Madame Noire | Black Women's Lifestyle Guide | Black Hair | Black Love

Source: soul11music.blogspot.com

“Behind the Music” made its return to our televisions after a three year hiatus (one of many breaks the show has taken since 2006) this year with stories about today’s top artists (and has-beens). This season began with Pitbull, The Game (why?), Brandy and Nas. In years past, “Behind the Music” has captured the stories of huge industry legends like Elton John and Gladys Knight, and while VH1’s demographic has changed, the history and the stories that need to be told have not. Take a look at some artists whose stories would be worth a listen.
(On a side note: The new episode this week is a remastered version of The Notorious B.I.G’s bio)

Thirstyroots.com

Some people refer to this hairstyle as “Ponytail with a bump in the front,” “bouffant ponytail,” “hump ponytail,” or even “The Snooki.” Thankfully, there is a proper term: pompadour ponytail.

Most believe the term ‘pompadour’ comes from Madame de Pompadour because she wore her hair piled high on top of her head. She was the French Royal Mistress of King Louis XV (maybe that’s also why they call it “hump ponytail?”).

The style–which consists of the front of a person’s hair being swept up high off the forehead–has been in and out of fashion since the 1700’s.

There are several different ways to achieve the look, but basically, you pull your hair into an ponytail while leaving out a chunk in the front. Tease the chunk (or if you have thick hair, you may not even need to tease it) and push it forward until it’s as high as you want. Next, use bobby pins to secure it then add any hair behind the bobby pins to your existing ponytail.

Appropriate for the office, dance floor or Saturday afternoon errands, the pompadour flanked by a ponytail is an extremely versatile look. It’s no wonder the style has remained a staple for so long.

Celebrities often rock the style on and off the red carpet. Click through our fab photo gallery and let us know: Who wore it best?

It’s a new morning, and to start your day on an extra cute foot, we’ve got more adorable kids for you!!!

Source: vibe vixen

While it took a while for little Bow Weezy to fall into the fatherly role after a dramatic paternity issue with the mother, Joie Chavis, (it seems they’re all good now), the rapper has been a doting and proud papa! And who wouldn’t want to be to such an adorable little girl? Shai Moss (a play off of Shad, Bow Wow’s actual name) should be about one now, and dad’s clearly going to have to chase the boys away because she’s already one of the cutest Hollywood babies.

Source: Black Celeb Kids

Source: zimbio.com

And in other cute kid news, the only Kardashian that we can all agree is awesome is clearly little Mason Disick, Scott and Kourtney’s munchkin. And on top of being awesome, he’s become quite the young style icon in the baby world. But hey, when your mom knows fashion and your dad dresses like Ricky Ricardo to do the smallest of tasks, you’re bound to inherit a stylish bone or two in your little body. Check out little man’s wardrobe during his most recent outings with mom and dad. Little Mr. GQ! And please pay attention to the shoe game…

Source: zimbio.com

Source: Radar Online

Source: Radar Online

More on Madame Noire!

• Get Her Some Water: 7 Celebrity Ladies Who Are a Bit Too Thirsty For Attention
• Beauty and the Braids: 7 Celebrities Who Make The Look Fierce
• Vain is Your Middle Name: Celebs Who Love Themselves as Much as Their Fans Do
• Do You Want What You Can’t Have? Why You Keep Chasing the Unavailable
• Tuesday Talk: Melanie Fiona On Her Mother, Man And One MF
• Tableside Racism: Waiters Admit Discriminating Against Black Patrons Because They Don’t Tip
• Ladies, What Do You Do With Your Farts?
• Why Don’t Black Women Want to Breastfeed?
• The 7 Reasons Men Lie, According To A Man Who Doesn’t (Maybe)

By Desire Thompson

Like the late Christopher Wallace once said: “More money, more problems.” However, he never said that with more money, your head has to get bigger and egos will spin out of control. Everyone’s favorite celeb psychiatrist, Dr. Drew Pinsky, studied over 200 celebs in 2006 using the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, which studies narcissistic tendencies. The study rates people on a 1 to 40 scale, with 40 being “extremely narcissistic.” On average, celebs scored a not-so-surprising 17.84, which is higher than the general public. While all of this may be obvious news to some, it isn’t to all. Celebs want to keep their names out there, so just know that with every Twit pic, status post and club appearance they do it isn’t for the fans…it’s for themselves. Take a look at some celebs that have let their egos get bigger than their paychecks.

