Glamazons,
New Orleans may be my favorite city in the country. The energy, music and culture is unlike anywhere else in the world. When we decided to take our blogger crawl on the road (we hosted one in New York City last Fashion Week), we knew New Orleans would be the perfect place to start things off. And boy, did we have a blast!
Essence Festival is always fun but we brought it up a notch this year, thanks to our amazing sponsors Cover FX, African Pride and Shea Moisture.
Let’s start at the beginning, shall we?
We arrived in New Orleans after flying in on a plane with Iyanla Vanzant (I stopped myself from asking her for life advice) and headed to our hotel, which was on Canal Street directly across from Bourbon Street in the French quarter.
A couple of hours later, Maxwell took the stage at Essence Festival and crooned passionately to a packed Superdome with just a mic and chair. I saw him perform at EMF in 2009 and I always think of “Bad Habits” whenever I come to Nola. It’s my official New Orleans anthem. There isn’t a sexier song!
The next morning, we headed to the African Pride #BeautyandTheBeat suite. It was one of my favorite stops on the crawl! We checked out African Pride products I LOVE like the Olive Miracle growth oil and Silky Smooth edges.
AND we chatted hair with Kelly Price, laughed with Momma Dee and did the wobble (it truly isn’t a trip to New Orleans until you’ve done the Wobble). Check out pics here.
The Shea Moisture pop-up shop was the next spot on our crawl. There, I met one of my blogger sheroes Curly Nikki, hung out with Imani of A Tribe Called Curl (above) and spent way too much time smelling Shea Moisture Coconut and Hibiscus body scrub. It smells heavenly!
Get the deets from my day of beauty and mingling here.
That night, Solange took the stage at Essence Festival in a jumpsuit with her mile-long braids swinging as she danced across the stage. I love so many of her songs (umm “T.O.N.Y.” “Valentine’s Day” and “Lovers in the Parking Lot” are classics!). She’s a style and music maven in my book. Bravo!
The mainstage was pretty chaotic so we went backstage to the press room and saw Tweet (who doesn’t love her voice?) and Uncle Charlie Wilson, who was on Cloud Nine from his tribute with Justin Timberlake, Snoop Dogg and Pharrell the week prior.
Fun times!
After the concert, we headed over to my favorite place in Nola, Bourbon Street, for a night of dancing in the street. Since I was literally running around all day long and partying all night, I was amazed that my Cover FX concealer held up.
It was still in place until I took it off with makeup wipes that night!
Cover FX officially made me a fan.
The next morning, we headed over to The House of Blues for a Gospel Brunch with the one-and-only Kirk Franklin.
We took a horribly fuzzy Instagram picture and I let him know how much his music has helped and inspired me over the years. He was so kind, gracious and warm in his response.
Soon after, he took the stage to host an impromptu singing competition. We sang along when we weren’t throwing down on waffles, chicken, grits, eggs, biscuits and more. Every bite was delish!
After the brunch, we walked to the Shea Moisture pop-up shop. There, the celebrity spottings kept coming with Nicole Ari Parker, Boris Kodjoe and beauty experts extraordinaire Tia Dantzler and Felicia Leatherwood. Get all the tea here.
I also discovered the new hair color system I’m going to use (courtesy of Shea Moisture) via Jullanar Barron, whose newly-colored blonde curls were springy and moisturized.
Jullanar (far right) definitely inspired my next look!
Afterwards, it was back to the hotel to get ready for Mrs. Carter‘s sold-out show. We had fun getting dolled up with Cover FX bronzer and foundation to see the Queen.
Check out the final product:
I’m sure Bey would approve of our painted faces.
Beyonce put on an incredible show, transfixing the audience as she ran through her extensive musical catalogue and numerous costume changes with ease.
My favorite performances were “Why Don’t You Love Me?” and “Grown Woman.” I got up and did every move from the “Grown Woman” performance along with Bey and her dancers (I had practiced for weeks on YouTube). And no, I was not ashamed. LOL!
I saw Beyonce perform at EMF in 2009 and I have to say she just keeps getting better with time. Her show was one of the highlights of my trip!
The next day, the Essence Festival crowd dissipated as tourists headed back home after the three-day weekend. I stayed an extra day and took the time to enjoy New Orleans without a packed schedule.
We spent hours lounging in the pool at our hotel.
Before diving in, we applied light Shea Moisture conditioner to each other’s hair. The conditioner keeps your strands from absorbing the chlorine as much.
Of course, we got hungry soon after so we headed to Mr. B’s Bistro for dinner! I indulged in my favorite meal: shrimp wrapped in bacon over grits. It’s an unforgettable experience!
We also treated ourselves to their famous bread pudding, which is made with day-old French bread and Irish whiskey. If only I could ship some to New York right now…
Classic Nola style food was the perfect parting gift as I headed back to New York City the next day. I can’t believe I have to wait a year until our next #NolaCrawl. Yes, I had that much fun.
Whenever I get nostalgic, I play our video on repeat and feel like I’m back in Nola, dancing down Bourbon Street.
Check it out here:
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We truly had a blast!
Until next year.
Kisses,
Glamazon Jessica
Image Source: Style and Beauty Doctor, Love Brown Sugar, Instagram, Yours Truly.
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