On Instagram, I use the hashtag #IndieBrandLove to highlight and celebrate the independent brands I’ve tried and can vouch for in terms of product quality. And now I’m sharing that spotlight here on Afrobella.com! Get to know some of my favorite independent fashion, beauty, food and cultural brands and let’s show them a little #IndieBrandLove!… read all

This post was sponsored by SheaMoisture. I’ll never forget the first time I had to buy my own hair products in America. It was late August, 1998. I had just become a freshman at the University of Miami. I had grown up in Trinidad, surrounded by women with similar hair issues to my own. We… read all

Bellas, as you may know, I go back with the MAC Cosmetics folks for quite some time now. So when they hit me up to let me know a special collection was soon to be released, and asked me if I’d be interested in checking it out early — of course I said YES. Especially… read all

It was my first ever trip to New York City and we were staying with a college friend who lived in Harlem. He lived in a cool little walk-up above a neighborhood bar, on Manhattan Avenue. It was a sunny afternoon, my husband and I explored as much of Harlem as possible. Strolling along the… read all

Every brand has them – the best sellers, the tried-and-true items, the products they’ve been making for the longest because the people keep coming back for more. In the biz they’re known as hero products, and beauty brands strive to cultivate and maintain them. What makes a product a hero product? Consistency. Quality. It has… read all

Summer weather can throw unexpected curveballs. Here in Chicago, I can expect balmy breezes only to be faced by humid, hot air. Surprise thunderstorms can blow our way at any time – ask anyone who attended Lollapalooza in 2012 and/or 2015. The sky will be perfectly clear and then all of a sudden clouds roll… read all

  In my line of work I interact with entrepreneurs and indie brand creators from around the world, the majority of them are people of color (obviously, this is Afrobella.com!). I’ve heard the complaints from so many corners, about the struggle to get noticed or to stand out as a product producer, or the difficulty… read all

Trinidad is my land and of it I am proud and glad But I can’t understand why some people does talk it bad But I know all of dem who running dey mouth Don’t know what dey talkin ’bout They will paint here black every day And the right things they would never say — Portrait of Trinidad,… read all

I’m still coming slowly down from the cloud that was my trip back to Trinidad with EDEN BodyWorks. It’s been a dream of mine for years to go to my homeland to host or participate in a natural hair event, and it was such a blessing and an honor to have that dream come TRUE… read all

If you read my previous Beauty Ingredient Breakdown post on charcoal, then you know you can use it for your skin and you can also ingest it for detoxification purposes. But did you know you can also use it to deep clean your hair and scalp? Image source: Shutterstock Apparently so, according to amazing celebrity… read all