Source: The Fashion Bomb Blog

Keri Hilson

The R&B singer/songwriter hit the scene in 2008 with her song “Energy,” and eventually received a great deal of mainstream appeal with her hit, “Turnin Me On.” While she was finally beginning to be known for her own music rather than the songs she penned for Ciara, Beyonce and other R&B divas, she decided to take jabs at all of those individuals in 2009 on the remix for “Turnin Me On.” Lines included things like, “Go head tell these folks how long I been writing your songs… I been putting you on… check the credits hoe!” When confronted about her comments she simply reversed all of her words, but continued to talk smack about other singers (who can forget when she refused to pose with a magazine that Bey was on the cover of?). But hey, as long as you don’t hate her cause she’s beautiful…

Black Celeb Kids

I know what will help you get your day off to a smile-worthy start: cute children!!!

While perusing one of my favorite sites, Black Celeb Kids, I came across some recent photos of Royce Reed and NBA star Dwight Howard’s little man, Braylon, being cute for the camera. I’m guessing Dwight Howard must have shared these pictures since he still has a tight gag order on Reed,but either way, we have to say that little man is adorable! Haven’t seen many pics of him since he was a lot younger so to see him all grown up and looking just like his mom is nice. Or maybe you think he looks more like his humongous dad? Check out the pics below and let us know!

Black Celeb Kids

Source: Black Celeb Kids

Source: bossip.com

And in added cute-ness, Swizz Beatz, who is a big Tweeter of pics of his family, recently sent out a picture of his boys, Kasseem Dean Jr. and Prince Nasir, looking real humdrum. Not 100 percent sure why, but Swizz added the following caption: “My boys [were] pissed because they know who did the chrome colors on the cars.” Yeah…don’t know what that means either. But I can’t help but notice how much these two look just like dad. Swizz has proven that he pretty much has the strongest genes of all time, and that might not be a bad thing because these two are too cute!

Source: Black Celeb Kids

And I’m sorry, this picture of his son Egypt, with Alicia Keys, is old. But it’s too cute to pass up on sharing in all this cute-ness. It shows the little one doing his own Yoga pose…*smiles* Kids really do the darndest things…

Source: aceshowbiz.com

More on Madame Noire!

• Dating Before Divorced! These Folks Just Couln’t Wait…
• Not So Famous Sisters of Famous Black Celebrities Part III
• LASH OUT! The 7 Best Mascaras For Lash Length – EDITOR PICKS
• Relationship Reflections: Things To Think About After The Breakup
• Oh No She Didn’t: Tyra Banks Fires Jay Manuel, Nigel Barker, and J.Alexander from ANTM
• Brooklyn Man Locked Up Nearly a Year for Rape Even Though Victim Recanted Story
• ‘Broke’: New Documentary Looks at How Pro Athletes (Foolishly) Lose All Their Money
• Is Church A Waste of Time?

Fashion time! Let’s check out the looks of some of our favorite singers (including one who used to be MAD reclusive) and actresses and see who killed it in the fashion department, and who was just dead wrong.

For the NYC screening of the film Safe on Monday, the petite Sumpter showed up in sky blue high-waisted hot pants with a tie at the top, and this loose-fitting flower-adorned top. To accessorize, she showed off open-toe pumps and a neon pink clutch. The hair was looking very Diana Ross  that night, but that’s not a bad thing. While the accessories are nice, the shorts look a little too big and the combination (and the materials that make it up) are just not a right fit together. Stop.

