Every weekend as I’m scrolling through my feed and Insta-stalking the celebrities and influencers that I fangirl for, I come across something interesting and inspiring in the beauty space. From jaw-dropping transformations to drool-inducing hair, there’s always something that I can’t stop staring at or watching, and it instantly garners a double-tap.
I’m nothing like my mother. But I’ve been fortunate enough to get so much of her face and features that there’s no mistaken who I belong to in this world. I have such a strong desire to have a little girl of my own that looks just like me that I voice it every time the discussion of children comes up. So when I saw the illustrations by Coco Michele of beautiful Black women, and Black mother’s and their mini versions, I was so excited to share them with my friends and declare it a Coco Michele holiday season.
That probably seems a bit hyperbolic for some people. But when I was growing up these types of items didn’t exist in the mainstream. You could possibly buy a card with a Nefertiti-shape made of Kente cloth at the annual African Street festival. But online shopping wasn’t a thing, and seeing yourself as a little Brown skin girl on the front of a greeting card, holiday card set, or calendar was extremely uncommon, if not unheard of.
The images that the artist creates of these different types of Black beauty are so inspiring. From their unapologetically big and coily hair to their deep skin tones, the images are exactly the positive depiction of Black beauty that I want to pass along to my mini me.
With the holiday season upon us, these cards are exactly what I want to gift the ladies in my life. So when they open the cards they see themselves, so alluring and so captivating that someone couldn’t resist the pull to put them on a greeting card to be seen by the world.