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
xoNecole caught up with Adrienne Bailon to talk about her beauty routine, the importance of self-care, being a serial entrepreneur, and why her new collaboration with Olay empowers women of color in more ways than one.
xoNecole: Can you spill the tea on your beauty routine and your top three must-haves?
Adrienne Bailon: This is pretty easy. Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize. Hydration is key. I know this sounds super cheesy, but drinking water. I am a crazy water drinker. I actually just recently got one of those reusable big jugs that give you the encouragement. I swear by that. I think that staying super hydrated from the inside out is key to staying cute. Number two, when we talk about moisture, I think so many of us think beauty secrets, we always think about our faces and a lot of us neglect our bodies. I was raised with a mom that straight out of the shower was like, "You need lotion! Don't come out here with ashy knees and elbows." I am so grateful for that.
I am obsessed with Olay Body. They just came out with this new body lotion collection, and it is everything because we've used collagen on our faces; I've literally even done the collagen in the smoothies and put it in our teas and all that kind of stuff. But I'm like, "Why not just put it on our actual skin?" And I'm super excited about their new Olay Firming Body Lotion. I have to say, you actually see a visible difference. I started using it maybe two, three weeks ago, and I already see a huge change.
I love the idea of literally lathering it on and then I'll notice the difference the most in my thighs because they look way more hydrated, way firmer. I suffer from cellulite, so this has been like a godsend for me literally to see a visible difference in the firmness of my skin. For me, self-care is skincare. I take my moment to kind of just do what I gotta do. That is super-important to me. The last thing would be rest as a beauty secret. I think so many of us don't think of that—creating space for yourself to just relax. If you're stressed out, it will show up on your skin.
"For me, self-care is skincare. I take my moment to kind of just do what I gotta do. That is super-important to me."
You talked a little bit about self-care. As a multihyphenate, what does self-care look like for you?
Alone time. I think that in a business where I'm constantly surrounded by people and there's constantly a lot of chaos and talking, I think I really value my alone time. The moments when I get to hear the sound of my own voice. What is it that I want? What is it that I like? I think we don't realize that when we're around people, you watch the shows they want to watch. You listen to the music that they might want to listen to. It's very rare that you'll put on that random quirky song that maybe you just want to hear in the car.
I think that it's so important for me to have alone time. And that's really where I get a lot of my self-care time done, too. Obviously, I have a husband, so I live with someone else. For me, my alone time is in the bathroom. I literally take time to be like, "I'm checking out to go do my nighttime routine. I'm going to need like the next 30 minutes to just not hear anyone else's voice, but my own."
That's so good! Along those lines of self-care, what was kind of the breakthrough moment where you realized you needed to prioritize self-care in a real way?
Oh! Crazy enough, it was 2021, not 2020. In 2020, we were in isolation and it was crazy but when things started opening again, it hit us like a ton of bricks. For me, at least, it was overwhelming. It felt like a lot. I think a lot of us were concerned about finances and feeling like you got to get back into it and strike while the iron's hot.
That whole mentality for me was really overwhelming and that's when I started recognizing like, 'OK, I have to find balance. Yes, the world is open, but there was something really special about the family time that I got.' That's what made me buy a home in New York. It's marvelous having a job in L.A. but this is a place to work. Home for me is going to be where my family is so it was just making those changes during that time that were really important for me.
Absolutely. Tell us why you believe self-care is important for women of color specifically.
Let's get into it, here. It is so important because I think that culturally, I don't think it's something that we focus on. I don't think people discuss the awareness of checking in on ourselves. How do we feel? That's self-care. Self-care for me is literally taking a piece of paper and checking off all the things, "Am I happy? Am I rested? What's stressing me out? What's going on?" Taking inventory of myself. And I don't think that culturally, we take that. I don't think that that's considered. It's like, go, go, go.
If you're not stressed out and hustling and killing yourself, then you're not doing well. I think that sadly, it's a mentality that we have when it comes to work and success. What does success look like? I think for us, it looks like working really, really hard when success can also be just being at peace with yourself and at peace with your life. I don't think we prioritize that nearly enough as much as we prioritize the success of working hard or climbing the corporate ladder and all those other kinds of things. I think self-care for women of color is extremely important because no one else is going to give it to us, but us.
