“no honey, you’re not dark-skinned. not even close. you’re like three shades away. no one’s ever told you this before?”
—the champ’s mother to the champ’s father 15 or so years ago, after the champ’s father made a matter-of-fact reference during dinner to being dark-skinned.
despite black america’s latent preoccupation with color, skin tone, and shade, our definitions of exactly what makes someone light or dark-skinned remain somewhat arbitrary, and completely confusing.
don’t believe me?
ask 20 black people tomorrow to name a light-skinned black celebrity, and your answers will run the gamut from tracie ellis ross to jay-z, two people who resemble even-toed ungulates more than they do each other.
as long as our definitions remain so variable, we’ll continue to have 50 year old black men who need to be told by their wives and teenaged sons that they’re not the same complexion as courtney b. vance.
today, i’ve decided to put an end to this confusion with the vsb spectrum, an all-encompassing and omniscient ledger letting us all know exactly where we all stand, once and for all.
***pics added for clarity***
albino
passing
tragically passing
LIGHT-SKINNED
LIGHT BROWN-SKINNED
***this is where the paper-bag test officially ends. this also represents the end of light-skinned points, and light-skinned guilt (where light-skinned people get so self-conscious about their lack of melanin that they try extra hard to be extra black. i call this the micheal eric dyson corollary)***
caramel
***although this word isn’t gender-specific in theory, a straight man usually shouldn’t be described as caramel. ***
BROWN-SKINNED
***the easiest place on the list, brown-skinned bastards can live their entire life without the hyper color-consciousness plaguing the rest of the spectrum. they can date whoever they want without being labeled as colorstruck or an overcompensator, and they are typically free of the color-centric insults (high-yellow b*tch, african booty scracther, etc) thrown towards other ends of the spectrum. if it sounds like i’m hating, good. mission accomplished.***
DARK BROWN-SKINNED
***this is the point where it’s officially taboo for a black person to openly profess a preference for a person with lighter skin. also, there are more black professional athletes with this complexion than any other shade. i’m sure there’s a connection there somehow***
chocolate
***a friend of mine said that while a typical light-skinned chick is better looking than a typical dark-skinned chick, a banging dark skinned chick is better looking than a banging light-skinned chick. he’s currently in prison, btw. i have no point here. i just felt like sharing***
DARK-SKINNED
***its funny how the word “black” by itself has a negative connotation. for instance, my dad said that as a youngster, prefacing any insult with “black” (ie, “you black bastard” ) was grounds for an ass-whooping. according to my dad, it also snowed 5 inches everyday back then, so ive learned to take everything he says with a grain of salt***
so there you have it. people of vsb, get in where you fit in. where do you fit on the spectrum?
—the champ
Well this should get interesting.
BTW i’m darkskin and will gladly welcome any fine chick that feels like she’s being put down in this post…even my albino princesses.
@Dorian G.,
“BTW i’m darkskin and will gladly welcome any fine chick”
t-shirt potential
@The Champ,
u keep talking bout these elusive tshirts…
@b*tch who loves the smiley,
that’s cuz Champers is playing “bald headed games” (c) Luvvie
the VSB BBQ is going to be on the 32nd of Nevruary at 2600 hours. T shirts will be available then.
LOL you stoopit
Methinks I’m a (not so tall glass of) hot cocoa (french vanilla please). Or just regular brown skinned.
This ain’t got nothing to do with anything but it made me think of “Ooooo you so almondy! I’mo call you ‘Almond Joy’”
@Luvvie,
Lol. Girl, stay offa TV One watchin Martin e’erday!!!
@nia,
Martin is THAT biz (pre-sexual harassment accusation. Then it got mad awkward)
Oh and I’m kinda mad that they made the albino chick in that picture wear white AND pose in front of a white background. The art directors ain’t have her best interest in mind. *shakes head* No sah! They got old girl looking like “Powder” *sad face*
@Luvvie,
i QUIT you for the ‘powder’ reference.
now go stand in a field and catch some lightning or sumthin…
@SouthernGirl,
You cant quit me. I wont let you :-p
@Luvvie,
There’s an albino guy who goes to my church. He has the cutest daughter, she’s got the biggest blondest fro–it’s sooo cute.
@miss t-lee, well, a friend of mine is light-skinneded and is marrying a Caucasian woman. They have 3 kids and they are albino-ish in nature and it is NOT cute. It’s actually kinda scary. I feel like their oldest daughter is stealing my soul everytime I look @ her.
…light is not always right.
@DurrrtyDiana
“I feel like their oldest daughter is stealing my soul everytime I look @ her.”
Chuckling….no actually I’m laughing.
@DurrrtyDiana,
Oh I know it’s not always right…lol
It’s just something about this particular girl that I find so cute.
@DurrrtyDiana,
I feel like their oldest daughter is stealing my soul everytime I look @ her.
so basically she’s like agatha from “minority report”?
@The Champ,
agatha was a scary looking broad…I mean, I know she can see the future, but dang can a heffa blink sometimes….
@N.I.A. happyhumpday….,
LMAO!
@DurrrtyDiana,
Trying not to laugh too hard because clearly this is not funny.
@mssmtaylor,
Bullchips. This whole thread is hi-freaking-LARIOUS. I quit all y’all.
@DurrrtyDiana,
“I feel like their oldest daughter is stealing my soul everytime I look @ her”
*dead*. You will not call the girl Voldemort. Lmao. Maybe you oughta wear a vial of unicorn blood around ur neck for safety.
@Luvvie, that’s right Luna Luvvie(good)
@DurrrtyDiana,
So so wrong! Yet so so funny!
Father please forgive me for laughing, please Jesus
If we go by your scale, I guess am varying degrees of light brown. Most of the year I’m C7 (MAC). But there’s about a month in the late summer where I could get away with NW45 (MAC)–I think. And you are right. It’s the best of both worlds. It’s like being born in America but speaking fluent
Spanishstandard Arabic and living inSouth TexasDC and being sought after for my translation skills.Having said all that, I have met many women (no men) who are the same color as me, or darker, and consider themselves light-skinned. Ninety percent of them are from Atlanta. I don’t get it. But I do get a kick out of them buying make-up three shades too light cus when they take pictures they look like clowns. *shrug*
@Hostess,
I’m a native Atlantan and that was just too true. People down here are just color struck; I’m brown skinned and people always want to make me take sides. Everybody down here refers to themselves as light, dark and high yellow/redbone as if there’s nothing in between!
P.S. Your blog is very entertaining, btw.
@PeachyKeen, “I’m a native Atlantan and that was just too true. People down here are just color struck”
That explains a lot! I have 2 friends from Atlanta and they are always focused on skin color. One friend goes out of her way to associate herself as light-skinned even though she’s a pretty brown-skinned girl. The other always refers to people by their color.
@PeachyKeen,
“I’m brown skinned and people always want to make me take sides.”
Haha. By this color wheel I guess I’m caramel (though I’m not sure Eve is darker than Lloyd Banks; I think its just that picture of her tanned). Anywho, alot of ppl will just pick light-skinned or dark-skinned for me cuz ninjas hate nuance!
@Hostess,
I know people with make up issues like this.
Hey Girl, Hey, the Geisha look is not cool. Please adjust that.
@Hostess,
When I was working at CVS a few years ago a white woman came up to the check out counter. She purchased brown foundation that could have matched Angela Bassett! It was hlarious!
Not really a reply so much as a gripe!
Here’s my problem with foundation, dermablend and all the rest. I can find stuff to match my brownness, but they all have some kinda weird orange or gray undertone. I don’t know what my undertone is (my mama and sister say “green”???) but I know it aint orange or green. I don’t know how anyone makes that stuff work cuz I rarely see it on the shelves in human colors.
@Me fail english?,
you should go to presciptives, they can make ur customised color right 4 u in the store, right undertone and everything!!! (i’m a mac and sephora junkie, and i know i need help)
@Me fail english?,
Yeah, co-sign Princess Mo. Go the counter and have it matched professionally. MAC has some stuff that will look like second skin, I promise.
@Me fail english?,
MAC doesn’t make a color that matches me…it’s either too red and light, or too dark. Not to mention it makes me look like I have a mask on my face. I use a mineral makeup, and it looks great, doesn’t look like I have anything on. A 2520 chick at the Starbucks drive-told me my skin looked great.
@N.I.A. happyhumpday….,
im jealous! i havent found a mineral makeup that looks good for me. they all turn out looking extremely ashy.
@Hostess,
Hey fellow mac lover, i’m usually a nc 42 but it’s slightly darker than my skin, but not in the summer (I use nc 35 studio fix to cover those dark circles, the red cancels out the darkness). but i’ve always thought of myself as darker as others see me i guess, by this spectrum i’m light brown skinned but people tell me i’m high yellow or red bone all the time (just like just now when i asked them at work they told me i was bright light yellow but i think i’m browner than that) i always wear bronzer (again mac) to make me slighly darker and i tan in the summetime, but i think ppl exagerate my lightness
@PrincesMo,
i looked at the scale again, i guess i’m light skinned (i thought light brown was for lisa ray)- i got a little extra excited-sad face lol
@Hostess,
Most of the year I’m C7 (MAC). But there’s about a month in the late summer where I could get away with NW45 (MAC)
can you translate this to american please?
@The Champ, I’m with you. My initial thought was that she’s a bluesy C7 chord on the guitar.
