

The 60-Second Instagram Series For Black Women Who 'Ain't Got Time'
Since the inception of shows like HBO's Insecure and Netflix's Chewing Gum, millennial Black women have sought comic relief from the pressure of simply being us.
As empowering as it is to soak up the fierceness of Olivia Pope and Cookie Lyon, it's hard sometimes to draw a correlation between what being a Black woman looks like and what being a Black woman feels like. We make mistakes, we have weird inside jokes with our friends, we fail at our jobs sometimes, and we struggle with the highs and lows of dating in the age of social-media. We swipe through our timelines and feel that pull in our gut willing us to compare our realities with the posed and poised images of influencers and thought leaders. It's a lot to be a woman in 2018, and the pressure can feel like it's pushing us through the floor.
Thank goodness for creators in media who have used their time and talents to offer a different narrative.
For Jessica Washington and Chloe Longchamp, best friends and co-creators of the Instagram series SZNED (pronounced "seasoned"), turning the tables on the common Black narrative was on their mind since graduating from St. John's University together in 2013. "When we met, we bonded over our similar, random and sometimes crass sense of humor, " says Jessica.
They sat with the heaviness of post-college life and that ever-looming question, "What now?" As they settled into their mid-twenties, they found themselves feeling bored and unfulfilled creatively. They wanted to fill their time with something that would keep them busy and make them smile, or even better - laugh. So, they decided to put their college experience, in PR and production respectively, to good use and develop a comedy series.
Their objective was simple: look at daily life for 20-something Black women and find the humor. "We toyed with the idea of creating a full-blown web series," Jessica explains, "One weekend during the fall of 2016, we spent an entire evening brainstorming potential loglines, conceptualizing themes, and developing characters."
But, eventually the pair got so overwhelmed by the idea of how costly production would be that they actually scrapped the entire project. A year later, Chloe raised the idea of creating a smaller-scaled version of their series idea. Instead of full-blown traditional episodes, she suggested developing the series for Instagram and keeping each episode 1-minute each in length. "We revisited our character development notes and re-evaluated the direction of the show, and by the next week, we filmed our first three episodes."
The show's main characters are Jordyn (played by Jessica) and Tori (played by Chloe) and focuses on their daily life as roommates. The juxtaposition of a quirky 60-second comedy existing on a platform like Instagram led the start-up series to finding a faithful audience after just one season. Jessica and Chloe have created a safe and funny space to reflect on the wins and the losses that come with getting your life together, something that can be hard to embrace in a filter-focused society. "While I enjoy seeing all the snatched waists, engagement photos, vacations, babies, and inspirational quotes on my Instagram timeline," Jessica shares, "I have to make sure I know there will be a few good 'lmao' moments coming each time I scroll my feed."
She thanks IG comic queens like B. Simone, Jasmine Luv, and Jess Hilarious for paving the way in bringing situational comedy to social media. Jessica explains, "Its liberating to use Instagram to expose people to more of the identities available to black women than the media shows."
This is a point both women are perfectly aligned on. Co-creator Chloe chimes in with her thoughts on the Instagram effect. "Life isn't about striving to reach perfection. It's about making mistakes and learning lessons from them. Nobody said life would be easy, but it makes it a lot more entertaining when you find humour in your failures."
"Life isn't about striving to reach perfection."
Not only is the show's content fitting and much needed to change the image of the "unbreakable black woman," but the format is also conscious of the busy lives of its target audience. Jessica and Chloe's limited production budget was a blessing in disguise that led them to a genius 60-second format. We have plenty of bingeworthy long-format shows that suck us into consumption as soon as they are released. SZNED is a quick dose of exactly what we need - a good laugh and some much needed validation. It's stated plainly in the bio of their show page, "1-minute episodes because you ain't got time and neither do we."
Jessica and Chloe have unabashedly tackled topics around sex and dating, career, friendship, and even racism and colorism. One storyline found Tori out to lunch with a local rapper who dropped her mid-date for a woman he assumed was white, touching on the "white is right" mentality that we've all come across at least once while navigating the dating world.
There's the episode where Jordyn's white cousin (by marriage) is introduced and they have a candid conversation about how it feels when white people touch our hair. Tori also struggles with securing a job and being the "broke friend" - something we've all had to go through.
