

Melanin Moi Is A One-Stop Shop For Black Women In Beauty
Close your eyes and imagine a combination of your favorite websites all-in-one: Pinterest for inspiration, Google for credible information, and YouTube for visual examples and informative demonstrations. When you open your eyes, you'll find Melanin Moi, a platform for discovery, specifically for Black women.
Back in 2016, Fanta Dicko desired to simplify how Black women find relevant, accurate, and inspiring content centered around beauty, fashion, and wellness. Fanta found it was an extremely difficult process to find resources and cosmetic products that were catered to her hair type and skin tone. Melanin Moi's mission to change the way content reaches and represents Black women catapulted the platform's popularity and turned it into a content platform to share beauty tips and tricks.
Image courtesy of Melanin Moi
After launching MM, Fanta brought on her bestie, Chanee Hylton as co-founder. Together they have cultivated a community of over 8,000 followers and garnered partnerships with some of the largest brands committed to uplifting Black women like Fenty, Black Girl Sunscreen, Mented Cosmetics, and Curls. "We both grew up in New Jersey and met through a mutual friend in high school," Fanta told xoNecole. "Our relationship blossomed throughout college and only got stronger from there! We spent holidays together, traveled the world, and went through life moments with each other by our side."
As Fanta's best friend, Chanee was consistently sharing cool ideas to Fanta for what Melanin Moi could do next so it was only right that they join forces.
Image courtesy of Melanin Moi
How they both saw themselves in the beauty industry was a driving force in building their empire. Because of the lack of representation they once experienced, they now see themselves as the dot connectors and educators for Black women. "We want to share resources with our community, such as products that work well for melanated skin, trusted regimens that result in healthy hair and skin, as well as new things to try. We want to bridge the gap between inspiration and knowledge in our community. Melanin Moi is not only focused on helping Black women find relevant content, but we also hope to change the way brands create content specifically for Black women."
An essential factor: community. Because what is the beauty realm without community and what is Black Girl Magic without community. Fanta and Chanee believe that online beauty platforms will soon outrank other media such as magazines and TV as the main source for beauty product information. Melanin Moi's market research says the power of community has a huge role in that. For these Black women, community means you are part of a group that shares things in common, cares about each other, and works closely toward a common purpose.
"In the Melanin Moi Community, our audience trusts each other's opinions and recommendations because they are based on the real-life experiences of real people who look like them," says the co-founders.
Image courtesy of Melanin Moi
Beauty manifests as true happiness in the eyes of Fanta and Chanee. It's unapologetically and fiercely loving yourself whether you've got a full face of makeup and six-inch heels on or not. As melanated women, they understand the power of our beauty. They shared, "What makes us most beautiful is how we are all so naturally unique. No hair type is the same, our rich skin tones vary from shade to shade, and we all express our Blackness in so many different ways. Our uniqueness sets us apart and makes us stand out in any crowd."
Featured image courtesy of Melanin Moi
Joce Blake is a womanist who loves fashion, Beyonce and Hot Cheetos. The sophistiratchet enthusiast is based in Brooklyn, NY but has southern belle roots as she was born and raised in Memphis, TN. Keep up with her on Instagram @joce_blake and on Twitter @SaraJessicaBee.
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Blac Chyna Says Her Cosmetic Surgeries Didn't Represent Who She Was 'Internally'
Blac Chyna is back with a new update on her cosmetic transformation, except now her current focus is to have her inner beauty match her outward glow.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, the model and mother, whose real name is Angela White, shed light on her decision to reverse her past cosmetic surgeries, sharing how those procedures no longer align with her true self “internally.”
"You have to think about it like this... I could look at you and make any assumption right until you start speaking to me. So my thing is before you even start talking to me or give me a chance, I want you to see, 'Okay, this is a well-rounded woman,'" she told ET. "Not with these types of boobs and a big butt and the big lips. It put me in this category when that's really not who I am internally."
Since early March, the former reality TV star had undergone a number of procedures to dissolve her lip and facial fillers, have a butt reduction, and remove her breast implants. Her controversial tattoos and trendy facial piercings were also among the cosmetic enhancements to be reserved in the process, which she acknowledges “was always something to set a trend."
“Even from my cheek piercings that I had, all the girls went and got that. I used to have the super low bangs, all the girls loved that," she said. "The tattoos and this and that, and it's like one of those things to where it's like, 'Hey, look at me. Once you get to that 'Hey look at me' point, it's like, 'What then?'"
While she shares that there is “no way possible” for her to have all of her body art reversed, undergoing laser tattoo removal has been a painful yet satisfying process to align her with the right energy. “It's just one specific tattoo that I wanted to remove. I'm getting it removed, and I will tell you this, it stings very, very, very bad, but it's fast. It was definitely something personal," she says. "I felt as though it was attracting the wrong energy on me."
As a trend-setting and pioneering influencer of the early 2010s until now, White emphasizes the importance of being perceived as a well-rounded person beyond just physical attributes and notes that her physical transformation sparked spiritual and emotional growth in her life.“My house is clean, and you know what I mean by clean, it’s not like a lot of different people around. I’m more calm, I’m way more calm,” she says. “I feel like my spirit is way more sensitive. I find myself way more emotional than normal, and if I see something I kind of really look at it from another view.”
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Featured image by Gonzalo Marroquin/Getty Images for Society Performers Academy SPiN Nationals