LOL only a musician (or one with an appreciation for reading/playing music)
@Scipio Africanus, My initial thought was that she’s a bluesy C7 chord on the guitar.
*swoon*
@The Champ, Those are MAC make-up colors for their product called Studio Fix. It’s a foundation that’s supposed to match the skin perfectly.
@Hostess,
except when it doesn’t
**side eye at MAC for making me look like I’m wearing a combination of stage and funegro make up**
@blackberry molasses,
Prescriptives had one of my cousins looking crazy too.
I had to break it down to her, that she had got “got”.
Ish didn’t match at all…lol
I’ll stick to blending two separate shades together ha!
@miss t-lee, I think the key to knowing if it’s a true match is to take a picture. Pictures tell you the truth when nobody else will.
@miss t-lee,
only if its a picture with no flash in natural light. cuz flash can make even the most beauteous makeup look like you just got embalmed.
@blackberry molasses,
why don’t you guys just switch to mineral make-up like bare escentuals. Its completely invisible and very, very light, you can see your skin through the make-up. Since I have great skin already, it just keeps my face looking fresh and my nose from looking oily when its hot. I’ll never use another brand again.
@Blue Skyez,
I absolutely love my Bare Minerals foundation!!! And Pur Minerals isn’t bad either.
@Blue Skyez, I have good skin too. I wear foundation to look like porcelain (Gladys, 2009).
@Blue Skyez,
I looked at the Bare Minerals color range. Somehow I think they need more variation in the shades. I’s skeered that its gonna make me look all ashy and dry about the face. I don’t need coverage, just shine control… no one said lovely dark skin ain’t oily sometimes.
I’m actually on MUFE’s Velvet Finish applied with a stippling brush… its about the same effect as mineral make up, but they seem to have a greater range of colors. Once its set with my own skin’s oils its invisible and BOOIFUL!
@Blue Skyez,
Yup. Bare Minerals is where it’s at.
@Blue Skyez,
See, this sounds like something I can use. I have relatively clear skin. But for some reason I inherited a recessive Jermaine Jackson grease gene. Even when I’m not sweating…
@Blue Skyez,
I, too, said the cat. I’m naturally oily. I’ve often wondered about BE though. I guess I’ll do some research.
@Blue Skyez,
Blue Skyez {April 8th, 2009 at 12:10 pm}
@blackberry molasses,
i’ve heard great things about bare escentuals….unfortunately it dosen’t work for exactly three percent of the population and I happen to be one of that unlucky three.
@Blue Skyez,
i, too, am part of that three. ive been to numerous sephoras and the darkest shade always looks like i just took a powder puff and put some baby powder on my cheek. there does seem to be a darker shade on sephora.com, but im not sure there will be much difference.
and, ive noticed that most of the dark-skinned women i know have oily skin. i find it soooo annoying! but i think its probably the reason why “black dont crack,” as well as the reason why my mom looks lik 35 years old.
@Hostess,
Having said all that, I have met many women (no men) who are the same color as me, or darker, and consider themselves light-skinned. Ninety percent of them are from Atlanta.
lol, the opposite seems to be true with people i know, who all seem to think that they’re darker than they really are
@Hostess, I died!! its too early to be reading this..
I feel like their oldest daughter is stealing my soul everytime I look @ her.
she’s like the grim reaper hunh?? that’s so mean!!
@Hostess,
C3 here.
Oh and is it just me or do those passing only get away with it in white communities? We have a lot of straight blond, thin lipped, blue eyed Black folks in the D. And they still look Black to me.
@Hostess,
“Oh and is it just me or do those passing only get away with it in white communities?”
Uh, yeah. I think that’s why it’s call “passing” (as white) : )
@Hostess,
D as in Detroit? Aww snap! Someone in my neck of the woods!
@chaoticdiva, Yes. But I don’t live there and haven’t lived there for over a decade.
@Hostess,
Oh and is it just me or do those passing only get away with it in white communities?
i think some people just have hyper-sensitive senses of whether or not someone is black. like, i remember spending a week a few years ago trying to convince someone that vin diesel was black, but she just couldnt see it.
honestly, its really not a game with my negro-blood detection game. this is one of those skills that probably could have made me rich in the 19th century.
@The Champ,
It’s been my experience that Black folks can call out other racially ambiguous folks that most can’t see.
@miss t-lee,
Yes, like Miley Cyrus. Can we all agree that this girl is clearly mixed with some sorta Native American? I saw some at my family reunion in 2003 and I promise you that girl is wearing their faces.
I called Shania Twain years ago.
@Me fail english?,
Something is in there from a few generations back. Especially after seeing her siblings, she reached back and grabbed something they clearly didn’t…lol
@Me fail english?,
And I would like to also call out Save the last dance girl, Julia Stiles. Ole’ girl definitely gives off some negroid vibes.
@Ms. Sula,
Just cuz Julia Stiles can do the heel-toe dont mean she colored lol
@The Champ,
My great grandma is good at this. She says you can always tell by the gums, no matter how light the person is. Shes 86 and from NC. *shrugs*
@Dom,
My grandma says she can tell by the ears…lmao!!!!
@miss t-lee,
Yeah, I always hear that. Lookin at a baby’s ears will tell you what color they will be. What the? When did that start? HOW did that start? Even tho I have seen it proven in some instances.
@nia,
My grandma has called it correct in almost every instance. Who’s knows where it came from? That’s some old school ish for ya azz…lol
@nia,
its true. when I was born i was PALE, but my ears were dark.
3 days later the rest of me matched my ears.
@nia,
The ears thing has rang true in all instances I’ve seen it. The ears give the true color away.
@nia, In some instances yes and in others no.. my little cousin erin was born with dark ears, everyone was sying she was going to get darker.. 5 years later they’re still saying she’s going to get darker and she’s about the same complexion as Mariah… with light brown hair and light brown eyes.. Now explain to me when this child is gonna get darker??
@nia,
The ears are def a good indicator… I don’t know when or why it started, but that ish is true. I was a caramel 2-day old with almost 8-rock ears… Lol! A month later, guess what? Full dark-skinned status. Yup!
@The Champ,
HA!
“honestly, its really not a game with my negro-blood detection game. this is one of those skills that probably could have made me rich in the 19th century.”
Me too. I like to play pick the black person when I watch any news station esp CNN.
ok back to lurking …
@Miss Cocoa Luv,
uh…welcome n shyt?
@The Champ,
You still missed Amber Rose… Check ya skills hon.
@Hostess, Now you got me thinking of Lonette McKee – “I’m so positive!”
*skipping over the albino category*
LOL, ok am i slow for still not knowing where i stand? gosh, i never knew what i was on PJ’s # scale, now this scale. Do I need to spend more time “finding myself”??
i cannot tell you how many times i had to check someone for using “african booty scratcher”. UGH.
papa aden did NOT help in these matters.
*sleepover sometime in 92, overit comes back into room full of her besties with hot chocolate right as papa aden says (imagine e. african accent)
“and that was the 3rd time i came face to face, with the same lion!”
i was like dad, no, NO! talk about the city, the buildings, the literacy rate!
@overit,
Have u drank from WuDa’s “holy water” bowl again? You still ain’t say what color you was but you talm bout lions.
P.S. HA! @ Papa Aden. He sounds like my kinda storyteller.
@Luvvie, Papa Aden is thacodest (lmao!) i love him. he stays cracking me up, when i come to the chi, ask me to hear one of the many crazy voicemails he left me.
and i wonder where i get it from.
@Luvvie, Gentle Reader, the problem of our century is still the color line.
i was JUST tellin this child she was sounding wu-ish yesterday. *smh* don’t rub off on my e-siamese-twin.
@Gem-nasty and Luvvie, Didn’t I begin by saying I never know where I rank on any scale? I trailed into randomness, but I started off on course lol.
Wu did give me a random laugh yesterday when I saw my Catholic co-worker, she is older and always,always,always has on a long skirt, whether its rain,sleet, hail or snow. I thought about the skirt mag lmao.
*hayy wu! waving*
@overit, you could have told me to sit my drink down before you told that story, now i got powerade all over the daggone screen. not the lions…smh
@Miss Patterson,
powerade? they still make that, or did you have to order it on ebay?
@The Champ, oh, i see you’re being snarky on purpose. let me correct that: there’s xxx flavored vitamin water all over my screen. better?
@overit,
LMAO. The funniest part is that he KNOWS it was the very same lion. Like they’d formed a bond and ish
@Me fail english?, ok! he is a mess, he has some wild stories. i guess that’s what happens when your mama dies right after you’re born and your dad did before.
poor baby papa aden:(
@overit,
That jus made my eyes wanna leak (thugs dont cry. Our eyes just get condensation in them)
@Luvvie, thugs absolutely do not cry, its allergies.
but yeah, it is sad. orphans tug at my thug strings.
@overit,
Do I need to spend more time “finding myself”??
from what i understand, you already spend an hour a day doing that
@The Champ, i dont understand what that means.
expound.
you can’t say no!
um….maybe i got too caught up in the subtle gray lines separating all the shades of the black people rainbow cause i had to double check but um…im’ ma stick with light brown/caramel for $200 alex.
@SouthernGirl,
Gurl you aint the only one. I was sitting here perplexed tryna decide on what tone I was. I need a color chart. *Looks it up*
According to the chart, I’m color #663300.
