***This is a long post***

I’ve waited for this day for so long and when I woke up on April 2nd I could barely contain my excitement because I was finally going to see a cosmetic doctor for my acne scars!

If you’ve been following my daily beauty banters than you know that I hate having to deal with acne as an adult, considering I had it as a teenager, and I hate the sight of my acne scars even more.

When you are a dark skin beauty, acne scars leave dark spots on your skin … in my case, I have them on my cheeks, jaw line, chest, shoulders and a bit on the top of   my back. It got so bad that last summer I refused to show my arms and covered them because I was convinced the world could only see that.

First Lady Michelle Obama already has all the fashion press buzzing (good and bad) about what kind of fashion statement she’ll make during her tenure as First Lady of the United States of America.

Many have compared her style to Jacqueline Onassis Kennedy, but I’d say that Michelle Obama’s look is far more practical and she suits well the role of the woman representing so many other busy women juggling so many responsibilities.

I thought it might be fun to take a look at First Lady Michelle Obama’s hairstyle because it really makes a statement.

I have a feeling I’ll be covering Michelle Obama a lot, so this is most likely going to be a post that merely scratches the surface of Michelle Obama’s beauty regime and her beauty secrets.

It’s true that Michelle Obama is black, but since her hair is blow dried and flat ironed, women of any ethnicity can take a few notes from Michelle Obama hairstyle of choice.

This is a loaded question, but one that a lot of Caucasian women seem to focus on. I cannot tell you how many times people say to me: “no wonder you don’t have wrinkles … black women never age”. Well, that’s not entirely true. It’s obvious that too many people watch Oprah … since it was on her show that Iman (aka Mrs. Iman Bowie) declared on TV that “black don’t crack”!

I wish it were that simple, but it’s not. Being black is NOT a licence to wrinkle-free skin. It’s a bit more complicated than that, but being black (or Asian or darker skin Hispanics) does give the advantage of naturally having more melanin in your skin.

That said, there are certain ethnic characteristics to aging and you’ll find a list of some of the more obvious ones below. You’ll also find some of the most common cosmetic enhancements certain ethnic groups might undertake to smoothen out the signs of aging.

One thing I should make clear … ethnicity is only part of the equation, when it comes to aging well, nutrition and lifestyle are crucially important!

Vogue Italy did something extremely bold for July 2008: they featured a black model on the cover and on top of that they created a fold out cover that feature three other black models photographed by Steven Meisel.

These models are the top black models in the industry at present and it’s quite the homage that Vogue Italy would feature Liya Kebede, Sesilee Lopez, Jourdan Dunn and Naomi Campbell. Liya Kebede made the front cover while the other three black beauties graced the pages of the rest of the fold out.

Before going into details about some of the treatment options that can help with proper hair conditioning, I thought I should list the different post where you can re-read (or read for the first time) the highlights of my discussion with New York stylist Amoy Pitters.

Amoy is a celebrity hairdresser in New York and she’s coiffed the tresses of many famous black beauties such as “Project Runway” Canada’s host Iman, Naomi Campbell, Joy Bryant, Angela Bassett, ex-editor-in-chief of Flare Magazine Suzanne Boyd, Nia Long (from the series “Big Shots”) and Victoria’s Secret supermodel Selita Ebanks. Amoy has also styled the hair of über-fashion designer Donatella Versace and Sting’s wife – Trudie Styler.

Now I know I have your attention!

You must have heard Beauty Beauty Match Celebrity Pick Iman say: “Black don’t crack”? I’ve noticed that even Oprah has been saying it recently and it’s floating all over the Internet.

I’ll be honest that I’ve had people think I’m much younger than I actually am and my aestheticians who see me without any makeup have also commented on my wrinkle-less skin.

There is only one person who has ever been able to guess my age and that’s my black Latino friend Rafi (my ex-colourist … and that’s before I had any greys).

If you are of Southeast Asian, Hispanic (darker complexions and black Latinos), Asian, or of partial or full African descent, you should be aware of the five key factors that affect acne sufferers with darker skin. If you fall into these ethnic categories, you’ll be comforted to know there are some specific facts you need to consider before making informed decisions about your best adult acne treatment options.

