Let Me Introduce You To Some Of My Friends

Once upon a time, I worked as the freelance Healthy Beauty Awards assistant at Self magazine. It was a fun, fun time (and by fun I mean stressful as fuck).

I learned a lot and tried lots of new products and met some awesome ladies who happened to be my co-workers.

Two years later, Johanna, Pia and Runa (and Keli who I met through Pia and Runa) are still some of my favorite people on the planet.

And they're also my personal beauty gurus. Pia did my eye makeup in the bathroom of some club in Bay Ridge once because I looked so plain-jane-blah. I think it was Bay Ridge. I'm not sure where we were. Blame it on the alcohol, I'm a lightweight.

They also keep it real. Like the time Johanna told me my all-natural deodorant was NOT working.

If that's not friendship, I don't know what is.

Check out their sites: Mamalatinas.net (http://articles.mamaslatinas.com/blogger/37/johanna_ferreira)

Xovain.com (http://www.xovain.com/author/pia-and-runa)

Beauty Talk for AOL.

Hi guys!

So as some of you may know, I write for AOL's BV on Style blog. I LOVE writing for AOL!

I'm going to continue writing for BV on Style but I wanted to share a post I wrote for BV on Beauty!

I love Youtube tutorials; they have played a huge factor in the health of my hair, they've taught me everything I know about makeup and they've shown me how to look good on a budget.

So I was thrilled when my boss said I could write a post about some of the best makeup tutorials for women of color.

I worked really hard on this post and I'm pretty happy with the way it came out. You guys should check it out here. Whether you're black or not, the vloggers we featured give great tips.

Thank you : )

Do You Fake A Natural Look?

I was reading this interesting post about women in the industry who go bare at work.

I'm talking about no makeup.

Duh.

There was a time when the most makeup I wore was mascara. That was until I was preparing for my first industry event and my boss asked me to "do something" about my face. To be honest, I'm not that big on makeup. I wish I could get away with not really wearing any.
I wish I had the type of skin that I could wear naked. But alas, I was given a face prone to acne.

Tis my lot in life.


While I'm not a Joy Bryant,


I certainly don't feel the need to be a Kim Kardashian.


So I go for my "natural but not really look".

These are the products I use.

Bare Minerals
Maybelline XXl Pro
Lip Balm and lipgloss
Brown Eyeshadow
Clear Mascara for eyebrows

Does anyone else have a "faux natural" routine?