I think Jim Jones (Scruffy McHoboson) is the color of dirty mop water and Lil Wayne (Roachie McBugface) is the hue of a mud hut. They both just look grimy. Their original color has been tainted by tattoos (Weezie) and failure (Jim Jones).
@Luvvie,
Ugh@ Weezy! I cosign! I mean dang, is that fool tryna change his skintone to green or what? All those nasty tatts on his person. Just ugh.
@Luvvie, Woodland creatures do not have a race or skintone…. He just has a hide hue or a exoskeleton coloring. Do I have to teach you everything Luvvie?
@Naturally Alise,
“Do I have to teach you everything Luvvie?”
Why yes. You must teach me how you comb those twigs you call hair. Do you use a rake or what?
Lubbbb u!!
@Luvvie,
ROFL @ “tattoos and failure”…WOO!
@Luvvie,
LOL!! yeah, the tattoos make it hard to even look at Lil’ Wayne long enough to figure out where he fits on the scale….
@Luvvie, my coworkers have told me a million times that I should be ashsamed of myself for being extremely attracted to Jim Jones…
His scruffy swag is incredibe
@kimmy,
Yuck! girl you sound like my sister.
Don’t go towards the light!
@kimmy,
It’s because he puts you in the mind of a black Jesus.
@kimmy,
iRebuke you for thinkin Jim Jones is segzy. When did Toilet & shower allergy brand of swag become segzy? iCant.
@Luvvie,
Dead @ shower allergies
@kimmy,
wow. welcomed and banned within a weeks time. i think you might have broken me fail’s record
@Luvvie,
What’s going to happen to Weezy when he gets old??? Wrinkled arse skin is gonna look like somebody threw a bucket of water on the Sunday comics…tragic. *joke compliments of Huggy Lowdown on the TJMS* LOL!!!
@This Just In…that girl is fancy…aye!!!,
When Weezie gets old, I imagine he’d look like one of those florida raisins that used to be on the commercials with glasses on.
Either that, or he’d look like Flava Flav. Or is Flav one of the Florida raisins??? Hmm… *strokes chin*
@This Just In…that girl is fancy…aye!!!,
I dunno what’s up with Wayne. When he was younger (circa Tha Block is Hot) I thought he was cute. But he’s mutating before our very eyes. I thought most people go through the awkward stage as preteens. I know his baby mama is happy they divorced!
@Me fail english?,
“But he’s mutating before our very eyes. ”
Speaking of mutants… If Lil Wayne was an XMen, he’d be “YuckMouth”. Able to defeat any opponent with a lethal breath.
@Luvvie,
d@mn you Luvvie!!!
I am not wearing water proof masacra today! Gon’ have me walking out of here looking racoonish. Cease and dessist!!
@Luvvie,
WTH??? Child are you well?
Too through witchu!
@Luvvie,
I think Jim Jones (Scruffy McHoboson) is the color of dirty mop water and Lil Wayne (Roachie McBugface) is the hue of a mud hut. They both just look grimy. Their original color has been tainted by tattoos (Weezie) and failure (Jim Jones).
this entire comment is corner-worthy. goodeness would be proud
@The Champ,
*curtsies*
Funny, I never realized there was such a thing as “dark brown-skinned”. Is that just something you added cause you don’t want to be called “dark-skinned”, Champ?
Intyways, according to your chart, that’s where I guess I fit. I’ve always considered myself dark-skinned by contrast to Wesley Snipes, who’s just bliggity-black.
But honestly, I just want to know what difference it really makes. The truth is, black is black, and all shades are equally beautiful. I said shades, not features, cause CLEARLY Tracie Ellis Ross and Rain Pryor would have some splainin’ to do.
@RedBeanzNRice,
i was all agreeing with your post and sh!t and then this happened –> I said shades, not features, cause CLEARLY Tracie Ellis Ross and Rain Pryor would have some splainin’ to do.
and on that note i am going to sleep.
forever.
@RedBeanzNRice,
You LEAVE Iron Jaws and Fish Eyes outta this! Rainn aint did nothing to NOBODY (apart from her dentist). And Tracee (although I’d be afraid to be in a completely dark room with her) is lovable. So what she looks like a real life Simpson’s character?
They’re both cute in their own ways, although their parents’ features ain’t curl all the way over when they got together. I like to call them “Unique”
*reads comment* Dang. I was sposed 2 be defending them. Oops, my bad
@Luvvie,
*dead* @ So what if she looks like a real life Simpson’s character?
You summed it up PERFECTLY, lol. But “cute in their own way” is a stretch, unless you mean “cute in a Chinese Hairless Chihuahua” sort of way. Please see link below.
http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2007/06/23/elwood_wideweb__470x348,0.jpg
@RedBeanzNRice,
Yuppp, your notarized letter of quittage is in the mail. Effective retroactively.
@RedBeanzNRice, DONT YOU EVER POST A PIC LIKE THAT BEFORE 12PM
@RedBeanzNRice,
I am trying so hard to laugh silently that my eyes are running and my sinuses hurt. Quittance is too good for you, ma’am. I’m filing papers and taking half!
Good DAY to you!
@Luvvie,
“You LEAVE Iron Jaws and Fish Eyes outta this! Rainn aint did nothing to NOBODY (apart from her dentist). And Tracee (although I’d be afraid to be in a completely dark room with her) is lovable. So what she looks like a real life Simpson’s character?”
Pardon me while I go out back and dig my grave. I can’t take this ish no more!
@RedBeanzNRice,
Again with Rain. Really there must be some laws out there to protect this child. VSB, I’m turning you in for slander. LOL.
Biracial kids are usually so attractive…
@Ms. Hall,
Biracial kids are usually so attractive…
How so? I hear this all the time and never really understanf the meaning of it.
@Dom,
I think biracial kids don’t get nearly enough credit for their uglies cuz :
a) light-skinned points
b) people just pick a race for alot of them and don’t even realize how many they are NOT counting
@Me fail english?,
I think its all number one, plus the “good hair” argument. Neither one automatically make a great looking person. Thats why statements like that always set me on edge a bit.
Luvvie summed it up right with the side-eye.
@Dom,
I was thinking B too just cuz I have a few mixed cousins. One is half Japanese and just aight, another is half Samoan and straight up busted. But when people are tallying up who has the bigger percentage of uglies vs. pretties they’d probably skip over my cousins since one looks straight up black and the other looks Laotian or sum sh!t…
@Ms. Hall,
“Biracial kids are usually so attractive…”
*Long side-eye*
@Luvvie,
What?!
I said, “usually.” Which could also mean ‘sometimes.’ As children I think mixed race kids get cute points for their cappuccino complexions and Fraggle Rock hair. They look like little dolls. Unfortunately those traits aren’t always so cute on an adult.
And you got some nerve. Like that “Iron Jaws” comment wasn’t out of line.
@Ms. Hall,
Nooooo. Some bi-racial kids are cute. And some end up really, really weird looking. Like, the features don’t mesh well.
Vin Deisel
Rain Pryor
My former nemesis
Justin Guarinni
@iloV.E.G.rits,
Yes, those are some unfortunate mixties indeed. And ur former nemesis had Rain Pryor jaws too. I was tempted to ask her if she chews steaks whole. But I refrained
@Luvvie
Yeah I think Ima go ahead a quit you for today.
@V Renee,
But… but… you can’t quit me!!! *grabs on to V Renee’s ankles*
@RedBeanzNRice,
Funny, I never realized there was such a thing as “dark brown-skinned”. Is that just something you added cause you don’t want to be called “dark-skinned”, Champ?
lol, its something i added because it exists, and makes things less confusing. i mean, without qualifiers, “dark-skinned” would encompass everyone from gabby union to manute bol, and they’re at least 4 shades apart.
don’t be mad at the light for making sh*t bright.
…I actually think Tracie Ellis Ross is sexy.
@RedBeanzNRice,
Awe thats not nice.. I think Tracee Ross is gorgeous. But I kinda resemble her so I’m bias lol
I am a caramel colored cutie.. or a bubbling butterscotch brown bombshell… LOL
@shay-d-lady,
any more alliteration?
@ The Champ,
Are Dark Brown-Skinned and Chocolate the same? Please say yes.
I think I am DBS and have been called chocolate on a few occasions. No news there as I’ve always thought this.
I’ve never differentiated between brown-skinned and light brown-skinned. Quite enlightening.
@Ms. Hall,
DBS – is that Distended Bowel Syndrome?
@RedBeanzNRice, stop it right now, you will be quit forthwith… lol
@RedBeanzNRice,
Okay, Im’ma ask you to step aside, right now. Have a seat in the corner. You need a time out. LOL.
@Ms. Hall,
Whatever Champ wants to call them, I don’t think it helps that Lebron James is closer in color to the “chocolate” folks than Angela Bassett. She looks closer to Nia Long to me.
Also, why is Dwayne Wade so fine? I mean really?
@Me fail english?,
That is one fine piece of chawklate
@mssmtaylor,
My man knows that if I ever get a shot at Dwayne Wade that man is getting licked!
THOROUGHLY!
He gets to cheat with Kerry Washington, but personally I think my chances are better.
