What are colder months without a poppin' berry lipstick?
Just as you equate Pumpkin Spice Lattes, chunky sweaters, and Uggs with fall and winter, you know that you can always count on your favorite berry-hued lipstick to get you through. For me, lipstick is a surefire way to look like you give a damn even when you don't. Luckily, as a Black woman, it's not as hard to find your desired berry shade as opposed to the struggle in the foundation department.
It's sometimes the opposite because there are SO many options – from blackberry to cranberry to grape to beyond. The key is to find which berry is the most flattering on YOU. Berry shades are wildly versatile and make it that much more fun to explore the variety.
First, find out your undertone. Cosmopolitan says, "An easy way to see if you have cool or warm undertones is to ask yourself if you think silver or gold jewelry suits you best. If gold makes your skin look brighter, then it's likely you have warm, yellow undertones, whereas if silver makes you look fresher you probably have cool, pink undertones. If you can wear both – you're neutral."
While berries aren't as bright as the pinks you don in summer, you still need a certain level of confidence when rocking them. In this season, let your lips do the talking with subtle natural makeup and a beautiful berry lip. The #xoTribe has gathered to show you our favorite berry shades and how we rock them. Take a look and throw some in the bag while you're at it!
Joce Blake
My Lippie: E.L.F. Cosmetics Moisturizing Lipstick in Wine Tour, $3
"I like my berry lippie like I like my wine – deep red. E.L.F. is one my favorite beauty companies. This color makes me feel alluring and sultry because of its velvety, satin texture. It also provides a vibrant color and luminous shine. Another key in pulling off this color in this dry season is to give your lips some love by using a primer before painting it on."
Kandice Guice
My Lippie: The Lip Bar in Prima Donna, $12.99
"I'm obsessed with the purple hue of this matte lipstick. It looks great on any skin tone and makes a statement every time it's worn."
Sheriden Chanel
Managing Editor Sheriden Chanel
My Lippie: Know It All by The Lip Bar, $13
"I'm not a big makeup wearer in general, but every now and then, I do get my fix fulfilled with lipstick. I think Know It All is perfect for me because it complements my skin. I naturally gravitate towards darker shades and even though it's a purple lippie, its brown undertones go very well with the deepness of my skin. I also love it because it makes a statement but is also understated, which is me to a T, a walking contradiction."
Ashley J. Hobbs
My Lippie: Milani Color Statement Matte Lipstick in Fearless 70, $4.19 & Jordana Lip Pencil in Coco Loco, $2.49
"It complements my skin tone well. I wanted a deeper berry shade with a blue undertone because other brighter berry colors don't flatter me as well."
Zoe Hunter
My Lippie: Wet N Wild Sugar Plum Fairy, $2.49 paired with Ulta Brilliant Color Lip Gloss Rich Plum, $7.99
"The combo is a perfect blend of a poppin' pink with subtle hints of purple and red. It's the bold berry color I'm looking for in the winter months, when I'm unable to go to the extreme of summer pinks and bright reds."
Shanelle Harris
Feature Writer Shanelle Harris
My Lippie: Tarte Cosmetics Tartiest Creamy Matte Lip Paint , $20
"I'm obsessed with it because it's just the perfect darker red for me. The warmer undertones in it complement mine and I literally wear it almost every other day."
Krissy Lewis
My Lippie: MAC matte lipstick in the color "Sin" , $18
"I love this color and I think it matches so perfectly because it's a deep red with a little pop. I don't feel like it's too dark to the point that it blends in and sometimes it's hard for me to get a dark color that pops! I also love that I can do a glossy look with it to just by adding a a layer of lip gloss."
Lydia Lee
My Lippie: Victoria's Secret Velvet Matte Creme Liquid Lip in Drama, $18
"I love wearing dark reds and plum shades during the winter months. It's my no-fail choice to add a pop of color to an outfit or take a look to the next level. I originally found this shade while digging through a bin during a Victoria's Secret Semi-Annual sale and now it's become one of my favorites."
Taylor Honore
Associate Editor Taylor Honore
My Lippie: Kareemah - Sabreen Cosmetics, $20
"It gives me a warm and sultry look without washing me out. Normally dark tones make me me look like a banana, but this one complements my tone well while giving off some serious bad gal vibes. I also love this brand because it's Black and female owned and has a great cause."
Kiarra Sylvester
My Lippie: Nars Velvet Matte Lipstick Pencil in Train Bleu, $27
"I think the warm tone brings out the best of brown in me. But, I only really know that it's a fave because I go back every time despite the small size and large price."
Featured image by Shutterstock
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“During my 20s, I was not ready for more. I was living a really crazy life. It was unpredictable. I was helping somebody else grow. It was a lot, and it was intense. I was not pouring into myself the way I should’ve been,” she says in an xoNecole exclusive.
Still, as Mandi worked to get to know herself and her needs during this new phase of life, she realized the home she’d purchased wasn’t a good fit. Overwhelmed by the echoing of her voice in the spacious home, she had a breakdown and called her cousin, who immediately suggested she lease the home and live somewhere else. “I woke up in my house, and I was like, ‘This is not it for me,” she says. “All those years, I had been accustomed to living a certain way [and] in a certain house, so I bought myself a house like [my old home]. But my family was not the same. Waking up in that house by myself, it highlighted the divorce. I was like, ‘Oh, no, we can’t do this. This is not it.’ My life has changed, so my choices need to change.” At that moment, Mandi became open to the idea that there wasn’t one set way to achieve ownership on her own.
“I feel so much better. I’m in a smaller place. My best friend lives a minute from me and I can walk to her house,” she tells me during a Zoom interview from her home one recent afternoon in early February. In the past two years, she hasn’t just been advising other people on varying circumstances, she’s also been healing herself.
