Fun in NOLA With Shea Moisture x 2013 Essence Festival

Rocque La Familia at the St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans.

This year’s birthday wanderlust drifted the hubby and I to New Orleans for the 2013 Essence Music Festival. It was my third time at the Essence Fest but my first time there as a real adult (my mom took me twice, once in high school then again in college, both for my birthday). The hubby, who had only once previously visited NOLA  for a few hours, for a business trip, rolled with it despite the girly nature of the trip (I’m trying to convince him to write a man’s survival guide) .

I’ve always enjoyed myself at the Fest but this trip was the most groundbreaking because as a media-connected adult I got to partake in cool events like the SheaMoisture pop up shop. When the Essence Festival hits town there’s no shortage of parties, pop up shops and brands everywhere trying to make their presence known! SheaMoisture stood out with friendly staff and a series of events featuring meet and greets with natural hair industry titans like Myleik Teele, founder of Curl Box, Curly Nikki, good music, a funky photo booth and celebrity visits from Boris Kodjoe and Nicole Ari Parker  and more. Our hotel was conveniently located a few blocks away so we stopped by as much as we could to check on our girl Nicole Newsome, publicist extraordinaire, who was working with the SheaMoisture team.

Photo Credit: Christina Brown of LoveBrownSugar.com

Anslem and Starrene with Nicole Newsome of SheaMoisture.

While there, we caught up with other friends like Imani from A Tribe Called Curl, Myleik, and even DJ C. Devone, my comrade from high school who provided the good tunes. We rolled to our high school prom together and now she’s an international DJ #swoon. We also played around with a photobooth on the premises and Nicole gifted us with some goodies.

DJ C Devone at the SheaMoisture pop up shop in NOLA.

Shea Moisture Pop Up Shop in New Orleans.

SheaMoisture Men’s Shaving Line.

SheaMoisture Body Lotion

SheaMoisture Shampoo and Body Wash.

SheaMoisture Bath and Body

SheaMoisture Problem Skin Facial Lotion

So yeah…I racked up. I’ve been using SheaMoisture’s body scrubs, shampoos and conditioners for a couple of years and so far I’ve like what I’ve tried, but I’m excited about the other products, especially the body lotions and shea butter, and the facial moisturizer (pictured above), which I’ve been using since I got back. I was skeptical at first because it’s really thick (and my skin is the worst) but so far so good. A little bit goes a long way so stay tuned for full product reviews and possibly some giveaways (if I can decide what I want to let go of, lol…but not so lol).

In other NOLA news, we of course did other stuff like hit up Cafe Du Monde multiple times, and I went to the Beyonce concert (yaaaaaasss!). There’s too much for one post so I’ll roll out more of what we did in NOLA over the course of the next few days.

This is not a sponsored post  but I’d like to thank Nicole Newsome and SheaMoisture, once again, for the emollient decadence!

Tags: Essence Music Festival, New Orleans, SheaMoisture, SheaMoisture Pop Up Shop

Category: Makeup/Beauty, Travel