@Ms. Hall,
Are Dark Brown-Skinned and Chocolate the same? Please say yes.
no
@The Champ,
Okay, you’re just being contrary on purpose.
oooooh, the colour dictionaries are being broken out! take cover, take cover!! (ha ha ha, sorry, i couldn’t resist)
i remember overhearing this guy i used to date during my U.S. years – he was from South Carolina – referring to me as a ‘red bone’ in conversation with a friend… i was like “what, what???? you said i’m a whaa?” ‘ (as far as i knew, red bone was this all you can eat ribs & chicken place in sommerville, Mass, and i was perturbed at being likened to such spots…them ribs were DAMN good, tho..)
then i travelled to jamaica with a friend at the height of buju banton’s ‘love me browning’ and had random strangers and friends alike referring to us as the ‘african brownings’ – my friend is half white – i’m just plain old black… (caramel according to the visuals provided above) but had jamaicans swearing that i must be AT LEAST 1/4 white – the PAIN i had to go thru to convince them that where i’m from, its possible for you to be 100% black and be this skin colour – “LOOK AT WINNIE MANDELA” i pleaded in vain…while my girl just chuckled and shook her head.
now that i think about it though, i was actually what VSB refers to as light-brown skinned during my US years because of the TRAGIC lack of sun that had me in a depression over my first Massachusettes winter (people, i SUFFERED! the cold was unbelievable, inconceivable, unbearable – un-EVERYTHING-able) and i lost MAJOR melanin during that time…. the 3 months of summer reprieve would return me to caramel normalcy, only to be plunged back into the yellow paleness come september…. all the way till june….
*shuddering at the memory of the spirit breaking U.S. winters**
@superwoman,
Lol! I can totally co-sign on the insuferable winters in Mass. I’m dark brown skin but in the winter my green veins start to show on my arms due to lack of sunlight!
Its all about blance though. The dead of winter is usually the best time to take a vacation and bring back your color.
I think I fall in dark brown skin, even though I always used to want to be dark dark like my mama…..
Champ, you should have had a Grimace/Charlie Murphy/Darkness is spreading category… that is all.
@Naturally Alise,
Grimace the McDonald’s character? LOL.
@Naturally Alise,
i have seen it all ……lol
but you right lmao
@Naturally Alise, I agree. Akon should be included in this portion too. “So black he actually looks bluish purple”
@Naturally Alise,
Champ, you should have had a Grimace/Charlie Murphy/Darkness is spreading category… that is all.
is that darker or lighter than 8-rock?
I was sitting here debating…well I’m bout eve’s complexion wait a little darker….no not quite angela b’s complexion, no no thats not quite right.oh,fugs it, lol…I’m brown….just brown dagnabbit ……
whatevs, I associate everything with food anyways, hot chocolate ,butter pecan, apple pie,blueberries,lemon meringue,peanut butter…..
@miamimia,
apple pie?
Ooh this is a touchy subject. I’m brown-skinned…..Do guys care about color definition as much as women? I’ve never seen a man trip about being referred to the wrong skin shade, but I’ve seen many women go out of their way to prove that they’re a different color shade if they disagreed. One of my girls is a beautiful dark-skinned girl, but says that since she has curly hair, she considers herself to look mixed. I’ve heard similar comments over and over with other females, but never from a guy…
@Leila, I agree, I never heard it from a guy, but always women. I have curly hair, and I surely am not mixed. Why are people weird???
Oh, and I think I’m chocolate..the special you always order when you come in my diner (pretending I’m A Keys and Mos Def in “You Don’t Know My Name”)
aaaand, that’s my cue to take my chocolatey self to bed.
Double kisses!
*rolling eyes at hearing this A. Keys reference for the umpteenth time*
@Gem-nasty, not in the same way! i have many ways to incorporate that song into life.
dear (siamese) etwin: self hate is ugly.
@Leila,
Men can def. be colorstruck!!! I’ve known men who get their feelings hurt when you won’t agree that their Lloyd Banks/Fredro Starr colored selves aint “light”. I’ve also known dudes who get bent outta shape when you say they’re dark as if it’s synonymous with ugly.
And don’t get me started on the colorstruck men in my family. My uncle (who is somewhere between light and passing for the purposes of this thread) has some kinda weird unspoken beef with light-skinned women. Disturbing considering he sired a light-skinned son and daughter who I know absorbed the same mentality
@Me fail english?,
“…weird unspoken beef with light-skinned women…”
i have a friend like this too. he almost teared-up when i tried to hook him up with this light-brown skinned chick i knew. thought i was “disrespecting” him for (his words) “putting chicken gravy on his steak”. i have strange friends
@The Champ,
“putting chicken gravy on his steak”
LMFAO!!! I don’t even know what this means but its funny as hell! This is why I can’t have friends with funny “issues”, I’d lose my job from all the laughter.
how i define my skin color is irrelevant. besides the fact that ppl always call me out for “rating” myself darker than i am. WHATEV.
i’m just happy to see my boo KG and that cutie patootie D. Wade in the post. they both have dark and lovely skin that would look perfect against mine. heyyyyyy. “i might have to take you home. i might have to clean you off. and get it in!”
do ya like my styyyyy-elllll?? diamonds on my neck, di-diamonds on my griiiiiiill. track. gettin it.
@Gem-nasty, you sound like my momma getting all excited about dark skin (minus that little riff at the end of your post, lol paw paw luvmuffin). my mom goes batsh*t with the compliments when she sees anybody whose dark-skinned. my mom invented dark-skinned points. two of my girlfriends (one is nigerian, the other jamaican/anguilan) get showered with praises about their beautiful chocolate skin everytime they see her. i think my mom loves me better in the summertime when i get real chocolate. and don’t even get me started on my mom’s love for cocoa men…
@Miss Patterson,
Heheh. My mama gives dark-skinned points too. She’s “light brown-skinned” here. I mean I could understand Djimon Honsou, but Seal? Seal???
FOH Mom!
@Me fail english?
It’s something about Seal that’s slightly sexy……
@V Renee,
I’ve loved Seal since 9th grade…scars and all.
He does something to me.
@V Renee,
“It’s something about Seal that’s slightly sexy……”
Um…it really isn’t.
@V Renee,
Oh I would have to disagree with you there sister
@Me fail english?,
Girl, do NOT sleep on SEAL… He has MAGNETISM for days!!!
I lub me some Seal.
@Miss Patterson, Dark-skinned points? Yes! Your mom and I must be soulmates – I’m widely known for getting excited at the opportunity to tan, and I go weak for the dark-skinned brothas!
@Miss Patterson,
yo mama need to be bffs with mine. my moms LOVES a chocolatey man–the purer/darker the chocolate the better. and i must admit, it’s worn off on me too. how can you NOT love a man lookin like Idris Elba or Djimon Honsou?? if i ever saw them i’d probably try to lick them and see if they tasted like they came from a Ghirardelli factory.
*feeling like a line outta day26′s “imma put it on her”– turn her thong into juicy couture*
(disclaimer: yes, i like day26. don’t judge me.)
@Gem-nasty,
iCan’t with you today Gemmie. I have this visual of you running up on chocolatey men and just grabbing them around the neck and licking them all up side the head.
**DEAD**
Oh, and I would quit you for quoting Day 26, if I knew who that was (yes, I live on an Island)
i have that visual too — a yummy visual indeed.
@Gem-nasty, LOL! i was juust sayin that yesterday “diamonds on my neck, di-diamonds on my grill”. and i was gettin it yesterday too, no baaangles but i was preserving my chexy damnit.
were you looking festive?? did you have any skulls on??
@Gem-nasty, no skulls girl, not in these TETs, but i had a great time working on my fitness, got festive courtesy of our new fave product, and had these fllly earings i got for my bday. and i was wearing my fave pair of 7s. i just felt like a 10!10!10! no 9.9s, just 10! winning my category all up and thru VA.
@overit,
The B.Free of B.Scott Society wants U!
what you said?? you’s a DIIIIIVA!!!
track. gettin it.
According to your list I’m caramel.
Which kind of makes me give the screwface because I’m so over using foods/sweets to refer to someone’s complexion. I dunno, just one of my pet peeves. Scratch caramel and chocolate off of your list and you’ve won me over.
I can’t tell you how many “i’m not light-skinned” conversations I’ve been party to!
@LisaAngelaPamelaRenee,
Everytime I see your moniker I want to change mine to RonnieBobbyRicky&Mike…
Weird, I know.
LOL
@LisaAngelaPamelaRenee,
Which kind of makes me give the screwface because I’m so over using foods/sweets to refer to someone’s complexion.
what would you suggest as a substitution and sh*t?
@LisaAngelaPamelaRenee, lol, let’s come up with a subsitute right here and now!
i nominate books. if you’re killing a mockingbird, you’re HOT! (for the record i love birds, that doesn’t sound very fun). if you’re the potter series, you are a 10!
if you’re a…Zane? book you’re not gettin it.
@overit,
To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my fav books. Changed my world view as a kid. I went looking for my own neighborhood’s Boo Radley.
@iloV.E.G.rits, me too! Girl, all my life I sought out Boo Radley’s, I have stories lol.
my etwin keeps losing her mind even more the further down the comments go.
@Gem-nasty, i’ve been writing grants all week, and i’m not even a grant writer.
gettin all ann taylor on me, cut me some slack.
As a FL native, I can range from caramel to light-brown skinned, depending on the time of year.
