The new face of Dark is Beautiful – Sharon Muthu

Sharon Muthu is an American actress, voice over artist and singer. In February she also became the ambassador to Hollywood for India’s “Dark is Beautiful” campaign.

Dark is beautiful is a campaign that was started in 2009 by the founder of Women of Worth, Kavitha Emmanuel. This campaign has been highly successful in effectively changing social practices, providing outreach programs and even changing literature and content  of advertising.

Sharon Muthu has been part of TV shows such as Glee, Desperate House Wives and recently Blackish. You can also listen to her album Muse here …

It is very exciting to see more and more people getting involved in this movement to showcase the beauty of being you. In Sharon’s words…

“Know that you are beautiful, just the way you are.”

The holidays are coming up, and i’m sure i’m not the only one looking forward to the Turkey, gingerbread cookies, and cranberry sauce! Oh and of course the being-surrounded-by-family-and-friends part is fun too.

One dish that comes as a side to this season is always a serving of sweet potatoes. They come in pie form, melted among marshmallows, crispy wedges or condensed into soup form.  Whether you like sweet-potatoes or not, there’s no stopping these shape-shifting vegetables from entering your home on Thanksgiving. In light of the sweet potato’s inevitable upcoming appearance on your plate, I’ve decided to  write an article entirely about its skin enhancing benefits. I’m sure there are other ways to make your brown skin glow this season, but I can’t think of a better way to do that right now than eating a big heaping of sweet potato fries.

I first learned about the sweet potato’s skin enhancing benefits from an article on Everyday Health about ten foods that are actually good for your skin. Sweet Potatoes was one of them. When added to a healthy diet, sweet potatoes give you a boost of vitamin A. According to WebMD, people commonly take vitamin A as “treatments for acne and other skin conditions, including wrinkles” (1). After looking into this further, I found  Jenné Claiborne of Sweet Potato Soul, an online vegan workshop that provides you with diet plans and so many delicious recipes, many of which are based on sweet potatoes. Jenné Claiborne has been featured in Reader’s Digest,  Vegetarian Times, Shape, and many other publications. She is a beautiful dark skinned woman who works in New York City as a professional chef. She creates recipes, videos, and spreads her passion for a healthy lifestyle. She is a certified holistic health counselor having earned her title from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in 2012.

Jenné says if you want beautiful skin – who doesn’t – it all must begin at your plate. She says you do not have to eat exotic “super-foods” to feel the beautification. In fact she reccomends sweet potatoes, broccoli, almonds, and avocados. She developed her love of sweet potatoes when she was growing up in Atlanta, Georgia. She considers them her soul food. On her website, she has numerous recipes dedicated to sweet potatos, some of which are listed below.

Maybe you can incorporate one of these into your Thanksgiving meal this year:
1. Sweet Potato Burgers with Green Tahini - feeling all-american? try this twist on the traditional beef burger.

2. Sweet Potato Hummus with Fennel Seeds and Smoked Salt - maybe you want to add some mediterranean into your Thanksgiving, just make sure to bring the drinks to match, Opa!

3. Creamy Sweet Potato Portabella Pasta – Nothing says Thanksgiving like a big Italian family. Maybe you can squeeze in room at your table for a sweet potato, or a few.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Remember to stay radiant and be thankful for your gorgeous brown skin!

(As a reminder, we are not doctors here at Cinnamon Spirit. Therefore we do NOT recommend starting any treatment without consulting an appropriate medical professional first. )

Written by : I. Ella Noor

Happy Wednesday everyone! If you haven’t seen 12 Years a Slave yet, consider it your homework assignment for the week. Whether you watch it to immerse yourself in some American history or for the heart-touching story of a black man’s kidnapping into slavery, there’s one character who will undoubtedly captivate you. Lupita Nyong’o, the radiant woman whom this post is about, plays Patsey, a 23 year old slave who becomes subject to her master’s disgusting commands. Patsey endures whipping, sexual misconduct, and some of the worst forms of degradation by her master and remains in the hearts of the audience long after the ending credits. Lupita’s performance as Patsey was so commendable that it earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress! This breakout film has earned her more than just a few awards (about 30 in fact); the spotlight is on this brown-beauty all over Hollywood and here at Cinnamon Spirit.

Lupita Nyong’o (now 30 years old) graduated Yale Drama School only after playing Patsey in 12 Years a Slave. She was cast three weeks before graduation and insists she had “imposter’s syndrome” until she actually landed in Louisiana. She and her parents are of Kenyan descent although she was born in Mexico City, Mexico in 1983.  At the time of Lupita’s birth, her parents were politically exiled and unable to return to Kenya. Therefore, her parents paved their own way – her mother became a leader of the Africa Cancer Foundation! Before Yale, she attended Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts and earned her bachelors degree in film in 2003.

In an interview with Ellen Degeneres (2/21/14) Lupita enters wearing a fabulous minimalist, all white double breasted vest and shorts outfit and subtle earrings. She is immediately greeted by the host and the audience; and her humble personality shines right on through. She says she had never even seen her face on The New Yorker or any other of the numerous magazines she’s been featured in. Lupita is thrilled to be kick starting her acting career as she looks forward to the Oscar Awards coming up.

Some fun facts about Lupita Nyong’o:
1. She loves Scandal – Lupita even says that some of her style is copied from fellow dark-skinned darling, Kerry Washington.
2. She wanted to be an actress after watching Stephen Spielberg’s The Color Purple.
3. She once had a horrible braiding experience in New York – therefore she learned how to do it herself. She can cornrow, box braid, and more!

Below is a photo of Lupita Nyong is in a stunning gown by Gucci at the annual SAG Awards (1/18). Her eye make-up speaks for itself. I am personally obsessed with the gold and blue making her features pop.

Get the look for less!

My Mother always said yellow was the color for dark skin and I believe it now. It requires a certain confidence to pull off but man does it generate cynosure.

Lakshmi Menon combines her dusky beauty with ease on the runway.  Her skin makes the red and orange look so good!

My favorite rapper/entertainer. She is creative, out-spoken, gorgeous and rocks the music world with her unique style.

Including samples of traditional Tamil sounds, this Sri Lankan born Tamil Rock star opens up about talking her way into an English Public School, America not getting her message and the Super Bowl fiasco.

For those who don’t know about MIA AKA Mathangi, listen to her interview with National Public Radio (NPR)

Maybe it’s the clear skin, distinctive eyes, the eye and face makeup, the jewelry or just the color of her skin! It just works.

In particular I like the way her makeup is done.  Slight blush to accentuate her cheek bones and the dark outline of lipstick that keeps things natural. She has served as my poster child on several occasions  to help my glamour effort….simply because our skin tone is almost the same.

The story of Cinnamon Spirit, one can say started last week… or is as old as I am or older.

It’s no lie that media and society has fallen short of giving the beautiful dark skinned people of the world their proper representation. This is an effort to rectify that problem.

We want to showcase the beauty of being brown. We want to talk about fashion, health, technology and social demeanor that suits brown skinned people. We want to turn the spotlight on dark skin tones.

Our intent is to have the following sections

• Fashion
• Lifestyle
• Health
• Technology
• Real People