Pajamas & Lipstick Is The Girls’ Night In Experience We Didn't Know We Needed
What do you get when you mix pajamas, lipstick, and the company of an epic girl gang? Well, xoNecole's inaugural Pajamas & Lipstick event of course!
Planned by It's Your Party, the event took place on Friday, December 21 in Buckhead Atlanta, and offered everything a lit girls' night in could ask for. We had desserts by Good-N-Sweet Treats on deck, signature cocktails, tee pees, and a spicy card game that would truly act as the grand finale of our incredible night together.
Although I loved the attention to detail, the accents of pink and xoNecole blue that dripped throughout the intimate setting, what I loved most was the tribe of women xoNecole's Editor-In-Chief Necole Kane helped cultivate by bringing this idea to fruition. A room full of strangers and writers quickly evolved into an unbreakable bond as we shared dating tales and the moment when we found our self-worth.
The highlight of the night was a custom card game called Pajamas & Lipstick that was inspired by xoNecole's hottest topics on dating, relationships, sex and womanhood. Each attendee pulled a colored paper from a fish bowl to see which color card we'd get to pick from the pile. What happened next was nothing short of amazing.
Mecca Gamble
The event ended up being the girls night we didn't know we needed. A circle of support, unity, and transparency, one that echoed and embodied the site, mirroring our core messaging of empowerment and uplifting all multifaceted woman. We were able to completely let our guards down and be open to share our experiences in a non-judgement atmosphere while also receiving the experiences of others.
As a result, for a lot if not all of us, walked away from the girls' night in experience with an undeniable feeling of empowerment, our heads held high, and crowns unmoved.
Mecca Gamble
Check out the slideshow below for more moments from our first ever Pajamas & Lipstick event:
For more information on upcoming Pajamas & Lipstick events, follow us on Instagram. All photography is by Mecca Gamble.
The Reality Of Living With Severe Asthma – As Told by 2 Women On Their Disease Journey
This post is in partnership with Amgen.
The seemingly simple task of taking a breath is something most of us don’t think twice about. But for people who live with severe asthma, breathing does not always come easily. Asthma, a chronic respiratory condition that inflames and narrows the airways in the lungs, affects millions of people worldwide – 5-10% of which live with severe asthma. Severe asthma is a chronic and lifelong condition that is unpredictable and can be difficult to manage. Though often invisible to the rest of the world, severe asthma is a not-so-silent companion for those who live with it, often interrupting schedules and impacting day-to-day life.
Among the many individuals who battle severe asthma, Black women face a unique set of challenges. It's not uncommon for us to go years without a proper diagnosis, and finding the right treatment often requires some trial and error. Thankfully, all hope is not lost for those who may be fighting to get their severe asthma under control. We spoke with Juanita Brown Ingram, Esq. and Jania Watson, two inspiring Black women who have been living with severe asthma and have found strength, resilience, and a sense of purpose in their journeys.
Juanita Brown Ingram, Esq.
Juanita Ingram has a resume that would make anyone’s jaw drop. On top of being recently crowned Mrs. Universe, she’s also an accomplished attorney, filmmaker, and philanthropist. From the outside, it seems there’s nothing this talented woman won’t try, and likely succeed at. In her everyday life, however, Juanita exercises a lot more caution. From a young age, Juanita has struggled with severe asthma. Her symptoms were always exacerbated by common illnesses like a cold or flu. “I've heard these stories of my breathing struggles, but I remember distinctly when I was younger not being able to breathe every time I got a virus,” says Ingram. “I remember missing a lot of school and crying a lot because asthma is painful. I [was taken] to see my doctor often if I got sick with anything so I was hypervigilant as a child, and I still am.”
Today, Juanita says her symptoms are best managed when she’s working closely with her care team, avoiding getting sick and staying ahead of any symptoms. Ingram said she’s been blessed with skilled doctors who are just as vigilant of her symptoms as she is. While competing in the Mrs. Universe competition, Juanita took extra care to stay clear of other competitors to ensure she didn’t catch a cold or virus that would trigger her severe asthma. “I would stand off to the side and sometimes that could be taken as ‘oh, she thinks she's better than everybody else.’ But if I get sick during a pageant, I'm done. I had to compete with that in mind because my sickness doesn't look like everybody else's sickness.”