I’ve seen a lot of comments on color sensitivity in the south…and it does exist, but we have to remember the history. Following abolition, “passing” was seen as a “gift” as people who could were offered opportunities that allowed them to live lives w/little persecution. In years to follow, skin color among southern blacks became more divisive – the test of “privilege” – and insinuated financial status and opportunities in higher education. There were whole social organizations that were inaccessible to blacks who did not pass the paper-bag test, and even more exclusively, the “vein” test; the Blue Vein Society was a group of light-skinned blacks who must have visible blue veins in their wrists in order to be admitted. The color game has been won and lost in the game circles of little southern black girls frequently over the last couple hundred years and destructively shaped many an ego (or low self-esteem) as remnants of this separateness are still visible in many southern black women. [See "Long Time Since Yesterday" by P.J. Gibson and "Coffee Will Make You Black" by April Sinclair]
So, when your girl from GA, FL or LA so adamantly argues that she is light-skinned (when you can clearly see the truth), please give her a hug for me and love her through her “black girl pain”. It’s real, y’all.
@Resident GRitS,
Funny. I never heard of the BVS before. It’s a shame what the actions and history of this country have done to us.
I remember someone (either my mom or my ex, or both- I don’t recall) looking @ my wrists and saying “What’s that??”, pointing at my veins. I was like, “Um…my veins…they are blue lines* running right beneath my skin. (what else would they be?)” And they were kind of shocked, because I’m brown skinned –maybe 1/2 a shade lighter than Nia with yellow undertones (I’m of Caribbean descent so my complexion has a lil glow to it)– and they didn’t expect my skin to be light enough for my veins to be visible.
I didn’t get what was so shocking about not being light but still having visible veins.
*Although the color blue is commonly associated with veins (which generally carry deoxygenated blood) and red with arteries, there are red veins- pulmonary veins; they carry oxygenated blood from the lungs to the left atrium. There goes a nifty fact that can be tossed around the water cooler.
@Lili,
A similar thing happened to me with a friend of a friend, who was surprised that he could see the veins in my wrist and arm, and he kept saying that I looked like I used to be light skin. I had never heard of such a thing, especially since I claim dark-brown and chocolate mocha….
@N.I.A. happyhumpday….,
Yea I feel you. “You look like you used to be light skinned.” LOL What an ignorant thing for him to say.
That reminds me…a few yrs back, I used to get so offended…I dye my hair black, and I used to wear weaves…I would wear my hair long and straight. That hair combined w/my brown complexion w/yellow undertones confused men! Latino cats coming to me speaking Spanish (which wasn’t offensive) thinking I’m Dominican, Black men stepping to me asking me if I was Dominican or part Brazilian (which was offensive because it was clear that was all they wanted)- dudes would just be reaching for anything and would act disappointed when I’d say “No…I’m straight Black like you….” That’s when I started to realize how many men don’t want someone who is similar to their reflection.
Of course there are just as many VSB who balance out these foolish Negroes.
@Lili,
I don’t mind when people speak spanish to me, cuz in NY anyone can pass for Latino. But it can def. be offensive when people keep asking you if you’re mixed! Esp. when you tell these fools “No!” and they ask “are you sure?”
To normal people I look 100% black. But apparently there’s a whole tribe of dummies that can’t process these facts:
-black people can relax their hair; and when our hair is relaxed the “kitchen” will turn to “baby hair”
-black people can have freckles and moles
-black people have pointy noses
We’re the original people, we got the same ish yall got PLUS some.
@Me fail english?,
lol this is funny, i live in the heights and work in the bx and get asked at least once a day if i’m sure i’m black and ppl be coming up to me speaking spanish, i always give them the ill screw face. So black ppl don’t come in all shades, and we can’t have long hair that isn’t fake!?! u better get outta here with that mess papi! I’m PROUD TO BE BLACK so telling me that i look latina or like i could be something else is not a complimnet to me douchebag lol
@Lili,
I have SO seen the hate for being a regular ol’ Black girl since being in NY. When I moved here my hair was brown (when I switched back to Black…HUGE CHANGE) and I got A LOT of “What are you?” and speaking in Spanish. I was once in a club and a guy was all in my face, trying to buy drinks and dance, then he asked, “What are you?”
Me: I’m Black
Him: No I mean what is your nationality?
Me: I’m just Black
He pays for the drink I just ordered and walks away, PURE IGNORANCE!!..LOL!!
@JustMe,
Girl yes! I remember when I was a freshman, and this guy was all on me in the club…had a nice time dancing with him. Gave him my number…we had some ok conversations. Dude asks me “So what are you? Are you Dominican?” I was like “What..no…” He was like “you look like you have something in you (the he11??)”. I was like “Nah…I’m Black…” “Where’s your family from?” I go, “Well, my family is from Jamaica…” “OOOOH that’s it! Your Jamaican. Ok.” I ‘m like “Um..yea…Jamaicans are Black….”
Weirdest conversation I had ever had up to that point. And that was the end of that. LOL
My homegirl’s friend once told me that he felt like he was in Brazil when he stood next to me. And just smiled. I mean, ok, whatever, but that mess isn’t a compliment; I just stood there and thought damn…our men need to do better. LOL
@JustMe,
lol. Why didn’t you just say American?
I had an argument with some dude a coupla months ago tryna tell me my mother and her family aren’t black cuz they’re WI.
@Me fail english
Lol!!! To explain that to people takes too much time. I have had sooooo many arguments with people regarding the difference between Nationality and Ethnicity. No one seems to comprehend the difference and I just end of slapping my forehead. You give me so much hope…LOL!!!
@Lili
Okay so I just looked at my wrists to see if I had blue veins. I do. I never paid attention to that……
On a side note, for some reason veins scare me.
@Resident GRitS,
You can see this in Detroit today. It has kind of changed recently. But as late as the 90s there seemed to be more light-skinned blacks in the bordering suburbs and upper-middle class neighborhoods in Detroit. If you come to the hood or inner-city there seems to be more dark-skinned blacks.
@Resident GRitS,
I dunno why people are trying to blame it on the south. The same shyt goes on in Phila, NY, DC, etc.
@K.,
Thank you. I’m always defending my region, so I thought I’d sit this one out and let someone else handle up. lol
@K.,
It wasn’t meant to “blame” anyone for anything, it’s just the history. I’m from the south and love it, but that doesn’t change the fact.
@Resident GRitS,
Wasn’t saying you were blaming. Just saying, I hear comments like “she has that mixed look so you KNOW she fine” all the time and not from the mouths of southerners.
@K.,
I dunno why people are trying to blame it on the south. The same shyt goes on in Phila, NY, DC, etc.
i think its a bit more serious in the south, though. actually, as far as america is concerned, the warmer the typical climate is, the more intra-racial color issues there seems to be.
@The Champ, as far as america and the south are concerned, maybe its that whole slavery thing too.
@Resident GRitS,
Good look on the book list. Also, people can check out the first two books by Lawrence Otis Graham: Member of the Club and Our Kind Of People
Light or Light brown. Um, actually, I don’t know. I have weird ass olive green undertones, ,which makes my brown look paler than it is. Yet, I turn reddish-brown in the summer.
Damn parents. Making all these mutt babies and we can’t figure out what color on the spectrum we are.
Hey, at least I know for sure I’m not a light bright.
@chaoticdiva,
lol, yeah. damn those parents for having the audacity to conceive you. the nerve!!!
@The Champ,
lol. Guess you didn’t pick up on my sarcasm.
i think pennsylvania is color struck. when my ls mother was growing up she said that brown and dark-skinned were in when she was a teenager in Erie, PA. then the 60′s came and my mom really tried to step up her Black power game with a coifed afro…yes, coifed.
by the time i was growing up in the Burgh light-skinned-didness was definitely in. i remember always hearing brothas say stuff like “man she light skinned and got long hair”. no mention of the booty, the smile, the tig-ol’s, nuthin…just those two features. it would always elicit an ‘aww sh*t’ type of response like negroes were geeked that they found ‘the one’. i don’t get it. later when a friend tried to set me up with his cousin, i was told i was too brown and my eyes weren’t light enuf (but he went to east allegheny, so ya know…). given how colorstruck our PA culture is my mother went out of her way to make sure i would embrace my browness. all of my babydolls (except for one) were a beautiful chocolate. i was even given a dark skinned raggedy anne doll that she named “Annie B” (for Annie Black..no joke)
The color struckness on both spectrums leaves a lasting impression, to this day my momma think she my color and she’s straight mariah on a sunny day. poor mom,
she’s color-confused.
@Miss Patterson
Is a coifed fro similar to a Jew fro?
@V Renee,
lol@ people who can’t make afro’s tryna make a way outta no way. My mama bought an afro wig back in the day cuz she don’t have the texture for it. Perpetratin ass!
@Me fail english?,
That’s no different then straight weaves. Or gettin perms. We all perpetratin.
@nia,
I know but I find afro wigs comical
@V Renee, actually yeah, lol.
@Miss Patterson,
i think pennsylvania is color struck.
do you think this is specific to pa?
@The Champ, no it’s just that compared to other places i’ve lived it’s not all that different. it also seemed very close to my experience in atlanta as well.
I’m a darker skinned version of Alek. Yup. Even amongst my Nilotic brethren IN AFRICA (I’m talking Nubians/ Luo/ Acholi folks- and yes, this is a broad generalization), I still get dark-skinned points.
@Wanjiru, Your name is so familiar to me. I went to JHS in DC w/a girl with the same name. She’s a twin. Both of them as dark as you describe yourself to be. I’m convinced it’s you. Name pronounced “wan-jita”??
