Beauty through a black feminine lens.

From a young age, I remember my grandmother using a small wooden stick to clean her teeth.
I remember my mother telling me to use lemon under my arms.

Beauty has always existed in rituals, in habits passed down quietly between women, long before social media.

Over the years, my own understanding of beauty has evolved many times.

Once upon a time, I shaped my eyebrows impossibly thin and followed trends I now laugh about. Magazines and fashion campaigns convinced women that beauty existed in one form only. Thin bodies. Lighter skin.

Entire generations of women grew up trying to fit into standards that were never created with us in mind.

But today, conversations are louder and representation wider.
Many women before us fought battles that allowed others to exist more freely within their own bodies and identities.

And yet, even now, beauty still often feels deeply tied to conformity. It only takes a few moments scrolling through social media to notice how easily individuality disappears. The same faces. The same aesthetics repeated endlessly.

Even within our own communities, colourism and proximity to European beauty standards continue to shape perception.

And somewhere along the way, many of us have begun distancing ourselves from the very things that once made us distinct. Our textured hair. Our distinct features. Our natural skin colour, deep chocolate brown for some and caramel for others.

I have also struggled with my own contradictions. I wear wigs and weaves, and at one point I began questioning whether I, too, was moving away from the very things I believed should be celebrated. I convinced myself that choosing enhancement somehow meant rejecting authenticity.

But womanhood has never been that simple.

There is freedom in transformation too.

Beauty through a Black feminine lens, at least for me, is not about rejecting wigs, makeup, luxury, or self-enhancement. It is about intention. It is about making space for expression without losing ourselves in the process.

I love long straight hair, even if it is not naturally mine. That does not mean I love my own hair any less. It simply means that beauty can exist in many forms.

Whether it is beads around the waist or beautiful body markings rooted in tradition, beauty has always existed far beyond trends.

Let’s celebrate that.