My Black Is Beautiful at Essence Music Festival

On my last day in New Orleans, I had only a half-day to soak up the rest of the Essence Music Festival festivities. So I high-tailed it over to the Convention Center to luxuriate at P&G's My Black Is Beautiful lounge. Celebrating another year as a major sponsor of The Essence Music Festival, MBIB collaborated with UNCF (United Negro College Fund) and Black Girls Rock! to launch the "Imagine a Future" initiative which is designed to positively impact the lives of one million black girls over the next three years, by providing tools and resources to foster a greater sense of self-confidence and self-esteem.

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Bevy Smith, Toya Wright

First of all, I must say I've been a huge fan of the My Black Is Beautiful campaign since it first launched. It's so important to empower women of color and let them know that they're beautiful the way they are. That's honestly one of the reasons I started this site! So I had to pay the booth a visit and check out all the cool activities they had going on.

Danielle Gray, Bevy Smith, Me

I ran into socialite Bevy Smith, who says she partnered up with MBIB because "...it's an amazing experience. So much of my platform is about self-empowerment and owning inner and outer beauty. I grew up in a community in Harlem that way always nurturing to me. I never felt bad about being a brown girl with short hair. I never questioned whether my black was beautiful."

The very first “Imagine a Future” scholarship from MBIB and administered by UNCF was presented to New Orleans First Lady, Cheryl Landrieu for her organization Girl-Up NOLA during a “Dinner with Bevy” on Thursday.  Six additional scholarships were distributed throughout the weekend at the MBIB booth as well. How awesome is that?

Women at the booth were treated to beauty appointments and consultations with expert technicians from brands like CoverGirl® Queen Collection, Pantene® Relaxed & Natural and Olay®. Celebrity make-up artist Ashunta Sheriff above is demonstrating some techniques using CoverGirl Queen Collection products.

Author & blogger of A Belle in Brooklyn, Demetria Lucas, was on site doing "matchmaking" sessions sponsored by Gain. About the opportunity, she mentioned "It feels amazing to be here with Gain. I'm having so much fun helping people find their perfect Gain scent. We hang out, sniff Gain and flirt with guys. What's better?"

Eva Marcille, Letoya Luckett

OMG Girlz

Photos courtesy My Black Is Beautiful