Celebrity Beauty & Style

Beauty Brands have been using actresses, models and high profile celebrities to promote and market their products and we are fortunate to be seeing many Brown Beauties these days. Whether they are talking about their new film, a TV series or a book, how our celebrity ladies put themselves together can encourage us to do the same, or reinforce trends that are already out there.

Instagram is probably the perfect platform for this - if you follow Queen Bey, Oprah, our very own Naomi Campbell or even Leomie Anderson, you’ll see that fashion and beauty always dominate their posts. From looking amazing on a magazine cover or make up free in a behind the scenes (BTS) video, we can see the whole process showing the natural to glam-tastic.
 

We’re currently crushing on Lupita Nyong’o, Yara Shahidi, Tracee Ellis Ross and Jourdan Dunn but there are many others.

It is exciting to watch these ladies mix up natural hair styles and dramatic make up looks.  Angela Bassett, Iman and Mary J Blige hold it down for the established style veterans, and can stay on trend without sacrificing their personal style.

For various reasons, we are also seeing Black Girl Magic exploding on the catwalk, in adverts and on Hollywood red carpets which is fantastic. These A listers know the impact their styling can have on the public and some Brown Beauties push the boat out for maximum drama, just because they can. Janelle Monae, Rihanna and Erykah Badu spring to mind. But, if you keep a close eye on a particular celebrity, you’ll see that they share their tips and day to day beauty regimes which are probably more useful to most of us then the extreme makeover looks.

Our favourite First Lady, Michelle Obama is an amazing example of how fashion choices can speak volumes. When she was in the White House, she became a spokeswoman for new designers, giving them unparalleled international exposure. Writers like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie may be known for creative literature, but she also supports her home grown Nigerian designers by showcasing their clothes whenever she can.

And finally, there is Meghan Markle, one of the most photographed Brown Beauties in the world. She plays it safe sometimes but always has a clever natural but carefully put together make up look. She has created a new and funky buzz about the Royal Family, like never before.

Naturally, most of these ladies have personal make up artists and hairdressers and their Insta posts are paid and sponsored, but if it helps inspire us to be more adventurous, or try a colour we may not have thought about for our particular skin tone, then why not? As they say, representation matters.

We may not be able to afford their designer clothes (or maybe we can) but we can definitely recreate their make up at home, because they look like us and that is as it should be.

Which celebrity looks inspire you and why?