'Tis the season for holiday shopping and — if you’re anything like my procrastinating self — being suuuuper stressed about what to get everyone. The pressure to find gifts for all your tias and primas can be overwhelming, especially if you’re looking to switch up your gift-giving game this year. Our approach: to shop with your giftee's personality in mind, instead of going the gift-card route yet again (hey, no judgment).

When you’re trying to find the best gifts for beauty lovers, consider their overall aesthetic first. Are they a no-makeup minimalist? Do they wear a red lip religiously? Is their smoky eye the best you’ve ever seen? Zero in on which products they use on the reg to inspire your search. You want to treat them to a gift they’ll actually incorporate into their routine, because nothing’s worse than splurging on a product only for it to be abandoned in their drawer or cabinet until they inevitably toss it.

So, to ensure that your gift doesn’t face that tragic fate, we curated a list of products from Latinx-owned brands (because, support) at Ulta Beauty that work for every beauty personality type. Click through and shop our gift picks, so you get back to focusing on more important things — like watching your favorite holiday rom-com for the millionth time.

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Mekita Rivas, DMT.NEWS, DMT BeautySpot,

There’s something about corny Christmas movies that has me in the tightest chokehold every single year around this time, and well into January. If you need me, I’ll be on my couch bingeing every overly saccharine movie about a workaholic city woman who reluctantly goes to a small town — sometimes her hometown — during the holidays only to discover, also reluctantly, that the true meaning of the season is to fall in love with a man who works with his hands and usually wears plaid. The moral of the story is that only Scrooges care about their jobs and that Christmas is really about realizing you’re in love with someone after a few days and sharing a chaste kiss after 90 minutes of sexual tension. Not only do most of these stories go against all my beliefs and values as a workaholic woman who lives in a big city, but they also aren’t as horny as I typically prefer my movies to be. And yet, I will watch them all. For whatever reason, they hit the spot like a cup of hot chocolate on a cold, snowy, Christmas night. 

The thing is, there are so many of these movies that sifting through the really bad to get to the good-bad (let’s be honest, they all fall on the so-bad-it’s-good spectrum) can be tough, and a lot of these Best Hallmark Holiday Movies roundups are as white as the snow that falls at the most romantic moments in said films. But in the past few years, we’ve seen a new crop of corny rom-com queens emerge like Kat Graham (A Christmas Calendar) Christina Millian (Memories of Christmas), Kelly Rowland (Merry Liddle Christmas), and Tia and Tamara Mowry (too many to count!). So, here’s a breakdown of the best (read: corniest, most comforting, oddly calming) Black Christmas movies of 2021.

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Kathleen Newman-Bremang, DMT.NEWS, DMT BeautySpot,

I remember when we first met. It was the summer of 2010. I had just graduated college and was interning at MSNBC. I was killing time in between broadcasts when I stumbled across your website.

In 2010, you were known for hair care and advocating that we date and marry white men. But even then, there were also glimmers of the fact that five years later, you would hold the title of the most trafficked site in Black media. I think it was your honesty. You featured pieces that examined the relationship Black women share with one another. And others that invited Black women to question the way they showed up in the world. You, more gutsy than glossy, were being presented to the world at the same time I was navigating it for the first time as a grown woman.

Luckily, our paths aligned.

After that summer internship, I took a temp job. I was so happy to be surviving in New York City that for a couple of months I lost sight of my goal of working as a writer. Thankfully, during a pensive lunch with my sister, I verbalized the fact I wasn’t living in my purpose and I started making moves.

At the end of 2010, we’d meet again on Craigslist.

I wrote an email, complete with my resume and what had to have been my 50th cover letter that year.

I said a prayer before I hit send and had a good feeling about you.

A couple weeks later, I got an interview. And days later, an offer.

My first published piece was “Born Fierce! 10 Most Fashionable Young Celebs”

When I think about how to describe the elation I felt seeing my byline, no words come to mind, just tears to my eyes.

I had gone from a child writing in a diary to being paid for my words. Even now, more than a decade after that first piece, that reality is still so delightful.

I’ll always be eternally grateful that you were the first one to show me that my talent was sufficient and my dream was possible.

The dream was made sweeter because the work we did centered and catered to Black women.

On more than one occasion, Black women have told me how you, MadameNoire, encouraged them to attend therapy, leave a relationship that no longer served them, made them laugh, or simply helped them feel seen in a world that is all too quick to disregard us.

There is no greater honor than having worked to entertain, inspire, and encourage Black women–the salt of this earth.

There were plenty of personal perks working with you as well. Because of you, I’ve been flewed out, conversed with people I greatly admire, watched some of the best artists of our time, and honed my own craft as a writer. I’ve grown as a human being in more ways than I could list.

