Hello, Glam! I’m Patrice Grell Yursik, Your Newest Contributing Editor!

HEY THERE! My name is Patrice, but I’m better known as Afrobella. I started my blog six years ago, and I’ve been part of the Glam family for five years now. I’m a black woman from Trinidad and Tobago, I am proud of my natural hair, and I’m plus sized. And when I first started my blog, there wasn’t a whole lot in the media that was dedicated to celebrating the beauty of women like me. Through the years so much has changed! Now there are so many amazing blogs dedicated to natural hair, to plus sized fashion and to makeup for women of color, and there are women of all shapes, sizes and skin tones who are embracing what makes them unique, special and beautiful. It’s a wonderful thing! I’ll be here to share my latest favorite beauty, fashion and lifestyle finds here on Glam. I hope you love what you see.

The plan was to tell you my top five favorite beauty products, but there was no way I could just stick to that! Here are my top favorite brands, in makeup, hair, and skincare.

My top five favorite beauty brands are:

• NARS
• MAC Cosmetics
• Chanel
• Cover Girl
• Urban Decay

My top five favorite natural hair brands are:

• Oyin Handmade
• Shea Moisture
• EDEN BodyWorks
• Cantu
• Karen’s Body Beautiful

My top five favorite skincare brands are:

• Mario Badescu
• Kiehls
• Clarins
• Neutrogena
• Olay

Contributing Editor, Patrice Grell Yursik is the creator of Afrobella.com, one of the first blogs to celebrate the beauty of natural hair and ladies of all skin tones and sizes. Affectionately called the Godmother of Brown Beauty Blogging, Patrice takes her readers inside unique beauty, fashion and cultural experiences.

Afrobella has done campaigns for Urban Decay and Lancôme, and has been featured in the New York Times, the Chicago Sun-Times, Caribbean Beat, Essence, Glamour and Fast Company. In 2011, she partnered with MAC Cosmetics to create the “All Of My Purple Life” lipglass – it sold out in a week! She has covered New York Fashion Week, the BET Awards, and the Oscars. Afrobella was listed in Ebony Magazine’s Power 100, and is in the Black Weblog Awards Hall of Fame.

Patrice has become a sought after speaker, and has shared her wisdom at several conferences including Blogging While Brown, Blogalicious, and at TED 2012 in Port of Spain, Trinidad.