The theme of this year’s event was “Camp: Notes on Fashion”. The term, “Camp,” basically means stepping outside of the box of what society normally expects.

In my opinion though, I think this year, the celebrities didn’t go all out with their looks unlike previous years. Some of them actually came through and some snatched our edges while at it!

See below our favorite looks from the event.

Zendaya was a modern day edgy Cinderella in this flourescent Tommy Hilfiger dress. Super retro, love it!

Ciara came through dripping like the queen that she is in this gorgeous emerald dress designed by Peter Dundas. Gosh look at those abs of steel! *drops doughnut*

We think Ava Duvernay played safe but she looks hella gorgeous in this eye-catching green gown by Prada.

Billy “OMG” Porter came for our edges again last night with this golden fit by The Blonds.

Danai Gurira just never disappoints! She looks gorgeous in this outfit by Gabriela Hearst.

Dwayne Wade came through looking like gangsta royalty in this custom sparkling Dundas fit.

Yasssss Janelle! She looked absolutely picturesque in this ensemble by Christian Siriano.

Jourdan Dunn showed up on the red carpet looking like a rose flower in this design by Zac Posen. We love it!

Okay Lewis Hamilton! Go ahead with your bad self in this metallic zig-zag suit that we can’t really describe.

Lilly Singh came looked seriously enchanting in this purple ombre dress by Jeremy Scottgown.

Lupita Nyong’o never fails to disappoint and yet again, she proves that she is one of Hollywood’s finest fashionistas in this Prada dress.

Michael B. Jordan‘s Coach 1941 suit was fit for a superhero

Naomi Campbell looked stunning as always in this Pier Paolo Piccioli for Valentino Haute Couture dress.

Regina Hall showed off her toned legs in this gold, black and cream dress created by Gucci. #BlackDon’tCrack y’all!

Tracee Ellis Ross looked like a work of art in this dress by Jeremy Scott.

Who was your best dressed at Met Gala 2019?

“Being a ‘child of’ meant that you were sort of riding on the coattails of your parent,” she says. “It would unlock the door and then people would sit on the other side . . . waiting for you like, ‘She’s no Diana Ross.’ At a very young age, even before I wanted to be an actor, I felt just the energy that was coming at me because I was a piece of somebody that people loved.”

Tracee Ellis Ross would forge her own path and begin to embody the woman we now know to be fierce, empowered and incredibly sure of herself which is why it comes as no surprise that her success today is speaking for her. But, it would be a slow, bumpy ride for the actress to get here.

After graduation, Ross began working in fashion before deciding to pursue a career in acting. She landed s0me small roles and then her big break came with the hit sitcom, Girlfriends, which ran for 8 years. Girlfriends was a unique show. It depicted the lives of single black females forging their paths in career, business and even in the creative industry while showcasing their love lifes, friendships and varied personalities. The Black-ish star was pretty sure this was her big break when she landed this role except that it wasn’t.

“When I was on Girlfriends, I thought I would be able to get on David Letterman or Jay Leno or some talk show, and I never—it never happened. After being the lead on a show for eight years that did incredibly well, I thought perhaps the seas might part and I would have my choice and my pick of the litter—no, that didn’t happen.”

Ross speaks on the change in times in the television industry as she mentions that we currently live in a time where people of colour are able to create stories that get picked up by television stations and for that she’s thankful. She duffs her hat to Issa Rae who is a classic example of a black woman who continues to own her craft and whose shows got picked up from Youtube to what we now know to be HBO’s Insecure.

Tracee, whose combined wit and confidence seeps through in her outfit choices and the issues to which she chooses to lend her voice, gives credit to her mother, iconic singer and performer, Diana Ross, for her strength, which she has come to emulate.

“My mother is a woman who completely possessed her own agency and embodied a sense of her own power, unapologetically”

In her same confident streak, Tracee who couldn’t land a talk show with David Letterman, now in her late 40s who now stars in what  has been deemed one of the most impactful episodes of TV’s most popular sitcoms, Black-ish, has a directorial project in the works entitled, Mother Nature, which deals with the theme of Post-Partum depression, a subject seldom raised in TV, let alone in comedy.  When she isn’t landing Ted Talks and speaking on “how a woman’s fury holds a lifetime of wisdom”,  she is also lending her voice to the ‘Time’s up’ movement.

She has also been very vocal about women breaking patriachial constructs and to define for themselves what happiness means. Her non-conformist perspective on societal ideals is always evident, as Tracee is always vocal about self love and the importance of living your best life by your own definition.

Speaking on pregnancy rumours. she told Vanity Fair:

Last year, I was [fictionally] pregnant all season. That brought on a lot of comments and questions and pontifications from people with no invitation. I literally have said to people, for real, no joke, ‘Why don’t you just get out of my womb? Like, get out of my uterus? What are you doing in there? And why are you asking those questions? And what makes you think you can ask that?’ Part of what patriarchy has created for women is this siloed-off experience, with one answer for what a good life looks like.”

Among many things, Tracee is a role model for younger women who are looking to find their voice. Her confidence is inspiring and oh so refreshing in a society that doesn’t encourage individuality very often. To see a woman of colour live rather boldly in colour is a remarkable feat; one our generation should hold dear.

She is also testament to the fact that the big moment we’ve been waiting for might not come when we expect it but nonetheless, to keep fighting the good fight of authenticity.

I find that as women, our appearance still goes a long way. We need to look the part if we’d like to get the part and that’s not changing anytime soon. So it is really important to ensure that we always look presentable on our journey to world domination!

As I did some research on my skin and as I have grown to understand the unique needs of my skin (everyone does so take some time to get to know yours), I have come to realize that I too can achieve this “no make-up, make-up look” everyone’s been fawning about even in Lagos’ extremely humid weather and with my sensitive skin.

My ‘How’

I took a week off to truly invest in my skin. I had already found a face wash that worked perfectly for me: Black soap with honey by Toriaranaturals.  So it was time to go the extra mile to invest in a serum that works which could be used under my medicated cream(unfortunately, I’m stuck with this for life-that’s the level of sensitivity of this skin I’ve got).  A friend recommended the tumeric gel by FigHealthStore and I figured that I’d go for it as I am currently into everything natural for skin and hair-even though I have relaxed hair.

In only a week and a few days, I could see a clear difference. It was time to put my no make-up routine to the test.

I took a look at my skin and tried to figure out what I felt were my blemishes. I listed a few such as: Dark marks, dark spots and a few small pimples.

I went on to purchase concealer I felt would help my dark spots and instead of getting concealer that was my colour, it came down to purchasing an orange one which helped to conceal my dark marks better. If you’re dark/brown- skinned, you should definitely get this. If you have fairer skin, green would do the trick (it sounds ridiculous but trust me on this one).

I applied a little (barely a layer) to key areas such as the areas above my lip, under my eyes, on my eye lids and just over it, I applied a loose powder all over my face. For this, I opted for the BlkOpl brand which worked quite well for me but, any brand in your make-up purse should do. I applied mascara on my lashes and brushed my brows with a spoolie and I was done!

You’ll wind up looking rather natural but very fresh and the light will hit you in all the right places, which is our objective afterall. To add some oomph, add a little bronzer over your cheekbones, the tip of your nose and the spots above your brows  on your forehead.

Here was my result (I didn’t apply a bronzer but I just might next time) after 6 hours of wear.

Hey, you should definitely try this and let me know if it works for you!