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https://blackgirlnerds.com/5-fave-makeup-and-hair-companies-owned-by-black-women/

The Black beauty and hair industry is experiencing an exciting renaissance. Now more than ever, Black women are stepping up and taking roles as CEOs for global beauty brands that center Black women while providing color palettes and hair products that work for women of all shades and hair types, from super z formation kinky curls to bone straight tresses. Black women are creating beauty brands that center products without harmful toxins and that focus on skin and hair health.

The holidays are the perfect time to upgrade your beauty products, and Black Girl Nerds has got your back. Here are five of our favorite makeup and hair companies owned by Black women.

Mented Cosmetics

Mented Cosmetics are, in a word, fantastic. My favorite item, the foundation stick, has a lovely light consistency, offers full coverage, and is vegan and cruelty-free. Mented Cosmetics’ website and app have a 60-second quiz for the foundation match that is spot on. I love the bronzer, which, when applied with a large brush, gives a lovely golden finish that makes the natural highlights of your skin just glow. The lipstick has a moisturizing quality that feels amazing and makes the lips look simply luscious. The eye shadow palettes have colors that work for everything from work to going out clubbing. This makeup line is high quality and affordable.

Mented also has lovely lovely individual blush, eyeliner, and mascara that all are light and enhance the features naturally. And best of all, Mented Cosmetics products wash off cleanly without residue. If you’re ordering online from Mentedcosmetics.com, there are free returns if you order anything that doesn’t work out. 

Mented Cosmetics was founded in 2017 by K.J. Miller and Amanda Johnson. Miller and Johnson met at Harvard Business School, clicked, and decided if they ever came up with a great retail idea, they’d work on it together. Miller and Johnson talked about how the beauty industry left out Black women, which inspired them to create Mented Cosmetics to provide a makeup line with products for all skin shades and tones. I’m happy and grateful they did because Mented Cosmetics is now my favorite makeup brand. 

Uncle Funky’s Daughter

Known by Black people with natural hair in the Houston area for years, Uncle Funky’s Daughter was created in 2009 by Tonya Goff. 

According to an interview on NaturallyCurly.com, Uncle Funky’s Daughter was acquired in 2014 by Renee Rhoten Morris. Interesting story, she had been thinking of a career change, stopped by Uncle Funky’s Daughter’s retail store to buy some butter to twist her hair, and ended up chatting to one of the co-owners, Tonya Goff’s husband. The couple was divorcing and thinking of just closing the business, but Rhoten Morris bought the brand. She brought back the original recipes of some of the brand’s most popular products, like the Original Curly Magic Curl Stimulator, and added additional products to the line. 

I discovered Uncle Funky’s Daughter when I ran out of hair products in Colorado. My hair was super dry, and when I went to a Walgreens in Denver, there was one travel size Ultimate Curly Girls Kit, which had travel sizes of Midnight Train leave-in conditioner, Curly Magic Curl stimulator, Thirsty Curls Leave in Curl revitalizer, Supercurl Miracle Moisture creme, and extra butter Brilliant shine creme. It was the only travel size of Black hair products in the drugstore, so I bought it. I was not disappointed. Every single product smells divine, and my parched hair just drank the conditioners and butters in and felt satisfied, leaving my hair feeling soft and supple.

You can find Uncle Funky’s Daughter on Amazon and in various drug stores nationally, but I love buying online directly from Unclefunkysdaughter.com. Prices are a little bit lower on the website; you can get special discounts and several travel-sized gift packs of various products from each line. Uncle Funky’s Daughter has products that work for all hair textures.

BLK/OPL & Fashion Fair

Black Opal cosmetics has been bought by Desiree Rogers and Cheryl Mayberry McKissack and has been rebranded BLK/OPL. Rogers and McKissack are co-owners of the iconic brand. 

First, let’s talk about BLK/OPL. I love that after 25 years of non-Black ownership, Black Opal was acquired by two Black female CEOs. The rebrand is fire. Not only does BLK/OPL have a full makeup line that is cruelty-free and dermatologist-approved, and it also has a skincare line. The blemish control cleansing bar, pore-refining toners, gels, and even skin-plumping products are all available for under $15. BLK/OPL’s makeup line is affordable and has a diverse palette of colors that work for the spectrum of skin types. This line is perfect for anyone who wants quality makeup and skincare for an affordable price. 