@pbg returns, w/blonde moppet in tow,
No
*making a sad face as if the emoticon wasn’t enough*.
I however think that since Wanjiru means “black one” literally, if your child is up for that name (customary naming and all that), then you will have a lot of us Alek Wek+2 complected ones running around.
@pbg returns, w/blonde moppet in tow,
I’s was wondering where u was with this whole convo…. get at me PBG!!
@Wanjiru,
interesting and sh*t
Ok Champ- LisaRaye isn’t “light brown”- she is definitely light skinned; in fact she is what I would call “red boned”. There is no way Bey is lighter than her. And if ANYone tried to say Bey was lighter than Keyshia Cole they would be in dire need of an immediate appointment with an ophthalmologist or optometrist (take your pick). Keyshia is mixed and pale as all get out.
@Lili,
“Keyshia is mixed and pale as all get out.”
Then maybe I should visit the optometrist cuz I don’t think she’s pale at all. In fact, if it wasn’t for that show I wouldn’t think she was mixed at all. Just a regular ol’ light-skinned chick, like most of the women in family who are 100% black.
@Me fail english?,
If I recall during one of the episodes where they were trying to find Keyshia’s dad (yes, yes, I watched that train wreck…it was impossible to avert my eyes from the atrocity) Frankie said Key’s dad was Italian and she was mixed. Something about her features made me think she wasn’t full Black anyway.
Either way, that girl is definitely light skinned. My point was that I didn’t see how anyone could consider Bey lighter than her or LisaRaye.
I’m just saying, if this isn’t at least somewhat pale:
http://site.dieselnetworks.com/images/keyshia_cole_vibe_cover.jpg
or this:
http://discoveringhair.com/blog/keyshia%20cole/keyshiacole2_hair.jpg
then I don’t know what is. Granted she doesn’t have the same look as say, Mariah, but she’s pretty much up there.
Now, Tisha Campbell, I would say she’s an extra-light Black person who doesn’t look mixed- just really light.
@Lili,
Keyshia Cole is biracia?l I thought she was just mixed with Negro & Colored. The More I learn ERRday!
@Luvvie,
According to Frankie, Keyshia’s father was I-talian. But umm, we are talkin bout Frankie, so she don’t know for real. But Keyshia does have some silky lookin hair, so it’s a possibility.
@nia,
I wont believe a doggone thing Frankie says. Maybe Keyshia Cole’s daddy was jus real light skint with a SCURL kit slicky ricky hairdo. Thats prolly why she thought he was Italian.
HOLLLLAAAA!
@Luvvie,
LMBAO. You right- that’s a possibility. But by the looks of Keyshia’s other siblings, she definitely has something mixed in her.
@Luvvie, i cannot discuss frankie @ work cause then i’ll go google her fake blog, start laughing, get distracted, and i just cannot afford this. but holla @ me after hours, i have very passionate views on her life and general being.
@overit,
Hol’ up!
Frankie got a ghost blogger. And that’s why Keyshia bout to be the next Hammer…broke!
@Lili,
keysia mixed? as in keysia cole?
@b*tch who loves the smiley,
I spose it’s possible cuz I thought Faith Evans was just light skinned!
I am all to familiar with this subject. Growing up here in Detroit and having a African name and being dark-skinned made me an easy target for jokes. I use to think if nobody made fun of you for being dark then you were light-skinned. That changed as I got older. I notice how color is an issue with class too. When I was in private school color was more of an issue than when I went to public school. It also depends on what public school you went to in Detroit. Lighter skin would be more accepted than dark skin at Cass or Renaissance. As far as color I don’t know where I fall on the scale. As far as i’m concerned I am like Alek Wek but people say i’m more of lebron james or dwayne wade complexion.
@Humble One,
Lighter skin would be more accepted than dark skin at Cass or Renaissance.
what about at mumford? just asking because i had a teammate from there who might have been the darkest skinned person ive ever met
All I know is I didn’t get my dad’s purple……the man gets asked if he’s from the outback everywhere he goes….
i think i’m more burnt umber personally……
@KingPine,
is he an aborigine?
According to you, I am light brown skin. I will take that!!!!! lol.
I always wanted to be a choclate sista but no amount of tanning bed or self tanning product or Miami sun has allowed me to achieve this…. YET.
Thanks Champ, for letting me claim my browness today!
@Nicki Sunshine,
Champ is wrong. You are still light.
@Humble One,
Lol. Shot down! I thought I saw her pic on another blog and was thinking the same thing. Most people would call you light. NTTAWWT
@Me fail english?, DANG YAW. LMAO..
@Nicki Sunshine
I’m glad Humble said it first, but from the pic I’ve seen of you, you’re light.
::ducking::
@V Renee, **bang bang, she shot me down, bang bang.”
lol
@Nicki Sunshine, You high yella
@Peyso is no longer confused about twitter, Dang, why it gotta have the HIGH in there? lol
@YAW:
Hole up, hole up.
Those on Champ’s light skint list have 2520 features.. I got our nose and lips. Give me some credit!!!!! lol
@Nicki Sunshine,
I’m about to give you a chair missy…lol
@miss t-lee, LMAO! I quit, I quit. I’m just funning with yaw this mawnin.
@Nicki Sunshine,
Umm… how do I say this without being offensive?
Nicki, you’re lighter than the burden on the shoulders of white women.
But aint nuffin wrong w/ that
@Luvvie, U kilt me. LOL.. I’m not offended. Girl, I know I’m light (I just don’t wanna be)…
No bull though, my cousin is sooo much lighter. lol.
@Nicki Sunshine,
Don’t worry, Sunshine(y) day. Light aint always right, but w/ u, its decent (No Ellen) lol
@Luvvie, LMAO. thanks doll.
**no Ellen was pretty freakin original. I may need to borrow that ***
@Luvvie,
No Ellen????? Yeah I may have to steal that one. hahahaha.
Since about ’95 I’ve referred to myself as Caramel Deluxe. hahaaa!! Wu-Tang!!!!
I’ve also been called many variations of yellow and red.
Even though I’m somewhere between light brown and caramel according to your spectrum.
Seriously though, you couldn’t find a pic of a caramel chick…you stick us with Lloyd effin’ Banks?
Boooooo to you Champie, Booooo!!!
@miss t-lee,
booooo deez
@The Champ,
*throat punch*
@miss t-lee,
My day is complete. Thank you.
champ…i think i have an issue with this… i agree with miss t-lee here… i mean, i think i’m caramel but often referred to as light skin (which i’m not!).
don’t the undertones play a role here? no?
and really… lloyd banks? can we get someone who’s less distracting?
@ladebelle,
and really… lloyd banks? can we get someone who’s less distracting?
lol, so i have to find someone who doesnt fit just so they wont give you fits?
@The Champ, i’m not sayin that exaaactly but kinda… gosh
and i’m mad i had to use the browser’s search function to find my comment… cryin shame…
I’m one of the lucky few who is solid Brown!
Agreed that features skew perception. I have awkwardly light eyes & a valley girl voice, which mislead people to think i’m a shade or two lighter than I actually am.
Additionally, over dark-skin people throwing around light-skin so loosely…it’s all to relative, glad we have a standard now.
@kimmy,
Additionally, over dark-skin people throwing around light-skin so loosely…it’s all to relative, glad we have a standard now.
glad i could help and sh*t
Maybe people shouldjust stop the light/dark adjectives…not to be PC or kumbaya-ish but just because we never agree or can figure out who each other’s talking about.
Example:
Friend: You know that light-skinned chick with all them hit records?
Me: Beyonce?
Friends: Girl, SHE AINT LIGHT-SKINNED!
You’d a thought I said some ish about their mothers or it was scientifically proven Beyonce wasn’t light-skinned. Damn!
(The convo didn’t go exactly like that, but they did wanna snap my neck for thinking Bey was light)
@Me fail english?, I think Bey is caramel, a category often confused by darker skin people with light skin.
Sigh, none of this should matter.
@kimmy,
But see, that’s just my point. “Confused”? As if there’s an absolutely right way of classifying her? This is what people would do better to just leave alone. The notion that these color scales are less arbitrary than they are.
@Me fail english?,
Beyonce is light – especially if you’ve seen pics of her without makeup, she’s REALLY light.
@Me fail english?,
i get mad when people say beyonce is light too bc no she’s not and if she is well i must be casper, and she’s always trying to make herself closer to white and that mess ain’t cute. I have to bring ppl back down to reality: remember when destiny’s child first came out, that heffa aint light, thats just her sunshining yaki!
@PrincesMo,
“i get mad when people say beyonce is light too bc no she’s not and if she is well i must be casper”
My sentiments exactly. I wouldn’t call Bey light. She’s a redbone but that’s different.
@PrincesMo,
I actually thought she was light during the “No, no no” days. She wasn’t the lightest light-skinned person I’ve ever seen. There can be different degrees of light just like all the chocolate people, LBS, or DBS ppl Champ people put up don’t appear to be the same color. Seems there’s a range to each category, no matter who’s drawing the lines.
Also, I think B has gotten lighter over the years, but I’m not sure she’s making herself white. My sister, dad and I were what I called “brown-skinned” as kids and became paler later in life. The change in my Dad is almost drastic, but maybe he’s just ashy (heheh).
