Author: elsims

To kick off Women’s History Month, I would like to highlight one of my namesakes, Ebony Fashion Fair along with Fashion Fair cosmetics created and previously owned by John H. Johnson and Eunice W. Johnson. The Johnsons were a husband and wife team who owned Johnson Publishing and started Ebony and Jet magazines for people of color. I remembering seeing the pictures for Ebony Fashion Fair in Jet Magazine growing up. And the pink containers of Fashion Fair make-up in my mom’s bathroom. Most of the information I will be sharing in this post comes from The Beauty of Blackness documentary streaming now on HBO Max as well as the articles, whose links I have included in this post. The documentary covers the past history of Fashion Fair cosmetics, its acquisition, and its relaunch.

Ebony Fashion Fair was a fashion show started in 1958 by Mrs. Johnson. The fashion show was the first to feature black models wearing clothes from designers such as Givechy, Ungaro, and Coco Chanel. Ebony Fashion Fair traveled around the country via charter bus for 3 month stretches at a time. The fashion show would visit cities and states where black people continued to face overt racism and discrimination. Yet, the models and organizers persevered and brought black elegance, grace, and fashion throughout the country. For more information on Ebony Fashion Fair, you can visit this website.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/reliving-ebony-fashion-fair-runway-one-couture-dress-time-180962987/

Mrs. Johnson observed the models having to mix and match make-up to create a shade of foundation that suited their complexions. This discovery inspired the creation of Fashion Fair cosmetics in 1973, a line of make-up that catered to women of color. The cosmetic line was carried in Bloomingdale’s thanks to Audrey Smaltz, the first commentator for Ebony Fashion Fair shows, who had a connection from previously being employed at the department store. From that point, Fashion Fair cosmetics expanded to other leading department stores.

Unfortunately, Johnson Publishing, which housed Ebony Fashion Fair and Fashion Fair cosmetics, filed bankruptcy in 2019 shutting down Fashion Fair cosmetics. Desiree Rogers and Cheryl Mayberry McKissack swooped in, purchased and revived the cosmetic line. The co-founders partnered with Sephora and relaunched Fashion Fair cosmetics in September 2021. The packaging has a new look and the products have been reformulated and are now vegan. You can find the sleek white and gold make-up tubes and palettes at Sephora, Sephora.com, and FashionFair.com. Tap this link to read what inspired Rogers and Mayberry McKissack to aquire Fashion Fair cosmetics.

https://www.instyle.com/beauty/makeup/fashion-fair-relaunch-interview

I just happened upon the documentary, The Beauty of Blackness, today and I throughly enjoyed it. Seeing the behind the scenes development of the relaunch and the history of such an iconic brand was inspiring. I am and will probably always be a plain Jane who doesn’t bother much with make-up. Yet, I still wish much success for Fashion Fair cosmetics. If this blog post, or any other previous posts, has resonates with you, please share it with someone else. Someone who you feel may benefit or enjoy this content. It would be greatly appreciated. Be well and whole. Much Love 🧡 💚

Today is March 1st, which kicks off Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month and Women’s History Month. Well, I am a woman with multiple sclerosis so I feel as if I own this month 😆. This Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Awareness month I will highlight different resources for individuals living with MS. There are podcasts, magazines, newsletters, blogs, you name it. And I have come across a few resources I have found interesting, uplifting and educational. Interesting information that I have not heard before. Uplifting content that helps me to look at the bright side of multiple sclerosis. And educational studies and research that keeps me up to date with medical developments. For me personally, those are my requirements for MS information. Novellia, which I will be highlighting in this post, is a resource that continually provides content that meets my requirements.

I was going to do this very generic post about Novellia. It would have been me listing them as a resource and my perception of the newsletter I received. Then I said, “Hey, why not reach out and see if they would be willing to share more information with you?” Well, that thought paid off! The Novellia team not only responded to my message, but called me and we had a very informative chat 😁💃🏾🤸🏾‍♀️. Now I feel like I have been slacking on going after what I want. Not saying it will be that easy every time, but what could it hurt to reach out for the things you want? No one likes to hear No, yet it may just be a Yes. And right now, I will take 10 NOs for one YES because that Yes feels so damn good.

Novellia, pronounced No veil le a (yes, I pronounced it wrong before speaking with the team), currently provides a weekly email newsletter called The Skoop. The name Novellia, specially created by the team, is a double entendre. It uses the word “novel” as in new, revolutionary and “novel” as in a story, my story, a new complete chapter. Novellia is a new way to present information regarding multiple sclerosis and it offers the opportunity to tell the stories of individuals living with multiple sclerosis. I was introduced to Novellia by Samantha Vanderman. Do y’all remember her? She was the beautiful young lady who shared her MS stories with us last March. If you are new here, please backtrack and read her posts.