Darker complexions should be aware of these facts when dealing with their acne:

1. Hyperpigmentation

Darker skin usually develops dark spots; in some cases the scars are so dark, they appear almost blackish in colour. These darkened spots or hyperpigmentation on the skin occur at the site of the healed acne flare-up. Hyperpigmentation is caused by excessive melanin production (darker skin tends to produce more melanin than fairer complexions).

In the U.S., Canada and the U.K., Caucasian and fair-skinned Asian women are lining up at the door of their cosmetic doctors and plastic surgeons begging to take advantage of the rejuvenating effects of laser resurfacing.

That said, you’ll quickly notice that mixed-race Americans, Canadians and Brits (such as half South East Asians, half Afro or half Middle Eastern or an even more complex combination of races) are much more cautious about laser resurfacing.

I recently had the immense pleasure of chatting about hair with Amoy Pitters. Amoy is a celebrity hairdresser in New York and she’s coiffed the tresses of many famous Black Beauties such as “Project Catwalk” Canada’s host Iman, Naomi Campbell, Joy Bryant, Angela Bassett, ex-editor-in-chief of Flare Magazine Susan Boyd, Nia Long (from the series “Big Shots”) and Victoria’s Secret supermodel Selita Ebanks. Amoy has also styled the hair of über fashion designer Donatella Versace and Sting’s wife – Trudie Styler.

In my last post, I talked about phenol chemical peels being excellent to correct blotchiness, but surely not as a viable anti-aging solution for all skin types.

There are two other chemical peels that might be better suited to your skin if the phenol peel is too strong: the trichloroacetic acid chemical peel and the alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs).

While also effective, the trichloroacetic acid chemical peel is not as aggressive as a phenol chemical peel. Trichloroacetic acid chemical peels smooth fine wrinkles and can even remove superficial blemishes.

Did you know that chemical peels are most commonly performed for cosmetic reasons? No wonder, since a chemical peel softens acne facial scars, controls acne, smoothes wrinkles and rejuvenates the skin. No wonder, some women are booking their chemical peel treatments for an entire year at a time.
If you are a dark-skin beauty, then a chemical peel might become one of the best anti-aging treatments to improve the appearance of your skin because you are NOT a good candidate for laser resurfacing.

Detangling chemically relaxed hair and curly hair after washing can sometimes become the most frustrating activity on the face of the planet. Your hair can get tangled into a knot and you have to be very careful in order not to cause too much damage while trying to tame your tresses.
One of the best tools I’ve come across to make hair detangling after a wash easy is Aveda’s wooden paddle brush.

This is part 3 of my recent discussion with Amoy Pitters of Amoy’s Beauty Salon in New York City.

There are many black women who decide to opt for extensions and weaves to add to the length and volume of their hair. Unlike the Hollywood and supermodel crowd; and many Caucasians, Asian and non-black Latinas who have recently discovered the magic of extensions, black women have been using this little hair trick for many decades now.

This is part 2 of my recent discussion with Amoy Pitters of Amoy’s Beauty Salon in New York City.

Black or mixed women who decide to opt for a chemical relaxer to soften the curliness of their hair in order to make hair styling a much easier process know how fragile and delicate the hair can become over time. When your hair is chemically relaxed, hair care is essential in order to prevent falling into a vicious cycle of permanent breakage that can follow a chemical relaxer.

Amoy Pitters’ tips on chemically relaxed hair:

* If you are not a professional hairdresser you should NOT do your own chemical relaxers and you should certainly not do relaxers for friends and family members.

This is part 1 of my recent discussion with Amoy Pitters of Amoy’s Beauty Salon in New York City.

According to Amoy, many black and mixed women make mistakes that cost them the health of their hair. These tips should certainly help you make some changes to your hair care routine that will really turn things around for you.

Amoy Pitters’ tips on proper hair care for Afro hair:

I recently had the immense pleasure of chatting about hair with Amoy Pitters. Amoy is a celebrity hairdresser in New York and she’s coiffed the tresses of many famous Black Beauties such as Project Catwalk Canada’s host Iman, Naomi Campbell, Joy Bryant, Angela Bassett, ex-editor-in-chief of Flare Magazine Suzanne Boyd, Nia Long (ABC’s Big Shot … as seen on the photo above) and Victoria’s Secret supermodel Selita Ebanks. She has also styled the hair of über fashion designer Donatella Versace and Sting’s wife – Trudie Styler. You can imagine how excited I was to learn about hair care for Afro hair from a woman who was an expert in the field.