Rogers and Mayberry McKissack are brilliant co-owners with decades of combined experience in the Black beauty industry. When they bought Fashion Fair, they were compelled to bring together a team to meet the needs of consumers in the 21st century. Fashion Fair is now completely vegan and cruelty-free. Fashion Fair’s price point is slightly higher than BLK/OPL, and all of the iconic colors our mothers and grandmothers wore are back. Fashion Fair makeup has been upgraded and feels majestic, even better than the original brand, and worth the price if your budget allows it.

Nourish & Shine and Curls to Go

Nourish & Shine is the haircare line formerly known as Jane Carter Solution. This brand is worth looking for. No drying parabens and sulfate- and cruelty-free, Nourish & Shine is a natural hair and skincare line that will make your tresses look and feel amazing. 

The Curls to Go line works well with tightly coiled curls. Just a tiny amount will moisturize your entire scalp. Favorite products include Restorative butter, which smells like hair heaven, and the super-rich curl cocktail styling cream. A little bit goes a long way with these products, leaving your hair feeling silky, light, and nourished. 

This holiday season treat yourself to the gift of beauty while supporting these fab five Black female owned businesses.

https://nerdist.com/article/otter-in-guardians-of-the-galaxy-vol-3-lylla-marvel-comics-history/

If you’re wondering just who that anthropomorphic otter was that our beloved Rocket Raccoon gave a warm embrace to in the Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3 trailer, wonder no more. In all likelihood, that otter is Lady Lylla, a character that originated in Marvel Comics. They often described her as Rocket’s “soulmate.” Lady Lylla made less than 10 appearances in the comics. However, she remains a crucial part of Rocket’s backstory, something that Guardians 3 will no doubt explore. Here’s the lowdown on the Marvel Comics history of Rocket’s one true love.

Lady Lylla, Otter and Toy Empire C.E.O.

Lylla first appeared back in 1982’s The Incredible Hulk #271, which was only the second appearance of Rocket Raccoon. In those early appearances, Lylla was the heir to an enormous intergalactic toy company, Mayhem Mekaniks, on the planet Halfworld. They named the planet that due to it being half industrial, half natural. Think “half Coruscant/half Dagobah,” to use Star Wars terminology.

Once, the planet was a giant asylum, where robot caretakers looked after the patients. The robot caretakers eventually became sentient, and experimented on the patient’s animal companions in an effort to evolve them. Eventually, Halfworld became a planet occupied entirely by anthropomorphic animals, similar to what we saw in the Guardians 3 trailer. We have a feeling James Gunn is fusing Halfworld with Counter-Earth, another similar Marvel Comics concept from the same era.

Meeting Her Soulmate

Eventually, a hostile takeover over Mayhem Mekaniks occurred, by the malevolent half-man/half-mole Judson Jakes, and Lylla’s parents were murdered. She needed help, and she received it from our favorite swashbuckling “trash panda.” Although Lylla regained control of Mayhem Mekaniks after that, she fell in love with Rocket. The two went on to become a couple. They went off into the galaxy to have adventures together, getting a “happily ever after” style ending.

Reunion with Rocket

There were many years between these adventures, which took place in the four-part Rocket Raccoon series, and Rocket’s return to the Marvel Universe in the ongoing Guardians of the Galaxy comics. In those comics, we learned that Rocket and Lylla split up before he became partners with Groot and joined the Guardians of the Galaxy. However, Rocket and Lylla reunited in 2011’s Annihilators #4.

There, Rocket learned that his former love had married an anthropomorphic rabbit named Blackjack O’Hare. Ultimately, Rocket accepted that Lylla had moved on, and the two parted ways, as Rocket continued his adventures with the Guardians. In fact, Rocket discovered that many of the memories he had of his girlfriend Lady Lylla were implanted, putting into doubt whether they were really soulmates after all. It’s now been a decade since Lady Lylla appeared in a comic, the previously mentioned Annihilators #4.