Novellia shares the most up to date MS research and studies. The Skoop also features stories written by individuals living with MS. The format of the newsletter is easy on the eyes and the flow of information is clear and concise, which makes it better for my MS brain. Team Novellia’s content is delivered in a way that is understandable, but also engaging and entertaining. As they say, “MS complicates, Novellia simplifies.” Instead of overloading you with the boring medical jargon, they give you the TLDR (Too Long, Didn’t Read) version, but also provides the readers with links to the studies they are citing. Team Novellia allows MS warriors to share their stories via interviews or to write an article to be included in The Skoop. They also feature a Moment of Zen, which is usually a beautiful picture of nature taken by Georgina Wakani. In the last newsletter, the picture was a snowy field with the sun shining brightly. The Skoop is delivered to your email Monday morning to kick off the week.

Team Novellia is a group of people including, nurses, journalists and individuals with chronic conditions, whose goal is to shine the spotlight on MS warriors. After looking at the other resources provided for individuals living with MS, Team Novellia realized that it has to be a better way. The Skoop was created to break the barrier between the scientific community and the people who would benefit from science the most. Novellia, with their “novel” approach to MS awareness and information, have grown so much since inception and are now formulating other ways besides The Skoop to engage the MS community. Novellia currently has a wellness challenge going on with plans to start hosting virtual and in person community events with a fun, safe and party like environment. I am happy that Novellia came on the scene to shake things up and to buck the norm. I am also excited about the future of Novellia and all the team has planned for the MS community going forward.

I am humbled and grateful to Team Novellia for taking the time out to speak with me and give me insight into their mission and their purpose. I have been onboard with Novellia since their first newsletter. Each week, I look forward to the information Novellia shares, reading other warriors insights and stories and giggling at their puns, which I get because I am a total geek. I will continue to share updates, future events and tidbits about Novellia. If you know of anyone with MS that you think can benefit from the Skoop by Novellia, please share this information. They can sign up to receive The Skoop via email on Novellia’s website, www.novellia.com. You can also find Novellia on Instagram, @novellia.ms. As always, be well and whole. Much Love 🧡 💚

I am not sure what the conversation was in your household in regards to checking, savings and credit, but it wasn’t discussed at incredible length in my household growing up. I got a savings account when I was sixteen and went on to get a checking account when I got a little older. Somewhere along the line I got a credit card with a very high interest rate. I was told to be responsible with my money and save, save, save. There may have been some talk about credit cards, but I don’t remember any exact conversations. Now, don’t take this the wrong way, I am in no way saying anything bad about my parents. I just don’t think that money, credit and loans are a common conversation in black households. And school definitely didn’t teach on money, credit, loans or any such thing.

So here we are, 18 years old, without any real credit or knowledge of what to do financially as the adults we are now considered to be. What could go wrong? Well everything of course 😆. Oh and it did. Through it all, I learned about loans, credit scores, savings, checking and credit cards. Most of it lessons learned through failure. I may be better for it or maybe not. Who knows? I can’t go back, but I can make sure I don’t do any of that shit again.

When I saw advertisements about Greenwood Bank I was intrigued. It is a mobile banking platform to assist black and brown people with getting spending accounts, savings account and loans. Greenwood, named after the former Greenwood district in Tulsa, Oklahoma, unveiled its website back in October of 2020. There have been some delays in actually getting Greenwood going due to high demand and wanting to be able to handle all the anticipated customers. Based on the information shared on their website and the demand for Greenwood’s services, I know that this endeavor will be a successful one. I appreciate them taking the extra time to make sure they have all their ducks in a row. You can read more about Greenwood on their website,

https://bankgreenwood.com/

and in this article,

https://fortune.com/2021/12/01/killer-mike-andrew-young-greenwood-banking-app-black-communities-generational-wealth/.

If you are interested in starting an account with Greenwood, please be aware there is a waiting list. You can join the waiting list on their website.

Now onto the credit issues. I personally feel that when we become “adults” at the age of 18, we should have perfect credit. Or at least a 700 credit score. Then based on the decisions we make good or bad, we will go from there. But no, we are sent out with low credit scores and left to figure out how to raise them. Does that make any sense? I don’t think so. You can get a car, which helps raise your score, but you usually need a co-signer. You can get a credit card, which also raises your score, but most young adults don’t have a clue how to use them to boost their credit score. There is a good chance that you move out of your parent’s house and get your own place. Great, but paying rent only affects you when you don’t pay it. On time payments are not report to the credit bureaus. The only benefit to paying on time is not getting kicked out of your apartment or rental property.

Abbey Wemimo had an issue with this and decided to do something about it. Abbey is an immigrant from Nigeria and co-founded Esusu, a financial technology platform, with Samir Goel. Esusu reports rental data to the credit bureaus to help build tenant’s credit scores. I am not sure of exactly how it works, but I will definitely be using Esusu if I find myself renting again. Why not get credit for my rental payments, even if my credit is good? It can’t hurt. If you want to learn more or would like to sign up for Esusu, here is their website,

Home Page

If you want to learn more about the co-founders, here is an article from nasdaq with Q & A,

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/faces-of-entrepreneurship%3A-samir-goel-abbey-wemimo-esusu-2021-01-15.

Hope you enjoyed these black facts. If this blog post, or any other previous posts, has resonates with you, please share it with someone else. Someone who you feel may benefit or enjoy this content. It would be greatly appreciated. Be well and whole. Much Love 🧡 💚