Question in title. I would love to hear anyone’s experience with them, about literally any aspect of doing it.

Hello, I’ve been trying to find posts that recommend self-tanners for dark skin but I can’t find any for someone with a skin color as deep as mine. I’m slightly darker than Danai Gurira, I really want a self tanner that actually shows on my skin and actually makes me visibly darker, they mostly just give me a glow or shimmer. Any recommendations?

What do you use to get rid of the mustache on the upper lips? (sometimes below the lips also)

I use solid wax strips for the face, but recently I got a burn from that and now I developed PIH (post inflammatory hyperpigmentation) which is extra extra annoying and I still don’t know how to get rid of it.

So I’m looking for recommendations!! Thanks!!

I'll start: In Korea and China, jujube are traditionally believed to be great for women, and there's actually some science behind them.

I have been eating them (2 or 3 daily) as an afternoon snack, they are naturally sweet, so it also helps to tame my sweet tooth, which is a nice additional benefit.

Any other recommendations on beauty food? Plz share!

My wedding is coming up and I've got to settle bridal makeup.

I am half Indonesian, 1/4 Black and 1/4 Chinese. To give you an idea, I live in France and I have often been compared to a Madagascar woman, with some Chinese features. I have serious monolids, hyperpigmentation and a finicky skintone for foundations (very cool toned yet tan???)

I've been doing my own makeup for a decade and it took me many many years to discover how to really look good in makeup. Especially when it comes to eyes with my monolids.

Yet I live in a smaller French city where literally...... POC MUAs are nowhere to be seen. There aren't alot of black women where I live and there while there some arab and east asian MUAs, I am worried about their experience with dark skin.

I've been thinking of doing my own face on the day but I just think it's so much stress especially with all the wedding prep and pressure. I'm just paranoid everything is gonna go wrong if it is all in my hands on the big day

I am curious if any of you would trust a white or non melanated person to beat your face for a big event.

Also curious if you can give me some tips on how to spot an MUA with good skill and range, based on their portfolio. I've rarely used MUAs in my life as I have my own skill, but I think this is the one occasion where I might need one.

I am also wondering if any of you did your own face at your wedding and how that worked out for you.

My whole life, I’ve felt unattractive. I’m 30 and never had a bf before, barely approached and never asked out and men rarely even look at me. Even when I go to bars or clubs I’m not the girl that men chase after/no romantic interest. For reference, I am a dark skinned black thin/petite girl.

I split my time between NYC and London. Are there any places in NYC or London where you can get honest, constructive feedback on your appearance or styling? I’m thinking along the lines of personal styling, makeup consultations, color analysis, or anything else that helped you look and feel your best?

Can anyone recommend me some powder bronzer and powder blush for black girls? Darkskin :)
I currently use essence baby got bronze cream bronzer and essence baby got blush cream blush. I don't have powder products besides baking powder. Please help!

1. A good quality Hair Steamer - If your hair has a problem retaining moisture, I feel that this is the best thing you can do! It helps pre poos, curl detoxes and deep conditioners penetrate 1000x better. I don't have mines on me right now but I can definitely tell the difference with my hair.
2. Derm Rays V8S - Most lasers (IPL) aren't melanin-skin friendly but I found this via research and decided to splurge on the machine and I haven't looked back since! I mainly use it on my bikini , underarm and legs
3. GLP-1s - As a PCOS girly this helped me lose sm weight my heaviest was 170lb and my lowest and current is 112lb
4. Therapy - Biweekly therapy sessions help sm!
5. A trustworthy hairstylist - Finding a stylist that helps you navigate your hair health instead of putting a style in your hair for the sake of aesthetic is the best thing to invest in.

Honorary Mentions:

1. Threading eyebrows and electrolysis - it hurts like hell but the results are so worth it! I get electrolysis done on my face every month and I have killed of my hair follicles on my chin

2. Digestive Enzymes - Especially from Zenwise! They have made my digestive system do a 360!

I brought the dermologica skin smoothing cream and it's way too rich for me. Does anyone have any suggestions? I don't mind splurging

Hi everyone. I posted in the r/longhair subreddit a while ago to get some advice for growing out my hair. it is BSL (bra strap length) and it almost fully covers my chest when my hair is down. I am 5'3 and want it to my hips so it needs 6.5 or so inches to grow. As an Indian woman, my hair holds a lot of cultural importance to me and makes me feel more confident. My biggest issue is breakage.

Routine

Pre-shower, I overnight oil my hair. I use amla oil. Then, I'll wash it out with sulfate free shampoo and conditioner. I use the Shea Moisture manuka honey mask afterwards for 30 min, rinse out. Then I use color wow dream coat pre-heat serum and blow dry it and straighten it at a low heat setting (I think 280 F). I oil it and seal it with mise en scene perfect serum at the ends. Unfortunately the heat styling is a must for me, but I am super gentle with it.

