After multiple referrals from fellow foodies, and having sampled their fare at local events, I decided it was time to visit Swirl Wine Bistro, a delightfully quaint restaurant tucked away in Coconut Creek, Florida.
“WE WANTED IT TO BE A FUSION RESTAURANT. Flavors of the Caribbean but not necessarily Caribbean food,” says Chef Judith Able, who opened Swirl Wine Bistro with her husband Mike in March 2017. With degrees in culinary art and management, Chef Judith has successfully owned and managed a Kingston, Jamaica restaurant, and has operated as a caterer in Florida for over a decade.
Swirl offers a relaxing, inviting ambience ideal for small groups, a date, or even a solo gastronomic experience. Its walls are littered with original art hung by local artists and they play an eclectic mix of music in the dimly lit dining area.
Pumpkin Risotto
I started with a true comfort dish, the Pumpkin Risotto, prepared with real pumpkin from Jamaica. Topped with a generous helping of scallions and sliced parmesan cheese, the small bowl appeared to host more of a bisque. It was love at first taste—a warm, delightful pumpkin flavor with the consistency of thick and creamy mac n’ cheese.
Pork Belly Tacos
Next, it was time to try the Pork Belly Tacos. The layers of flavors, textures, and sauces in this dish are worthy of a celebration! The pork is well-seasoned and remains tender and juicy with a crispy, braised exterior. Inside the soft taco shells is a base layer of seasoned, moist red cabbage. Then, atop the pork pieces is a simple coleslaw with an extra drizzle of green sauce. Just perfect.
Snapper Escovitch
For the main course, I opted for the Snapper Escovitch instead of the signature Oxtail Ravioli my friends recommended. The escovitch sauce was a mildly peppered mix of pickled carrots, onions, and micro-greens, with a very appropriate surprise of okras. It topped my panseared,
deboned snapper, which laid atop the “converted bammy,” to create Chef Judith’s play on the French croquette. Unlike the crisp, meatstuffed rolls however, she uses Jamaican cassava flatbread, fried crunchy on the outside and still gooey on the inside.
Chocolate Bread Pudding
I ended my meal with Swirl’s Chocolate Bread Pudding served with fruit in an appealing plate, garnished with fruit drizzles. Made with croissants, this bread pudding is not too sweet, not too moist, and has genuine chocolate bits. Even the whipped cream is made from scratch onsite.
Swirl Wine Bistro is definitely on my revisit list. I’ve seen a few must try menu items, so maybe one night soon I’ll be back in there enjoying “cowfoot by candlelight.”
Embalmed in the past, important figures of Caribbean history can feel distant, their flesh-and-blood experiences trapped in dusty papers and faded photographs. Thanks to the Caribbean’s blossoming film production, two new biopics are rescuing some of the region’s icons from the history books, blowing up their lives into cinematic proportions on the silver screen. These films swept up major accolades this week at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival 2018 in Port of Spain. From poets to war heroes, take a look at these exciting projects in the pipeline for distribution.
Trinidadian WWII hero, diplomat and Pan-African pioneer Ulric Cross did indeed live an extraordinary life, from dropping bombs over Nazi Germany to advocating for independence in Africa and the Caribbean. With such exploits, his life story easily lends itself to the silver screen, as the film follow his journey from Trinidad to England, to Ghana and Congo. Director Frances-Anne Solomon blends archival footage with stellar performances by actor Nickolai Salcedo, who plays the title role. Moving and patriotic, the film this week won the People’s Choice Award for a Narrative Feature Film at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival 2018.
From former students to the Caribbean’s literati, a flood of tributes and memorials emerged around the world following the death of Trinidadian poet, professor, columnist and mentor Wayne Brown. But perhaps nothing has quite captured his loss as much as this film, lovingly created by his daughter, filmmaker Muriel Brown. Stitching together family photos, home movies, and voices from loved ones, she narrates a personal and intimate documentary, telling the poet’s life through her eyes and exploring their loving, but complex, relationship. Ultimately, the film is as much an ode to fathers and daughters, and what it means to love someone after they are gone. This film won the Jury Prize for the Best Trinidad and Tobago Feature Film.
