Source: Adrienne Raquel for ESSENCE / Essence Magazine Jackie Aina Covers ESSENCE Godiva GAWDESS Jackie Aina can add a new title to her resume; ESSENCE cover star. Aina who’s already been named the NAACP’s YouTuber of the Year brought her brand to the pages of the women’s mage for their June digital issue . Inside the influencer who boasts over 3 million YouTube subscribers and 1.2 million Instagram followers is speaking on something she’s especially passionate about, inclusivity in the beauty world. “I just feel like you can tell when something feels right and when something is not quite there just yet.” And one thing the outspoken beauty guru would never want to portray to her online community is inauthenticity. Because no matter her success working within the mainstream beauty market, Aina won’t be quieting down anytime soon—far from it. “If anything, I’m just going to keep being more vocal because I have a little more leeway now. I’m just going to keep strong-arming this conversation,” she says.” Jackie also hinted that she’s got something “big” in this works—maybe her own beauty brand? “I want to have merchandise. I just want to be in every lane,” she reveals. TV hosting is also an option, with red carpet reporting a dream of hers.” View this post on Instagram Dipped in glitter, laden with beauty, and covered in melanin. @jackieaina has arrived . Tap the in bio for more on our new digital cover. ( : @adrienneraquel) A post shared by ESSENCE (@essence) on Jun 5, 2019 at 11:01am PDT Slaaaaaaay Jackie! See more of this gorgeous Godiva gawdess in ESSENCE on the flip. Credits: Photography – Adrienne Raquel @adrienneraquel Hair – Stephen Hudson @sevenknows Makeup – Danessa Myricks @danessa_myricks Manicure – Gracie J @theeditorialnail Writer – Marjon Carlos @marjon_carlos Global Beauty Director – Julee Wilson @missjulee Fashion Director/Stylist – Marielle Bobo @mariellebobo Art Director – Rashida Morgan @inrashidasworld
Source: JD Barnes / Essence Magazine Alicia Keys Covers ESSENCE Another day, another ESSENCE slay. Alicia Keys is covering the pages of ESSENCE for their June issue cover story titled Into The Light. In it, she speaks on her new music and book on the way, while chatting with ESSENCE’s “Yes, Girl” podcast hosts Cori Murray and Charli Penn. In the unfiltered conversation that took place 17 years after Alicia’s first ESSENCE cover, she discusses her journey, the way husband Swizz Beatz loves her and the joy she’s constantly discovering. Alicia told “Yes, Girl” the secret to her abundant joy and it’s simple; good vibes only. Keys tells ESSENCE: “I think we have to come to an understanding that it’s okay to state what you need and state your piece and be clear, because if you don’t know what you need and you’re not able to say it, you’ll never get it. That’s been a deep, beautiful process for me…I just have always been able to be what I believe is just cool, man, because everything doesn’t have to be so damn dramatic all the time either. Things can just be cool. So I’m blessed for that…” The cover was photographed by J.D. Barnes with styling from ESSENCE Fashion Director Marielle Bobo. Additionally, Keys is decked out in a photo spread featuring her in designers such as Lanvin, Roland Mouret, Rachel Comey, The Row and more. The full conversation between Keys and the podcast hosts will also be featured on ESSENCE’s Yes! Girl podcast, available for streaming and download on iTunes, Spotify, and Google. The June issue of ESSENCE hits newsstands on Friday. For more on this month’s cover story, visit ESSENCE.com Source: JD Barnes / Essence Magazine See more on the flip.
