Allure May 2022

In the 1960s, my aunt Mozel left Bluffton, Georgia, and headed to Washington, DC. Like many Black folks during the Great Migration, she was looking to get away from a life of farming. Her first stop on the way to a better future: beauty school. With her cosmetology license, she opened a salon on 14th Street that became part community center (she sponsored field trips for local kids), part boutique (she sold clothes and beauty supplies), part training ground (she had a program for those looking to learn the profession), and part club (the cabaret parties she hosted were legendary). Mozel’s Beauty Salon is still there today, long after my aunt Mozel retired. But she leveraged the success of the business to buy real estate all around DC. Today, anyone…

Now that we’re deeply familiar with “self-care,” Courteney Cox is trying to make “homecare” happen. And it might be working. Unlike so many of her celebrity peers, in her first business venture, Cox has bypassed our eyelashes and epidermises in favor of our countertops and flatware. Her new brand, Homecourt, started with the most elegant surface cleaner and dish soap you ever did see and this month adds a mod candle and room deodorizers to the collection. (“It’s Febreze that smells incredible,” says Cox.) The entire line comes in four fragrances—like fresh-from-the-garden Steeped Rose, and CeCe, a mix of cardamom and cedar—that bring pure joy to our homecare routines. Told you it’s working. We’re already saying “homecare routines.”…

A great day starts with…me, myself, and I. Because to accomplish great things—as a beauty editor at Allure, as a member of the leadership council for a non-profit, as a fiancée, family member, and friend—I have to be the best version of myself. There’s no perfect way to do this, but I’ve found that a routine filled with small acts of self-love can make a big difference. When I wake up, I take some deep breaths. It’s simple, but it allows me to begin the day in the present moment. As I’m inhaling and exhaling, I take time to remember what I’m grateful for. It sets a positive tone by focusing on the good. Following this ritual, I continue to prepare for my busy to-do list. I drink a glass of water…

TOP GLOSS On Tom Ford’s spring 2022 runway (1), shine came with a side of sparkle: Golden eye shadow was glazed with clear gloss until it looked reflective, and hairstylist Duffy added rows of jumbo rhinestone barrettes to sleek updos with dramatic side parts. WATER WORKS You could break a sweat giving yourself a blowout…or you could give into the whole wet-hair thing, like we saw at Emporio Armani (2). Finger-comb a dollop of hair gel, like the gold-flecked Oribe Gel Sérum Radiance, backward through towel-dried hair for a drenched look that has hold and sheen. LOUD MOUTH We haven’t been this excited about lip gloss since we were wearing low-rise, boot-cut jeans and listening to “Genie in a Bottle.” Now flares are back and lip gloss is more hot pink than ever, like at…

I WAS BORN in a very densely populated area in Lagos, Nigeria, called Makoko. Growing up [there], I saw first-hand what it was like to struggle to make ends meet. When my dad got a working visa, we moved to Jamaica, and then to Canada. We lived in Parry Sound for a while, which is a tiny, [predominantly] white town. I remember kids wanting to touch my hair to see what it felt like. When I was in grade four, I googled, “how to make your hair straight,” because you know how the main character in movies walks with their hair blowing into the wind? My hair does not do that. If you don’t see people that look like you, obviously you don’t think that you’re worthy. I remember seeing Lupita…

MUSK HASN’T BEEN THIS popular since your grandmother wore Jōvan in the ’70s. Searches for musk fragrances were up 109 percent at the end of last year. The latest versions, though, are a new breed. The scent of synthetic musk molecules has a skin-like quality that’s been in the background of great perfumes as a base note for the last 50 years, but now niche brands are turning it into their own thing with perfumes that smell like musk—full stop. Top notes, like Givaudan’s Moxolane, mean perfumes can smell musky right when you spray them, says Givaudan senior perfumer Sonia Constant. No need to wait for dry down. If an immediate blast of musk sounds a little daunting, don’t worry: These aren’t the heavy, musky musks of the past. “We’re able…