Shea Moisture's Chic Pop-Up Shop in New Orleans

If you're planning to be in New Orleans this weekend (or even if you reside there and want to stop by), Shea Moisture has your skincare & hair needs on lock with their new NOLA pop-up shop!

You guys already know I'm a huge fan of Shea Moisture's skin and hair products. From their body scrubs and oils to their curl products and their Art of Color at-home hair color, I'm a big supporter of their approach to all-natural, yet effective products. Hence, me and my #NOLACrawl buddies will be spending quite a bit of time at the pop-up shop this weekend.

Here's a rundown of all the cool #SheaMoistureNOLA stuff happening. Everything is free to the public, so be there or be square:

Friday, July 5th -  5:00PM - 8:00PM

This one should be fun. Some of my favorite bloggers will be there PLUS first 50 guests get free swag!

Saturday, July 6th 2:00PM - 5:00PM

Meet & greet natural hair guru Curly Nikki and celebrity stylist Diane Bailey. There will be hair consultations and skincare recommendations from yours truly and the #NOLACrawl crew as we'll be attending between 3:30 and 5:00PM.

Sunday, July 7th 1:00PM - 6:00PM

Sunday is all about a good day party! Shea Moisture will be keeping the NOLA party going with special appearances by stylist Felicia Leatherwood, and of course me and the #NOLACrawl crew will be in the building as well. 

Can't wait! Have you tried Shea Moisture products? Will you be partying with us down in NOLA?

Join Me This Sunday for "Fit For A Queen" in NYC + Ticket Giveaway

Exciting news! If you follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram you've probably heard the buzz but I am co-hosting a luxe pampering event called "Fit For A Queen" this Sunday, June 2nd 3pm - 6pm at the Rooftop 760 in NYC. In partnership with One Life 2 Live Entertainment and Obi Nwabuzor, LoveBrownSugar.com will be live and in full effect snapping pics, tweeting, posting to instagram and keeping you in the loop on all the fun activities on site.

NYC and tri-state area ladies & gents, you can head to the FFAQ Eventbrite link to sign up. There will be a Nail Bar with mini manicures, a Hair Bar with product demos and samples, and a beauty bar hosted by The Lip Bar. You don't want to miss out!

Just because I love y'all, I'm hosting a special VIP Ticket giveaway for one winner and a guest to come to the event and receive the VIP treatment (no long lines!)

Sound good? Enter your information below for a chance to be my special guest:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway ends Friday, May 31st 11:59PM EST. Winner will be contacted on Saturday, June 1st.

Kickin' It: Kmart Fashion Remix Challenge

A few weeks back, the lovely folks at Kmart invited me to their Tribeca studio to take part in the Kmart Fashion #MoneyCantBuyStyle Remix Challenge. Hosted by fashion expert and Fashion Police co-host George Kotsiopoulos, each blogger invited was asked to create a head-to-toe look using the Jaclyn Smith utility shirt and either pieces from the Kmart wardrobe or pieces of your own.

We were allowed to pick from any of the colors above. Given my obsession with turquoise, I opted for the solid one!

There were alot of really fun options to choose from. Everything from patterned pants to bright-colored skinny jeans. To truly display my personal style, I decided to stick with the leather mini-dress I wore to the event and layer that with the Jaclyn Smith utility shirt and a fun neon pink Bongo crossbody bag.

The photos for the event were taken by famed photographer Chris Heads. He's awesome, I felt like a superstar!

Me being silly! He told me to show off my cool henna forearm tattoo. So much fun!

I had a blast at Kmart's Remix Challenge. Considering I've never been a fan of Kmart's style selections, I have to say that going to the Remix Challenge really opened up my eyes to all the cool pieces they have to offer these days. Everything from staples like oxfords and denim skinnies, to patterned tops and stylish mini-dresses. Kudos to them for upping the style factor and keeping it affordable for budget fashionistas nationwide.

To take the #MoneyCantBuyStyle challenge yourself (and for the chance to win a $500 shopping spree   or Grand Prize trip to NYC) enter HERE at Kmart's Facebook Page.

Shop Kmart Fashion | Follow Kmart updates 

Have you shopped at Kmart lately? What was your experience?