Source: BET Networks / BET Being Mary Jane Series Finale Airs On BET It’s been a great couple of years for Black television, which is why it’s so hard to say goodbye to one of the shows that played a major part in the resurgence of Black women in leading roles on the small screen. The series finale of Being Mary Jane airs tonight on BET, and after four seasons, it looks like Miss Mary Jane Paul is finally ending things on a high note. View this post on Instagram It’s coming yall. Get ready for April 16th, it’s . A post shared by Gabrielle Union-Wade (@gabunion) on Mar 18, 2019 at 2:52pm PDT The show’s star Gabrielle Union took to Instagram to reminisce on some of her shining moments as MJP. View this post on Instagram In Spring of 2012, I got the opportunity of a lifetime – Pauletta “Mary Jane” Patterson came into my life. In many ways we shared similar struggles and triumphs, loves and losses, and especially the penchant for epic reads. Finally, so many of us saw our beautifully complicated and rich lives as we tuned into @BETMaryJane. We've laughed, cried, cried some more, screamed, rolled our eyes, sucked our teeth, walked away and come back in frustration… whether we acknowledged it or rejected it, she at times was us, and we were her. Tomorrow night our #BeingMaryJane journey comes to an end. I hope yall tune in and see how it all ends. I will miss playing her, but more than that, I will miss our cast, Atlanta crew, LA writers and each and every fan who watched our show. We are grateful and we are humbled. We yall and we never took you for granted. We apologize for the delay but we are here and ready to snatch wigs and moisturize elbows. Get ready! The Series Finale is tomorrow on @bet at 8/7c A post shared by Gabrielle Union-Wade (@gabunion) on Apr 22, 2019 at 12:48pm PDT Based on the intense trailer for the 2-hour movie finale, Mary Jane wounds up having to decide between her new boo played by Morris Chestnut and hot hunk ex Jason played by Michael Ealy , both of whom proposed marriage to her. Just like most culturally relevant shows, fans have already take to social media to decide who Mary Jane should end up with. if Mary Jane doesn’t marry Justin tonight nobody talk to me #BeingMaryJane — TAY (@tasiajeffries) April 23, 2019 @itsgabrielleu I'm telling you right now…if Mary Jane has the audacity to pick some random dude @Morris_Chestnut over Justin @MichaelEaly after I invested so much time in that couple?!??! #BeingMaryJane #StopTheMadness #DontDoIt pic.twitter.com/2r1vVdM1b4 — Tracy B. Lovell (@T_AnnBlair) April 16, 2019 Knowing Mary Jane she bouta choose Beau https://t.co/s4i1IDFqOj — Lil Badoula (@BeeLadonna_) April 17, 2019 If Mary Jane doesn’t end up with Justin, I’m suing. @beingmaryjane — jeane (@juhnay24) April 18, 2019 Fans also get to find out whether or not MJP is finally pregnant. Catch all the drame when the series finale of Being Mary Jane airs tonight on BET.
View this post on Instagram Happy early Mother’s Day. I cannot express the pure love and joy I felt the first time I held my baby girl. I waited my whole life to be a mother and God finally answered my prayers and gave me a family. Thank you @socobk for making us whole. I’ve never been happier. Thank you all for loving on @thebrooklyndaly and showering her with blessings and gifts. And thank you Jehovah. And to our family, friends and #teamtwirl we sincerely love you all. thank you @sheenmagazine for this slayage! #miraclebaby #brooklyndaly #fairytalesdocometrue #love #family Photo by Will Kennedy & creative direction by Chapman Kennedy @imagesbykennedy Makeup by Yannek Brinson @yanneekbrinson_ Hair by Kristen White @kristenwhiteimagery Styled by Troy Clinton @troy_clinton Style Assistant: Jevell Felder @snoopert_doo A post shared by Kenya Moore Daly (@thekenyamoore) on Apr 19, 2019 at 9:18am PDT Kenya Moore Releases More SHEEN Magazine Photos Proud mom Kenya Moore’s sharing more sweet pics of her precious princess. As previously reported Kenya’s the cover star for SHEEN Magazine’s The Illustrious Woman issue and posing with her “miracle baby” Brooklyn Daly. Now Kenya, 48, is sharing more picturesque pics of herself and her mini-me all dolled up for the mag. According to Kenya, Brooklyn’s personality is starting to show and she’s a “star” in the making. “When I tell you that [Brooklyn] is a little star!” Kenya wrote on Instagram. “Although I want her to be an astro physicist or a surgeon… she’s got it in her DNA[.] It’s so exciting to see her personality develop and the various skills she learns day to day. Of course I worry like every mom does… but it’s the tiny victories, like seeing her roll over for the first time that assure me she’s going to be fine. I love this little angel so much it hurts.” View this post on Instagram This @sheenmagazine shoot is my absolute favorite cover for obvious reasons. When I tell you that @thebrooklyndaly is a little star! Although I want her to be an astro physicist or a surgeon… she’s got it in her DNA It’s so exciting to see her personality develop and the various skills she learns day to day. Of course I worry like every mom does… but it’s the tiny victories, like seeing her roll over for the first time that assure me she’s going to be fine. I love this little angel so much it hurts. Please check out our story to see why I think she’s so amazing. We love you all. And Thank you for our amazing glam squad. You did that! So perfect for our mommy daughter cover. #kenyamoore #brooklyndaly #miraclebaby #hope A post shared by Kenya Moore Daly (@thekenyamoore) on Apr 22, 2019 at 1:44pm PDT How precious are these mommy-daughter photos??? Brooklyn is too cute. View this post on Instagram I’m really talking just in my own language #babydaly #babybrooklyn #miraclebaby A post shared by Brooklyn Doris Daly (@thebrooklyndaly) on Apr 15, 2019 at 4:32am PDT If you can remember, Kenya calls Brooklyn her miracle baby because she was conceived via in vitro fertilization and she had a high-risk pregnancy. Kenya tested positive for preeclampsia, a pregnancy complication that caused her to gain 17 lbs. in one week. SHEEN Magazine’s May/June 2019 The Illustrious Woman issue hits stands today, Tuesday, April 23rd.
