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Wow! It’s been a long time since we’ve had some really big Marvel news but this evening Disney delivered a bombshell: Candyman and Little Woods helmer Nia DaCosta will take on Captain Marvel 2. It’s a great pick, as anyone who has seen her startlingly powerful debut will know. But in the wasteland of 2020 we were not expecting such an exciting announcement.

Disney

The first movie introduced MCU fans to Carol Danvers, a cranky alien-powered hero. She was also Marvel Studios‘ first true leading lady–it only took 11 years–and now DaCosta will break new ground as the first Black woman to direct an MCU movie. About time doesn’t cut it, but this is a really intriguing choice that hints at a different tone for the sequel. The first Captain Marvel movie felt like a Phase One film. But DaCosta has a style and power that will lend itself to the more auteur side of the MCU. The films have always thrived when they let directors lead, just look at Black Panther and Thor: Ragnarok.

It’s also radical to see a Black director given a movie that deals with a white legacy hero. Of course, the other angle here is that the sequel will rectify one of the biggest mistakes of the original. Captain Marvel essentially ignored the original Black female hero, Monica Rambeau, who held the mantle before Carol. Instead, the MCU gave Carol a tweaked version of Monica’s comic book origin. They hinted that her friend Maria’s young daughter–who also happens to be named Monica–might be inspired to follow in Carol’s footsteps. Perhaps in DaCosta’s hands the first female Captain Marvel will finally get her due?

Disney

We’re really excited about this news and can’t wait to hear more about the upcoming sequel! Tell us your thoughts on Nia DaCosta in the comments below.

Header Image: Disney

The post Nia DaCosta to Direct CAPTAIN MARVEL 2 appeared first on Nerdist.

With 17 years in product development, Robyn Watkins has pretty much seen it all. She’s been a part of some of the most successful and iconic beauty launches to date, and she’s also been witness to the failed attempts that never make it to market. Today, as a product development consultant and CEO of Holistic Beauty Group, she helps brands make magic in the clean beauty space. But don’t get it wrong, she might consult for brands, but she really works for consumers.

“I have a passion for clean beauty. In my background in the corporate space, I was always trying to advocate towards cleaner, safer ingredients, and always trying to go more natural,” she says. “I was the annoying person always raising my hand asking, can we not do this? Can we not use silicone? Can we try this?”

As an insider in the space, Watkins knows that clean beauty can mean different things in different places because it doesn’t have a harmonized definition. She explained that Europe has much stricter standards than the United States as it relates to clean beauty (Canada also has slightly stricter policies.) They ban about 1,400 ingredients that are not banned in the U.S., including carcinogens, mutagens, nitrosamines, silicones D4 and D5 and reproductive toxins (yes, you read that right).

Consumers are actually putting their trust in companies to identify their products as clean. As we’re beginning to see more brands emerging in this space, we’re also seeing more products identified as clean from legacy brands. Even beauty retailers have begun to make this distinction in product offerings on their sites.

Sephora has an extensive list of ingredients that a product cannot contain in order to receive their Clean at Sephora seal, including some known culprits such as parabens, sulfates, phthalates, and formaldehyde, and also more unknown players such as styrene and synthetic fragrances.

“I think it’s important for the consumer to understand what’s important to them with respect to clean beauty and buying brands that align with that.”

But clean beauty, Watkins explains, is actually not a regulated standard. And her interactions with consumers has taught her that there are many misconceptions about what a clean beauty product really is.

“Clean beauty is a marketing term and it’s an emerging claim that can be defined by any brand that uses it,” she says. “Clean beauty is more like a movement. It’s a mindful decision to create products and market under pillars of human safety, transparency, environmental consciousness and ethics. I think it’s important for the consumer to understand what’s important to them with respect to clean beauty and buying brands that align with that.”

Consumers are also making the assumption that clean beauty and sustainability go hand-in-hand. While Watkins thinks that they should, she also knows that it’s not guaranteed. Sustainability is a multi-faceted category that has levels to it, from biodiversity and carbon footprint reduction to eliminating plastic waste and using renewable or reusable packaging. In other words, like clean beauty, sustainability is complex.

“There’s so much to unpack with regards to sustainability,” Watkins asserts. “But I say [for a brand] starting where you are, understand your carbon footprint, and start to pull back on it from an upstream perspective, meaning how you’re building your product, and then downstream in terms of how the consumer is disposing of the product and what that life cycle looks like.”