It is likely that James Gunn will heavily revise the backstory of Lylla for the MCU. While we expect her and Rocket to have a history together, we doubt that Halfworld or her giant toy empire will be a part of it. It’s far more likely that both Lylla and Rocket were subjects of the High Evolutionary’s experiments, and formed a bond as test subjects in his laboratory. We’ll find out how much of her backstory remains when Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3 hits theaters in May, 2023.

The post Who Is Lylla, Rocket’s Otter Friend in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3? appeared first on Nerdist.

https://nerdist.com/article/mission-impossible-7-8-everything-we-know/

After delivering the biggest box office grosses yet for a Mission: Impossible movie with its last installment, Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie are returning for two more. McQuarrie will write and direct Mission Impossible 7 & 8, which are being shot back-to-back.

Most recently, we got a special look at Mission: Impossible 7. This Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One featurette revealed what is said to be “the biggest stunt in cinema history.” Take a look at the antics below.

Here’s everything we know about the upcoming Mission: Impossible films.

Title

In Mission: Impossible tradition, we expect these films’ titles to feature a colon and an em dash. And, in fact, Mission Impossible 7‘s official title has been revealed to be Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. We assume this means Mission Impossible 8‘s title will be Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two. But we will have to wait a little bit for that confirmation.

Mission: Impossible 7 and 8‘s Plot

We don’t yet know too much about the plot of the upcoming Mission Impossible movies. But judging by the franchise’s history, they’ll like involve a lot of action, many stunts, and at least one daring escape.

Behind the Scenes

Christopher McQuarrie is returning to write and direct both Mission: Impossible 7 and Mission: Impossible 8. He previously who previously wrote and directed Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation and Mission: Impossible — Fallout. Like the franchise’s fifth and sixth installments, the next two are filming back-to-back.

Mission: Impossible 7 and 8‘s Cast

Naturally, Cruise is back as Ethan Hunt, as is the other franchise staple Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell. Also reprising their characters in the upcoming films are Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Angela Bassett and Frederick Schmidt. One major returning figure is Henry Czerny’s Eugene Kittridge, who hasn’t appeared in the franchise since the first installment in 1996. Kittridge was the IMF director hunting Ethan, under the impression he was the agency’s mole. McQuarrie confirmed Czerny’s return on Instagram.

Among new faces joining the franchise, which McQuarrie also announced on Instagram, are Hayley Atwell, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Charles Parnell, Indra Varma, Mark Gatiss, Rob Delaney, Cary Elwes, and Shea Whigham. Morales will play Ethan Hunt’s next foe, replacing Nicholas Hoult, who departed due to scheduling conflicts.

In August we learned that Nick Offerman and Janet McTeer would join Mission Impossible 8. We don’t know details about their roles yet.

Additionally, Mariela Garriga will come aboard both films as well.

Mission: Impossible 7 and 8‘s Release Date

The upcoming pair of Mission: Impossible films are caught up in yet another wave of pandemic-related delays. Mission: Impossible 7 will debut on July 14, 2023. Mission: Impossible 8 will now open on June 28, 2024. 

The Franchise’s Future Beyond the Next Two Installments

No official word yet if these two films will serve as the “series finale” for the franchise. But Variety is indicating that this is, indeed, the end for Ethan Hunt and his comrades. A report from the trade suggests that Mission: Impossible 8 will wrap up the long-running franchise. Paramount Pictures has not commented on the news but Nerdist has reached out for confirmation.

If it is the end for the franchise it’s quite a feat—one that lasted eight films and nearly thirty years. Tom Cruise will be over sixty by the time Mission: Impossible 8 hits theaters, so its the perfect time to hang up his Ethan Hunt coat, and hopefully go out on a high note. And we mean a literal high note, as he’ll probably be going out while hanging off the side of a mountain or a skyscraper one last time.

Originally published on January 14, 2019.

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The post Everything We Know About MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 7 & 8 appeared first on Nerdist.

https://blackgirlnerds.com/cult-classics-batman-returns-is-undeniably-a-christmas-movie/

This past summer marked the 30th anniversary of 1992 follow-up Batman Returns from Tim Burton (Wednesday). The sequel, written by Daniel Waters (Heathers) with a “story by” credit for Sam Hamm (Batman), was a financial hit at the box office but still pulled in less than its predecessor.