Source: Robby Klein / Getty The Bodega Boys Reminisce About Their Old Complex Days Desus and Mero start their brand new show on Showtime TONIGHT at 11pm, but even after that premium cable bag, they’re not too pretentious to remember where it all started: Complex. The Bronx duo stopped by Hot Ones to take on the wings of death, and you already know just how spicy things can get when these two are around. After reminiscing about the good old days, the Bodega Boys go off about everything from Tekashi 6ix9ine, to avocado-only restaurants, to one of the funniest Kanye story ever. Check out the episode down below to hold you over until their show premieres tonight:
Source: Awol Erizku / GQ GQ Allows Lauren London And Nipsey Hussle To Tell Their Love Story Major kudos to GQ Magazine for crowning Lauren London and Nipsey Hussle’s coupledom . The men’s publication recognize the couple for redefining what a storybook romance looks like in a new feature. The photos are phenomenal! Check out a few below: View this post on Instagram California Love: @NipseyHussle & @LaurenLondon are redefining what a storybook romance looks like in 2019. At the link in bio, @markanthonygreen checks in with the West Coast hip-hop titan and his scene-stealing-actress girlfriend. ( Awol Erizku) A post shared by GQ (@gq) on Feb 21, 2019 at 7:23am PST Hit the flip for more from the issue, including details on how the couple met and hard life decisions that affected their love and careers.
Kenya Moore Shares First Photo Of Baby Brooklyn And Reveals Scary Birth Story We called it y’all! Kenya Moore’s baby girl Brooklyn Doris just made her debut on PEOPLE.com. The beauty queen turned reality star shared the first shot of her baby in the magazine’s December 24th edition, telling readers the details on her darling daughter: “I finally have everything I’ve dreamed of,” she gushes to PEOPLE , posing with her adorable baby girl for the first time in an exclusive spread for this week’s issue. “She’s so perfect in so many ways,” adds Moore, who says Brooklyn “makes 101 faces” that always make her laugh. “This little angel … so beautiful. I feel so blessed. It’s all been so worth it.” “It’s weird,” she says. “You can be surrounded by people but if you don’t have what you’ve longed for your whole life — and in my case, that’s a family — you just feel lonely.” Besides sharing the photos of her beautiful baby girl, Kenya also opened up about her difficult journey to motherhood , revealing how, at her first ultrasound, doctors couldn’t see the baby’s skeleton and worried Moore had a false pregnancy. Another visit had physicians concerned Moore was having an ectopic tubal pregnancy and would need to be terminated. “There were so many scares along the way,” Moore says, explaining she was seeing an OBGYN and perinatologist (a specialist for high-risk pregnancy) weekly. “We held our breath every time we went to the doctor.” The scares continued for Moore into October, when she tested positive for preeclampsia after noticing swelling in her fit and making a visit to her OBGYN where she made the frightening discovery she’d gained nearly 20 lbs. “In one week, I had gained 17 lbs.” she recalls. “I was like, ‘Wait a minute, is this scale right?’ ‘Cause I remembered specifically what my weight was, and at that point, I was at 203 lbs. already. And then when they weighed me, I was 220 lbs. And I was thinking, ‘Something is not right here. Is the scale broken?’ ” “I called them to give them my blood pressure readings and my reading was through the roof and climbing,” Moore explains. “They told me, ‘Your condition is worsening so get your bags and go straight to the hospital, you’re delivering today.’ “ Frightened, and with Daly still on a plane to Atlanta, Moore recalls bursting into tears. “It was all happening so fast,” she says. “I started crying because I got so scared. I couldn’t get a hold of Marc, I didn’t know what was going to happen. I just remember feeling overwhelmed with emotion. It was really tough.” Kenya delivered Brooklyn Doris (named after the borough where she and hubby Marc Daly met and her grandmother) six weeks early on November 4th, PEOPLE details the emergency c-section revealing how fibroids forced doctors to cut Moore twice — horizontally and vertically, potentially putting her in danger of losing her own life. “They couldn’t get the baby out,” she says. “There were all these complications and they knew if they cut into a fibroid, I could potentially bleed out and die. So they ended up cutting me vertically too, to just get the baby out and make sure I survived the surgery. They were so scared they were going to lose me.” At one point, Moore’s epidural ran out and doctors gave her anesthesia to put her out. She jokes, “When it was all over, my doctor said, ‘This was one for the books.’ ” “They laid her down on my chest, and those screaming cries stopped immediately,” Moore recalls. “She was just so perfect, so tiny. And just like that, all my dreams had come true.” It definitely sounds like a harrowing experience, but Moore says she couldn’t be happier at the outcome. “We’re so in love,” Moore gushes. “Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong. But she’s such a tough baby; so determined. And every step of the way, she kept surviving and getting stronger. She’s my miracle baby. There’s no other way to describe it, she’s my miracle baby.” It sounds like Brooklyn is a real fighter just like her mom. We’re so glad that things worked out for Kenya and Marc and Brooklyn. And now that the first photos are out of the way we hope Kenya will decide to flood us with photos of her precious princess!
