Beauty Essentials from Everlasting to Everlasting

Each season brings about harshly different temperatures which can wreak havoc on your skin. Here are few of my all-time favorite tried and true beauty essentials that easily transition from summer to winter. 

1. These makeup remover wipes by Neutrogena remove the toughest, heaviest makeup leaving your skin feeling refreshed and moisturized. With no soap or water needed, they are also great for travel.

2. Great Lash mascara by Maybelline is an inexpensive way to "wake-up" you eyes. After a late night or early morning, this can change your look from drab to fab instantly.

3. Just for fun. Who doesn't love a fun nail polish? Especially necessary for summer, a bright polish color can change your mood and brighten the gloomiest of winters. 

4. This stick is versatile and travel friendly. Use it on your lips, face, hands, or wherever a bit of added moisturizer is needed.

5. This skin therapy oil by Palmer is a definite must-have. It great to alleviate irritation from skin friction. The no mess pump and stain free formula are added bonuses.

6. We all know to use these for our hands, but don't forget to use them on your cell phone as well. Your phone is a breeding ground for germs as we often lay them down just about anywhere. Especially use sanitizing wipes on your phone regularly if you're one of those people who even takes their phone to the restroom.

7. Everyone should use sunblock, no matter you complexion of pigmentation. This may even be a winter essential depending on where you live.

8. Water is you secret weapon and the keys to the fountain of youth. It's essential to stay hydrated. Water can even help reduce the appearance of wrinkles!

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The Keke Palmer Project

BET Networks and Telepictures announced that they are partnering with Keke Palmer on a new daily talk show tentatively titled, “The Keke Palmer Project.” Keke is set to make talk show history this summer with the show’s debut as the youngest host in television history. Produced by Judge Greg Mathis, the 20-year-old Acuvue contacts spokesperson, Palmer will cover topics from social issues, pop culture, fashion, sex and more. The four-week test run will begin in July. 

Keke encourages her fans through Twitter and Instagram to focus on other things because sharing your physical self is not worth sacrificing your spiritual self. In an article by Lauren R.D. Fox for Madame Noire, Keke shared her experience with dating and sex. "I find myself dating guys who I do not talk to anymore because, I assume, we have not had sex. Sex is the number one topic in the conversation with these men and I’m like, ‘uh no, I don’t want to talk about that all the time’! I don’t know why there is so much pressure being built when you are dating someone, It’s  like they have a ticking time clock on you. It is not about the time, it’s about making sure this is the right person." It's so refreshing to see a young lady preserve herself because she genuinely knows her value.

I’m excited to see Lauren Keyana Palmer, best known as Keke in the interviewer’s chair. She has a great, big personality and is very likable. She’s grownup into a multi-faceted entertainer. She acts, sings, dances and can now add talk show hosts to her repertoire. Somehow I’m sure a person with as great a personality as Keke has will undoubtedly draw audiences, forcing the network to extend the show indefinitely. Click here for a hilarious clip of Keke as a guest on Queen Latifah's talk show.

Follow Keke on Instagram for doses of inspiration, laughs and fun video clips @kekepalmer.

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Celebrating Black Brillance

It’s a bit ironic and definitely unfortunate that in the African-American community (reported) good news is so scarce. With the main stream media so infrequently reporting about the accomplishments of young, gifted African Americans-we must take it upon ourselves to be the sounding board, acknowledging each other’s achievements.

Google's doodle celebrating Dr. Percy Lavon Julian.

Today, Google's doodle celebrates a 'forgotten genius,' Chemist, Percy Lavon Julian. He was the grandson of slaves who was not permitted to attend high school, who later went on to become one of the first African-Americans to earn a Ph.D in chemistry. Dr. Julian was a researcher and pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medical drugs from plants. Dr. Julian synthesized chemicals from plants to make medicine, which included treatment for glaucoma and other inflammatory illnesses. He’s most well-known for synthesizing male and female hormones from soybean oil and later creating a synthetic substitute for cortisone. His cortisone substitute was inexpensive, yet effective, and helped make the treatment for rheumatoid arthritis more accessible. He obtained more than 100 patents and was the first African-American to be inducted into the National Academy of Sciences. His work laid the foundation for the steroid drug industry's production of cortisone, other corticosteroids, and birth control pills. During World War II, DR. Julian also developed a foam from soy protein that could put out oil and gas fires; it was quickly adopted by the military.

Let's take a moment and honor Dr. Julian on what would have been his 115th birthday. As we honor legends of our past, let's also remember to honor legends in the making. Here are some of the outstanding students who are destined to leave a mark in history.
 

For the fifth year in a row 100 percent of the graduating class of Urban Prep Academy, consisting of all young men of color is college bound. All 240 seniors are heading to college. According to Urban Prep founder Tim King, these young men have received acceptance letters from over 185 colleges and universities and earned over $11,000,000 in scholarships and grants.

At 16, Alex Dunlap is poised to graduate from Broad Ripple Magnet High School a year early in May. She is one of only 1,000 students in the country to receive the prestigious Gates Millennium Scholarship. She plans to study Spanish, French and Chinese in college with a focus in Arabic; after which she plans on attending law school. Equipped with a stellar education, Dunlap hopes to fight for the rights of children in foreign countries.

Avery Coffey, 17, has been accepted to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, and University of Pennsylvania. With a 4.3 GPA, this high school senior is poised to graduate from Benjamin Banneker Academic High School, an institution known for its exceptional track record with college acceptance rates. The school has had a perfect track record of 100 percent acceptance for every graduating class since its first in 1984.

Kwasi Enin is a student at William Floyd High School in Mastic Beach, N.Y. The 17-year-old received acceptance letters from Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania and Yale. That’s right all 8 Ivy League institutions! Enin also scored 2250 on his SATs, putting him in the 99th percentile.

Stephen R. Stafford II, at the age of 11-years-old was enrolled at Morehouse College. He is a triple major, studying pre-med, mathematics and computer science. Stafford is on track to graduate from medical school at age 22. Notably, Stafford was homeschooled! This is how investing in your kids pays off.

Akintunde Ahmad, who calls himself, ‘a regular street dude from Oakland’s public schools,’ has been accepted to several Ivy League Schools thanks to his 5.0 GPA and 2100 SAT Score. Although some people judge him based on his appearance, (Ahmad keeps a copy of his grades and SAT scores on his phone as proof), he is deciding between Brown and Yale. Yale is trying to recruit Ahmad for its baseball team. That’s right; he’s got brains and athleticism.

Stories like these should be passed on; so spread the word! These are the faces of our future.



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