With you, I was able to support myself in my darling and detestable New York City. I met my husband leaving you at the office one day and you gave me space to memorialize the encounter.

You and I both know that shit wasn’t always sweet though. While we both took pride in the fact that you were and have always been Black owned and operated, it was you who taught me the bitter lesson that Black folk in Black spaces also wield misogynoir as a weapon.

Thank you for that too.

Of everything you’ve given me, the greatest treasure is the group of Black women you’ve placed in my life. Through you, I was able to sustain relationships and build new ones with the only real, genuine friends I’ve made as an adult.

I’ve cried, commiserated, and straight clowned with these Black women in ways that have left an indelible mark on my heart. It’s their sisterhood I’ll take with me as I say goodbye to you.

Love you, gurl. It’s been real.

With gratitude always,

Veronica

Veronica Wells-Puoane is the creator of the website NoSugarNoCreamMag. She is the author of “Bettah Days” and You’ll Be All Write, a question and answer journal for Black women. She is also the culture editor at MadameNoire.com.

Find more of her articles by Veronica on Curlynikki.com, HERE!

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Jacqueline Samaroo, DMT.NEWS, DMT BeautySpot,

After a year-long blur of evolving restrictions coated in copious amounts of hand sanitizer and doom scrolling, one of our main takeaways from 2021 is that there’s only so much we can do to prepare for the ups and downs of life’s path. But when it comes to climbing those proverbial mountains, fashion people know that you can at least dress the part — which explains why the hiking boot trend has officially reached its peak. 

Nature looked better than ever over the course of the lockdown, and a ripple effect across wardrobes and social media feeds was quick to follow. First, the nap dress hit the style scene in 2020 in all its tiered and frothy goodness, made for afternoon snoozing and forest frolicking alike. Then, as temperatures dropped with the dawn of a new year on the horizon, what became known as cottagecore morphed into cabincore, another comfort-oriented aesthetic that favored chunky knits, tartan, quilted fabrics, and the footwear to boot: durable, lug-sole shoes designed for adventure — and now, adventurous dressing. 

Even as we dust off our heels and shimmy into neglected party frocks to usher in 2022, the appeal of life in the woods has not lost its luster. In fact, it’s infiltrating other parts of our wardrobes with performance footwear leading the way. 

“I think the idea of hiker boots is so of-the-moment because of the casualization of fashion for the winter months ahead. People are prioritizing comfort as part of their style for the season, so the idea of looking chic in a ‘mountaineering outfit’ and pairing it with boots like these are right on trend,” says Shopbop Fashion Director Caroline Maguire. But don’t be mistaken: these are not your average backpacker’s shoes. Maguire highlights the fashion-forward upgrades that elevate these boots to statement piece status, such as the padded cuffs of Gia Borghini boots, translucent platforms by Montelliana, and the speckled laces and stitching of Larroudé’s Jordan style. 

“I love to wear our Jordan boot with jeans or pair it with long, flowy dresses for a more unexpected look,” says Marina Larroudé, co-founder and chief creative officer of her namesake footwear brand. “They all come with both tonal and colorful laces so the customer can make its own.” 

Paule Tenaillon, co-founder of the Parisian brand Nomasei, has a similar vision for the styling potential of her label’s Slalom shoe, which she describes on the site as “all-terrain boots” inspired by her grandmother’s glamorous ski attire in the ‘70s. The boot, with two-toned double lacing, can be worn with “a daytime dress during the week” or to complement a relaxed ensemble for a countryside getaway. There’s a nostalgic quality to the design — an homage to both Tenaillon’s grandmother and to the happy childhood moments she spent in the mountains — which quickly ended up being one of Nomasei’s top sellers after they first became available for purchase in late 2019. 

Maguire agrees, saying she has noticed shoppers gravitating toward versatile performance boots that can transition from day to night. Like the chunky dad sneakers of Balenciaga fame, the hiker shoe is just the right amount of ugly to add interest to even the most pedestrian outfits, yet stylish enough to not look out of place with a dress when worn with confidence. The resulting vibe is footpath-turned-catwalk.

This year’s fall/winter ‘21 shows certainly paved the way for the rise of pragmatic footwear with a twist. Stella McCartney and Givenchy leaned into outdoorsy apparel in the form of heavier, weather-proof shoes that were styled with sleek blazers, plunging necklines, asymmetrical dresses, and knitted skirt sets. Thanks to Chloé, the Parisian streets of Saint-Germain-des-Près saw the return of the early-aughts Moon Boot, much to the delight of Y2K-loving Gen-Zers. Models at Miu Miu literally trudged through the snow in heavy-duty (designer) gear for the task, while Loewe released a film for Eye/Loewe/Nature featuring upcycled garments worn with multicolored hiking boots, all set against an ultra-urban backdrop. Next came the summer’s hybrid hiking shoe — part-sneaker, part-boot — paired with barely-there bikinis for the Paloma Elsesser x Dos Swim capsule. And then, various iterations of the trend by Jacquemus, most notably on the feet of one Kendall Jenner lounging in a hammock. The aptly titled “La Montagne” fall ‘21 collection, which translates to “The Mountain,” from the French brand says it all: The outdoors are still very much in.