While they dabble with some pretty wild storylines, the entire series in many ways reflects the creators' real-life struggles and the process has led to new growth for them both. "My character Jordyn is struggling with weight loss," Jessia says. "This is something that, like my character, I've struggled with for much of my life. To be honest, creating SZNED is helping me with accountability in that area and working toward that goal!"
Chloe has also gone through a transformation behind the creative process. "The series has also given me an immense amount of personal growth. Being an introvert that suffered from social anxiety a few years ago, I could have never imagined posting videos of myself for the whole world to see that showcased my true goofy personality."
Now that Jessica and Chloe have wrapped their first season, gained over 11K followers on their show page, and proven to themselves that they are capable of anything, they set out to drop season two in November. This time taking on new challenges and striving for new heights, their focus remaining still on connecting with an audience that seeks a break from the grind to laugh and reflect for exactly one minute. "The outpour of support that SZNED has received lets us know that our viewers share the exact same sentiments," says Chloe. "I can't even begin to describe the joy that I feel when someone sends us a message saying our videos make their day or that we put a smile on their face."
The overarching takeaway when we see women in media striving to create content that sits just outside of what is "typical" is that they are making strides in how our community is presented and perceived by the world. Humanizing what daily life looks like for us is an absolutely necessary tool in our fight to preserve a seat at all the tables we dare to demand a place at.
Smile, Sis! These Five Improvements Can Upgrade Your Oral Hygiene Instantly
This article is in partnership with Sensodyne.
Our teeth are connected to so many things - our nutrition, our confidence, and our overall mood. We often take for granted how important healthy teeth are, until issues like tooth sensitivity or gum recession come to remind us. Like most things related to our bodies, prevention is the best medicine. Here are five things you can do immediately to improve your oral hygiene, prevent tooth sensitivity, and avoid dental issues down the road.
1) Go Easy On the Rough Brushing: Brushing your teeth is and always will be priority number one in the oral hygiene department. No surprises there! However, there is such a thing as applying too much pressure when brushing…and that can lead to problems over time. Use a toothbrush with soft bristles and brush in smooth, circular motions. It may seem counterintuitive, but a gentle approach to brushing is the most effective way to clean those pearly whites without wearing away enamel and exposing sensitive areas of the teeth.
2) Use A Desensitizing Toothpaste: As everyone knows, mouth pain can be highly uncomfortable; but tooth sensitivity is a whole different beast. Hot weather favorites like ice cream and popsicles have the ability to trigger tooth sensitivity, which might make you want to stay away from icy foods altogether. But as always, prevention is the best medicine here. Switching to a toothpaste like Sensodyne’s Sensitivity & Gum toothpaste specifically designed for sensitive teeth will help build a protective layer over sensitive areas of the tooth. Over time, those sharp sensations that occur with extremely cold foods will subside, and you’ll be back to treating yourself to your icy faves like this one!
3) Floss, Rinse, Brush. (And In That Order!): Have you ever heard the saying, “It’s not what you do, but how you do it”? Well, the same thing applies to taking care of your teeth. Even if you are flossing and brushing religiously, you could be missing out on some of the benefits simply because you aren’t doing so in the right order. Flossing is best to do before brushing because it removes food particles and plaque from places your toothbrush can’t reach. After a proper flossing sesh, it is important to rinse out your mouth with water after. Finally, you can whip out your toothbrush and get to brushing. Though many of us commonly rinse with water after brushing to remove excess toothpaste, it may not be the best thing for our teeth. That’s because fluoride, the active ingredient in toothpaste that protects your enamel, works best when it gets to sit on the teeth and continue working its magic. Rinsing with water after brushing doesn’t let the toothpaste go to work like it really can. Changing up your order may take some getting used to, but over time, you’ll see the difference.
4) Stay Hydrated: Upping your water supply is a no-fail way to level up your health overall, and your teeth are no exception to this rule. Drinking water not only helps maintain a healthy pH balance in your mouth, but it also washes away residue and acids that can cause enamel erosion. It also helps you steer clear of dry mouth, which is a gateway to bad breath. And who needs that?
