#nigerian

My real hair is catching up to my magic hair.

iHeartOG is not Ugly our ideology of Beauty is

I’m disappointed with the negative and dehumanising discourse sounding the “attractiveness” of Ogom Chijindu aka Og, the Nigerian-American reality television personality who appears on Basketball Wives LA.

Please let’s do our best to speak with compassion and understanding, particularly, when it concerns black dark skin women with distinct Afrocentric phenotypes.

The notion that featurismim isn’t real is undermining Og’s (and many other women who look like her) lived experience.

We must acknowledge that, like its ugly cousin RACISM, colourism, featurismim and texturism are all deeply ingrained within our psyche due to the success of White Supremacy.

If featurismim isn’t a thing then why is rhinoplasty surgery so popular among black and brown people? Kelly Rowland, Ciara, Halle Berry and other black female celebrities have surgically alerted their “Afrocentric phenotypes” because anything that has close proximity to whiteness is deemed more attractive.

Unfortunately, European colonizers have successfully engraved their standard of beauty in our minds, that we also succumb to their destructive ideologies by changing the texture of our hair ( or wearing straighter no Afrocentric weaves), lightening our skin complexion, and undergoing invasive (and no intrusive) surgery to alter our distinct African negroid features.

The whole premise of “Pretty for a Dark-skin Girl” is rooted in colourism and featurismim. As the said black girl/woman is deemed attractive because she doesn’t aesthetically look “too African” or “too Black” i.e. she doesn’t have a wide nose, a big pertruding mouth with thick lips, large eyes, basically features that are typically considered “animalistic” or “ugly”.

The gag is, our entire understanding of facial symmetry and perception of beauty was created by old white male biologists/scientists. Therefore, it isn’t surprising that our preferences for lighter skin, softer and slimmer facial features are running rampant in the Black and Brown countries white Europeans colonised ‍♀️

Let’s re-educate ourselves so we can teach our children that beauty is nuanced, multifaceted, diverse, but more importantly, beauty is skin deep.

Author - @iameriwa

Model - @iheartog

What’s your fall makeup prep routine?

These days, mine starts off with the @lorealparisusa RevitaLift Derm Intensives Pure Glycolic Acid cleansing gel, Pure Hyaluronic Acid Serum, and the RevitaLift Triple Power Anti-aging Moisturizer. Honestly I use the Derm Intensives Glycolic Acid cleansing gel every morning! With cold weather coming in it’s important to have a moisturizing routine whether you’re wearing makeup or not!

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@lorealparisusa has truly become a staple in my medicine cabinet and makeup bag!

#tbt❤ Do you feel comfortable traveling again? Travel for me is a necessity. It revitalizes me. It helps me learn about different cultures. And it’s starting to become an expensive habit lol

Next week I’m traveling to another country and I’m too excited! Now that I’m vaccinated I feel a lot more comfortable traveling and I’m also very vigilant about adhering to covid regulations to keep myself and others safe.

How do you feel about traveling?