Follow this trail trend back a bit and you’ll find yourself face-to-face with Bryan “Bryanboy” Yambao’s daring and prescient adoption of the look in the summer of 2018 when he stepped into Paris Men’s Fashion Week looking like he came straight from the French Alps (minus the trekking poles). Wearing hiking boots and thick black socks, he successfully turned the style dial up a notch with a patterned button-down, a scattering of accessories, and cargo-esque shorts. As these things go, it was only a matter of time before the look went mainstream, with the allure of #cabincore accelerating its arrival. Four years later, mountain-ready shoes are everywhere  — from Prada to Ganni and everything in between. 

It’s this month’s high-profile, back-to-back drops that prove the hiking boot is here to take over as winter’s biggest shoe trend. On November 1, swanky skiwear label Moncler joined forces with cult-cool sneaker brand HOKA to release a high-performance shoe meant for mastering both mountains and modern cities. Just last week, for its first-ever foray into footwear, luxury outerwear brand Canada Goose launched its Journey Boot, a design that’s informed by the technicality of arctic and alpine boots but “with versatile features that make it equally essential for city adventures,” according to a press release. With such covetable brands on board, the hiking boot has amassed a style clout of Himalayan proportions. 

For the unconvinced, let us remind you of the vice-like grip that athleisure has maintained on the fashion world. Its persistent relevance is rooted in the marriage of comfort and cool — two core elements fueling the hiking shoe’s climb to industry-wide popularity. The performance boot can make you feel like you’re in the Catskills when you’re actually returned to your old Brooklyn-Manhattan commute. But, at the very least, it’s an invitation for action after far too many months spent barefoot on the couch. 

At Refinery29, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. If you buy something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn commission.

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Amanda Randone, DMT.NEWS, DMT BeautySpot,

Outfit Details:

Dior Coat (old, similar here and here),  White + Warren Scarf, DL1961 Maternity Jeans, Doen Mules

Scarves have been a favorite accessory of mine for as long as I can remember. My collection includes different lengths, textures and patterns, though the scarves I’ve been wearing the most lately include medium length silk, and oversized cashmere. Colorful, silky scarves can draw the eye in a flattering way, while knit scarves add an essential layer of warmth when it’s cold outside. If you’re on the hunt for beautiful scarves this season, here are some favorite styles to add to your collection.

The post The Extra Layer appeared first on Julia Berolzheimer.

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Judie Engel, DMT.NEWS, DMT BeautySpot,

American Red Cross: Sickle Cell Strong

Recently, the American Red Cross presented the “Sickle Cell Strong” Instagram LIVE event, hosted by Rashan Ali and featuring sickle cell advocates singer Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, NFL coach Bobby Engram and his wife, Deanna, as well as Red Cross medical director Dr. Yvette Miller to help raise awareness of sickle cell disease and the critical need for blood donations from individuals within the Black community.

 

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Sickle cell disease is a genetic disorder and some of our favorite stars who are fighting this battle are raising awareness of its impact on our community. Many may not know that R&B artist Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins was told she wouldn’t live past 30 when she was diagnosed with sickle cell disease or that pro-NFL athlete and coach Bobby Engram is a sickle cell trait carrier and lost his eldest daughter to complications from the disease. Their experiences are why they are committed to sharing their stories to inspire the community to donate blood to help those fighting sickle cell who often depend on blood transfusions.

T-Boz, the queen of 90’s R&B, who lived for decades in our CD players and our hearts, was misdiagnosed at the age of seven and spent decades unsure of which type of sickle cell disease she had. While having the disease would not stop T-Boz from becoming part of TLC, one of the most iconic girl groups of all time, it would change her life and purpose forever.

“At 19 is when I got signed with TLC,” said T-Boz. “At that time, I didn’t want to tell anybody [about the disease] because I didn’t want it to stop anything, or for people to feel sorry for me, or for it to hinder anything I was trying to do. I got to the point where I said I want to fight this and not let it take over my life. We do have some days that are good. I want to take advantage of that. I also had a fear of talking in front of people – but I knew the message itself and the people I could help were bigger than my fear.”

Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins

Many Black people are secretly battling a disease that mainstream media rarely acknowledges. Sickle cell disease is a crippling illness that affects over 100,000 people in the U.S. – most of whom are of African descent. This inherited blood disorder distorts soft and round red blood cells and turns them hard and crescent-shaped, which often causes extreme pain and life-threatening complications. Moreover, symptoms vary widely across patients and those with the disease tend to have access to fewer health resources compared to individuals battling other diseases.,.