I’ve been practicing internal medicine for over 20 years, and I’m still surprised that people think they need to make tedious, earth shattering life changes to achieve better health. The truth is, simple changes can make a world of difference not just to how long we live, but to how “well” we live.
I DON’T WANT TO BE A BOARD-CERTIFIED, state-sanctioned pill pusher. With small adjustments to eating and activity habits, I’ve helped patients control high blood pressure, diabetes, acid reflux, obesity, and other common conditions as much as possible, without prescribing medication. You too can get started improving your health with these three easy steps.
1. IDENTIFY A NEGATIVE HABIT AND TAKE STEPS TO BREAK IT
Most of us have at least one. It might be sweets, alcohol… any number of things. If your morning habit is grabbing a café-latté-mocha-frappé, maybe you should have peppermint tea instead. If you have two glasses of wine a day, you could start by having only one, then you might reduce that to only four times a week, and so on. The bottom line is that you don’t have to be perfect, you just have to do better.
2. MAKE BETTER FOOD CHOICES—BECAUSE, YES, YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT
I often tell my patients, if you’re driving a Ferrari and you put bad gas in it, it’s still going to leave you on the side of the road. My rule of thumb is keep it simple. Use whole foods—carrots, garlic, tomatoes—and foods with ingredients you can pronounce. Limit your intake of processed foods. Even if your budget doesn’t allow you to buy organic, free-range, wild caught foods, you can still choose the best meats, veggies, and produce your money can buy. Try to get at least two servings of fruits and vegetables daily, and drink water… lots of it!
3. MOVE! YOUR HEALTH DEPENDS ON IT
They say sitting is the new cancer, and it’s not far from the truth. When you’re sitting in one spot for extended periods, it changes how your eye muscles work, how you use your body, your hips, your neck. It even affects circulation in your legs and your heart. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator or walking through the hallway at work for five- or 10-minute intervals is a great start. In my office, people who work in the back, print in the front, and vice versa, forcing them to get up and move. Another good habit is to drink lots of water; that way you have to take more bathroom breaks.
You don’t have to join a gym or start crossfit training, you just have to try to get in at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise three to four times a week. The first step to better health is putting yourself on your to-do list. Make these simple changes, stick to them, and you’ll be on your way to a healthier you.
Dr Michelle Morrison is a board-certified internist with a practice in Pembroke Pines, Florida.
Writer Calibe Thompson | Photography David I. Muir
When Island Origins first met Tanya Marie in 2013, all herstars seemed to be aligned. She was a free-spirited fashion icon in the making, with successful retail boutiques, a thriving design business, and remarkably, no significant life challenges to speak of. When we caught up with her again in 2018, her black girl magic was still intact, but some of the innate easiness and abandon we saw before had been dulled. She shared with us a story of true love, devastating loss, and an active return to inner peace and fashion freedom.
Photo by David I Muir
TANYA MARIE DESIGN is a well-known label in ultra-fab communities. Clients including Cynthia Bailey from the Housewives of Atlanta, Pitbull for the leading ladies in his music videos, and Timbaland for his bride’s wedding party, have called on Tanya Marie for her unique sense of bohemian couture.
If her styles were songs, you could say there are a few hit melodies that she riffs on over and over again—oh na na na. Cue the belted halter, the sleeveless sundress, and the flowy kaftan, typically with her trademark TM logo perfectly placed just below the cleavage to confirm that this is, in fact, a one-of-a-kind Tanya Marie creation. Although the silhouettes are similar, each piece is somehow strikingly singular, built with hand-cut, found fabrics, sporting frayed edges and beautifully deliberate imperfections. Her description—“my aesthetic is organic, free, flowy, happy, traveled.”
FASHION FREEDOM
She almost never uses a pattern. Instead, she assembles what she sees in her mind by pinning and stitching seemingly random scraps of fabric to body form mannequins, in the end producing breathtaking ensembles. She calls her design aesthetic “Fashion Freedom.”
