Greetings, dear readers, and happy Tuesday! I had the pleasure of "attending" the first ever Virtual The Makeup Show this past weekend and yesterday. I'll have a follow up post with some of the details going up soon, but I wanted to do something special this week. I really enjoyed my Festival Week a couple weeks ago, and after a poll on IG, it seems like several people liked the idea of another themed week, so that's where we are today! While I would looking through some of my eyeshadow palettes, I realized I had a couple "goddess" palettes. As a result, I decided to make this week Goddess Week! I didn't want to just pull my palettes with a goddess-type name and put together a pretty look. Instead, I wanted this week to include a challenge of selecting a specific goddess inspired by each of the palettes, and creating a look that suited each goddess in particular based on their personalities and stories. As you will see in just a moment, I am limited based on my own features including my skin tone, but I still wanted to pay tribute to each of these goddesses to the best of my abilities. I hope you enjoy this week's theme!
Let's get to our first Goddess-themed palette!
First up for Goddess Week is the
Goddess Glow Palette by Lovinah Beauty. While the colours in this palette are certainly beautiful and there are so many looks that can be created, I really wanted to embrace the qualities of a specific goddess that fit the palette. The Lovinah brand revolves around ancient traditions of Africa, and it was my responsibility to select an African goddess to highlight with this particular palette. It would have been easy to go with one of the many well known ancient Egyptian goddesses, but I felt that would be a disservice to the rest of the continent, particularly since there are many African goddesses celebrated to this day. I found myself drawn to the Yoruba people of southern Nigeria and delved into the world of the Orisha, or minor gods and goddesses. The slave trade to the Americas brought the Orisha across the Atlantic to the new world where names and stories may have been modified, but I have worked to parse out the details between what is African and what is Latin American for this post.
The Orisha I selected for this post is Oya. Oya is the orisha of winds, lightening, violent storms, death, and rebirth. She is the embodiment of change, and given the current climate in the US, systemic change is certainly something that is sorely needed. Oya is a fierce warrior who brings about change with strong winds, and there is a story where she brought a devastating tornado to destroy the enemies of one who called for her aid. In Nigeria she is connected to the masquerade and would appear masked; some even say that humans have never seen the true face of Oya. I opted to go maskless for the purpose of this post. I suppose if no person has ever truly beheld her, then any take on Oya would be subject to interpretation. I hope you enjoy.
Given Oya's ties to tornadoes, hurricanes, and what some may perceive as a severe form of justice, I envisioned her to be dark and brooding. As she is so frequently tied with the shades burgundy and purple (although I must also note a tie to a rainbow of color due to bearing 9 children), I felt this look would suit the aesthetic I had in mind for Oya. I would expect Oya to have a fair bit darker skin tone than I have, but this post in an hommage to Oya, and I do not wish to disrespect her or the Yoruba by painting black face.
In addition to my cosmetic choices, I wanted to pay attention to other details. My hair, for example, I kept a little more wild and wind swept. I also created these earrings with cowrie shells as Oya, alongside the other Orishas, use cowrie shells to create patterns that answer questions asked by priests during divination.
I thoroughly enjoyed creating this look, but in truth, my favorite part of this particular challenge was learning about Oya and other orishas. While my knowledge in goddesses is limited in general, I admit I never truly realized until this project just how limited it was when it came to African goddesses. I've since picked up a book by Lilith Dorsey to help remedy this deficiency, but if you have any other suggestions, please feel free to leave them in the comments below!
I hope you have enjoyed today's post and perhaps learned a little about the powerful Orisha Oya!
Until next time, dear readers, have a wonderful day!
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Whoah, you look amazing! I love the look you created and the jewelry you're wearing. And your hair looks amazing!
ReplyDeleteOh wow I love this! Those burgundy/purple shades look amazing on you! Love the concept too!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous eye look! I have this palette and I haven't used it yet. Now that I have more time in the morning I need to do more fun make up looks! :)
ReplyDeleteGorgeous look! I adore everything, the makeup, the accessories, the hair!
ReplyDeleteIt's so great that you are having fun with makeup especially in these crazy times. Love the eyes but I'm not sure the lips have the same vibe. It's great that you have the jewelry too to bring this to life.
ReplyDeleteI love your interpretation. You inspire me to have fun with makeup!
ReplyDeleteOoo those look lovely on you!
ReplyDeleteYour hair is looking so good. Also you are killing these looks. I really have got to try Lovinah one of these days - especially since she’s a Texas girl lol.
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