weapon body glow mix is a combination of Dior Bronze Sun Powder Spray, Smashbox Bodylights body Lotion shimmer and Girlactik Beauty Gold Shimmer powder. The combination gave Alicia an amazing bronzed sun kissed glow to make her legs and declertage look flawlessly stunning.

Client: Tatyana Ali
Inspiration: Bollywood Princess, bringing out more of Tatyana’s Indian heritage I used metallic earth tones to shape and frame her eyes. Radiant bronzed skin works for her toffee complexion and an iridescent nude topped the look off.

Body: Palmers Organic Olive Oil Body Cream and Smashbox Bodylights Lotion body shimmer to make her legs look flawless.

Did she say Mary Kay? Palmers? Olay? Cover Girl’s Queen Collection? Black Opal? Ashunta is my kinda bella! There’s something so wonderful about knowing celebs are using the same products a bella on a budget might swear by, am I right?

I promise to fill in the complete list of products with links where you can check out these items ASAP! Right now it’s 1:30 a.m. and this blogging bella needs her bed.

Click here to visit Ashunta’s website to see even more of her amazing work, and click here to follow her on Twitter! Look out later today for even more BET Awards looks from the red carpet and the ceremony itself — Janet, Beyonce, Nichelle Nichols and more!