“It’s funny,” says Tanya. “I know how to get that cut. I don’t even have to look, I just know it’s going to fit. A lot of people are very structured and they just think about patterns. I know what fits a woman’s body. I love curves in whatever size.”
There is an obvious reverence in her creation process, but she has none for the actual clothing, happily ripping and reassembling based on the best fit for her client’s frame. You can actually feel a little of the joy from her spirit when you look at each item she creates. “When a woman puts one of my dresses on, I definitely want her to feel confident. I think confidence is the most beautiful asset.”
She recalls, as a child, going into her mother’s closet and, without approval, cutting her mom’s clothes to give them a cuter fit—a habit that followed her into young adulthood. As a Miami Heat dancer, after first getting in trouble for these unsolicited wardrobe adjustments, she was commissioned to rework the entire group’s costumes.
She became a buyer for a high-end boutique. “Even Cavalli dresses, if they didn’t sell by the end of the season, I would change it up.” She laughs, “you know like how we step into a space and just take over? It’s a Jamaican thing!” The store owner never had an issue, because the modified designer outfits would always sell.
When she finally learned how to operate a sewing machine and created her first complete dress from scratch, it sold for $1,000 the next day. The rest, as they say, is history. She grossed over a million dollars in her first year, soon striking out on her own, parlaying her love of design into profitable retail stores in Miami’s Design District and Biscayne Boulevard areas, and a thriving fashion business with an enviable client list.
Photo by David I. Muir
A DEEPER LOVE
That bold essence was a little less so when we spoke this time.
Not by surprise, but quicker than Tanya Marie was prepared to accept, 2018 saw the passing of her sister Camille. Her ‘spirit twin’ was gone, lost to leukemia.
“It’s hard talking about my sister. But I’m doing the work that it takes to breathe through it… it’s a huge process,” she says, her voice breaking.
Tanya had spent years building her brand, admittedly neglecting her family. In recent years, as treatments we’re becoming more aggressive and the illness was quietly taking its toll, Camille asked Tanya to step back from allowing work to consume her. Tanya finally listened.
She let go of her storefronts and dialed everything back so she would have more time, though it turned out not to be enough. When Camille eventually transitioned, she took some of Tanya’s happiness with her. The designer’s sister wanted her to enjoy the fruits of her labor, and to understand that it could all be gone in an instant. “My sister’s passing has helped me to just breathe,” she reflects. “Just to be present in the moment.”
THE NEXT CHAPTER
She has a closer relationship with her parents now, and she feels like Camille is opening the right doors for her. At a time when she wanted to shrink from the light, potential new investors and celebrity partnerships are coming to the table. Little by little, she’s rediscovering her happy place.
Tanya knows that the way forward must include her giving initiative, Teach a Girl to Sew. Years ago, she started mentoring girls who would stop in at her Wynwood store wanting to learn more about this successful black woman entrepreneur. She has shared with them that “passion is the key. God gave all of us something, and whatever it is, you have to do that.”
With non-profit status secured, she’s committed to mentoring a hand-selected few of them now through college, or whatever they choose to do in their young lives.
Motivated, she shares, “I feel like my sister Camille is alive in me and pushing me to greater heights… truly.” Still, she’s striving for balance; not so driven by the hustle. “I’m still trying to figure out what’s important,” she says. “But I know it’s about the people that you love. They say while you make a living, make a life. Because it’s not about the money, it’s about everything.”
The newest Tanya Marie Design collection is out in the Fall of 2018.
I happily started research on this article by going to the Savage x Fenty website, where I quickly realized that with her new lingerie line, Rihanna was, of course, doing something completely different from the norm. I slowly scrolled through, marveling at the stunning, non-traditional selection of models Riri’s team chose for this campaign. The “savages” broke with every imaginable stereotype—no standard size 6 and smaller, no bias against cellulite and stretch marks. Most models had some meat on their bones… and they were all sexy.
