Beautifully Brown by Melanie Yvette is one of my favorite new beauty blogs – and if you’ve never checked out her work, you totally should! Here’s what I love about Melanie and her message – she is all about the melanin, all about celebrating her beauty on her terms, and all about self love and discovering what makes you feel (and therefore look) beautifully unique . Her site is the new destination for girls and women with deep skin tones, whose beauty has been too long overlooked and underestimated by the mainstream. I loved her work before I met her. And then we went to Jamaica together and bonded. I felt like she was like a little blog sister. So much so that I instantly wanted to share her amazing work with my Afrobella readers – y’all need to check Melanie out! On Twitter she’s @MsMelanieYvette. On Facebook, you can like the Beautifully Brown page. And on Instagram, she’s @MelanieYvette. You’re going to be seeing her original posts appear from time to time here on Afrobella as well, because brown beauty powers, activate!
By Melanie Yvette of Beautifully Brown
For her first post, Melanie delved into beauty trends for spring (check out more here on BeautifullyBrown.com). So often we see these kinds of posts on quote-unquote mainstream sites and too often, we’re excluded. Or used as an example of what not to do. It’s tired and we’re sick of it – black is beautiful regardless of the season, and our beauty is never out of style. So we’re presenting the hot spring trends as they should be – representative of ALL shades of beautiful.
Take it away, Melanie!
12 Spring Beauty Trends You Should Really Try for Spring
Do yourself a favor and dive into the deep end of some of these not-so-classic beauty trends this season.
Barely There Makeup: It’s all about looking like you’re not wearing any makeup when you probably are. Understand this: it’s all about finding your perfect luminous foundation, a buildable concealer and the perfect bronze blush. Finish it off with a matte nude lip and you’re good to go.
Thick Brows: It may not even be about having super heavy brows, but about filling them in a bit more than you usually do. The brows have it all this season. It’s all about giving them a slight upgrade with a rich brow powder like the CoverGirl Bombshell POW-der Brow and Liner by Lashblast.
Bangs: They’re back! Yes, it’s going to get hot, so enjoy them while you can. But for a quick hair change, you can pretty much make bangs work for any face shape and hair texture and manage to keep it simple.
Berry Lips: Berry lips are nothing new, but they’re usually a favorite of fall and winter. But this spring, the sexy pucker makes an early comeback in deeper reds, various purples and mauves.
Brown Shadow: This is a newbie to the group because most Black women wouldn’t think to even buy a brown eye shadow. But, this season, the not-so-popular color in beauty offers it’s own spin on dramatic eye makeup. Dab a bit on your lid with your middle finger for a mild, sultry look or go big with a heavy cat-eye created with your best brown shade.
Coral Lips: Another classic. Coral lips are the sweet little sister to orange lips, making a big enough statement to be noticed without causing a stir. The thing we love about this trend is that it’s sort of a buildable look. You can stain your lips for an everyday approach, or you can add the drama with a high intense pucker for a night on the town.
Graphic Eyes: Tricky and not that easy to obtain, graphic eyes are essentially for the risk takers out there. Whether it’s a intense metallic shadow or a liner applique, you have to be confident enough to brush off the stares you’ll get when rocking this makeup statement.
Flash Tats: Forgo the real jewelry and add some excitement to your look with these jewelry inspired temporary metallic tattoos.
Smudged Eye Makeup: It’s all about looking like you slept in your eye makeup. I know, it sounds gross. But, that’s the trend: I didn’t make it up. Think city-girl, with wild hair and silver platforms getting ready to dance all night with her girls she hasn’t seen in forever.
Mid-Length Hair Cuts: Long hair is so last year. Cut your hair a little bit beneath your neck, or add a few pieces to an already chopped bob. Watch how mid-length hair shapes and frames your face. Thank us later.
Intense Nail Art: Nail art will probably never go away, and that’s a good thing. Add words, letters, negative spaces and splashes of paint to your digits just for fun.
A “New” French Manicure: Simple: change the white French tip to a different color. Better yet, treat yourself to a French mani with two different colors. But no, don’t get a regular French manicure. Ever.
“I just want to help girls who look like me feel beautiful.”
These were the words spoken by Melanie when asked at the age of 5, what she wanted to be when she grew up. Since then, her true passions have inevitably developed, but her love of beauty and yearning to inspire women of color hasn’t changed. In love with beauty, style, and female empowerment, Melanie Yvette Martin began her career as an intern with NBC Today Show Style Editor, Bobbie Thomas. She became the Beauty and Style Editor for EBONY.com and recently left the editor’s life to focus on her brand, which began as a column, Beautifully Brown. Now 27 years old, Melanie is revamping Beautifully Brown to cater to all ethnic women, and serves as the Social Media Content Coordinator for parent hair company, Strength of Nature. She hopes to continue developing a career in beauty that will allow her to reach the multicultural female audience, and inspire women to feel beautiful in their skin.
You can check out Beautifully Brown by Melanie Yvette at BeautifullyBrown.com. On Twitter she’s @MsMelanieYvette. On Facebook, you can like the Beautifully Brown page. And on Instagram, she’s @MelanieYvette.
Thanks Beautifully Brown.
Good post, I would surely try these beauty trends for spring.
What a great post! Dark Skin is so beautiful in all it’s shades. Women with african roots (also southamerican women) are so female! I was shocked to read women try to whitening their Skin. What a shame! They think they do it becuase they like white Skin. They are wrong. They do it because of white culture and (sometimes violent) influence. Like Naomi Campbell said “houte cuture” is white. I don’t like her but she’s right.
Great Post! I have always been a fan of thicker more natural looking brows. I am glad they are making a comeback. I am so surprised that brown shadow is not popular with black women because I wear brown shadow all the time, especially when I am going to work. It gives me a natural look, but my eyes still sparkle and pop a bit, and it really makes my red or hot pink lips stand out!
I love brown eyeshadow. Too Faced Chocolate palette is the best and includes some awesome brown, bronzey colors. I also love NARS Cordura. I personally, think brown eyeshadow looks fantastic on us brown beauties.