5) Show Your Gums Some Love: When it comes to improving your smile, you may be laser-focused on getting your teeth whiter, straighter, and overall healthier. Rightfully so, as these are all attributes of a megawatt smile; but you certainly don’t want to leave gum health out of the equation. If you neglect your gums, you’ll start to notice the effects of plaque buildup, which can irritate the gums and cause gingivitis, the earliest stage of gum disease. Seeing blood while brushing and flossing is a tell-tale sign that your gums are suffering. You may also experience gum recession — a condition where the gum tissue surrounding your teeth pulls back, exposing more of your tooth. Brushing at least twice a day with a gum-protecting toothpaste like Sensodyne Sensitivity and Gum, coupled with regular dentist visits, will keep your gums shining as bright as those pearly whites.
Improve The Look Of Your Under-Eyes With These Top-Rated Eye Masks
If there’s one part of the face that seems to be the most vexing to correct, it’s the under eyes.
This delicate area has a way of being tipped off by our irregular sleep patterns, stress, and the straining that comes from our computers and phone screens. From puffiness to dark circles, it can be irksome to find the right products to soothe our under-eye concerns. Thankfully, there’s one solution that delivers a brighter and more awakened look over time, and that’s under-eye masks and eye patches.
Eye patches are giving our under-eye bags an eviction notice because they can’t hang our glowing faces rent-free. The beauty of these patches is that they are designed to bring your eyes targeted results through concentrated doses of active ingredients directly to the skin under the eyes. Typically made of thin, gel-like material and infused with ingredients like niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, caffeine, and even green teas, these small but mighty patches depuff your puffiness, brighten your dark circles, or tighten fine lines.
While every under-eye differs in its needs, every eye can benefit from an under-eye mask or patch that suits its concerns. And to help, we’ve put together the best under-eye patches to hydrate, soothe, and brighten your eyes.
KNC Beauty All Natural Retinol Infused Eye Mask, 5-Pack
The KNC Beauty All Natural Retinol Infused Eye Mask, 5-Pack, is a retinol-infused, all-natural product designed to rejuvenate your eyes. It promises to provide hydration, smoothness, reduced puffiness, and brightness without the use of chemicals. With ingredients like retinol to refine skin texture and stimulate blood flow and aloe to soothe and reduce redness, it's like getting 8 hours of beauty sleep for your eyes.
Topicals Faded Under Eye Brightening Eye Masks
These cooling hydrogel under-eye masks from Topicals promise to fade the appearance of dark circles and discoloration in just 15 minutes. The set includes six masks and offers benefits that brighten, hydrate, depuff, and cool your under-eye area.
Peter Thomas Roth Potent-C Power Brightening Hydra-Gel Eye Patches
Grab these eye contour gel patches to brighten the eye area and combat signs of aging using a powerful form of vitamin C called THD Ascorbate, which is 50 times more potent than traditional vitamin C.
BeautyBio Bright Eyes Depuffing and Brightening Eye Gels
BeautyBio's Bright Eyes consists of 15 colloidal silver-infused eye gel patches designed to provide instant depuffing, brightening, and revitalization to the delicate eye area within 10 minutes. They also contain natural collagen to help diminish the appearance of fine lines, which we love.
COSRX Advanced Snail Hydrogel Eye Patch
COSRX
These viral hydrogel masks offer moisture and nourishment to rejuvenate tired-looking skin. Their Snail Secretion Filtrate contains "Mucin," an effective moisturizing ingredient that soothes damaged skin and delivers deep hydration, making it suitable for dehydrated and damaged skin types. Your under-eyes will thank you.
Peace Out Puffy Under-Eye Patches
Amazon
Try these caffeine-infused patches to reduce puffiness in the under-eye area. The product features clean, vegan ingredients such as caffeine, niacinamide, and hyaluronic acid for deep hydration and moisture delivery.
Dieux Skin Forever Eye Mask Reusable Silicone Gel Eye Pads
The Forever Eye Mask is designed to be the “last eye mask you'll ever need.” This thin, lightweight, and reusable eye patch can hold gels, serums, and creams close to the skin for better absorption, helping your skincare products work more effectively.
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