Elle Varner

With one day closer to Friday, it was a gifting experience at the ESSENCE and COLGATE OPTIC WHITE Best in Black Beauty 2016 Awards in NYC Thursday evening. Following a panel discussion with JASMINE SULLIVAN and ELLE VARNER, who spoke about their best beauty regimens earlier that day, other fabulous guests like actress TICHINA ARNOLD, TEYONAH PARRIS, and Fashion Bomb Daily’s CLAIRE SULMNERS dazzled on the red carpet at the carnival themed Awards celebration. The music was great, the carnival games were fun, and the shopping was the best. Attendees took home the trophies in the form of six personalized selections of a variety of ESSENCE Magazine elected winning beauty brands for hair, face & body, makeup and more.

ESSENCE, after awarding COLGATE OPTIC WHITE its “Easy Whitening Fix”, celebrated its recently released May issue at its annual awards event with specialty cocktails, cotton candy, an OPTIC WHITE photo installation where guests photos trended an Optic White photo-collaged wall with the #designersmile hashtag.  The jerk flavored popcorn was a first for me at the Beauty carnival, but nothing as pleasant as my gift bag swag at the end of the night filled with all six items I chose from a list of over 30 hair, face & body, and makeup products.  When added up, my swag bag could easily be worth more than a few hundred dollars with my selection of products.  I tried not to indulge too much, but it was hard; hand-picked items essential for every feminine demand was on that list.

The KLEENEX FACIAL CLEANSING WIPES were my first try as I had to wait for my brand new TY-LITE (also in the bag) to charge before using – it was such a score and the wipes were pretty great at ridding my face of all makeup residue, even my mascara.  Being the hair enthusiasts that I think myself to be, a BIO IONIC 10X PRO STYLING IRON was definitely on my list and also in my gift bag, along with the CHI ONYX EURO SHINE DRYER, and MORROCCANOIL TREATMENT.  Trusting hair brands are hard to come by as a whole, let alone at inexpensive prices, better yet, free.  A NYX OMBRE BLUSH, great for everyday and a box of COLGATE OPTIC WHITE toothpaste for that #designersmile.  As an avid OPTIC WHITE user already, it was great to know that it was also an ESSENCE favorite.  Other awesome brands like CAROL’S DAUGHTER, MISS JESSIE’S, IMAN COSMETICS and tons more were also on the list of giveaways, something for every woman.

Being one of the leading “lifestyle, fashion and beauty magazine for African-American women,” in 42 years, ESSENCE has stayed true to their motto when “speaking directly to a Black woman’s spirit, her heart and her unique concerns,” satisfying every category.  For it must be said, being a black woman myself and woman overall, I am always looking for the next best beauty necessities – it takes a lot to maintain while taking care of business and making your dreams come true, and ESSENCE really delves into all that is necessary for a woman to move forward in every aspect of life.

Photo Credit: Terrence Jennings / terrencejennings.com