Milan Noelle

Of all my creative abilities and interests, writing is my most favorite way to express myself.

I’ve created blogs, contributed to other blogs, wrote and published books and was a senior beauty editor for an online fashion & lifestyle magazine. I journal, I write on scraps of paper- I love to write!

As a child, books sparked and fueled my imagination and curiosity. They taught me about the world through different authors’ and characters’ vantage points and inspired me to explore the world for myself and write from mine. I’ve been writing since a pencil was first placed into my hand and have filled pages of numerous journals with my innermost thoughts and adventures through life.

OG NATURAL HAIR BLOGGER

AGrlCanMAC was my women’s lifestyle & culture blog for many years and some readers still remember and recognize me on the street! It originally started out as a makeup blog but took off when I began documenting my natural hair journey in 2008. In addition to natural hair, it covered beauty, books, health & fitness, lifestyle content to help elevate Black women and reaffirm their beauty, existence and significance. This country and world can be cruel, dismissive, and disempowering to us. My blog set out to celebrate, recognized, and uplift us.

When I started it, the natural hair phenomenon was in its fetus stage and it was so much fun pioneering the, then new, blogging and vlogging space being based in New York City. I loved seeing us embracing our hair as it was and sharing information to help each other care for, grow and style it. The blog afforded me many professional opportunities, cool experiences, connections, and even new friends. In 2020, the blog retired but it is still available to read and enjoy all the content I lovingly created over the years.

BEAUTY EDITOR, FOR US BY US

In the late 2000’s/early 2010’s, I had the honor of being the senior beauty editor at EXUDE Magazine.  It was an online publication that spoke to young, urban professionals of color about fashion, beauty, lifestyle and current events. It was owned and run by one of my besties and the rest of the editors were my friends too. We were young professionals looking to make our mark in the world from our cultural perspectives as young, gifted, and educated Foundational Black Americans and Caribbean Americans. We had a team of writers and produced networking events, covered NYFW shows, and encouraged our peers to get involved in their communities and politics- we were doing our thing.

I curated and wrote beauty pieces on skin care, makeup and beauty and creatively directed the makeup for our editorial features. It was an enriching experience and sometimes, I think we were even ahead of our time because consuming content via the internet was still so new. None the less, it was an experience that I’ll cherish forever. We had so much vision, talent, and excitement for the future and even though the magazine is no longer, we all went on to continue doing amazing things in our personal and professional lives.

FEMININITY & SPIRITUALITY

Throughout 2014, I was a contributing blogger to a bondage lingerie brand named Bodybinds. Bodybinds was a lifestyle lingerie brand for women of all ages, shapes, sizes and races who loved or were on the journey to love themselves, their bodies, their femininity and their sexuality. I adored how encouraging and inclusive the brand was. In a society and time when women were constantly bombarded with direct and indirect messages to hate, “fix”, and compare their bodies, they were so intentional about celebrating and including all bodies, not just thin ones that aligned with Eurocentric beauty standards.

The blog portion of the site contained content that spoke to the diversity of customers they had. I wrote about spiritual elements of reveling in femininity and sexual self expression. It was such a refreshing blog. Like, EXUDE Magazine, I think it was ahead of its time in many ways but sometimes some spaces walk so the future spaces can run. I’m glad to have been a part of this.

WHERE AM I NOW?

I’m still here, still writing.

Life took me away from blogging consistently for many years but I’ve continued writing offline or in other forums. I’ve felt the call to return to it for a while now and connect with people through a medium that I still think is so special and irreplaceable. Every day life and work is still going on, but the blogging will always hold a unique place in my heart and I’ve found that it’s an important part of my creative expression. It’s fun for me and it heals me.

If you’ve read this long, thank you. I hope you got to know me a little bit more. I also hope you’ll enjoy the content here, leave a comment under any posts you appreciate, or share one of my posts or my blog with someone who will.