As the weather gets dryer, moisture becomes more and more of a factor — for your hair, your skin and yes, even your lips!

In the interest of keeping your lips soft, smooth, and in perfect shape for wearing your most bangin’ lipstick or smooching your one and only love, I invite you to join me on Twitter this Thursday.

Neosporin Lip Health is hosting a #ReadMyLips Twitter Party this Thursday, October 6th, from 6-7pm EST. And I’m one of your cohosts, alongside the lovely Aly Walansky and @LipsologyJilly (AKA Jilly Eddy, Lipsologist)!

We’ll be discussing lip health, what your lips say about your personality (complete with lip readings by @LipsologyJilly) – and our goal is to break the record for the most lips shared via Twitter! If you upload a twitpic of your lips using the #ReadMyLips hashtag on Thursday from 6-7 pm EST, you could win some pretty cool prizes including a 15-minute lip print reading session with Jilly Eddy, and of course, samples of Neosporin Lip Health which is doing its best to keep my smackers smooth despite the weather!

How do you participate? All you need to do is be on Twitter this Thursday, October 6th, from 6-7pm EST, use the #ReadMyLips hashtag and be sure to tell me hello @afrobella!

If you want to keep in touch with family and friends, there’s Facebook. If you want to share your thoughts and experiences via video, there’s YouTube. If you’ve got ideas and opinions to share in 140 characters or less, there’s Twitter. And if you’re into instant visual inspiration via photos, videos and whatever comes to mind…there’s Tumblr. And even though I still am very much a traditional blogger who doesn’t see this format dying off anytime soon despite what the New York Times may say…I’m finding myself cheating on my blog with my microblogs. Forgive me, bellas.

I’m pretty much addicted to Twitter, and it always makes me a little sad when I hear people say stuff like they don’t “get Twitter.” I guess to an outsider it might seem narcissitic and very Generation Overshare and yes, there’s some of that. Quite a bit of that. Even as I’m trying to wean myself off complete immersion in Twitter all day every day (it’s a problem!), I can’t deny its power and the benefits I’ve gained from being part of it. I’ve made some real, amazing friends and lasting relationships through Twitter. I’ve gotten some incredible opportunities and gained valuable insight on any number of topics through Twitter.

And now Tumblr is making more of a name for itself. I’ve been on Tumblr for a while but at first the concept perplexed me. Hence the title of my Tumblr blog, Afrobella’s Random Musings – free and random as I wanna be. There I post the random songs and images that inspire me throughout the day, without any need for context or further verbage. It’s a very immediately gratifying medium in that regard. Here on Afrobella.com I take pains to add context and links and make a post worth reading. On Tumblr you can just post a photo and let it speak that 1,000 words all by itself.

I know many who are immersed in the overall community of Tumblr but like any form of social media, your Tumblr experience can really be catered to your specific interests. All you have to do is click around. If you LOVE natural hair, there’s hair inspiration GALORE. If you’re super into fashion and/or fatshion, there are some fly Tumblr blogs you should get into ASAP. If you’re into photography or animals or just random weirdness, there’s a lot of that too. If you’re into grown n sexy stuff, there’s quite a bit of that on Tumblr – so if you’ve got kids and they’re into Tumblr, you just might want to be aware of what’s out there. Not all of it is innocent.

For me, my Tumblr timeline tends to be filled with lots of fashion and beauty inspiration, and LOTS and LOTS of images of beautiful black women of all shapes and sizes. I was so delighted when For Harriet included me on their list of 45 Must Follow Tumblrs for Black Women. Compared to truly focused Tumblr blogs like Le Coil and Vintage Black Glamour, my little corner of Tumblr is random and unfocused. So I’m just honored to be on the list!
Are you on Tumblr? Leave your link in the comments below if you are! Tell me your favorite Tumblr blogs!

If you’re a part of the 140-character based social network then you probably already know. If you’re one of the folks who isn’t on Twitter, then let me tell you – the natural hair community is vibrant and vocal there! Every Sunday night at 8 pm EST/9 pm Central, there’s a lively chat where members use the hashtag #naturalhair to share comments, feedback and inspiration. And today, January 2, has been deemed #naturalhair day on Twitter! The goal is to tweet the hashtag #naturalhair enough that it becomes a trending topic.

The concept was originally the brainchild of Ansylla of MyHairitage (AKA @MyHairitage on Twitter) and Camille Reed of the Noire Salon in Silver Spring, MD (she goes by @Noireboss1).

Camille explains, “Naturalhair Day is designed as positive, supportive event to counteract some of the sardonic trending topics that appear on Twitter.”

So today if you’re on Twitter and you wear locs, loose natural hair, you have a TWA, you’re ready to transition…whatever your natural pleasure, just tweet and use the hashtag #naturalhair. Share your photos and insight, questions and advice. You’ll be supporting a positive cause and joining a wonderful community!

Allow me to get personal for a moment. Today has been an emotional rollercoaster.

Between worrying about assignments I’m behind on, deadlines I’m drowning in, and finding an affordable, comfortable place to stay in New York for Fashion Week – it’s all been killing my joie de vivre.