To put things into perspective, sickle cell disease occurs in 1 in every 365 births. And about 1 in 13 Black or African American babies in the U.S. is born with sickle cell trait. Many individuals are unaware if they carry this trait as sickle cell trait testing at birth was not widely provided until 2006. To provide greater health insight to those in the Black community, the Red Cross currently provides free sickle cell trait screening on all blood donations from self-identified African American donors. Health experts recommend those with sickle cell trait be aware of their status, so they can speak with a doctor about how it might impact them.

Like many, T-Boz didn’t always know how to manage the disease, landing her in hospital after hospital, missing tour dates, and contributing to a harrowing post-birth complication where she fell into a coma. Now, the four-time Grammy Award winner knows to strategically plan the timing of her tours to allow for plenty of rest, some massage therapy, and integrating a regimen of CBD. In dire cases, T-Boz has also had blood transfusions, which are an effective and proven way to treat sickle cell complications. And she’s not the only big name battling this complicated condition.

Famed NFL wide-receiver and tight ends coach for the Baltimore Ravens Bobby Engram and his wife, Deanna, are also intimately familiar with the gravity of sickle cell disease and the importance of blood transfusions. Both are Co-founders of the Bobbi Engram Foundation, a private non-profit organization named in honor of their daughter Bobbi Simone Engram – a sickle cell warrior who received blood transfusions as part of her treatment.

“We found out [we had the sickle cell trait] when we were pregnant with Bobbi. We had a blood test and were told that we had a 1 in 4 chance of having a child with sickle cell disease. But up until that point, we didn’t even know we had sickle cell trait”, Deanna shared. Two of their children were diagnosed with sickle cell disease, including their eldest, Bobbi, who passed away in 2018 at the age of 20 from sickle cell complications.

Bobby Engram

Deanna Engram

“Sickle cell patients have a good quality of life – but they also have these moments where it’s just really hard,” said Bobby Engram. “Intense bouts of pain, and there is always a low level of pain with most sickle cell patients we’ve come across, but when you go into a full-blown crisis, now you’re talking about pain that most adults haven’t experienced in their lives. You look normal, but everything you’re going through is so far from normal.”

Stories like the Engram’s remind us that despite the discovery of this disease more than a century ago, people with sickle cell disease, the majority of whom are Black, have less access to health care and experience worse health outcomes compared to similar diseases. One way our community can help those fighting the disease is by donating blood.

A single patient with sickle cell disease can require thousands of blood transfusions throughout their life. These frequent transfusions can cause patients with sickle cell disease to develop an immune response against blood from a donor that is not closely matched by the same race or similar ethnicity and blood type, leading to serious complications.

According to Dr. Yvette Miller, executive medical director at the Red Cross, “Many individuals of African descent have distinct markers or[protein] structures on their red blood cells that make their donations the most compatible blood to help patients with sickle cell disease.”

The Red Cross is continuing to expand partnerships within Black communities to engage new donors and ensure blood donation opportunities are reflective of the diverse communities they serve in order to best support patients battling sickle cell disease. The blood donation process is easy and safe. CDC-recommended protocols, such as social distancing and masks, are still in place, and people can use the Red Cross Blood Donor app to schedule an appointment and complete their health history questions the day of their appointment.  At their appointment, presenting donors sign in and present their ID before going through a mini-physical where their pulse, temperature, blood pressure and hemoglobin levels are checked. Once eligible to give, donors will be seated to begin their donation, which takes about 8-10 minutes. Before leaving, donors head to the refreshment area for a snack, something to drink and a moment to relax. The entire process is typically completed in an hour.

“You are donating the gift of life to a person who may spend hours and hours of their lives in pain, ” said Dr. Miller. “The primary symptom of their disease is pain. So, [any discomfort with donating] is nothing compared to the lives of those with sickle cell disease who spend a lot of their lives in pain.”

When donors who are Black self-identify their race and ethnicity as African American, in addition to receiving health insight, they help the Red Cross better and more efficiently locate rare blood types to best meet the needs of patients with sickle cell. The Red Cross, T-Boz, and the Engrams hope that as more people know their trait status and how this invisible illness affects their community, more patients can receive the lifesaving care they need.

“We should not have to talk about our child in the past tense,” said Deanna Engram. “We’re fighting so no other parent has to go through what we’re going through.”

Blood transfusion is essential in managing the very real pain and long-term health of those with sickle cell disease. To schedule an appointment to donate blood or host a blood drive, visit RedCrossBlood.org/OurBlood, download the Red Cross Blood Donor App, or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

Read about another life changed by Sickle Cell, here.

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Jacqueline Samaroo, DMT.NEWS, DMT BeautySpot,