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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UIC chapter.

 These three beauty professionals were on our campus yesterday! UIC hosted the Ultimate Brown Beauty Retreat which focused on beauty for women of color, a facet that is not typically explored by the overall beauty industry. Youtube beauty gurus, Ms. Vaughn, Jas Jackson, and Rachel O. led discussion and activities that all share the purpose of promoting taking care of the inner and outer body. These beauty gurus all identify as African American women and came to us to share their tips, from professional training and personal journey perspective, with students who can relate to their hair, makeup, and health journey. Activities included Zumba and “What is in your purse.” 

As an African American college student, I found this event to be extremely important. Currently, I have locs. However, before I decided to loc my hair I maintained my hair in its natural state as well. Being “natural” while in college is a difficult journey to do alone. Thus, I saw how vital it is  to share this event with whomever did not get the opportunity to go.

Here are some take-aways from the Ultimate Brown Beauty Retreat that I found to be important for women of color to remember from this retreat:

The L.O.C. Method

Many of the attendees had questions about keeping their hair moisturized during the colder months. One young lady named Kiara shared her hair care journey with the beauty gurus mentioning issues of retaining length and shine to her hair. The unanimous response from the panelist was the L.O.C. method. Using this method ensures that the hair is deeply moisturized from inside the hair follicle to the surface. The L stands for hair Leave in Conditioner, O is for oil, and C is for Cream. To learn more about this method, I will provide you a link here.  

Easy College Hair Styles

The young women who attended this event all identified as black women with natural hair. They shared concerns about being able to maintain their hair without chemicals yet still looking presentable everyday. To save time and money, the professionals suggested that these young ladies take advantage of protective styles. Protective styles include braids, twists, sew-ins and wigs. Jas Jackson shared that she actually made her own wigs while in college with $20. This wig would last her a month before she would change it up!

Makeup that Matches

I was particularly interested in this category because I have been looking for colors that match since I’ve realized I love makeup. I asked the professionals about what kind of makeup they found that matches women of darker complexions. For instance, many dark colored foundations are made with the assumption that women with darker skin tones also all have yellow undertones in which the colors tend to be too light. Thus, finding the perfect color is extremely difficult. Their answer: Revlon Color Stay. I personally have never used Revlon products. However, this was not the first time I have heard great reviews of this product for women of darker skin. Ms. Vaughn shared that Revlon’s colors are made with undertones into account in contrast to a lot of brands.

Hopefully this information is useful to all of you ladies of color with natural hair! The beauty gurus are on tour and their next stop is Atlanta! 

 

 

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Claudia was born in Mexico and moved to Chicago at the age of 8. She is currently attending the University of Illinois at Chicago as a Marketing major. She is really excited to be a part of the HerCampus team and is ready to make HC grow at UIC. She can’t go a day without exercising and especially enjoys Zumba! She loves fashion and reads blogs every day, that’s where she gets her inspiration when she dresses, and hopes to one day have her own! Claudia is currently a representative for AKIRA Chicago, for discount codes contact her at (cmarti74@uic.edu). She strives to be a better person every day, and is really thankful for everything she has. One of Claudia’s favorite quotes is “Enjoy all that you have while you pursue everything that you want”.