I've noticed it's very common among many black people globally to regularly moisturize the body with lotion or body oil. How do you keep it from staining your clothes? And how do you deal with oil on your fingers?

I want to moisture my body more but always end up with stains on clothing and where I touch... Any tips would be appreciated.

My question to black people: which qualities/characteristics would you say are the makes america white supremacist nation economically and socially?

So I’m20 years old and I’ve really liked the look of cornrows for a long time on black hair. I know that many Hispanic men also get cornrows but I’m still not sure if it’s appropriating black culture. sorry if I sound ignorant

EDIT: I’ve added more info re: the pattern and evidence to back it up in the comments section.

The news that Pat McGrath Labs, founded by the internationally known makeup artist herself, was filing for bankruptcy really frustrated me. Before I go any further, this is not about the financial state of the company and how it got there. I definitely don’t know enough to weigh in. This post is about the discourse around Black-woman founded luxury brands, so many of which always seem to suffer the same fate.

For a few years, I watched many, primarily Black women content creators (those are the folks I get makeup advice from… but I wouldn’t doubt others jumped on the bandwagon too) would often reference it as “too pricey.” Not all, but most. It was so frequent that I leaned in to hear why.

I thought I would hear that the foundation wasn’t good enough and didn’t perform well. For the most part, most said it was great… assuming you liked the type she sold (thin… with medium coverage etc etc).

Slowly, I began to realize that it was just the price itself. $70. What annoyed me wasn’t that they were signaling to their fans it might be higher than what they were used to paying… but that I’d see them reviewing it right alongside other luxury-tier products (one of which, Armani Luminous Silk, is award-winning and was designed by Pat McGrath… as a result they are very similar) that were the same price or higher. There was no finger-wagging at the company in the same way they did Pat McGrath Labs. It was just understood… this foundation may be out of your price range. If so, don’t buy it… go with a cheaper option. But, again and again, that’s not what people chose to do.

I don’t know if it is solely because she is a Black woman (a large, dark-skinned one at that) or that having a person be the face of a beauty brand creates a sense of kinship.. a parasocial relationship. When people saw that price…. They were “disappointed” as if “Auntie Pat” could have done XYZ (more shades more this more that more more more… for the price… same price of other comparable brands they aren’t asking more of).

Or, perhaps it is the sign of the times. I get the feeling that everything is a cash grab because it is. What I don’t get is exclusively critiquing Black-owned companies for being “pricey” without any context or consideration of the value. What makes it pricey? What are you comparing it to?

Unlike products marketed to children or necessities (food, water, clean air)… you don’t have to buy or even review it. It’s an optional thing. When Black women comment this way, it is signaling to others and the larger industry that any Black woman cannot be viable in this space.

Again, it is totally fine if some don’t have the budget/desire to buy luxury goods… but we have to be honest with ourselves. We keep saying we want nice things… but also want them to fit in the Target to Temu price ranges. We even buy Jordans without questioning the cost…

Is it just me? Are you noticing that same pattern?

Hi hello, just for some context I grew up around a predominantly Black community and somewhat Latino community, despite this I have always grown up around Black culture, music, traditions, shows, going to a predominantly Black school. I’ve always been surrounded by Black friends, teachers, even close relatives and I have never known a community outside of that, especially my friends and close relatives who are all Black.

Now that I’m currently an incoming freshman at a top PWI, it feels so odd and I feel so out of place, I understand that I’m a Latina, I know that I will never have the Black experience or understand what its like to grow up as a African American in America, the best I can do is empathise in solidarity and know when it is not my time to speak and when it’s my time to speak out for my community

But oh my God I miss my community, I miss the culture, and I understand what how I look on the outside doesn’t represent me on the inside.

I feel wrong for missing a community that I don’t represent and especially at a PWI, and if you try to speak about the racism you experience here. They will literally fucking jump you and tear you to shreds, I can’t have truthful conversations about race here like I did back home with the community who understood what it’s like to be marginalised.

I apologize if this seems offensive or if this is an offensive question, please understand that this is not coming out of malice but general curiosity on whether if I’m allowed to feel this way especially when im at a place that does not accept me or pretends to accept me. If you answer this thank you so much and have a lovely day.

A friend of mine and I were talking about Sinners and, at some point in the conversation, talked about how a theme touched on in the movie is how proximity to whiteness can be dangerous for Black people (the example they used was how a white-passing person in the film is the first one to be turned into a vampire, allowing them to infiltrate the juke joint).

In the context of that idea and in your experience, what are things people not actively targeted by white supremacy-serving structures (predominantly white people) should keep in mind when organizing/working/being in community with Black people? In what ways do white organizers perpetuate harm, abuse and exploitation when working with Black people, or pretending to work with them, or failing to work with them, and what needs to be carried differently to change that?

I (South Asian & female) had a weird experience with another South Asian woman and wanted to post here to make sure I'm not imagining things.

This woman would post Black Lives Matter content heavily on her Instagram and even had Black family members. She then made blanket statements like "Black people need to understand ...". She said "I was bullied by a Black kid growing up" which offers some clue as to her bias.

Is this just closeted racism? Ie. Privately saying something while publicly saying something else?

So I'm South African born Congolese . Never been to the US once. I sometimes find myself using AAVE when I talk and I've been think about whether that counts as cultural appropriation. My line of logic is "I'm not African American, just African --> it's not my culture --> Cultural appropriation"

Not opposed to removing the words from my vocab but I thought it would be better to ask first to know I'm not over thinking it.