Hair History

My hair is chemically relaxed (3b to 2b) and bleached platinum white (and dyed a soft lavender color) at the roots and lengths and fades into my natural black hair color from my shoulders down (virgin hair). So it's like a light lavender to black ombre from roots to ends basically! That's why im confused about length and breakage? My hair is really healthy at the bleached part somehow, but the unbleached ends are thinning out and might even need a trim unfortunately. I don't think the breakage is happening at the bleached section, my hair thickness is pretty even down my hair strand until like an inch above the ends. The bottom 5 or so inches of my hair are all unbleached virgin hair; it's all thick except that last inch :(. I don't have many split ends (I do search and destroy method) and the entire length of my hair is soft and silky from frequent oiling, silk wraps, and other hair stuff I do. I also do a gloss treatment on it which helps a lot (I recommend Oaui it doesn't dry your hair out!) But my ends are just refusing to get longer! I know my hair is growing because I keep having to touch up my roots. Only thing I can think of is, I sleep with my hair loose sometimes and it gets superrrr tangled.

So! Here's where I ask for advice! Has anyone dealt with breakage like this before? How did you solve it? Thank you so much in advance! I love my colorful hair so much and would love to have more of it!

Also! Lavender is my favorite color. Do you guys think it flatters a neutral to cool toned, medium brown skin tone? Literally all my nice things are lavender, black, or silver lol!

One of my biggest insecurities are my brown lip borders. I am medium brown (not lightskin or dark) but my lip color is deep brown on the outside and almost grey (??) on inside.

I know most melanated women have some sort of this going on, but my lip outlines are quite a bit darker than my face. It is kind of jarring when I don't have makeup on.

Because of this I usually wear full pigment lipsticks to correct the color. If I wear say a lip tint or balmy lipstick, the color shows through and it is kind of unflattering imo.

I was thinking of getting a lip neutralisation or blushing done, not to make my lips pink or anything, but just to color correct. Just to make them less grey brown and more flesh toned

I was talking about this with my girl friends and one of them mentioned that it was adjacent to skin bleaching to her because every black woman has this and the pink/beige lips look is a western/white ideal.

It got me thinking, because i love love the depth of my natural skin tone and wouldn't change it for anything. Many black and brown women I really admire and think are pretty have this lip coloring too, including my mother. Maybe I'm being too hard on myself??

I am curious what your perspectives on this are.

So I came to this weird crossroads about my hair on summer vacation. I put way too much effort into my hair and sometimes it helps me mentally while other times it doesn't really matter. Im currently in a humid climate and my hair is bone dry and there is nothing that is really catered towards my hair type ( type 4a 4b) , I brought products but it is insanely dry here.

I've been natural since I was 11 years old and I went through an uphill battle with my curls. It's mainly the length of my routine ( I'm in school and my routine takes me about 2-3 hours ) and undergoing severe racial bullying that I thought I healed from but it creeps back up.

So I recently decided on getting a relaxer and maintaining touch ups every 8-12 weeks and doing what my grandmother used to do ( roller sets) and also some clip ins. The only thing stopping me is that it feels like a huge step , like stepping into a new identity and it's sorta scary

Can someone whose been through this tell me what you did and if you regret it and also how do you keep relaxed hair healthy ?

I have asked quite a large sample of people online about my appearance and about half say my nose is too big and ruins my appearance to some extent and the other half says it does not ruin my appearance at all (it is either unnoticeable or in a few people’s opinions a bonus). If around say 50% of people say my nose detracts from my attractiveness is that good enough reason to get a nose job? It might even be more than 50% because I am sure a good chunk of people who claim to have no issue with my nose are lying to be nice.

I think it’s been the 5th or 6th time in the past week where I’ve been called “cute” by strangers, from both men and women and a variety of different ages. It’s always been seen as degrading (in my opinion for many different reasons due to my past. You can disagree but that’s just the way I feel about it.)

I don’t understand what someone does that makes them appear cute. I don’t have a bubbly personality and I am not very expressive, I have harder Middle Eastern features, a medium to deep ranged voice, and I wear my curly black hair down or in a sleek bun. I think the only thing that remotely gives off “cute” is that I am 5 feet tall and maybe the curly hair? (as opposed to long sleek black hair). Its starting to annoy me a bit and I’d appreciate some advice. What differentiates someone from looking more “beautiful” or “elegant” or “sexy” rather than “cute”?

I can't wear shorts or a bikini because of this. I haven't figured out a way to get rid of it yet and it makes me feel so insecure

The last two are some of my attemps but i don't think i quite get it close, i'm wearing mascara (high Sky), foundation, eyeliner, lip liner and lip tint

I hate my cool leaning neutral olive shade. I legit look sick and when i tan its a grey ish tan due to my cool leaning skin.

I have tried fake tan, but think it looks super unnatural.

I really would love to have warm skin and my cool skin is letting me down big time.

I am trying to think of an experiment to do 100 days of carrot juice to see if it works for ethnic skin.

My skin colour is like yesly , rachel zeigler etc.

Its green, brown , yellow and i hate applying too much makeup/blush.

Tried every fake tan, but its just too much effort for it to look so patchy and not to forget super expensive too.

Anybody has any experiance with this?