Kickin' It: Night On The Town with Motions

Last night I hit the town with the Motions team and a group of my favorite style bloggers for a fun night out. In celebration of the new Motions Straight Finish collection (which I blogged about here) as well as Motions Global Ambassador and celebrity stylist Ursula Stephen opening her new salon in Brooklyn, we took a fun ride along a party bus from Manhattan to Brooklyn to wish Ursula a huge congrats and then to party like a rockstar at the Rihanna concert. Here's all we got into:

So first off, the Motions team asked us to take our hair from curly to straight in honor of the new Straight Finish collection. What a task! In last week's post, I simply used the collection to straighten my curly hair that is left out of my extensions. This time around I straightened the entire head and it was not easy but I finished! In the end, I love volume so it was straight but still had tons of va-va-voom.

Jessica of Glamazons Blog, Danielle of The Style & Beauty Doctor,  and yours truly

We met up with the Motions crew in midtown Manhattan and boarded a fun party bus. Some of my blogger faves were in attendance, ready to party it up and whine it down.

Ty of GorgeousinGrey, Danielle of HelloBeautiful

Our first stop - Ursula Stephen, The Salon for the launch of Ursula Stephen's first ever salon in Brooklyn!

I've been a secret admirer of Ursula Stephen since Rihanna's first haircut by her. You guys remember when Rih decided to chop it all off and go from good girl to bad? Yep, that was Ursula's work. She's just as sweet as pie, and the girl has skills.

Me, Andrea of Glamazons Blog, Ursula Stephen, Danielle Young of HelloBeautiful

Her new salon is located at 66 Lafayette, Brooklyn, NY 11216 (Between S. Elliot Place & S. Portland Avenue). If you're in town, you should absolutely check it out!

It's a really fab space and the walls are lined with Ursula's celebrity work including countless top tier magazine covers featuring her main client Rihanna.

Cocktails for the evening were sponsored by Courvoisier - thoroughly enjoyed their Rosé and Moscato.

I ran into the lovely Taren Guy, Youtube hair extraordinare.  Loved her vintage top, neon skirt and neon nails! I rocked my new Beyonce for H&M collection maxi dress for the night. I love anything that's printed, flowy and form-fitting in all the right places.

Next up, we headed to the Barclay's Center for the Rihanna concert of a lifetime. This was my first time seeing her perform live, and she was amazing. Nothing like hearing your favorite songs live.

While there, we each got our own stick of Rihanna's new lipstick shade for MAC Cosmetics - RiRi Woo. I'll be doing a review post of that shortly. Honestly, it looks very similar to my favorite Ruby Woo. I'll do a comparison of the two when I try it out.

Pics courtesy @Rhapsodani on Instagram

Rihanna slayyyyed on stage! I swooned over everyone on of her outfits. And I dutty whined to all of her jams. I had such an incredible time. Big huge thanks to Motions Hair for such a great experience. If you haven't already, check out my review of the Straight Finish Collection HERE.

Giveaway Winner: Congratulations to Makeda Saggau-Sackey for winning the Motions Instagram giveaway! Please send us an email so we can get you your goodie bag of Motions Straight Finish + a flat-iron!

Follow Motions on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Check out their Website

Kickin' It: Dark & Lovely Au Naturale Launch Event

Last night in NYC, natural hair blogger and enthusiast Curly Nikki and songwriter/songstress Marsha Ambrosius co-hosted the official launch event for Dark & Lovely's newest innovation - the Au Naturale styling and maintenance product line for curls.

From left: Hydrating Soak Shampoo, Knot-Out Conditioner, Curl Defining Creme Glaze, Curl Moisturizing Souffle, Sheen Sealing Nectar, 10-in-1 Styles Gelee

Yes, it seems like every company under the sun is launching a new natural haircare line these days, but what I found so awesome about this launch was how adamantly natural hair icon Marsha Ambrosius felt about the line. That evening she was sporting her fierce mane in what looked like a textured bantu knot-out on blowout hair. She looked phenomenal. And she was as sweet as pie! She even remembered meeting me last June during the BET Awards (glad I have a memorable face!).

I chatted a bit with her about the new product line, her favorite beauty products, hair maintenance tips and what it means to be dark & lovely:

LoveBrownSugar: So I wanted to ask you about your natural hair! You're most definitely one of my natural hair icons. What do you do to maintain your style?
Marsha Ambrosius: What I must do, and it's imperative I do so, is brush it overnight, section it and bantu knot it. If I don't, when I wake up in the morning I'm not going to be able to comb through that thing! Even if I'm in the studio late, it's something I must do. The [Au Naturale] product line is great because it really infuses all the natural products that I use anyway into one thing. I have the mango oil, I have the bamboo milk, I put it in and it stays! I'm living proof that it works. My curls are absolutely temperamental. Sometimes they hate me, other times I think they're having a fight. So this product line - I really love it.