What zero waste beauty looks like. Its finally here, and it's going to reshape beauty forever. #sustainability #cleanbeauty #zerowaste @dewmighty

A post shared by Holistic Beauty Group (@holisticbeautygroup) on May 8, 2020 at 9:34pm PDT

And that’s where product ingredients can come into play where clean versus non-clean matters. Since the pandemic, consumers have been paying a lot more attention to what’s in their beauty products. Studies show that the online purchase of natural skincare increased by 300 percent at the top of quarantine. Watkins says clean beauty sales are up 25 percent too. People often mistake clean beauty products for natural beauty products, but she says, they’re not the same. And, natural doesn’t always mean better.

“People automatically think, oh, it’s clean, it’s natural, it’s organic. And some products are, but those are two different camps and just know the difference and know that when you see science-based ingredients, it’s not all bad,” she explains. “There are brands that have a blend of natural and synthetic. I highly recommend embracing scientific as the new sustainable. Science based ingredients have huge benefits. They truly are 100 percent renewable, have zero carbon footprint. It really makes sense for the world that we’re living in.”

She’s just trying to do her part to make that world better, one clean product at a time. Her mission is to guide and hold brands accountable, educate consumers—especially other Black women, who are inundated with products that tend to be filled with harmful toxins—and explore the possibility of a new category she calls product therapy, an intersection between beauty, self-care, and mental health all wrapped into effective offerings.

“I try to pour positive intention into the work that I do and with the brands that I work with. I’d like to create more products that have a healing intention—not just holistic products, but products that give positive messaging and don’t drive the consumer to not appreciate themselves or think they’re good enough,” she finishes.

“I like to be a part of projects that really change that narrative around self-compassion and self-love. But I’m just out here, a corporate dropout who decided to take all of my experience and help brands that actually give a shit about what they’re doing. That’s my whole thing.”

The post This Black Product Developer Dispels The Myths About Clean Beauty appeared first on Essence.

From showrunner and executive producer Misha Green, HBO’s new drama series Lovecraft Country debuts SUNDAY, AUGUST 16 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max. Based on the novel of the same name by Matt Ruff, the ten-episode series follows Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors) as he journeys with his childhood friend Letitia (Jurnee Smollett) and his uncle George (Courtney B. Vance) on a road trip from Chicago across 1950s Jim Crow America in search of his missing father Montrose (Michael Kenneth Williams). Their search-and-rescue turns into a struggle to survive and overcome both the racist terrors of white America and monstrous creatures that could be ripped from an H.P. Lovecraft paperback.
 
Season 1, Episode 1: “Sundown”
Debut Date: SUNDAY, AUGUST 16 (9:00-10:08 p.m. ET/PT)
Veteran and pulp-fiction aficionado Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors) travels from the Jim Crow South to his South Side of Chicago hometown in search of his missing father Montrose (Michael Kenneth Williams). After recruiting his uncle George (Courtney B. Vance) and childhood friend Letitia (Jurnee Smollett) to join him, the trio sets out for “Ardham,” MA, where they think Montrose may have gone looking for insight into Atticus’ late mother’s ancestry. As they journey across the Midwest, Tic, Leti, and George encounter dangers lurking at every turn, especially after sundown.
Teleplay by Misha Green; directed by Yann Demange.
 
Season 1, Episode 2: “Whitey’s on the Moon”
Debut Date: SUNDAY, AUGUST 23 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT)
Inexplicably recovered from their terrifying night, Leti and George luxuriate in their new surroundings, while Atticus grows suspicious of their Ardham Lodge hosts – Christina Braithwhite (Abbey Lee) and her elusive father Samuel (Tony Goldwyn) – who unveil cryptic plans for Atticus’ role in their upcoming “Sons of Adam” ceremony. Later, after Tic, Leti, and George stumble upon a clue that could lead them to Montrose, each takes an unwelcome walk down memory lane.
Teleplay by Misha Green; directed by Daniel Sackheim.
 
Season 1, Episode 3: “Holy Ghost”
Debut Date: SUNDAY, AUGUST 30 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT)
Hoping to mend her relationship with her sister Ruby (Wunmi Mosaku), Leti turns a ramshackle Victorian on Chicago’s North Side into a boarding house – an endeavor that stokes neighborhood racism and awakens dormant spirits stuck in the house. Meanwhile, Atticus remains burdened by a guilty conscience as George’s wife Hippolyta (Aunjanue Ellis) presses him for the full story of what happened in Ardham.
Teleplay by Misha Green; directed by Daniel Sackheim.
 