Even when her symptoms are under control, living with severe asthma still presents challenges. Juanita relies on her strong support system to overcome the hurdles caused by a lack of understanding from the public, “I think that there's a lot of lack of awareness about how serious severe asthma is. I would [also] tell women to advocate and to trust their intuition and not to allow someone to dismiss what you're experiencing.”
Jania Watson
Jania, a content creator from Atlanta, Georgia, has been living with severe asthma for many years. Thanks to early testing by asthma specialists, Jania was diagnosed with severe asthma as a child after experiencing frequent flare-ups and challenges in her day-to-day life. “I specifically remember, I was starting school, and we were moving into a new house. One of the triggers for me and my younger sister at the time were certain types of carpets. We had just moved into this new house and within weeks of us being there, my parents literally had to pay for all new carpet in the house.”
As Jania grew older, she was suffering from fewer flare-ups and thought her asthma was well under control. However, a trip back to her doctor during high school revealed that her severe asthma was affecting her more than she realized. “That was the first time in a long time I had to do a breathing test,” she describes. “The doctor had me take a deep breath in and blow into a machine to test my breathing. They told me to blow as hard as I could. And I was doing it. I was giving everything I got. [My dad and the doctor] were looking at me like ‘girl, stop playing.’ And at that point [it confirmed] I still have severe asthma because I've given it all I got. It doesn't really go away, but I just learned how to help manage it better.”
Jania recognizes that people who aren’t living with asthma, may not understand the disease and mistake it for something less serious. Or there could be others who think their symptoms are minor, and not worth bringing up. So, for Jania, communicating with others about her diagnosis is key. “Having severe asthma [flare-ups] in some cases looks very similar to being out of shape,” she said. “But this is a chronic illness that I was born with. This is just something that I live with that I've been dealing with. And I think it's important for people to know because that determines the next steps. [They might ask] ‘Do you need a bottle of water, or do you need an inhaler? Do you need to take a break, or do we need to take you to the hospital?’ So, I think letting the people around you know what's going on, just in case anything were to happen plays a lot into it as well.”
Like Juanita, Jania’s journey has been marked by ups and downs, but she remains an unwavering advocate for asthma awareness and support within the Black community. She hopes that her story can be an inspiration to other women with asthma who may not yet have their symptoms under control. “There's still life to be lived outside of having severe asthma. It is always going to be there, but it's not meant to stop you from living your life. That’s why learning how to manage it and also having that support system around you, is so important.”
By sharing their journeys, Juanita and Jania hope to encourage others to embrace their conditions, obtain a proper management plan from a doctor or asthma specialist like a pulmonologist or allergist, and contribute to the improvement of asthma awareness and support, not only within the Black community, but for all individuals living with severe asthma.
Read more stories from others like Juanita and Jania on Amgen.com, or visit Uncontrolled Asthma In Black Women | BREAK THE CYCLE to find support and resources.
Jasmin Brown Has This To Say About The Criticism Over Her Relationship With Cam Newton
Cam Newton and Jasmin Brown’s relationship has been a hot topic ever since news broke that they were dating more than a year ago. The comedian first opened up about her relationship with the former Carolina Panthers quarterback on the Lovers and Friends podcast, which caused an online debate about what it means to be submissive in a relationship. Since then, Jasmin, aka Watch Jazzy, has announced her pregnancy and sarcastically named her comedy tour Third Times a Charm, as Cam already shares children with two other women.
The Zatima actress opened up her tour in Charlotte and rocked her boo’s Panthers jersey on stage, and addressed the hoopla circling her pregnancy. “If y’all don’t know, I’m the third one, and this is his sixth child,” she said in a clip she shared on her Instagram. “Someone said, ooh, right, couldn’t of been me, aight until a rich nigga put that pressure on you.”
She continued as the crowd erupted into laughter, “I could never be with nobody, okay, until a $100 million nigga start putting that pressure on you. You don’t know what the fuck you gonna do.”
Cam has shared intimate details about their partnership on his podcast Funky Friday, revealing that they have a strong bond and talk about everything together. "We had our day. I like talking. We're in tune. I'm so in tune that there's nothing we can't talk about," he said. "I think that's what's most important. There's no hiding, nothing. You know I don't go through phones. I don't do that. The thing is for me, I know my partner so much, that I have to know triggers that uh uh, she ain't right."
Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for daily love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.
Feature image by Prince Williams/WireImage