Photography Courtesy Of Savage X Fenty
IN A VIDEO HALFWAY down the front page of the site, a voluptuous woman wearing cream-colored lingerie leans back on a couch with her legs crossed. Her expression—boundless confidence.
Much like Fenty Beauty, Rihanna’s makeup line that caters to every skin tone, her lingerie line makes sexiness accessible to real women, not just the perfectly airbrushed “skinny girls.” With each of her models and designs, the Bajan bad gal resists and remixes traditional beauty standards. Rihanna told UK Vogue “It was important to me to push the boundaries. I want women to feel…confident, sexy, flirty. But most of all, I want them to feel like themselves.”
THE UGLY SIDE OF THE BEAUTY INDUSTRY
Savage X is a body-positive brand. It’s part of a social movement that embraces the acceptance and appreciation of all body types, regard – less of size, color, texture, or other facet of appearance. Take a look at the “Savages”—any woman can see herself in them.
This powerful move dismantles decades of body-negative messaging, which imposed a rigid standard of beauty accessible only to the fair-skinned, straight-nosed, and slender—unrealistic for most, deadly for some. The statistics on women plagued by eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, for example, are staggering.
According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, between 85 and 95 percent of people with anorexia are women. And the organization Mirror-Mirror Eating Disorder Help says people with anorexia are 56 times more likely to commit suicide than non-sufferers. This is not to say body negativity and low self-esteem are the only factors causing these disorders, but they do play a part.
FOR EVERY MOOD
Photography Courtesy Of Savage X Fenty
It’s refreshing to see a megastar like Rihanna embrace body positivity, catering to all women and all moods. She divided the collection into four categories: “On the Reg,” a selection of T-shirt bras; “U Cute” for items with lacy details; “Damn,” which includes corsets and bodysuits; and “Black Widow,” crotchless panties.
I love how Rihanna widens the scope of lingerie offerings. She says, “You don’t have to stick to one personality with lingerie; it’s fun to play around. You can be cute and playful one week and a black widow next week… I want people to wear Savage X Fenty and think, I’m a bad bitch.”
The collection includes bra sizes from 32A to 44DD, underwear ranging from XS to XXXL, and offers several shades of nude—because nude comes in many different shades, right? And it’s reasonably priced. While other major lingerie brands may carry larger sizes, their models are usually one size—stick thin. At Savage X, there’s a clear break from that mold.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
In a review on the Savage X website, Susan, a size 2x/3x, wrote: “… Thank you for understanding that some of this world is more than a size 12 (sometimes way more)!”
There’s a social media frenzy around the brand as well. Chire wrote on Facebook, “Just the range in sizes alone makes me feel included… She’s paid attention to what women look like, what this industry lacks, and addressed it.”
“Most fun I ever had shopping for my wife #SavageXFenty,” tweeted G.L. @8plus9. “If she gets pregnant we naming this baby Rihanna.”
CONTINUITY
With Savage X Fenty and other collections that follow suit, I’m hopeful that more women will see reflections of themselves, and beauty standards will shift over time. It’s also significant that Rihanna launched her line at the height of her career, while she is still an influencer of millions, somehow validating all women, acknowledging we can all be sexy.
Through this lingerie line, Rihanna proclaims the ideal body is the real body, and that’s pretty empowering. She emphasises on the website that women should enjoy lingerie for themselves, adding “I want women to own their beauty.” We agree!
Jean Francillon and Ilbert Sanchez | Photo by Richard Lecoin
In the world of high-end fashion, talent is the heart, but money is virtually the life blood of business. Designers must gain industry recognition, maintain relevance, and establish and sustain financial profitability to find lasting success. Money may not be the motive, but you certainly can’t do high-end fashion right without lots of it!
ISLAND ORIGINS SPOKE TO THE MEN at the helm of two successful fashion houses, Bill Edwards Clothing Company and Garçon Couture, who helped us understand how they thrive tactically and financially in the fiercely competitive high-end fashion industry.
Photo by Richard Lecoin
GARCON COUTURE
A wealthy clientele offers a great support system for Jean Francillon and Ilbert Sanchez, principals of Garçon Couture, an online menswear company with physical locations in Miami, Florida and Grand Central Station in New York City.
