Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful-Revisted

Over the years, I’ve blogged about being true to yourself in regards to beauty. You should be living your own truth and doing what works for YOU. The beauty industry is really changing and growing, and there are tons of products out here to enhance your beauty. Trust me,  I work my way methodically through many of them. It’s a tough job, but I’m always ready to step up to the mirror on behalf of my beauty mavens out there. As much as I love to play around with new makeup, try out the latest serums and masks, and just have a good time making my clients look their absolute best, the best kind of “beautiful” for me is knowledge.  

This summer, I spent some time at the Brooklyn Museum, where I literally stumbled and paused in front of Mickalene Thomas’ “A Little Taste Outside of Love.”  This huge acrylic, enamel and rhinestone portrait of an unabashedly black woman was MY kind of beautiful. On that hot, humid day in Brooklyn, I looked at an image of a woman who was straight up chillin’ and enjoying HER kind of beautiful. I saw my own dark brown-reddish skin and the round parts of my body in her body. On most days, I don’t need validation that I’m beautiful in my own skin, but it’s hard work to stay positive about ME in a world that doesn’t see my kind of pretty as special or even relevant. Yet, that day, MY kind of beautiful was all around me. #BlackGirlMagic