Time Magazine Names Four Journalists And A Newspaper As Person Of The Year In recent weeks there has been tons of speculation over who Time Magazine would name as their Person of the Year. While many braced for the possibility that Donald Trump or Putin might win the honor, we’re pretty sure NOBODY saw the actual decision coming. The iconic magazine named assassinated Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Maria Ressa, the co-founder of Phillipine online news site Rappler, the staff of the Capital Gazette and jailed journalists Kyaw Soe Oo and Wa Lone as Person of the Year — collectively calling them “Guardians of Truth.” Watch the video below to see why all of these people are so important and keep reading for more details on all of their journeys this year. What do you think of this year’s covers?
Tyler Mitchell for VOGUE Lose your gut, for what??? Beyoncé Speaks On Body Positivity With VOGUE Beyoncé knows you think she’s pregnant, and she’s got a message for you. As previously reported King Bey is covering VOGUE for an iconic issue with a detailed first-person interview about having an emergency C-section with Sir and Rumi, toxic relationships, and representation. In one part in particular, however, she talked about accepting her body after giving birth to the twins. In that quote, she mentions having a “mommy pouch” and a “FUPA” that she’s in no rush to get rid of, which would explain the constant speculation that she’s pregnant. “To this day my arms, shoulders, breasts, and thighs are fuller. I have a little mommy pouch, and I’m in no rush to get rid of it. I think it’s real. Whenever I’m ready to get a six-pack, I will go into beast zone and work my a** off until I have it. But right now, my little FUPA and I feel like we are meant to be.” The BeyHive is now STANNING over Beyonce’s body positive message and her use of the word FUPA altogether. In case you didn’t know, FUPA stands for “fat upper p**y area.” Beyoncé likes her FUPA so guess who’s cancelling his gym membership! pic.twitter.com/1voIZpzQUI — #StrongBlackQueerLead (@fonzfranc) August 6, 2018 “My little fupa and I feel like we are meant to be”-Beyoncé That’s a wrap folks. Body positivity ONLY from now on pic.twitter.com/e52ccC8mCx — EVERYTHING IS LOVE OUT NOW (@beyceipts) August 6, 2018 So this should end any and all baby Carter #4 speculation . Right? Tyler Mitchell for VOGUE Right. Not only that, this is an important message for women who recently welcomed children. Be like Bey, take your time. More FUPA-friendly Beyonce on the flip.
Karrueche Poses For Paper Magazine Karrueche Tran is speaking on her burgeoning acting career with a popular publication. The “Claws” cutie recently sat down with Paper Magazine to speak on her “Hollywood take over” that includes a Wilhelmina contract, fashion and makeup collaborations. She also spoke candidly on Hollywood’s obsession with bought bodies… “We as a people need to understand society’s thought process of what beauty is: a slim waist, a fat booty, thick thighs, big boobs,” she says. “Not everyone has that. That’s not average at all, most of the girls who look like that are buying it. It’s wrong for these young girls who grow up with this message and think they have to look a certain way.” and says she can represent for the slimmy trimmies like herself. “I used to think I had to be thick and have big boobs,” she says. “I thought about getting my boobs done, but I was like one: I don’t know how my body’s going to react to that, and two: why am I changing who I am because of other peoples’ comments? I can represent other girls out there and make them feel confident, which is hard in this world where everyone just wants to be thicc.” Are you feeling Karrueche’s Paper Mag photos???