Haitian-born Francillon, and Sanchez, a Honduran, met as college roommates and decided to merge their talents for a fashion venture. With Francillon’s sharp eye for stylistic detailing and Sanchez’s expertise in entrepreneurship, Garçon Couture was born, and officially launched on Black Friday in 2016.
Their clients can order online, and customize everything from fit, to monogram and lining via digital or in-person consultation. Their finely milled fabrics are sourced from Italy and Shanghai.
“Our target market is 65 percent men / 35 percent women between ages 22 and 47,” Francillon explains. “From the experience of designing your piece with one of our team members, to the fit of your garment; these are all hallmarks of the Garçon experience. We create pieces that our competitors are not, because we create with our clients. Perspective is not something you can reproduce or mimic,” he asserts.
Their celebrity client list includes actors Rotimi and Omari Hardwick from Power, Caleb Mclaughlin of Stranger Things, Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers, Tahiry Jose of Beautiful Destroyer, and Jamie Hector from The Wire.
High profile support does not encourage complacency for Francillon, Sanchez, and their staff of four.
Photo by Jean Francillon
“In business, there are always challenges. Sometimes we come across hurdles that require a lot of problem-solving. Being in a climate where we have four seasons, we learn to adapt with the traffic flow depending on what season it is,” Sanchez explains. “Summer is usually our slow season. So… we actually increase our marketing tactics to maintain our profitability margins.”
Typical of a growing business, the partners have a tight-knit crew and every cent counts as they seek to expand.
“We source the capital ourselves and reinvest our profits into the business. We do all custom tailoring,” Francillon says.
Though aggressive social media campaigning is one of Garçon Couture’s main marketing strategies, Francillon points to customer satisfaction as a key element in their growth.
“We have return customers. They rarely just come and get one suit. Our word-of-mouth clientele is growing immensely and our social media presence is amazing,” Francillon says. “What you see is what you think you will get, but when you get it, it’s 10 times what you ever imagined. All of our clients leave our showroom with the WOW factor. Always a great feeling.”
Photo by Everet Laing
BILL EDWARDS
Bill Edwards, one of Jamaica’s premier clothing designers, is a highly recognizable name in men’s design on the island. Five years after he began producing custom-made suits, he was approached by Elias “Lee” Issa, a leading hotelier in the island, and owner of a high-end retail clothing chain called Lee’s Fifth Ave.
“He told me that we have something special and we should go for branding,” Edwards recalls. “He put our products in his hotels and stores, and that really put Bill Edwards designs out there.”
The Bill Edwards line was officially launched in 1997, amidst a financial crisis in Jamaica. It was not the right environment to seek investors, especially for an industry not known for making quick returns.
“When I started out, there was hardly any bank that would look at me. It was the 1990s in Jamaica and interest rates were through the roof,” Edwards says. “But we persevered and got assistance… the key thing is, I paid my bills!” He also paid his dues.
While raising capital was critical for expanding his fledgling enterprise, it was Issa’s faith in Edwards’ talent, and his access to ideal distribution channels, that created the right environment for the designer to succeed. Within months, his Italian linen suits, shirts, and shorts were displayed in Lee’s stores, as well as shops at his Couples Resort.
Today, Bill Edwards clothing is sold throughout the Caribbean—in Barbados, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States Virgin Islands. Jamaican politicians such as former prime ministers P.J. Patterson and Portia Simpson Miller have worn his creations, as have popular dancehall artists such as Beenie Man.
Now 63, the designer says his business turned the corner about 10 years ago when he acquired a factory space in Kingston, Jamaica’s capital. He is currently creative director of a company that employs 32 people, including five designers, and when the demand increases going into the December holiday season, he hires more people.
“In fashion, if you’re not manufacturing you’re not doing anything. It just makes no sense,” he says.
Edwards travels to fashion conferences throughout the Caribbean and United States, introducing his line of “Caribbean chic” to new interests. He’s also been to Poland and Lithuania to source material for his product.
