Steal her Look: Jourdan Dunn

A low key take on an evening look seen on Jourdan in Numero magazine. It’s all about the lips so keep the rest of the face simple.  Use Mac Strobe Cream to highlight and add contour to the face. We love using Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream on our eyes to get that dewy look.

Stick on some false lashes if yours are a bit sparse or use a good mascara – we like any from Lancome. Fill in your brows for extra definition.

Line your lips with a pencil for staying power. It’s important to find the right shade of red lipstick for you, what works on your friend/sister might not be for you. For extra shine, finish off with Mac Lipglass.

Lipstick by Chantecaille

Touche Éclat for Brown Girls

Yves Saint Laurent's famous highlighter pen Touche Éclat has launched six new shades exclusive to Selfridges and Browns.

Considered a cult beauty product, 3 are sold every minute in the UK! Famed for its ability to banish dark circles and act as an instant highlighter, it is touted as one of the cosmetic world's true miracle products.

Jourdan Dunn by Terry Richardson

The new shades have been developed to offer a perfect match for many more skin tones and the darkest shade has been specifically developed for the UK market.

£24.50

We're off to get ours!

NY Fashion Week in Black and White

Now the Fall 2011/12 shows are over, lots of articles are being written about what we’ll be wearing in 6 months time. This isn’t one of those articles; we’ll do a trend report later in the year. It makes us sad to think about Winter when Spring has barely begun.

An article on jezebel.com caught our eye as it detailed how racially diverse NYFW was. Some bright spark over there got the abacus out and counted up how many black, white, Asian and Latina models were used and by which designer. Made for an interesting read.

Melodie Monrose at 3.1 Phillip Lim

In a nutshell the just ended New York Fashion Week (NYFW) featured the least racially diverse cast of models since 2008. NYFW featured 137 designer runway shows and presentations and 5,269 different outfits were presented. Of those, over 84% were modelled by white women. Black models were used 384 times, Asian models 323 times and non-white Latina models 79 times.

Hereith Paul at Diane von Furstenberg

Designers who cast diverse models included 3.1 Phillip Lim, Diane von Furstenberg, Oscar de la Renta, Prabal Gurung, Proenza Schouler and Ralph Lauren.

And those that didn’t? The list is too long but it included Donna Karan, Hervé Leger by Max Azria, Jill Stuart, Rodarte and Vera Wang.

NYFW most frequently booked Asian models were Liu Wen and Fei Fei Sun who each worked 18 shows; Ming Xi who took part in 15 and So Young Kang and Tao Okamoto who each walked in 13.




NYFW most popular black model was Joan Smalls who walked in 17 shows. Brits Nyasha Matonhodze and Jourdan Dunn tied with 14 shows each. Dunn was the only non-white model to walk for Calvin Klein.

Read the full report here.

Some online magazine readers are saying they will boycott the designers who didn’t feature anyone of colour. Will you?

Who’s that Girl?

Poor old Beyonce has got herself in hot water again. After all the hoo haa caused by her (alleged) skin lightening in the L’Oreal Feria ads, she’s done the opposite now and given herself ‘blackface’ for a shoot in the current issue of French magazine L’Officiel.

Beyonce 

The magazine issued this statement: ‘Far from the glamorous Sasha Fierce, the beauty posed for the magazine with amazing fashion designers clothes, but also in a dress created by her mother. [It is] A return to her African roots, as you can see on the picture, on which her face was voluntarily darkened.’

The jury is out still out on this one. Some are crying high fashion, others high racism.

It wasn't all controversial - she looked gorgeous with her usual skin tone too!

Personally, we’re feeling it more as an expression of art or fashion. Blackface was traditionally a practice where white people painted their face black and propagated highly offensive racist stereotypes like the 'happy-go-lucky all singing all dancing darky workin’ on the plantation.’ Do we really think Beyonce had that in mind when she slipped on the couture?













The image below raises some questions though. Blonde haired Dutch supermodel Lara Stone in ‘blackface’ for French Vogue. If they wanted a black model, surely they have Jourdan Dunn or Arlenis Sosa’s number?

The Life Rhapsodic – US Vogue

Gorgeous shoot in the March 2011 issue of US Vogue. Featuring our faves Chanel Iman, Jourdan Dunn, Ajak Deng, Arlenis Sosa, Joan Smalls and John Legend, ‘a bohemian cast of artists and models welcome the season in an exuberant riot of colour and print’.

The spread was photographed by Norman Jean Roy and styled by Edward Enninful with pieces from Louis Vuitton, Rodarte and Ralph Lauren. Very nice!