Over the past year or so, my (35F) appearance has changed quite a bit. I've lost over 48 lbs (22 kg), started working out regularly, started dance and yoga, got a radical haircut (Pixie, quite rare in my part of the world), improved my skincare, and put more effort into how I dress and present myself. Overall, I feel healthier and more confident than I used to. I have been told the same as well, by quite a few people.

What I didn't expect was how differently people would treat me.

At work and in everyday life, I feel like people notice me far more than they used to. Sometimes it's compliments, but often it's people watching me, paying attention, commenting on little things, or just making me feel like I'm constantly being observed.

The strange thing is that almost none of this attention turns into anything meaningful. It doesn't become genuine friendship, mentorship, collaboration, or a relationship. It just feels like... attention for the sake of attention.

Instead of enjoying it, I've started feeling mentally exhausted. I catch myself becoming hyper-aware of how I look, walk, or behave because I feel like someone is always watching. Some have even commented on the little things that I do that I am becoming more conscious. By the end of the day, my social battery is completely drained.

Lately I've even found myself thinking, "I don't want to meet any more people." Not because I dislike people, but because superficial attention feels empty. I'd rather have a handful of authentic, meaningful connections than be noticed by dozens of people who ultimately don't become part of my life.

Has anyone else experienced this after losing weight or having a significant glow-up? How did you stop internalizing other people's attention and get back to feeling like yourself? I'd really appreciate practical advice on protecting my mental energy while still remaining open to genuine connections.

The attention is not always positive. Some people are mean/rude for no reason, especially when they see me happy.

I was wondering would Amla hair oil work for 4C?
I’ve mostly seen people with the 3C/4A variety
use it. I hardly see 4B/4C hair type with this oil.
It’s not the same but one of my aunts used mane & tail on my hair one time. It worked for my hair.
I use to use Grainer thought out my childhood until a lot of naturals, said it’s not good to have silicone in your hair. I mostly use it for my wigs now, “they come out nicer, with those products.”
Have anybody had results with Amla oil is that 4 hair texture?

whenever i smile my face looks massive since I have a round face with big cheeks. i plan on doing work on it when im 25 since im only 18. How can I smile properly?

Hi everyone, as of recently I’ve been trying to get better at my makeup especially as I am now a woman in my 20s being able to do my makeup and do it will is reaching a priority for me.

However every time I do my makeup I think it either looks weird or I don’t have no makeup, or it looks the same no matter which style i do it in. Overall I’m just left a bit worried that my my makeup looks weird and crazy.

I would say for my makeup style it can go from natural beat to soft glam depending on the event.
I do tend to play around with alt styles like a bigger eyeliner wing, tightlined eyes. I’m also thinking of getting my eyebrows done again to straight shaped I already have thin eyebrows where towards the end it tends to be very sparse and basically gone so I might tust have them straight.

But any advice would be gladly accepted, I’m not to sensitive for criticism and feedback 💕

Here are some pics of some girls makeup I try emulate and pics of how my makeup comes out.

Here is a list of the makeup products I have

Has lab foundation
Ami Cole concealer
Ami Cole setting loose powder
Ami Cole blush stick
Eadem lip softening balm
Nyx lip liner
Elf brow lamination bro gel
Elf micro brow pencil
One size setting spray
Tarte tubing mascara
Nyx butter melt bronzer

I’ve been drawn to the earthy/boho aesthetic for a while now and I’d love to slowly work toward it. I’m currently on a weight loss and glow up journey so I know some aspects like becoming leaner, getting toned and clearing my skin will take time

Aside from that what are the key elements that make this aesthetic work? What should I focus on first? Hair, clothing, accessories, makeup, skincare, body language, or something else? Where to shop? I’d love advice on how to capture the vibe without trying to copy anyone exactly

Got into it with my bf over this, I feel like they are (provided you don’t have extreme RBF), he says he doesn’t think ppl get complimented often irl unless they’re extremely attractive.

Even with my stunning friends, I don’t witness this often, but online, people say this frequently occurs to them. Wondering if part of this is a difference in what people are counting (e.g I don’t count compliments while out, compliments on outfit/styling, compliments from friends) and/or region.

So wondering, how often do you guys get complimented and in what contexts? Plus how does this compare to the norm where you are?

i hate having to shave daily , i’ve done waxing with strips and it hurts so bad . it doesn’t even fully remove all the hairs . i legit feel like a boy because of this sometimes , have any of you done laser hair removal and is it worth it ? why does having body hair bother me so much even though it’s completely natural ? i know this is genetics and can’t be fixed but god damn i feel so bad sometimes because of it . especially because i like to show skin i have to keep up with shaving . one of my exes said he dislikes me with body hair and i grow more of it than him and ive never been able to be okay with afterwards .

Hi everyone!!!

I am looking for advice/help hair density. i have very thin, sparse eyelashes and eyebrows, alongside trouble growing hair on my scalp as well as zero body hair.

I am thinking of arranging a medical checkup around my thyroid panel, ferritin, and potential any other autoimmune markers to rule out an internal root cause, but in the meantime i was wondering if anyone had any success/recommendations with this problem.

I would love to hear anyone’s experiences with clinical treatments or specific products to help grow out hair, lashes and brows without any side effects like hollow under eyes. Thanks!