"Self-care for me is literally taking a piece of paper and checking off all the things, 'Am I happy? Am I rested? What's stressing me out? What's going on?' Taking inventory of myself... I think self-care for women of color is extremely important because no one else is going to give it to us, but us."
Yes, you can't pour from an empty cup.
You can not, and you can't expect anyone else to care about yourself like you do. So take those moments that you need. It's OK to express, "Hey, I'm taking a moment for self-care." I think exploring what self-care looks like to you is important too. It's not going to be the same as someone else's. If you are an extrovert, maybe self-care is doing something with a group of girlfriends and that's what you needed. Maybe you need a break from your kids. Maybe you need to have some adult time. Self-care for everyone is going to look different, but prioritizing it should be high on everyone's list.
I love that so much. We talked a little bit about working hard, what does it mean to be a fearless female entrepreneur?
A fearless female entrepreneur, if you think about it, if you're fearless, you're going to go for it. You're not going to second guess yourself. You are going to try it all, do it all, and be it all. There's something really dope about that. I think when we're fearless, we get out of our own way. And when we talk about self-care, I love that Olay is doing this campaign, and it's why I wanted to partner with them because how we start and end our day definitely contributes to how fearless we feel, you know. How fearless we feel in our skin, how we feel about our skin, and what do we do this morning that's going to benefit us two weeks from now. That mindset is so important.
I really do love that saying, "Do something today that your future self is going to say thank you for." I feel like my future skin is going to say thank you, my future mind is going to say thank you. The extra 20 minutes I put into not scrolling on Instagram and focusing on the things I have to actually do—being present— I'm going to be grateful for those things later on. And I think being present can make you fearless because you're living in the moment and not worrying about tomorrow.
I think those kinds of things are really important. And when you're fearless, especially as a female entrepreneur, you tend to not doubt yourself and you tend to actually believe in the ideas that you have, and that's where the success comes.
"How we start and end our day definitely contributes to how fearless we feel, you know. How fearless we feel in our skin, how we feel about our skin, and what do we do this morning that's going to benefit us two weeks from now. That mindset is so important."
Courtesy of Olay
That's beautiful. I love that you're doing this collaboration with Olay. I think it's a great collaboration with two beautiful brands. How has Olay empowered you to show up as your full self?
Oh my gosh. It's empowered me in more ways than one. I think that growing up, it was a staple brand in my home that I saw and now to see it being so innovative in 2021, I think that that in itself is inspirational. It's been around for so long and it's still doing groundbreaking things like putting collagen in a body lotion, putting hyaluronic acid in a body wash. These are things that were new that I wasn't seeing done in any other products.
For myself, especially as a female entrepreneur, to see that is inspiring, I'm like, 'Wow, so you mean to tell me that 30 years from now, I could still be doing something groundbreaking in jewelry and fashion.' Just to see that is super inspiring.
I love what they're doing for women of color entrepreneurs. They've partnered with LISC NYC to really empower women of color, especially in Washington Heights to do amazing things. I love that I am a female entrepreneur. I know what it's like to grow up in the hood and not have the information and the tools to become an entrepreneur. I had to learn so much along the way because I didn't have that knowledge.
I didn't have a mom that I can call and be like, "How did you do it?" I didn't have those connections. Sharing the information is super important and being able to work with brands that recognize the importance of supporting women of color is extremely important.
Wow, that's so good! So, what's next for you? What can we expect from you?
I am so excited we're back for season eight, with The Real. We are back in the studio with the girls and it's just been really special. Spending an entire year of being in Zoom boxes with random delays, we are so grateful that our audience stuck with us through all of that. And then to be back together, although we don't have a studio audience, I actually prefer it, as we're having really deep conversations. There's something really special about it just being the four of us and people that we're used to working with.
There are two cameramen and our stage manager, Sonia, who's been with us since day one. You can have those intimate, difficult conversations in a different way. I think that we'd have the tears on the seasons before but there was still an audience of over 200 people looking at it. It changes the dynamic. And I think it's been really, really special so far. I'm excited! I'm calling this our 'intimate season.' It's just the four of us. The table is gone. It's more casual. It feels special, and I think we're not taking this one for granted at all.
Yasss! My last question is actually about your audience. And how fitting since we're talking about self-care and beauty. So what's the secret lip gloss you use on the show?