Watch a behind the scenes video here:

Arlenis Sosa, John Legend and Jourdan Dunn

Arlenis Sosa, Chanel Iman and Jourdan Dunn

Ajak Deng, Jourdan Dunn and Arlenis Sosa

Joan Smalls and Anthony Mackie

Burberry at London Fashion Week

Burberry’s show took place in a huge tent in Kensington Gardens yesterday. All the brand’s poster boys and girls were out to show their support  pre and post event. Our invitation must have got lost in the post!

February poster boy Sacha M'baye

Jourdan Dunn opened and closed the show – her star certainly is rising! We love everything about the show and want it all!

Jourdan Dunn opening the show

Jourdan closing the show

The Black Allure - Vogue Italia

Wow – we are almost speechless. Hunt down the latest issue of Italian Vogue (try large WHS stores) for a simply gorgeous spread featuring some of the hottest black women we have ever seen.

Think Ajak Deng, Arlenis Sosa, Chanel Iman, Joan Smalls, Jourdan Dunn, Melodie Monrose, Rose Cordero - and that’s not everyone.

Shot by Emma Summerton and styled by Edward Enninful, the ladies have a kinda old school 1920's thing going on.

Stunning! Stunning! Stunning!

More shoots like this please!

Jourdan Dunn for Burberry

We know this ad is all over the blogosphere but we’re going to post it just the same!

Jourdan Dunn and up and coming male model Sacha M’baye (shot by Mario Testino on Brighton beach) are the faces of Burberry’s campaign for February.

Burberry explains: ‘We wanted to create a dynamic, evolving campaign that reflects the diversity of our broad global consumer, revealing new British cast members each month, all with their own identity, embodying the different attitudes of the Burberry guy and girl.’

We like!

Hair - Are You Ultra Sleek or Messy Chic?

Two key looks that emerged from the catwalks this season were ‘ultra sleek’ and ‘messy chic’. The look can be applied to a variety of hairstyles.

Long hair
The sleek look is very flattering on square and round faces. Blow dry your hair with the comb extension on the dryer and/or with a round brush. Use irons to straighten small sections at a time ensuring you use a protective serum. We like Paul Mitchell Gloss Drops  and Aveda’s Smooth Infusion Glossing Straightner as they don’t weigh down the hair. To be very on-trend, part your hair down the middle.

Chanel Iman at Gucci

For the messy chic look, it might be easier to use extensions if you don’t want to damage your own hair. Use a volumising spray on damp hair, twist random pieces and leave to dry naturally.

Jourdan Dunn at Emilio Pucci

Hair up
The sleek look is easy and you probably wear your hair like this anyway. Pull into a low pony leaving the ends inside the hair band and use a gel or hairspray to tame any flyaways. Job done!

Melodie Monrose at Gucci

The messy version is just as simple. Use a texturing spray to create a little interest, pull into a pony at the crown and leave a few random ends free. If it’s a little too messy, pin some of the ends into loops.

Chanel Iman at D&G

Braids
Pull into a sleek low pony and plait the ends into a fishtail braid. There’s a very handy video here that gives a step by step guide.

For the messy chic look, sweep hair to one side, plait the stretched out sides and pull out the ends for a scruffy finish.

Gangs of New York

The February 2011 edition of US Vogue features an editorial entitled ‘Gangs of New York’. Seven designers including Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren and Donna Karen showcased their key looks for Spring 2011, including romantic Victorian, 1970’s gloss and classic sportswear. All very different and definitely very American.

Our favourite spread was by Rodarte featuring Joan Smalls, Ajak Deng, Arlenis Sosa, Chanel Iman, Anais Mali, Jourdan Dunn and Sessilee Lopez. And we particularly liked the headgear!

Most Influential People in Fashion 2010

As the New Year rolls around, lots of us see the need to make lists. Fashion is no different. There will be a plethora of lists on what's good, bad, hot, not etc. We're partial to a good list here at Afro Boudoir. Consider this post the first of many in that vein!

According to Vogue UK, there are 69 London based influential people in fashion. The article didn't say how or why they are so influential but we like that there are few people of colour on there!

5. Jourdan Dunn, model

15. Naomi Campbell, model

29. Edward Enninful, stylist

43. Pat McGrath, make up artist

Jourdan Dunn in UK Vogue

Jourdan Dunn features in a sportswear inspired shoot called 'More Dash Than Cash – All Star Girl' photographed by Robin Derrick for UK Vogue December 2010. Can you believe this girl had a baby boy 12 months ago? Oh to ping back in to shape like that!

I like her quote from i-D magazine:

“There are loads of black models working and the idea that there's only a few of us, or four of us, to let in as top models at any one time is just bull*&)!.”

See the spread over the page.