@Me fail english?,
Maybe people shouldjust stop the light/dark adjectives…not to be PC or kumbaya-ish but just because we never agree or can figure out who each other’s talking about.
thats the point of the vsb spectrum, to end all of the confusion.
@The Champ,
*bookmarks blog for future convos*
Good to know this is finally settled
Still not really sure where I fit, but I do know I claim dark-brown and chocolate.
It doesn’t really matter b/c black people are the baddest, most beautiful, and most imitated people on the planet…if only we all could see that and appreciate it. This country’s racist past has really done a number on us….
@N.I.A. happyhumpday….,
“It doesn’t really matter b/c black people are the baddest, most beautiful, and most imitated people on the planet.”
Yes ma’am.
@N.I.A. happyhumpday….,
“It doesn’t really matter b/c black people are the baddest, most beautiful, and most imitated people on the planet.”
double amen!
@N.I.A. happyhumpday….,
“It doesn’t really matter b/c black people are the baddest, most beautiful, and most imitated people on the planet…”
This is fabulous and true!
@N.I.A. happyhumpday….,
“It doesn’t really matter b/c black people are the baddest, most beautiful, and most imitated people on the planet.”
Yeah, we all know that. But do any of these posts really “matter”? Just somethin to do instead of workin…
@nia,
I was referring to issues of color among black people, not the post itself….
I’m brown.
I used to deal with this guy that to this day INSISTS that I am light skinned and that he (who is at least 2 shades darker than me) is brown. That has lead to many late night discussions
P.S. I happen to think that Tracy Ellis Ross is beautiful. I’m a fan of the strong and unique features.
@Imperfect,
Tracy Ellis Ross IS beautiful! And she has the best hair ever. I love big hair.
@Voiceofreason, I agree!
@Voiceofreason,
Tracee is an example of one of those women that if I saw her walking down the street, I’d think she was funny-looking. But since I know her (in my head) and she has such a cool, quirky personality, she gets pretty points.
@Me fail english?, Just wanted to point out that we cant be givin out pretty points for personality and sh*t
@Me fail english?,
Yup, I concur
@Voiceofreason,
“I love big hair.”
You love big hair until it’s twisted up in the morning, tangled on your pillow.
- From a big haired girl.
@iloV.E.G.rits,
I know all about it. I have enough hair on my head for three people and I’m constantly at battle with it. But I still love it!
@Voiceofreason,
I love it too but some mornings I am like “dayum, dayum, dayum”. lol. I need a hair support group.
@iloV.E.G.rits,
That’s actually a good idea. I’m familiar with a lot of products if you want suggestions.
@Voiceofreason,
The only product I have not been able to find is a cream moisturizer that works. lol. I cannot use oil on my hair (it’s fine…though I have a lot of it, tricking people to believe its thick).
@iloV.E.G.rits, and @voice
HELP on the cream moisturizer tip! im in desperate need of one that is sans petrochemicals AND strong enough to hold up to the fl humidity AND will give me glossy hair.
kthxbai
@iloV.E.G.rits and smiley,
Have either of you ever tried Kinky Curly Curling Custard (more like a gel) or anything thing from the Curls product line? I recently texturized my hair (it’s a little too straight but more manageable and breaks less) so I’ve been using Carol’s Daughter Hair Milk. But I love Kinky Curly products and the cream based moisturizers of the Curls line. FYI, if you decide to use anything by Curls, get the children’s version. They’re cheaper than the adult products and they have the same ingredients.
http://kinky-curly.com/shop.php (sold at Whole Foods)
http://www.curls.biz/
@Voiceofreason,
Btw, one of my boys once told me that my hair is so thick I probably won’t need to wear a helmet if I ride a bike.
I’ve learned to manage my mane with LOTS of practice.
@Voiceofreason,
“one of my boys once told me that my hair is so thick I probably won’t need to wear a helmet if I ride a bike.”
lol. that’s funny.
@iloV.E.G.rits,
My old roomie had huge curly hair. I felt sorry for her, cuz in a lotta ways it seems harder to deal with than straight hair, wavy hair or just regular ole naps.
@Me fail english?,
This hair is a lot of work.
@iloV.E.G.rits,
You love big hair until it’s twisted up in the morning, tangled on your pillow.
yes indeedy yes indeedy!! i have ultra curly THICK hair (and a big head). so i just have mane for days. and let me NOT put product in it — i go straight Simba on that a**
@Voiceofreason,
Agreed.
@Imperfect,
Tracee Ellis Ross is dark-skinned from the waist down.
@Humble One,
Cuz of her booty? wtf? lmao!
@iloV.E.G.rits,
Of course because of that.
@Humble One,
I guess that makes me Caucasian from the waist down.
Oh well, I’m still cute!!!
@Humble One,
Haha, dudes kill me when they attribute weird characteristics to a woman’s body. My bf’s friend described a chick as having a suburbs face and a project body (that was a compliment)
@Me fail english?,
My bf’s friend described a chick as having a suburbs face and a project body (that was a compliment)
LOLOL
@The Champ, that’s rude as hell lol.
@Me fail english?,
But was her body “hood” or “ghetto”?
@nia,
lol. I shoulda asked him a follow up but he already doesn’t like me!
@nia,
Ignant, lol
I guess I’m caramel, but I always like to think of myself as darker than what I am. When I was creating my Mii on my Wii that I call my Vii, my friend told me that my Mii was too dark. She’s a hater.
When the summertime hits, I’m the black person outside trying to get my tan on. Yup it’s true. I’m the one at the Mac counter trying to tell dem hoes – look chick give me something darker or at least with more red undertones.
Black is beautiful. I love that we come in all different shades!
@V Renee,
Shyt! I’m already dark and I try to get darkER in the summer. I honestly think I look better when I’m darker. Not to mention my complexion is more even.
@Voiceofreason,
im a nice brown color, but growing up my fam always said i was too light (all them ninjas are dang on near 8 rock) so i was forever trying to get darker. im surprised i never got melanoma all the sun i got
@V Renee,
lmao@ the Mii’s. The controversy that done started!
My bf is half-puerto rican and we got the damn Wii at Christmas (think winter paleness). I love my baby, but he glows when he doesn’t get sun. So my neices and I set up his Mii and had the nerve to use that olive-complected color. Ol’ boy was PISSED!
Then my father got pissed at us for effing up the shape of his head. (It’s not our fault his head is round like a bowling ball).
Funny how the women all liked their Mii’s…
@Me fail english?
LMAO. My mama didn’t like the shape of her Mii’s head either, talking about why my head so round like a pumpkin. Ummmm have you looked in the mirror? Don’t act like we haven’t told you your head is big before.
@V Renee,
*DEAD*
Lemme find out Nintendo was tryna stir up some controversy. They know damn well they shoulda made those heads more malleable.
They should have people create Mii’s as part of a psych test. All types of latent self-esteem issues would be poppin out.
@Me fail english?,
When my son was settin up his Mii, I was very interested to see what he picked. He is light and bright. People think he’s mixed, even tho he’s not. Not that I know of. (I keed.)
Anyway, I was surprised that he picked one that is alot darker than he is. I guess he’s not really colorstruck yet. He also gave himself glasses and a mustache, so go figure.
@V Renee, I do the same.. I remember when i went to the dominican republic I just layed out on the beach, when I came back I was so dark my mom called me ugly.. (she has color issues) She ran right out and bought me some bleach creme and said to rub it in until that black dirt came off..
talk about self hatred!!
I like to get pretty tanned in the summer.. I get this golden bronze color that I love.. but then I over kill and burn!!
@Liryc,
Girl, that “black people don’t burn” ish is a myth! Maybe they just never stayed in the sun long enough to absorb the light rays (though between the cotton picking, and sugar cane chopping I doubt this). I have thin skin (see-through, you-an-look-atmy-blood-mving skin) and I burn QUICK! Redness, peeling and all
@Me fail english?,
Girl, I’m dark-skinned (per The Champ’s spectrum) and I BURN like a mug… So I’ll be that black girl on the beach slathering SPF 50 sunblock like Gwyneth Paltrow. I burn badly, and I am not trying to get no melanoma.
@Liryc,
“when I came back I was so dark my mom called me ugly.. (she has color issues) She ran right out and bought me some bleach creme and said to rub it in until that black dirt came off..”
I am SO SAD at this. Just put a dark cloud over my head
@blackberry molasses, that really bothers me too…man.
@Liryc,
My soul is crying for her right now!
According to the Champ’s list I fall somewhere in between chocolate and dark-skinned I suppose. I’ve always considered myself to be dark-skinned. I’ve been told that I don’t look like a “normal dark-skinned girl.” I have no idea what that means, but some seem to think I kind of look like a 2520 that was painted brown. Shawn Springs has this look, but I don’t see it in myself. All I know is I hate when people tell me I’m a pretty dark-skinned girl because they always say it as if good-looking dark-skinned women are an anomaly.
@Voiceofreason,
I know, right. Why can’t I just be pretty? It’s always you sure are pretty for a dark-skinned girl.
@FiveFivewithbrowneyes,
I complained to one of my colorstruck friends about people making that statement and the heifer had a nerve to say, “Well there just aren’t that many of you out there. It’s true!” I love my friend but sometimes…never mind. *pursing lips, flaring nostrils, rolling eyes, SMH*
@FiveFivewithbrowneyes,
Whenever someone says to me “You’re pretty for a (insert applicable adjective here) girl,” I always say, “Well, you’re suprisingly articulate for a stupid person” and move the f*ck on.
