Stateside, some of us refuse to make a beauty move without first consulting some of the best Black beauty bloggers for product reviews and hair and makeup inspiration. These stylesetters go in the trenches to find foundations that match darker complexions, shadows and lip colors that work well with our undertones, and hydrating hair creams that make natural curls sing.
Best in Black Beauty Blogger Winners Announced!
But every once in a while, our beauty routine calls for a new insider to put us onto an unexpected tip or trend to change our regimen for the better. And sometimes that means looking to our beauty-obsessed sisters in far-flung destinations to shake things up a bit. Perhaps we can credit it to the time difference, but beauty bloggers abroad seem to have a sixth sense that allows them to stay ahead of the trends and introduce us to new styles, interesting products (that eventually make their way to the U.S.), and edgy looks with cultural influences. Here, five bloggers from Australia to the U.K. to add to your daily reading list.
The Top Online Black Beauty Bloggers
Australia
Anabelle Acquah, The Pastels
The overall concept of The Pastels is cool in itself. Three Australian vloggers take to the ‘Tube to put beauty products and trends to the test. The twist—each influencer is of a different ethnicity and has a starkly different skin tone and hair texture. Acquah, who has Ghanaian roots, reps for women with dark complexions and coarse hair. Look to her for tips on maintaining a dewy, even complexion, accentuating full lips, and caring for natural hair.
France
Fatou N’diaye, Black Beauty Bag
Though the epitome of French-girl beauty has come a long way since the days of Brigitte Bardot and Catherine Deneuve, one fact remains: The Parisian-chic dame has an innate ability to set trends that the rest of the world can’t help but follow. As is true in the case of this French beauty blogger with West African roots. Not only has N’diaye been ahead of the curve rocking a natural ‘fro for years, she’s found a way to allow her African heritage and French culture to collide into a unique style sensibility. We’re talking red lips paired with tribal hair accessories and Caudalie hair oils with Senegalese twists. Nevermind whether you speak French, cool style is universal.
Germany
Jen Martens, Frolicious
As you can imagine, the amount of girls with natural ‘fros are likely few and far between on the streets of Germany. But anyone who happens to have a head full of tight coils in the area, is probably familiar with Frolicious. Martens mainly focuses on offering hair care tips for women of color, but also sprinkles in some helpful beauty and lifestyle advice like ways to choose the best foundation shade and how to chuck society’s idea of beauty the middle finger. And if you’re looking to add some German beauty terms to your vocab, Martens offers all of her posts in English and German!
The U.K.
Nadia Gomos, Nadia Gray
After seeing a Maybelline ad in our digital issue, England-based beauty blogger Nadia Gomos noticed that in the U.K., the brand offered only half of the shades in its Dream Velvet Soft-Matte Hydrating Foundation than it does in the U.S. Puzzled by her discovery, Gomos took to her site, nadiagray.com to pose a question: “Don’t we also need makeup?” The article, which garnered media attention from sites like the Daily Mail and The Telegraph, prompted a response from the beauty giant itself, saying that it had plans to introduce “an additional shade – Jourdan [Dunn’s] shade – into U.K. stores within the next few months.” Any champion of expanding foundation shades for women of color is a friend of ours—in the U.S. or abroad.
Patricia Bright, patriciabright.com
With nearly 450K followers on Instagram and over 745K subscribers on YouTube, U.K.-based blogger/vlogger Patricia Bright has been racking up her worldwide following for over five years. Over on the Bright side, you can find posts on natural treatments for dark marks, everyday makeup for dark skin, and—beauty-gasms? And with a big following comes even bigger appearances on Bright’s channels from fellow beauty bloggers like Raye Boyce of ItsMyRayeRaye. Check out the It Brit’s smashing site, stat.
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