But this morning I woke up to AMAZING news. Yours truly has been included on a most impressive list, calculated by the folks at Black Web 2.0. I’m #80 on the list of the 100 Most Powerful Black Women on Twitter!

I know! I can’t even believe it myself. There I am, right behind India Arie, Tichina Arnold, Soledad O’Brien, and Queen Latifah. Whaaaaaat???

Judging from some of the response I’ve seen on Twitter, not everyone is happy about this list. In fact, some people are mad. But the results were tabulated using Klout and Twittergrader, so it’s not like the results came from anyone with a bias or agenda. Which explains the celebrity-heavy top half of the list – like it or not, these are women who have a tremendous number of followers and online influence.

All jokes aside, I am honored and delighted to be included with so many amazing women, including my friends and inspirations @AngelOnFire, @FaraiChideya @danamo, @bevysmith @MissJia @kimcoles @jodywatley @necolebitchie and @sistertoldja – I’m in excellent company with you!

(the Brown Twitter Bird came via InnyVinny‘s amazing site and was discovered via @BabylonSista by @thatladyj!)

Two weeks or so ago, Bobbi Brown and I were chit-chatting back and forth via Twitter. I said Hey Bobbi —

What are your beauty predictions for 2010? What will be the hot new look (esp for brown skinned beauties) in this year?

And she said Bella, you should Look for pops of color in corals, apricots and oranges (which look great on deep skin).

And then we made plans to do lunch and go shopping next week.

Well, alright – that last part didn’t happen. But legendary makeup artist Bobbi Brown IS on Twitter — follow her @askbobbibrown . Today kicks off her Pretty Powerful social media campaign. If you tweet @AskBobbiBrown every Tuesday and tell her why you love her makeup, using the hashtag #PrettyPowerful — you can be entered to win one of four Bobbi gift sets each week!

Click here for all the details, and click here to follow Bobbi Brown on Twitter. Oh, and while you’re at it you might as well follow me, too!

I love those new Weight Watchers commercials featuring Hunger as an adorable orange monster. (And I’m not the only one!)

Not only does the furry little guy appeal to my ongoing Muppet obsession, and not only does he look exactly like Gossamer, the monster from the classic Looney Tunes cartoons… but he pretty accurately depicts how it can feel when you’re on a weight loss journey — temptation abounds, and for me it’s never ever for healthy snacks. I sit around fantasizing about awful-for-me white flour demon snacks, and it can be a challenge to resist their lure. Life isn’t like that equally funny 50 Million Pound Challenge commercial, where Dr. Ian is there to thwart a would-be dieter’s fast-food sabotage. When temptation comes a-calling, sometimes you have to find motivation from unlikely sources. That’s why I follow a variety of weight loss gurus, diet divas, and exercise experts on Twitter and Facebook. Every day they help me say GET BEHIND ME, hunger monster.

Daily reminders from them help to keep me on track, if I wind up skipping a workout day to camp out in front of the computer all day. Cause y’know, sometimes that happens. Allow me to introduce you to the wonderful and inspiring world of social media’s finest fitness motivators!

The remarkable thing about Twitter is, it’s becoming so enormous that literally anyone you dream up probably already has a profile on there. For example, the other day I wished aloud that Richard Simmons was on Twitter. And lo and behold — he already was! Richard Simmons, AKA The Weight Saint, posts daily affirmations and reminders. It’s a little scary that the man who works a pair of red-and-white-striped shorts like none other is possibly following what you eat, but I’ll admit – Richard Simmons’ tweets have made me think twice about what I was about to put into my mouth more than once before.

Livin The Fit Life, AKA DC’s Toughest Trainer has a rockin’ body and a great blog that covers all aspects of weight loss, diet, and fitness in a real and approachable way. Daily reminders like this help to keep you on your journey, regardless of where you’re at.

Gourmet on a Diet keeps me in the know with healthy recipes and snack suggestions. Her blog is brilliantly written, real, and very helpful.

Manifest Well Being — AKA Deborah Barnett, PHD, is a weight loss psychologist, Personal Trainer is straight outta Chicago and posts nothing but helpful fitness tips, Fitness Guy helps you keep your eyes on the prize, and you can find even more fitness gurus on WeFollow.

On Facebook I’m part of the Sati Life weight loss community, and Facebook gets even more effective on a local level. Through FB I discovered Free Yoga Miami, and I’m taking a class this Saturday! Thanks, Facebook!

Oh, and in case you didn’t know — The 50 Million Pound Challenge has a Facebook group! So you can join to meet others, share your stories, and get that motivation you need when you get sucked into social networking. All you need now is a fitness computer! What will they think of next?

Twitter and Facebook are what you make them. Online networking and socializing can definitely be a source of time suckage and a way for people to mind your bidness, sure. But they can also be an avenue for constant inspiration and motivation, or a way to
put public pressure on yourself to meet your fitness goals. Whatever works for you!

Do you have any favorite Twitter or Facebook fitness groups? Let me know – I’m always looking for more inspiration!