She also attended the Food Bank for the New York City Can-Do Awards dinner on Tuesday looking just as interesting. She wore tailored diamond-printed pants that she pulled up high, and a fancy neon tube top with a sweetheart neckline. On her feet were camel-colored heels, in her hand was a seafoam clutch, and on her head was that same big head of hair. I like the idea of this combination, but the shoes kind of taint it. Otherwise, she looks beautiful, just not feeling this outfit.

Source: locdlife.wordpress.com

Oh locs, how I love thee. And while we spend a lot of time checking out slideshows of women with long ombre hair, half-shaven hair and bobs, why not check out the many women in Hollywood who’ve been bold enough to rock locs in an industry that is more of a fan of long, straight hair? Check out this gallery of some of our favorites and you can tell us who you felt rocked them best! And feel free to include people who were not included in your comments (but be nice of course).

Source: dreadlockssite.com

Erykah Badu

Around the time Erykah Badu came out, I was pretty young, so for a long while I had no idea what was holding that tall head wrap up everywhere she went. But after the “Otherside of the Game” video came out and she pulled her wrap off to show a head full of dreads, I clearly figured it out. Over the years, Badu has worn a wealth of different hairstyles, fake and real, and in later years, she’s even rocked loc extensions. Either way though, the look has been a gorgeous one on her. Don’t you agree?

From NecoleBitchie.com

Ladies, it’s time to envy Taraji P. Henson.  Not only was she granted the opportunity to lock lips with Michael Ealy on their new movie, ‘Think Like A Man’ which hits theaters this Friday, he also licked the icing off of that cake cake cake. [Okay, just kid.... but he did lick the chocolate off of her body in the movie.]

More on Madame Noire!

• Nicki Who? 7 Female MCs Who Could Be Coming For Nicki Minaj’s Spot
• Does Cohabitation Set A Bad Example?
• Think Like A Man Cast Tells Madame Noire Why Folks Need To See This Film
• Please, Baby Baby Baby, Please: 6 Things Men Say and Do When They Want You Back
• Tuesday Talk: Lamman Rucker Discusses Forplai, For Play And Foreplay
• NEW EPISODE: “Ask A Black Man” Episode 4: The Marriage Episode
• Just Like His Big Bro: Usher’s Little Brother Has Custody Drama
• The Pros And Cons Of Dating A Male Virgin

When we talk about something or someone being “good” we are referring to the thing or person doing what is expected of it or him/her. We call behaved children “good kids.” We call chaste women “good girls.” And when we refer to food that meets our expectations in terms of taste and presentation, we call that “good food.”

When it comes to our hair, the same applies. There are several different natural curl patterns; the way your hair naturally curls depends on which curl pattern you’ve been blessed with. With the right products and care, your hair will do exactly what it is supposed to do. Despite definitions that are as twisted as they are arbitrary, we all have “good hair.”

How is your natural curl pattern determined? Scientists say it’s the shape of the hair follicle. Follicles that are round in the cross-section produce straight hair. Follicles that are oval or irregularly shaped produce different degrees of curly hair.

What’s your natural curl pattern?

I’m a black woman. Obviously. Born that way. Don’t know any other life. Any other life, as Evelyn Lozada would say, I wouldn’t be “about it.” Not about that other life. But sometimes I can’t help but wonder – humorously – what if?

What if I was something other than what I am? And, I’ll be honest, I think my situation would be drastically different. Not worse or maybe even necessarily better, but – by golly – it would be different. For one, I might be markedly less focused on whether or not how I look physically has affected my career as a journalist.

Male political pundits on TV don’t seem to have the same – ahem – looks-based standards.

But it’s not just me I play the “What if” game with,  I do that with famous people too.

What if … they were black?

So let’s play the game – me here in the column and you in the comments – of what would happen to these famous and infamous individuals if they suddenly came down with a case of the permanent tan that never ran.