This post is sponsored by All Things Hair but all thoughts are my own.
This past weekend I had the pleasure of being invited to the Essence Festival’s beauty carnival. I’m not sure if anyone has been to the beauty carnival at Essence but I love it!
Beauty Carnival is a huge part of Essence Festival that happens inside of the convention center. The carnival features many natural hair, beauty, and consumer brands selling products. It also features concerts by some of hottest singers/songwriters as well as empowering panels. I had the honor of being sent to the beauty carnival by All things Hair!
I’ve been to beauty carnival before but this was an all around different experience because I was there for a purpose. I got to witness 2 very different and unique panels, which included (Dre & Dove: Sister Sister and the IMAN empowerment panel).
Dre & Dove:
The “sister sister”panel was similar to the newlywed game (anybody else used to watch that? lol). There were 3 teams each including 3 team members with dry erase boards and markers. The host, Dre, would ask a question, such as “Which team member gets the most lit?!” Each member had 10 seconds to write down their guesses. In the end, 2 teams tied for first place. This was really fun to see, and it showed me that girl power was REAL at the 25th anniversary of Essence.
IMAN
The next panel I attended was the IMAN panel. Has anyone ever seen IMAN in person before?! If not, let me snatch your edges! This woman is in her 60’s looking like she’s 20 ready to hit the runaway. Everyone was literally in awe when she walked out! All that was heard from the audience was, “Wow, she’s so beautiful!” I couldn’t agree more. She spoke about her upcoming natural beauty products, self-love, and what we as black women should stand for. Iman stated that she wanted to be remembered for creating rights for black women.
With both of these panels I learned that black women are always #goals! I mean, I knew that we are already queens but these panels encouraged me to love my sisters even more. The natural hair and beauty flowed throughout the panels as well as the whole beauty carnival! I love Essence and I loved being apart of beauty carnival. Thank YOU so much All Things Hair! I’m so appreciative that you guys recognize natural hair/beauty and want to encourage women to be their authentic selves.
Check out here All Things Hair featured my experience at Essence Beauty Carnival. Hopefully I can participate again next year. This is until next time!
All love,
Kineatra
Kineatra Jones, MS founder & editor of NaturallyNex.com. She has a passion for educating women on all things natural: hair, beauty, and life. NaturallyNex.com was created in August 2015 to share and connect with women who have a passion for natural hair and beauty. Overtime NaturallyNex has evolved into a beauty, lifestyle, and entertainment blog. Kineatra is focused on discussing natural hair, beauty, fashion, and travel as well as providing encouragement to others.