Is there one product out of the entire line that you can't live without?
The Au Naturale 10-ln-1 Styles Gelee. When I take the bantu-knots out, they'll be in my natural curl pattern anyway and I just take a dab of the Gelee and once I run that product through my hair, it stays. It's like a hair gel and an edge protector in one. Do you see these edges?! They never lay down like this!

Aside from natural hair, I really look at you as a beauty icon overall. Are there any beauty products that you swear by?
Drink lots of water! The simplest beauty products are the ones that God gave us. We overlook them sometimes. Like I exfoliate with honey sometimes, a little bit of natural oil, little things like that.

What do you think it means to be Dark & Lovely?
Dark & Lovely is empowering, it's invigorating, it's royal. I'm glad to be here to represent this brand.

After chatting it up with Marsha, I ran into co-host Curly Nikki and the fabulous Julee Wilson of Huffington Post Black Voices (remember her spotlight on LoveBrownSugar's Get Like Me series?). Two beautiful ladies indeed, with fierce natural curls.

Photo courtesy Dark & Lovely

The event was a blast. There were live hair demonstrations and tutorials. A super cute photo booth, where I took this goofy pic...

And of course there were amazing heads of natural hair at every turn! Kudos to Dark & Lovely for a successful launch event!

For more information about Dark & Lovely's Au Naturale product line, head to their website or become a fan of Dark & Lovely on Facebook for updates!

LoveBrownSugar Co-Hosts Ojon + Birchbox #WatchandChat

Hey loves! I'm super excited to announce a fun event I'm co-hosting next Wednesday afternoon. On Wednesday, February 20th, join me (@LoveBrownSugar), hair brand Ojon (@Ojon) and world-renowned product sampling service Birchbox (@Birchbox) for a Twitter chat all about HAIR!

You guys know I'm obsessed with hair so I'm beyond honored to co-host this chat and get your pressing hair questions answered. Yesterday, in between my NYFW hustling, I stopped by the Ojon Treatment Triage salon at Milk Studios in NYC. I got my hair styled by Ojon celebrity hairstylist Cynthia Alvarez, who styles the manes of celebs like Keke Palmer and Rita Ora. She did an amazing job on my hair and I'm officially hooked on this product line:

Cynthia Alvarez and I, after my styling session

BONUS: I'm giving away 15 Ojon beauty products during the Twitter chat!

If you guys haven't tried Ojon hair products, I highly recommend them. I blogged last year about the Melanie Fiona & Ojon Beauty event that I attended. That night I went home with a bottle of their Rare Blend Oil and my hair has been thanking me ever since! 5 of you beauties who tune into the #OjonWatchandChat will get your very own bottle of Rare Blend Oil ($35). 10 more of you will win the Restorative Hair Serum ($40).

To be eligible to win, you must tweet a hair question @LoveBrownSugar using the #OjonWatchandChat hashtag on Wednesday February 20th, between the hours of 12:30 and 1:30PM EST.

Comment below with your Twitter name if you plan on joining the party, so I can look out for you! 

Kickin' It: Anu Essentials Launch Event

Last Thursday evening, we had the pleasure of attending the Anu Essentials launch event at chic Brooklyn-base natural hair salon Khamit Kinks. Despite the frigid weather outside, the venue was filled with warm smiles and chic 'dos.

Anu Prestonia is "the" go to natural hair guru with a clientele roster beyond anyone's wildest imagination. From the one and only queen of daytime television Oprah Winfrey, to Stevie Wonder, and talented triple threat Solange Knowles, she has tended to some very famous tresses. The event was hosted by Ms. Anu herself and some very familiar faces from the natural hair community, the ladies of Curly Girl Collective. and Renae Bluitt of In Her Shoes.

Anu Essentials are an array of organic natural hair products made paraben & sulfate free ranging from shampoos, conditioners and so far our favorite is the Soft Set Gel ($22.00). Did we mention she has a natural perfume line as well?! Chemical free!

As her mother kindly put it "A little goes a long way, a dab on the neck, your inner elbows, and on your knees if you got a man". With words of wisdom from her natural hair journey and all the gratitude expressed, Anu Prestonia is indeed an inspiration to all the ethnic beauties out there.

Rock your fro loud, rock your fro proud! Keep on the look out for a product review on Anu Essentials right here on LBS.

