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Kelly Rowland On Being A 'Woman's Woman' And Surrendering To Her God-Given Gifts
I think we’ve all imagined what it would be like to have Kelly Rowland as a friend. Her warm, big-sister energy has a way of making us feel like we’ve known her all our life, even though we’ve only scratched the surface of her depth. Fortunately for us, a new interview has given us new insight into the Grammy award-winning singer’s upbringing and how it shaped her perspective on sisterhood, community, and living out her dreams.
On Tuesday, Kelly appeared on the season 3 premiere episode of Kerry Washington’s Street You Grew Up Onto series to discuss her upbringing as a child and the maternal figures that shaped her outlook on forming sisterly bonds.
The Power of Sisterhood | Kelly Rowland on Street You Grew Up On
During the conversation, Kerry points out that when she thinks of Kelly, she thinks of someone who “really embraced your sisters,” adding that Kelly is a “woman’s woman” in her eyes.
Kelly shares that her knack for connection is one that’s deeply influenced by the presence of her mother and aunties growing up, which has helped her to dig deep with her friends.
“When I’m in a friendship and it just feels surface, I ask why,” the former Destiny’s Child singer says. “I’ll just say, ‘You’ve been distant, why are you distant? Are you okay? Do you need to talk?’”
She adds, “And I’ll say, ‘Maybe that’s what you needed this time, and I respect that, I understand that, then I’ll move back. But I’m concerned.’”
All throughout Kelly's life, the presence of her female relatives has felt spiritual. So much so that she reflects on a divine encounter that she experienced with her paternal grandmother, who sang for Lena Horne and Count Basie, that confirmed her purpose.
“One day — I can’t remember if I was warming up or something — and I could feel every part of this woman,” she recalls. “And I felt like she was saying, ‘I’m living through you,’ like ‘I’m living my dream through you.’ And I was just like, well, have at it.”
The “outer body” experience shifted Kelly's perception of her talents, allowing her to fully embrace her gift of singing and surrender. “I stopped second-guessing myself. I had to stop second-guessing myself — I was like, just roll with it.”
While Kelly has been a beacon light to many Black girls through her music and — persona, she takes time to empower the little Black girl inside of her who had the dream of becoming a star and went for it.
“I would say, continue to dream big, blow your mind with your dreams, like let them scare you, and run to them,” she concludes.
And we’ll be the first to say, we love the woman Kelly’s become.
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Featured image by Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images
Aley Arion is a writer and digital storyteller from the South, currently living in sunny Los Angeles. Her site, yagirlaley.com, serves as a digital diary to document personal essays, cultural commentary, and her insights into the Black Millennial experience. Follow her at @yagirlaley on all platforms!
How This New Bond Repair Line Transformed One Mother's Postpartum Shedding Into The Ultimate Curl Comeback
This article is in partnership with SheaMoisture
For Crystal Obasanya, her wash day woes came shortly after her son did. The beauty and lifestyle content creator had been natural for years, but during postpartum, she quickly learned about one reality many mothers can relate to experiencing: postpartum hair loss. “Sis had thinning hair. Sis had split ends,” she shared about her hair changes in a Reel via xoNecole.
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SheaMoisture is providing us with the cheat code for transforming dry and damaged strands into thriving and deeply nourished crowns. By unveiling their 4-step hair system, the SheaMoisture Bond Repair Collection is equipping you with the tools to reverse signs of hair damage caused by protective styling, heat, and color and is uniquely formulated for Type 3 and 4 hair textures.
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Bonding Oil
The SheaMoisture Bond Repair Collection Bonding Oil is a multitasking all-in-one formula that acts as a heat protectant and provides the hair with moisture, strength, shine, damage protection, and intense nourishment. This lightweight oil not only offers 24-hour frizz and humidity control but also fortifies your tresses, making them up to 5 times stronger with significantly less breakage.
Featured image courtesy
Looking for ways to level up your solo sex sessions or your partnered sex play? Entering the wonderful world of arousal oils might be exactly what the doctor ordered. As its name suggests, arousal oil arouses. And they might very well be the pleasurable vessel through which your mind-blowing orgasms can be beckoned. Specifically, arousal oils are a pleasure-enhancing sex lubricant intended to increase the sensitivity to your nipples, your vulva, or your clitoris, just to start.
With an ingredient list that can include the likes of CBD, ashwagandha, and essential oils, arousal oils act as an aphrodisiac in a bottle, maximizing intensity and heightening the levels of pleasure you feel, thereby making your climax that much more attainable.
Keep reading for our selection of some of the best arousal oils in the game right now.
Bloomi Luxe Arousal Oil
Described as a "sensual pleasure oil," the Luxe Arousal Oil by Bloomi is clean with plant-derived organic ingredients. With 2-4 pumps, a gentle massage with this oil-based intimacy oil is formulated to intensify pleasure to your clitoris, your vulva, your thighs, or anywhere else you care to use it, before and during the act.
Foria Awaken Arousal Oil
Not only do reviewers rave about the "incredible o's" from Awaken Arousal Oil, but this best-seller is also known for its sensuous aroma, slip, and feel. With the uncanny ability to enhance sensations, users of the product have reported reinvigorated orgasms and renewed sex lives. And all we have to say is, say less.
Mood Maker Pleasure-Enhancing Intimacy Oil for Couples
Amazon
The Mood Maker had us at hello. Christina Aguilera's sex oil is where luxury and intimacy meet. Thanks to the relaxation facilitated by magic mushrooms and pleasure-enhancing adaptogens, the Mood Maker lays the groundwork for easeful foreplay, sex, and even an encore. With its texture like silk and warm scent, the oil effortlessly sets the perfect mood for pleasure play and allows your body to follow suit.
Lure Deluxe Intimacy Oil
Sultry, clean, and moisturizing are the cornerstones of this intimacy oil. The oil is formulated with organic ingredients like MCT coconut oil and CBD, so there is no need to worry about throwing off your pH balance or leaving behind a sticky residue when using it for intimate moments. The silky texture provides a sensual slip that is all gas no brakes, creating a slip n' slide glide during partner play, as well as solo play.
Bonus points: since it's all-natural, it's also oral-friendly. So Deluxe Intimacy Oil is queening-approved.
Green Compass Intimacy Oil
Green Compass
Entice and awaken your pleasure and your senses with the Intimacy Oil by Green Compass. An intimacy oil made for every body, this oil is fragrance-free, paraben-free, and silicone-free and formulated with plant-based and organic ingredients. With ingredients like organic hemp flower extract, coconut oil, and jojoba oil, the pleasure felt and experienced in intimate areas becomes even more intense upon application.
FOCL CBD Arousal Oil
Loved by users for its "perfect texture," its "warm wonderful feeling," and the fact that it's "non-irritating," the CBD Arousal Oil by FOCL is definitely worthy of a spot in your tox boy. Like other CBD oils, the hemp-derived product is said to ease tension and promote blood flow, which are major keys to enhancing and maximizing your sexual pleasure.
Sensuva On Arousal Oil
Amazon
Looks like we saved the best for last. Available in Lite, Original, and Ultra to give you the ability to choose the intensity that suits your intimate moments best, the On Arousal Oil by Sensuva is said to be one of the most powerful arousal oils on the market with good reason. With a "unique, buzzing vibration sensation on the clitoris," in 1-2 drops, On Arousal delivers more sensation during sex, helps women achieve orgasms quicker and more intensely, and can also help curb any issues with vaginal dryness.
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