OK, she might not like this, but I love a good tingle lip gloss. I love lip plumpers. I feel like if it's not burning, it's not working, so I am a huge fan. There's this brand called BUXOM Beauty. I swear that all their lip colors are life-changing. There's going to be a little tingle factor, but I swear the shine stays. That's the one.
To keep up with All Things Adrienne, check out her YouTube channel. And for Olay's new collection, head over to Olay.com to add some items to the cart.
Featured image courtesy of Olay
A gem amongst the thousands of options: The Modern Balinese Style Villa. Designed by decor duo, Angelique and Alexander, the pair channeled their love for traveling and adventure into one of the most beautiful spaces on this planet.
"Our specialty is modern living with world influences: from Bali to Mexico, Norway to India. We will design your space from concept to completion. Oh, and we build our own properties that you can come and stay in: our first being a luxury Balinese style retreat in Encino, CA."
The opportunity presented itself to visit this stunning, perfectly nestled abode and all I could think was, "Black girls deserve luxury." So this Black girl and her best friend got to spend the unofficial end of summer, Labor Day, relishing in the most grandeur place I have ever laid my head. Not only is every crevice of the house social media-worthy but it oozes relaxation.
The Living Area
Courtesy of Angelique and Alexander
The moment I set my feet in the villa, I felt the intentionality of the space. The open living room space is brilliantly designed for modern living. You can cook in the bomb ass, all-marble-everything kitchen while binging your favorite Netflix show and relaxing on the chic couches. The superior indoor swing surrounded by plants engineered a sanctuary downright quintessential for tranquility.
Primary Bedroom
Courtesy of Angelique and Alexander
Talk about breathtaking, the Primary Bedroom connects you to nature and was heavily inspired by Angelique and Alex's experience with the effervescent indoor/outdoor living seen all over Bali. "When we built this room, we wanted to bring the beauty of our tropical garden and water fountain right into the bedroom." Think lush jungle. Since it was my bestie's birthday, she took residence in this room for our stay. Let's just say she didn't want to leave this space because, well, who would?
Bohemia Room
Courtesy of Angelique and Alexander
Keeping with the love for Balinese culture, the Bohemia room is a love letter to local artisans, their craftsmanship and the deep vibrant colors of the countryside. The decor of this rooms paints a vivid picture of the timeless skill of the amazing Balinese people. I posted up in this room and, between the plants and buddhas giving me life, I too did not want to depart.
Courtesy of Angelique and Alexander
Designed for complete tranquility, the White room was simplicity personified. "Drawing inspiration from one of our favourite temples in Bali, we wanted to create a bedroom which fills the guest with complete calm." I spent one morning in this room doing my meditation and I felt utter serenity.
Joce Blake
Walking around the villa, I couldn't help but be full of gratitude. Childhood Joce was so proud of Adult Joce because both of them deserved this. They deserve luxury. For me, that was why this getaway was paramount to my mental health. As of late, I have found myself justifying why I deserve luxurious things and the simple answer is I am worth it.
While it seems elementary, it's a constant struggle for me as I didn't grow up seeing Black women in my life showering themselves with lavish experiences. So as I grow wiser, I am teaching myself that it is the standard and not the exception.
Courtesy of Angelique and Alexander
The elegance engrained around the villa gave voice to the rich auntie I aspire to be and who my nieces and nephew already believe I am. Seriously, look at this freaking bathroom! Who knew I only needed a flight to LA to be on the black sand beach beneath the Gunung Agung volcano.
The Backyard Oasis
Courtesy of Angelique and Alexander
There are no words to truly describe the beauty of the backyard safe haven. It's a literal dream. We took full advantage of the oasis with yoga by the buddha fountain, drinks by the pool, lounging on the cabana, and dipping in the pool like our names were on the deed – it felt like home.
Joce Blake
My bestie, Lauren Keys, had things to say about our baeFF-cation. "This villa was the perfect calm I needed during such a chaotic time in the world! No detail was left untouched which added to the peaceful vibes it gave," she said.
With all of the travel restrictions, traveling to Bali may not be an option but checking into this villa will certainly transport you to the Indonesian province without having to use your passport. The votes are in: I give this Modern Balinese Style Villa Airbnb 10s across the board!
For more travel stories, tips and tricks, check out the xoNecole travel section here.
Featured Image by Joce Blake