To find out more about Khamit Kinks and how you can purchase your very own Anu Essentials products, follow the link HERE

- Gracie J

Kickin' It: INGLOT Artist Lounge Grand Opening

Nothing gets a girl more excited than a room full of cosmetics and topless European models. Say what?!

On Tuesday, December 18th, INGLOT Cosmetics (same location I had my 3 Year Anniversary Party) celebrated the Grand Opening of their Artist Lounge at the Chelsea Market Flagship Store. Their 6000 square foot venue housed a plethora of services, from professional make-overs to a special polish station providing well deserved manicures.

The Artist Lounge is a great work space for industry professionals and the perfect place to host business launches, promotional events, parties, photo-shoots and even wedding trials.

Gracie J & Wojtek Inglot

Mr. Wojtek Inglot himself (creator and founder of INGLOT Cosmetics) made a personal appearance at the event giving us the opportunity to snap a picture or two with him.

Set to debut in the tech world early next year, INGLOT will also be launching their virtual makeover app in which prospective buyers will be able to digitally try on the products before purchasing them, making the customer experience easier and more efficient.

Although I didn't get a chance to hit the nail and lash bar, LBS reader Jayana and I got a chance to get well acquainted with some refreshments and a free make-over! JACKPOT!

Stay updated with the happenings and latest products from INLGOT Cosmetics by checking out their website HERE

- Gracie J

LoveBrownSugar Holiday Shopping Event NYC

NYC folks, it's that time!! I'm having an official launch event for my new nail lacquer "LoveBrownSugar" for LiSi Cosmetics and I would love for you guys to join me tomorrow afternoon in celebration. In addition to my nail lacquer, there are tons of amazing new Holiday products in-store at LiSi Cosmetics. As I've told you guys before, I'm a huge fan of the brand and I absolutely love all of their products. Aside from the amazing quality of the products, everything retails under $15! It's a win-win, seriously. There are pro makeup artists to guide you through the products and you can actually TEST the products in-store (unlike drugstore brands).

LoveBrownSugar Holiday Shopping Event

December 15th, 2012 

1:00PM - 4:00PM

LiSi Cosmetics Flagship Store

741 Broadway (at Astor Pl), New York, NY 10003

I'll be at the store from 1:00-4:00PM to mingle, chat with you guys about my favorite products and help you shop for all your holiday needs. We'll be giving away door prizes, serving sweets and partying it up in celebration so don't miss it! No RSVP necessary, just pop by the store and tell them you're here for LoveBrownSugar!

See you tomorrow!

LoveBrownSugar x bombom Jewelry Glam Suite

Hey ladies and gents! If you're based in NYC, join me this weekend for some pre-holiday fun. I'm co-hosting a fun jewelry suite with bombom Jewelry featuring free cocktails, their Holliday collection of jewels and of course fashion/beauty tips & chit-chat. Come ready to sip & shop! I hope I have a chance to meet some of you this weekend. Make sure you RSVP to PR@bombombJewelry.com

See you there!

Kickin' It: Cocktails & Couture Party 2012

 On Saturday night I had the pleasure of attending this season's Cocktails & Couture shindig during NYFW. It's the quintessential blogger meet-up party every season, hosted by beauty blogger extraordinaire Lianne Farbes. This season, the esteemed co-host was big-hitter Patrice Yursik of Afrobella.com (love her!) and the presenting sponsor was BlogHer.com. In true blogger meet-up fashion, there were cocktails, cameras & cute outfits galore. Check it out:

Danielle Gray, Lexi Felder, Eboni Ife and Merli Estime

Hostess Lianne Farbes and Jessica Andrews

Lianne hosted some awesome giveaways throughout the night. The cocktails were flowing courtesy Hpnotiq and there were on-site blowouts & makeovers by Christo Fifth Ave and DDF.

Me and Lianne Farbes

Love these girls!

Lianne's arm party - so cute!

Ty Brown, Patrice Yursik, Sharontina Brightman, Ro

Patrice was in town this NYFW season and I got to spend time with her - LOVE this lady. Check out her blog Afrobella.com, you'll fall in love too.

Stylish editors Geneva Thomas & Chastity Saunders

SanTara of TheGorgeousIngredient.com

Me & Sharontina Brightman of TheRunwayTimes.com

Cece Olisa, Alissa Wilson & I

Danielle Gray of TheStyleandBeautyDoctor.com - always with the perfect red lip!

Good times! Looking forward to the next C&C Party.