The Essence Fest 2018 Glow Up!
A 4 Day “Girls Trip” of a lifetime! Full of mouth-watering beignets and poe boy sandwiches. Surrounded by a musical infusion of classic 2nd line jazz waves, Trombone Shorty, Frankie Beverly & Maze, Mary J Blige, plus the latest viral dance craves over Drake singing “KeKe Do You Love Me” throughout the streets of New Orleans.
Countless women empowerment meet-ups, beauty and style events, community enrichment, intellectual dialogue, day parties, concerts, after-parties and so much more… just to celebrate our evolution of #BlackGirlMagic! Yes, Essence Fest was once again the epicenter for over half a million people to “get their life.” A celebration of melanin poppin’ in all shades, texture poppin’ in all grades, and the glow up of black women around the world on every stage.
TIP #1: EVOLVE WITH YOUR TEXTURE
Texture Challenge:How do I travel and turn up for the summer at places like Essence Fest in New Orleans, without always messing up my hair?
This was arguably the hottest and wettest Essence Fest ever. The challenge so many women had at Essence Fest, including the 3 models/influencers I had to style each day, was they wanted to party and go out to “get their lives,” but whenever they did it was at a high risk of their pretty texture style having to pay the price. It literally rained every day, so women were like “My hair was tight this morning, but now after being out all day it’s frizzed up!”
You too may find yourself traveling to very hot and humid places during the summer, with extremely harsh weather conditions like New Orleans during Essence Fest – confused about what to do with your hair.
Texture Solution:Allow Your Natural Style To Evolve
As the song goes “Everything must change, nothing stays the same.” This is not only true for the universe and our lives, but our natural hair as well. Hair changes constantly like life. So, one of my best recommendations is to transition to a style that’s nice without heat damage.
Each day with the models at Essence Fest, I made sure their style was different because of the changes in their hair. When the turn up was real the night before, and you find your hair stuck on your face all over the place – you can turn those lemons into naturalista lemonade…and drop a little “Honey” in it too.
On Day 1 I styled one of the models in a curly pony tail top, half up/half down. After a fun night out on Bourbon street with the girls, the next morning that style was no longer. So, I took 2 slant braids on each side and used the half coily/half frizzy texture to create a bouffant top for a nice updo.
I had initially styled another model with a refined wand out all over, and created a side accent with an accessory.
But after the 12-hour day with some partying, her hair naturally got worn out. The next day I put the dryer on low and blew everything out to make it a “fro-out” with a sleek top knot. The last day I didn’t even change the base of style, I just added texture back into it with a texture top knot.
TIP #2: PREP & STEP AT NIGHT
I also shared with the audience of naturalistas at the Essence Fest Beauty & Style Stage the importance of making sure to use a little moisturizer before bed each night, like the Pure Honey Twisting Creme which is great for dehydrated hair. Prep your hair in some type of form, like a pineapple or a few chunky twists, to keep enough texture in tact for the next step build up the morning after. The key is to be accountable, you must do something to preserve enough texture to evolve into an organic updated style.
TIP #3: CO-EXIST WITH THE TRIM
In order to have a healthy life you have to let things go! That’s life & hair care 101 (I’m preaching better than yall are saying Amen lol). One of the beautiful things about a “Girls Trip” at Essence Fest, is you and your girls can often share some real “Come to Jesus/Waiting To Exhale” moments, providing the much needed support to make a life decision that’s been delayed for far too long.
In life and especially relationships, there may be a situation that regardless of any counseling, is at a point of no return. It’s too damaged and has taken off. Have you ever looked at your hair and thought the same thing? If so, girl “LET IT GO SUS!” You know you need a trim when it’s nagging and always looking dry. To achieve any desired texture style, healthy hair is the best place to start from.
Lastly, here’s a couple of trends I peeped at Essence Fest as well:
TOP ESSENCE FEST 2018 TRENDS
Top Hair Trends:
Braids. Definitely the standout for the summer because it can remain most consistent with climate changes. Similar styles of intricate placement were worn like years before, but the effect of braids is amplified because more women are wearing them now.
Natural Short Tapered Cuts with Color, & Shape. This is the ultimate natural hair solution because it gives you a daily style map, and it’s now poppin’ at an all-time feverish pitch.
Free Natural Styles, Twist-Outs, & Braid Outs. Curl definition is everything, and the variety of these natural styles are definitely on center stage at Essence Fest.
Top Fashion Trends
Exotic Prints. Essence fest was full of ladies loving their flowy Moroccan and Middle Eastern styled prints. There was so much color and playful emotion in the fashion vibe, with a global aesthetic.
Top Make Up Trends
Skin: Primers & Highlighters. The last couple of years the brow was queen, but now skin reigns supreme. It’s all about feeling the glow up. No more over-matting the face & making it shine-free. Now ladies are on the glow up with great primers & highlighters. Skin is having its true moment. The ultimate compliment at Essence Fest this year was when a lady came to you and said, “your skin is so sexy!”
ULTIMATE TAKEAWAY ON #BLACKGIRLMAGIC CULTURE AT ESSENCE FEST 2018
The Black Woman Boss. With numerous exhibitors and businesses ran by women entrepreneurs, plus the numerous empowerment meet-ups ranging from social media influencers to investors, it was so clear that #BlackGirlMagic is constantly evolving – not only from a place of beauty, but economic empowerment.
Antioxidants are substances that protect cells from unstable free radical damage that can lead to cancer. #BlackGirlMagic is the antioxidant to the cancer of the historical devaluation, marginalization, and backlash black women have had to gobble throughout time. The carcinogenic has been the disregard for black women. However, Black women have built a movement of #BlackGirlMagic tenacity to keep building healthy super antioxidants to empower us in turning every societal disadvantage into what’s now our celebrated advantage.
The beauty we’ve found in our natural texture, complexion, perspective, entrepreneurship, and culture has now become our impenetrable armor of an unstoppable ever-evolving glow up. We snatched our chain back from the bully on the playground, and we’re loving how it looks so much better on us!
This movement is #BlackGirlMagic, and the annual homecoming for its distinguished alumni is without a doubt Essence Fest. See ya next year!