Each February, the bustling streets of Port of Spain, Trinidad are transformed by a swarming kaleidoscope of colorful sequins, feathers, and glittery, sweat-covered bodies. Revelers in Caribbean carnival costumes and masses of onlookers “chip” to the heart-pounding rhythms of soca music. It’s an entrancing sea of Trini culture that suspends all worries, and biases, even just for the duration of the carnival season.
A FEW ISLANDS TO THE NORTHEAST, Barbadians celebrate Crop Over, a six to eight weeks-long festival culminating on the first Monday in August with a massive street parade. Masqueraders “jump” to lively soca music in a blowout finale on Spring Garden Highway in the capital city, Bridgetown.
And, on Boxing Day (December 26) and New Year’s Day, Bahamians “rush” down Bay Street, Nassau, entranced by the Junkanoo music played with goatskin drums, horns, cowbells, conch shells, and other locally made instruments. A few years ago, they added a pre-Lenten celebration, the Bahamas Carnival, to their event roster.
Each celebration has a different origin, but all share a common thread of colorful, meticulously designed costumes.
According to media personality and carnival enthusiast Vanessa James, whose documentary Carnival to the World is set for release in 2019, during slavery “Africans were not allowed to participate in the celebrations (of their masters) and thus rioted and forged their own celebrations. They had their own festivals and made their own costumes and sent their messages (of resistance and rebellion) through the seamstresses who designed their costumes.” Participants used Caribbean carnival costumes and songs to challenge the status quo, and through satire, mocked their masters openly.
Costume designers today continue to play an integral role in carnival, creating vibrant artwork with spandex and feathers, using writhing human bodies as their canvas. It is worth noting that the satire in song has also stood the test of time.
Photo: Jamie Bruce
EXHIBITING ARTISTRY
Costume-making for The Bahamas’ Junkanoo bands is a little different than their other Caribbean counterparts. For starters, participants—both children and adults—usually make their own costumes using cardboard and crepe paper, then decorate them with feathers, gems, and any other materials they wish, bound only by the limits of their imagination. These costumes are distinctly Ghanaian—Akan to be exact—and feature brightly colored, elaborate masks that can be fierce and whimsical. The results are often stunning.
However, for the springtime carnival celebration, costume designers like Anton James provide their services. James is one of the designers of the Bahamas Masqueraders, ensuring that The Bahamas is represented in carnivals at home and abroad. He is currently creating costumes for the Wassi Ones, a Bahamian mas band that will participate in the Miami Broward Carnival in October 2018. James wants local Bahamian designers to have a fair chance to exhibit their artistry. He believes that while costumes have to be beautiful and sturdy structures, they should also be comfortable and easy to wear.
Notably, Bahamian carnival costumes feature both the extravagant, bedazzled beadwork and exotic plumage of traditional French costume designs, and West African elements such as horns and cowbells.
FROM THE STAGE TO THE STREETS
Brooklyn-born Bajan clothing designer Nicole Harris has outfitted reggae artists such as
Tarrus Riley and Sean Paul. But four years ago she segued into carnival costume design—a natural transition since she was raised in a family from Barbados and was always
playing mas (masquerade). She currently has her own section, Nsirrah, themed “Moonshine-Harlem, The Golden Age,” for the Miami Broward Carnival 2018 band Djunction Mas. Harris started planning for this year’s carnival last October, one week after the Miami celebration ended. She creates costumes for every position in the band: back line (little or no feathers), front line (bigger feathers) and a premium and extravagant costume for the section leader. Her costumes range from $300 to $1,500. She also stresses that as flamboyant as her costumes appear, they’re lightweight and allow revelers to move freely.
Photo: Kevin Anthony
MORE THAN SWIMSUITS AND FEATHERS
Natashia Vernon of Exotic Stitch Creative Production, LLC is a Trinidadian carnival costume designer. She currently builds costumes out of Miami and Orlando for Miami-based Trinidadian mas band Jamdong Management. Vernon says they begin the process of building costumes for the following year immediately after the current carnival ends. They decide on a theme, conduct thorough research, select the right fabrics, beading, wiring, and gems, then construct the various components of the costume.