"During my 20s, I was not ready for more. I was living a really crazy life. It was unpredictable. I was helping somebody else grow. It was a lot, and it was intense. I was not pouring into myself the way I should’ve been."
Credit: Solmaz Saberi
If supporters began following Nazanin Mandi because of her conventional beauty or the contagious, bright, white smile she often wears in many of her photos, that’s likely not the reason they’ve stuck around. Instead, she’s amassed a following based on her transparency about her own anxiety and depression, along with the encouraging messages of self-acceptance, gratitude, ambition, and humility that are often sprinkled into her social media posts.
In an era where looking at Instagram photos of models can often lead to feelings of self-doubt and insecurity, Nazanin Mandi is determined to be more than eye candy. She’s food for her follower’s souls, too.
Since being recruited to model while dining at an In-N-Out at 10 years old, Mandi has worked in many areas of entertainment. The Valencia, California native has modeled for brands such as Olay, Savage X Fenty, and Good American. As a teen, she sang at Carnegie Hall and auditioned for season 1 of American Idol, making it all the way to Hollywood before producers disqualified her for lying about her age. (Mandi was 15 at the time, and contestants had to be at least 16 years old.) Mandi has acted, too, including appearing on Disney’s That’s So Raven as a teenager and on the BET+ series Games People Play and the Prime series Á La Carte in more recent years.
In recent years, though, she’s also expanded her professional goals outside of entertainment, too. After becoming a certified life coach in 2020, Mandi launched the membership platform You Bloome in 2022 with the hopes of providing wellness services to others, including her self-published gratitude journal. “I wish I had access to something like You Bloome earlier in my own life,” she writes on the company’s website. The actress, who has been forthcoming about her struggles with anxiety and depression, has never had a life coach, but credits therapy as a tool that “really, really saved me and it laid the foundation to who I am becoming.”
Credit: Solmaz Saberi
"I’m trying to find the balance between living life and knowing that whatever is meant for me is going to happen, but also know that I’m doing everything in my power to make those things happen and better myself."
While she’s always had a nurturing personality, Mandi says her interest in becoming a life coach was inspired by the women who would message her for advice on social media. “I would answer them back. It really sparked a fire within myself to help people,” she says.
You Bloome currently has three membership tiers, ranging in price from $2.99 to $39.99 per month. The highest tier offers a motivational text message twice a week, two live, group coaching sessions per month, and more. “We get emotional. We cry. We laugh. It’s really beautiful. I’ve built close relationships with my members through this. It’s been inspiring both ways,” Mandi says of the sessions. Still, the founder says she hopes to take on more motivational and keynote speaking opportunities in the future with the hopes of impacting as many people as possible.
And, she’s hoping to do all of this while continuing to explore a career as an entertainer.
At this point in her life, Mandi says she’s gained enough perspective on modeling, music, and acting to realize what she wants to prioritize moving forward. “We are going full force with acting,” she says, noting her goal is “to book a series regular or a film that impacts my career and the world.” She plans to continue to model, too, but has no desire to pursue music.
“I don’t want any part of that because I know what that life entails,” she says. “I don’t want to tour. I don’t want to do any of that. That is not where my heart is at.”
Credit: Solmaz Saberi
If you ask Mandi, she’ll tell you she feels most comfortable in front of a camera, but she’ll also admit that she’s recently experienced a lot of imposter syndrome when thinking about her acting career. “I think it’s a fear of not succeeding,” she says. If anything, she adds, she’s harder on herself now than she’s ever been. “There were distractions before. There’s no distractions now,” she says. “I’m putting pressure on myself for no reason.”
This is where the life coach’s own personal healing comes into play. Mandi says she’s learning recently that “slow progress is still big progress at the end of the day.”
“Currently, I’m trying to find the balance between living life and knowing that whatever is meant for me is going to happen, but also know that I’m doing everything in my power to make those things happen and better myself,” she adds.
Still, one of Mandi’s strengths is that she doesn’t feel the pressure to limit herself to just one passion. From working as a life coach to pursuing acting, she has given herself grace to explore all other dreams.
“We can be allowed to be many different things in this lifetime,” she says. “As people, our identities are allowed to expand. Don’t put us in a fucking box. I cannot live that way anymore.”
For more of Nazanin, follow her on Instagram @nazaninmandi.
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Featured image by Solmaz Saberi
This will prompt you to dig a little deeper to find out more about the girl who is a multi-hyphenate and earned two major nominations before even making it on the big screen.
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xoNecole caught up Hailey as season 3 came to an end and was surprised to learn that although they may be completely different people, her real life is mirroring what's going on with Jukebox in Raising Kanan. "I really made the epiphany season 3." She continued, "[Jukebox] just wants to be seen. She works so hard, she's a really sweet girl. She has a beautiful spirit and she just wants people to see her—to see how hard she works. I feel that right now. I'm like, please just see me. I know you love Jukebox...but there's a super cool girl in here and she's got a lot to say. A lot to contribute to the world artistically."
She even delved more into her background, telling us about the extensive training and hard work she's put in to get to this point. "I started training when I was 9. I trained in acting, singing, and performance." She further explained, "I did my first job when I was 12, so I've been doing this for awhile. Performing is what I love. I've always said I wanted to be Beyoncé when I grew up...I'm really blessed to have the resume and the background that I do."
The latest season of Power Book III: Raising Kanan has come to a close but in true fashion, Hailey is still hard at work. Her first single "Drama Queen" is out now and her debut album will be released on May 3. It's safe to say that Hailey is having her moment. One can't deny that she's worked hard for it and we can't wait to see what's next!
Watch the full interview below.
Hailey Kilgore AKA Jukebox on 'Raising Kanan' Talks Broadway Background
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