First off, my face is gloriously beat and I'm shouting for joy like Sister Shirlene from your church!

Now that a proper introduction has been made…for the past seven days, women around America flocked to Sephora to get their hands on Rihanna's new makeup launch, Fenty Beauty. This fresh product line addresses an issue that many of us face across industries including in beauty cosmetics — lack of diversification of product selection. Despite these challenges, you can count on @badgalriri to ignite sisterhood across the country.

I recently ran out of foundation and as timing would have it, I learned of Fenty Beauty. I immediately decided that I would give it a try. As I walked into Sephora, I thought it would be similar to all of my other visits–I walk in, find my color, purchase my product and I'm on my merry way within 20 minutes, or less.

But this was different.

This visit to Sephora was completely different.

There was a certain energy emitting from those who came to indulge in the product. With every sistah who entered Sephora, our eyes met, we smiled and greeted each other as if we were BFFs while talking about what shade we believed would best complement our skin tones. Before I knew it, I had spent nearly 1.5 hours in Sephora conversing with other black women about the product and finding solutions for each other. Alas, it came to the point where upon entering the store, a woman would do a scan, lock eyes on us and without any exchange of words, she knew exactly where to come for THE BEAT.

As we continued to congregate in Sephora, serving and receiving PROPER LIFE, I noticed we had taken over Sephora–not intentionally, but largely because Black women understand the needs of Black women. We had created a cohort of women that was flowing with conversation, suggestions, and compliments. It was a powerful experience!

So much so, that employees walked over several times to chime in on conversation and offer assistance as any good store representative would. The last time a rep approached us, I asked a question to which she responded, "Honestly, I just don’t have much experience with deeper skin tones, so I'm not sure." I was grateful for her honesty and told her that I would figure it out, as I always do; as WE always do! I didn’t have to go far. I turned around and my tribe was there, ready, willing and fully equipped to give the advice that I was seeking for my chocolate skin. <Insert YAAASSSSS here>.

I smiled because I realized that when given the opportunity to come together and figure sh*t out, that's exactly what we do. And when left without options, we create opportunities, safety and support for ourselves. (Doesn't that just make you feel good?)

What's more profound is that, this isn't new. Our grandmothers and their mothers have been doing this for generations! It was done with Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Madame CJ Walker, Rosa Parks and even Ruby Bridges at six years old–SIX! It was done with the creation of HBCUs and in Tulsa, Oklahoma with Black Wall Street. In short, it's in our DNA and will not be denied.

I had no idea that going to replenish my yearly supply of make-up would turn into a social experience that would further open my eyes to the beauty of women who look like me. Although Fenty Beauty is inclusive of women across every race and ethnicity, it was a celebration of inclusion for women like me who struggle to find beauty options that complement our skin tones.

I've taken the liberty to coin the occurrence that brought women together in celebration and self-love as the "Fenty Experience". For many of us, this line says that regardless how mainstream media attempt to marginalize specific groups of women or people–we will push forward.

As I observed this happening in my local Sephora, I felt a certain sense of pride, sisterhood and oddly enough, protection. I thought, "Do women of other races feel this consistently?" Although these feelings aren’t completely unfamiliar, it does not occur frequently enough. And for a brief moment, in an unlikely place, I felt as though I was enough–my skin, my body, my image was enough.

Without exchanging names, numbers or social media contact, we were connected. We didn't need those things, in that moment all we needed were each other. Who knew a beauty line could awaken the sisterhood amongst Black women?

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