Season 1, Episode 4: “A History of Violence”
Debut Date: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT)
After Christina mysteriously shows up at her doorstep, Leti confronts Atticus about his plan to surreptitiously return to Florida. Later, in search of missing pages to a crucial text, Leti, Tic, and Montrose head to Boston, with Hippolyta and Diana (Jada Harris) along for the ride. Back in Chicago, a handsome stranger nurses Ruby’s disappointment over a squandered job opportunity.
Teleplay by Misha Green; Story by Wes Taylor; directed by Victoria Mahoney.
 
Season 1, Episode 5 “Strange Case”
Debut Date: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT)
After making a devil’s bargain with William, Ruby steps into the charmed shoes of a white woman, but her transformation only fortifies her resentment of the racial divide. A betrayal by Montrose unleashes Atticus’ pent up rage, leaving Leti deeply disturbed and sending Montrose into the comforting arms of his secret lover.
Teleplay by Misha Green and Jonathan Kidd & Sonya Winton; directed by Cheryl Dunye.
 
Lovecraft Country is executive produced by Misha Green, J.J. Abrams, Jordan Peele, Bill Carraro, Yann Demange (who also directed Episode 1), Daniel Sackheim (who also directed Episodes 2 and 3) and David Knoller (executive producer on Episode 1); based on the novel by Matt Ruff. Co-executive producers are Matt King and Rachel Rusch. Produced by afemme, Inc., Bad Robot Productions and Monkeypaw Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.

Kelis is prepping her family table for one more addition!

The singer-turned-chef shared the news that she is expecting another child with her husband Mike Mora. Her announcement was sponsored by pregnancy test brand First Response, whom the singer praises for being “committed to supporting healthy, equitable pregnancy journeys and understand the importance of a nurturing environment for black women and mothers.”

“As a Black mother, there are so many things to consider during this time in your life,” the singer shared while holding up a positive pregnancy test, “especially during the crazy times that we live in — from what we eat, to how we live and love. This is the time we must take for ourselves without apologies, especially when we still live in a country where Black women historically have had the highest maternal mortality rates.”

The singer also announced that as part of her First Response partnership, a charitable donation will be made to Black Mamas Matter Alliance.

Chef Kelis – table for 5 please. We’re adding one more! Happy to announce that I’m expecting and I’m partnering with @firstresponsepregnancy, as they are committed to supporting healthy, equitable pregnancy journeys and understand the importance of a nurturing environment for black women and mothers.#Ad #BlackMamasMatter #Motherhood As a Black mother, there are so many things to consider during this time in your life, especially during the crazy times that we live in — from what we eat, to how we live and love. This is the time we must take for ourselves without apologies, especially when we still live in a country where Black women historically have had the highest maternal mortality rates. So for me, self-care has become paramount, particularly in the beginning stages. Knowing your body and what it needs, being able to be still and quiet enough to hear what it tells you. That’s why I used a First Response Early Result test as it can tell you if you’re pregnant 6 days sooner than your missed period.* Don’t be afraid to look for a team that looks like you and can relate with a level of care that will make you feel your most comfortable. It’s your right. It’s our right. And we must demand not only what’s best for us, but for our community. So, I’m so grateful to be able to work with First Response and to announce that a charitable donation to @blackmamasmatter will be made on my behalf. @blackmamasmatter is an organization that’s working to ensure Black mamas have the rights, respect, resources to thrive before, during, and after pregnancy. Together we can change these statistics, one woman at a time.*Early Result Pregnancy Test detected the pregnancy hormone levels in 76% of pregnant women 5 days before their expected period.

A post shared by Kelis (@kelis) on Aug 5, 2020 at 8:09am PDT

In May 2020, Kelis visited our “Yes, Girl!” podcast and spoke about what life as been like for her family since relocating from their Los Angeles home to a farm miles outside the city. “We first got out here and I had a moment of sheer panic: ‘Oh my God! What have I done? Did I just play myself? Is this crazy?’ I definitely had a moment of ‘Abort mission. Let’s go back,'” the Harlem native admitted.

Now, Kelis and her family have adjusted to their new rural life. “If you had asked me 10 years ago, I’d have been like, “Girl, bye. No way I’m doing that,’” she continued,”but now I’m like, ‘What’s wrong? This is amazing. I love it.’”

In case you weren’t aware, Kelis and Mora have a four-year-old son named Sheperd, and Kelis also has an 11-year-old son named Knight with ex-husband Nas.

Congratulations to the happy couple!

The post Kelis Is Pregnant With Her Third Child appeared first on Essence.