I’m just old enough to remember a time before manicures were commonplace. When I was growing up, manicures were for the fancy or for special occasions. Now, many of my friends have weekly nail appointments. I live in a part of Chicago where there’s a nail salon almost every three blocks – and when a…
issues
Thoughts On Baltimore–The Most Insightful Things I’ve Read So Far
It’s hard to write light when your heart is heavy. And right now, my thoughts are wrapped up in darkness, in distress and in stomach churning worry for America – particularly the city of Baltimore. It’s yet another name to add to a list that’s too long, another city in turmoil, another case of police…
The Only New Year’s Beauty Resolution Worth Making
January 5, 2015. Day 5 of 365. We’re in the heady days of New Year’s resolutions. Everyone’s making a list, creating a vision board, and planning new ways to become better people in the next 360 days. It’s an exciting time. A time of promise. A time of self flagellation. A time of personal critique,…
RIP, Titi Branch. Please Pray For the Miss Jessie’s Family
The news started trickling through via social media yesterday and I’ll be honest, I didn’t want to believe it. Then people started tweeting me and DMing me and sending me private messages. I read the posts on Facebook, via NV Magazine, via Lipstick Alley, via the now-private video by filmmaker Andre Robert Lee simply titled…
The Christmas Conflict
Can I just lay down the beauty/hair/lifestyle blogger mantle for a minute and speak what’s on my mind? Quite frankly, I’m struggling to do what I’m “supposed” to do right now. I’m struggling to find the right words, and as someone whose livelihood is in words, it doesn’t feel good. It’s Christmas and there’s this…
How To REALLY Help A Homeless Woman – What I Learned From My J.Jill Styling Event
When the folks behind fashion brand J. Jill approached me to host their downtown Chicago compassion fund styling event, I knew it was going to be a special day and I’d meet some special ladies, but I had no idea what to expect. I had an idea of what clothing items they needed and what…
5 Beauty and Health Tips From My Mom on Her 75th Birthday!!
Her full name is Peggy Aura Arlene Grell, but longtime Afrobella readers know and love her as my Mama Bella. I’ve blogged about her and featured her advice so many times — click here to read my first interview with her from 2006, her tips on making your neck look younger, her tips on false…
For Janay Rice And So Many Women Just Like Her
Like everyone else, I watched the Ray and Janay Rice story unfold with no small measure of horror. The video in the elevator that went viral made me feel sick. The video where he spits and hits the woman who would go on to be his wife, where he knocks her unconscious and drags her…
5 Helpful Moving Tips From Someone Who Just Moved And Knows Moving Is The WORST
If you’ve noticed the silence over here on Afrobella, please know it’s unintentional. Here’s what’s happening in the back end of my life. We moved into a new place at the end of July – my husband and I are new homeowners (YAY!! Check out my new column on Glam.com about home ownership, it’s called…
3 Michael Jackson Songs That Mean More Than Ever Before
If he were still with us, today Michael Jackson would be 56. He’s still so loved and so deeply missed, and still so ubiquitous in pop culture. This summer, Love Never Felt So Good was part of the barbecue playlist and in regular rotation in TV commercials. MJ is still with us. Another way he’s…