Audience-wise it was divisive, with some thinking Burton made it too dark. But anyone familiar with Batman lore would counter that the hero’s entire backstory is incredibly dark, as are most, if not all, of his antagonists’ origins. To quote Robert Pattinson, the star of Matt Reeves’ The Batman, Batman is a freak, which people seem to forget.  

Like most Batman movies, Returns begins with a villain. In a flashback 33 years prior to when the film’s events take place, we see wealthy, unspeaking couple Tucker and Esther Cobblepot (Paul Reubens and Diane Salinger) toss their monstrous child off a bridge, watching his basket float down into the sewer.

Later this is revealed to be the origin of Oswald Cobblepot, aka the Penguin (Danny DeVito), a frightening man with a beak-like nose, who is inexplicably able to speak perfect English despite being raised by actual penguins. Another mystery is how he managed to form the Red Triangle Gang, a group of circus freaks, to do his bidding. Poodle Lady is my favorite. But this is a movie that requires a major suspension of belief. If you want logic with your supervillains, Batman Returns is not for you. 

Next, there’s Max Shreck (Christopher Walken), an icy-haired corrupt businessman with the quintessential villainous plan involving a power plant and tons of money. He demeans his frazzled assistant Selina Kyle (Michelle Pfeiffer) who is beautiful but has glasses and a ponytail which, according to movie tropes, means she’s unattractive. She’s an overworked, underappreciated cat owner living alone in a bubblegum pink apartment, who calls herself a “corn dog” for clamming up. 

After spending roughly thirteen minutes learning about the baddies, it’s time for Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton) to appear, and of course, the first time we see him he’s brooding in the dark. He suits up as Batman to save a gathering of Gothamites from an invasion of an evil circus troupe — made up of machine gun-toting clowns, destructive fire breathers, and an organ grinder firing bullets. 

When Shreck finds Selina in the office after hours, he casually pushes her out of the window. The fall kills her, though she manages to only sustain a head cut and torn sleeve. A slew of random stray cats revive her with…their saliva? It’s a very Burtonesque origin story that makes zero sense but is visually satisfying. Most characters in a Burton project look half-dead anyway. 

Selina returns home and just absolutely wrecks her dollhouse of an apartment, murdering stuffed animals via garbage disposal and spray painting the walls for some reason. She also smashes two bulbs in the oddly placed neon pink “Hello There” sign (in her bedroom, no less), leaving it to read “hell here.” Subtle. She then stitches together a skin-tight catsuit using material from a single jacket. (Remember, suspend that belief!) The bespeckled, sensibly dressed Selina Kyle is no more. The milk-chugging, latex-clad Catwoman lives. When she’s unmasked, her wild curls are simply stunning.

Penguin uses Shreck to waddle his way into Gotham’s elite but forms an alliance with the Cat in an incredibly sexually charged scene, though that could be said for all of Pfeiffer’s scenes after Selina’s transformation. She gets intimate with Bruce while dancing at a charity ball (because every Batman movie has to have one). A big complaint some people have with Batman Returns is the lack of, well, Batman. But I’ve always found Batman’s rogues gallery much more interesting than the hero himself. The villains also just get to have more fun. Catwoman’s scene destroying Shreck’s store is just oozing with glee.   

The set design for Burton’s Gotham City looks like a theme park version of the city. The buildings and statues are unnecessarily massive and don’t even try to look real. When it’s decked out for Christmas, a giant tree and all, the town square looks like a demented Whoville. 

Considering the movie takes place during the Christmas season — not to mention the tree lighting ceremonies, snowy cemetery speeches, and mistletoe puns — Batman Returns is undeniably a Christmas movie. With the Scrooge-like Max Shreck and a sewer-dwelling penguin person, the Gotham created by Burton and company is cartoonishly bleak, filled with psychologically traumatized people who just need one bad day to turn into a villain. 

Colin Farrell will reprise his role as Cobblepot in the upcoming HBO Max series The Penguin, which picks up right after the events of The Batman. Since the film opened on Halloween night in Gotham, maybe the series will progress into Christmastime and we’ll get to see how Farrell’s Penguin handles the holidays. 

Batman Returns is available to stream on HBO Max.