Vernon explains that a good costume designer must not only know how to sew, but also how to weld, and bend wire creatively. She sees design trends returning to their cultural roots with the creation of traditional, meaningful costumes, rather than simplistic celebrations of nakedness. For her, “It is not about a swimsuit and feathers. It’s about structure and form. I am designing for all shapes and sizes, so (my designs) are versatile, but complement and enhance any body type.”
While Vernon, Harris, and James represent different islands and are driven by different influences, they all have a passion for the process of costume design, and a skillful hand in preserving their culture for generations to come.
Make-up artist Atarah Samaroo creates this shimmery blue look for Carnival. Photo Credit Atarah Samaroo, founder of A.Nichelle and Co. anichelleandco.com
Thanks to today’s fully packed calendar of Caribbean-style carnivals around the world, the fete never stops for true die-hards. But no matter where you go, the weather is almost never kind to our make-up looks, from blazing sun rays to random showers. Ahead of next weekend’s Miami Broward Carnival (October 5-7), make-up artist Atarah Samaroo gives us the beauty lowdown for the carnival season all year round. The founder of A. Nichelle & Co. Image Consulting Services, and a native Trini herself, Samaroo knows her way around a killer carnival look. Check out her tips and tricks for the best carnival glow-up, from holistic skincare to the wonders of glitter.
What should we use to make our make-up look last all day in the sun?
Be sure to do proper application of makeup where you have layers of face powder and setting powders. I also love Ben Nye Final Seal setting spray, which was especially formulated for stage makeup so performers and actors don’t sweat their face makeup off. It sets the look in place. I’ve tested it for Trinidad Carnival and it lasted over 12 hours.
What should we bring with on the road for touch-up?
This is part of the service I offer when I do makeup. With my carnival makeup fee, I provide a touch up pouch, small enough to not weigh you down and filled with the essentials — a mix of blot powder, sponge applicator, a lipstick in the color used for your carnival makeup and antibacterial wipes.
What skincare tip should we do to get that extra natural glow?
Your skin is a reflection of your insides physically and mentally. Physically by being hydrated always with water, taking the right multivitamins, using the best skin products to exfoliate and add moisture and mentally..just having a happy mentality, a positive vibe and always smiling. Sounds scientific but self care is the number 1 way to glow. A temporary fix will be your highlight palette (Anastasia Beverly Hills Moonchild glow kit is my fave because the highlights are in various hues from blue to purple, green or pink) where you swipe upwards from cheeks to temple, bridge of nose, Cupid’s bow of the lips (the v area of the top lip)
Favorite eye-look for carnival this year?
The best eye look will depend on the person, but Carnival is about color, so I love a variations of glitter, gems, metallic, matte, bright shimmers. My favorite will always be glitter. There’s something about the sun hitting your eyes, giving you that extra shine of color.
Make-up artist Atarah Samaroo demonstrates her two-toned glittery cut crease, inspired by Miami Carnival costume “The Arts,” portrayal by Djunction Mas. Photo Credit Atarah Samaroo, anichelleandco.com
Favorite lip look?
I love a colored lip, whether it’s monochromatic or vibrant dual colors, with one shade on the top lip and another shade on the bottom.
Best way to coordinate your make-up with your costume?
Depending on the arrangement of colors in your headpiece and costume, I would either use the non-dominant color or all the colors, or a color that’s opposite to the dominant color. For instance, for an orange costume, I would do bright blue eye makeup. For a green and pink costume with gold trimmings, I would do a gold glitter smokey eye to bring out the gold on the costume. If the costume is purple, I’ll do a lavender cut crease eye look, where the lid is lavender and above the lid is purple, or I might do a green gradient eye look. It depends what speaks to you the most.
Make-up artist Atarah Samaroo demonstrates a pink monochrome look, ideal for Carnival. Photo Credit Atarah Samaroo, founder of A.Nichelle and Co. anichelleandco.com