@blackberry molasses,
Imma steal this. Thank you.
It’ll go over better than my usual response which is “GTF outta my face.”
Thanks again.
@miss t-lee,
anytime!
@blackberry molasses,
I used to always say, “Thanks. You look good for a ________.” Then I’d fill in the blank with something like jackal, hyena, or broad-backed gorilla.
@blackberry molasses, this one lady told me that she loved everything about me, claimed i had (in her estimation) “lovely features, hair, and smile” then shook her head and said “if only you were lighter”.
overit: umm…thanks?? wtf.
i must say i’m TRULY grateful for my family. a lot of these people get messages whether directly or indirectly. my girls dad always talks about how pretty any light skinned woman is, and now she has a complex cause she is darker and he never held up a dark skinned beauty.
lol, when i was little i asked my mom if i was pretty, and she said “character is the most important thing, looks without a ritcheous character means nothing”.
at the time i was like shots fired! “did you just call me ugly??”
i think i’ve internalized that sentiment though cause i find myself taking every opp to drill that in my younger sister and cousins heads.
@overit,
i find myself taking every opp to drill that in my younger sister and cousins heads.
This is soooo important. When I was a kid, my fam always went out of the way to make sure I knew my braids/brown skin/tan was beautiful. And I do the same for my little cousins as well.
@Dom, each one teach one….and sh*t;)
@overit,
Well I happen to think you are GORGEOUS… and you have the nerve to be smart, nice and funny?? Oooooh, I don’t like you at all, luv muffin.
*faux hate*
@blackberry molasses, aww! that was sweet as molasses lol.
just reflecting the light of my VSS’s:)
@overit,
mama overit just couldn’t see you all the way through your headpiece. sometimes you just gotta lose your headpiece and let yourself be FESTIVE!
@overit,
I think my daddy went overboard with the personality/substance matters more than anything else. Dude used to say that we spend ungodly amount of time on futilities and chiffons. He was always admiring simplicity (short hair/short nails)… The results? Sometimes I would really not care about what I look like, having walking down the grocery aisle all sweatpants lookin’… *side eye to Daddy Sula*.
On a more serious note, I think that’s why I find these types of conversations utterly fascinating because I’ve never been part of or privy to them. I grew up in an environment where your knowledge of math mattered WAYYY more than your pretty eyes…
@blackberry molasses,
Love the rebuttal.
@Voiceofreason,
I have no idea what that means, but some seem to think I kind of look like a 2520 that was painted brown.
lol, somebody should compile a list of black people who look like whites in blackface, and vice versa
@The Champ,
Here’s #1
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=1233
@The Champ,
I was saying this about some 2520 girl on American Idol that looked like a black girl dipped in vanilla. My friends thought I was crazy.
@The Champ,
Whatshisname that was married to Vanessa Williams
@YGB,
Rick Fox
Accurate list, Champ. I’m caramel but people have called me lightskinned. I think those people just view skin tone in two dimensions – you’re either light or dark.
While I know the reasoning behind folks’ “preference” for certain skin tones in a mate, I don’t really care. What’s for me is for me, as I like to say.
@K.,
thanks and sh*t, philly. i try
This is funny, kinda like Chapelle’s Racial Draft but for black folks! Everybody has their own way of looking at color. I was talking to a friend of mine from Ghana a while back and described a girl as “brown skinned.” He didnt understand. “Arent we all brown skinned?” I laughed because he did have a point.
Anyway, I am dark brown skinned and my skin has a pretty reddish tint now that I have my Caribbean tan. I think all shades of brown are pretty but theres something about dark dark chocolate skin that just mesmerizes me. Especially when there’s muscles involved.
@Dom,
“I think all shades of brown are pretty but theres something about dark dark chocolate skin that just mesmerizes me. Especially when there’s muscles involved.”
I know someone’s gonna call me colorstruck for this, but they also seem to have the clearest, prettiest complexions. Between the flawless skin and if dude has muscles…. *gets weak*
@Me fail english?,
I don’t think thats colorstruck, just honest. Deep chocoalte “8-rock” cuties do have some even skin.
@Me fail english?, I agree.. My friend has the sexiest dark skin ever.. its like butter but dark!! I tell her she’s beautiful every time I see her, and add to that she’s got pretty teeth…. dudes fall over themselves looking at her.. She’s just so pretty…
i would just like to say thank you champ!
you always bring the literary references into the convos, and it makes my heart go all pitter patter (i have a ba in english lit-concentration african american lit).
color struckedness (yes that just happened) is lame and needs to end.
there i said it and it shall now be done
@b*tch who loves the smiley,
‘you always bring the literary references into the convos’
i did this today? where?
@The Champ,
8rock
@b*tch who loves the smiley,
lol, duh. i forgot all about that
I’M LIGHT SKINNED SUCKA!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Where was this post when I was a young whipper snapper??!!! It would have saved me a lot of heartache son!! Ninjas swore up and down that I was albino…or maybe they were just plain ol mean! I don’t have blonde freakin hair ninja!!! *wooosah*
@This Just In…that girl is fancy…aye!!!,
I feel you on this one. I’m not even light-skinned and people used to talk about how yella I am. Excuse you? Are you colorblind?
Well, I’m definitely a caramel complected sista. And when I’m feeling saucy, I might even refer to myself as butterscotch or toffee.
But, could someone please explain to me why I love a chocolate+plus dude, but think any male that can pass the paper bag test should be exiled to an island and never heard from again? I’ve always been biased like that…
@DurrrtyDiana,
Nothing to explain, you just like what you like. I also prefer darker men but in the end as long as the guy’s a cutey I don’t care. I have a track record of dating lighter men so people think that’s what I prefer. But the real reason is that light men seem to like me more often than dark men. I think it’s b/c we’re complete opposites on the spectrum.
@Voiceofreason,
Nothing wrong with preference…
Shoot my spectrum goes from Hispanic to Blue Black…I don’t care…lol
@miss t-lee,
Mine goes from “I like you” to “I don’t”….
@Voiceofreason,
This is funny because I am a dark-skinned man that prefers dark-skinned women. Yet I only seem to attract caramel and brown-skinned women. I never attract light-skinned or dark brown or dark-skinned women.
@Humble One,
That’s interesting. Most of my light friends LOVE dark-skinned men. They date all types but if they have a choice they’ll go for someone like you.
@Voiceofreason,
My light friends are the same way…one is married to an attractive dark skinned VSB, and the other can’t understand why she keeps attracting light men, when all she wants is a dark brotha….
@Humble One,
I am dark-skinned and I like handsome and wholesome men, even the orangey-greenish ones…
Thing is it’s not always about color.
@Voiceofreason, I thought it was just me! I’m a dark skinned girl and it’s always the resident stray DeBarge ninja in the room that makes a beeline for me. I gots no preference, but really…what’s that about?
@miss kate,
LMAO!!!!
@DurrrtyDiana,
“but think any male that can pass the paper bag test should be exiled to an island and never heard from again”
Damn, you wanna place all light skint men on the Isle of Lesbo (a real place, btw)?
@Luvvie,
Man… that would be torture for them. Surrounded by women who want NOTHING to do with them and EVERYTHING to do with each other….
That’s just EVIL.
@DurrrtyDiana,
But, could someone please explain to me why I love a chocolate+plus dude, but think any male that can pass the paper bag test should be exiled to an island and never heard from again?
please expound and sh*t
@DurrrtyDiana,
See, now if somebody woulda said throw all the dark brothas/light sistas/dark sistas on “Lost” island, you’d see some very different replies… food for thought.
@Me fail english?,
Exactly. The double-standard often kills me.
this was pretty funny.
I think i fall as Caramel which pleases me so b/c people think i’m highly yellow or as i’ve often been called “a light skinned high yellow heiffer”
Like DurrrtyDiana i too have an affinity for chocolate deep chocolate men.
and i’d agree a person’s “complimenting” features such as eye and hair color will place them in a certain spot on the list.
@kingsmomma,
welcome and sh*t
I’m dark brown, like Ms. Bassett. My mom is a bit darker and dad is a bit lighter. I fall right in between. I don’t know what “flavor” could be used in comparison…maybe milk chocolate??
At any rate, I’m so glad to be of a people who can even have this conversation. 2520s are all the same color. Pink. Boring. Ugh.
@pbg returns, w/blonde moppet in tow,
their hair and eye color issues are our skin tone issues
@The Champ,
Yup!
Reminds me of that episode of Star Trek where they got to the planet that had the half-black half-white on it, and thought it was the greates thing because they wouldn’t be able to discriminate… Guess what? There sure was some discrimination…. on which side was black vs. white…
Just to show that thinking/living entities will always find a way to group/separate themselves. Sad but true.
*ok, so I just outted myself as a major nerd, but really y’all are family and I don’t care no mo’.
*
I’m somewhere between lightskin and lightbrown skinned according to VSB color spectrum LOL… I have very warm undertones in my skin, and get a nice orange like bronzing naturally and with ease in the summer=sunkissed.
I have a preference for HANDSOME dark chocolate men, not that many of those LOL but lots of average looking cats of this hue.
@OrangeStar616,
I have a preference for HANDSOME dark chocolate men, not that many of those LOL but lots of average looking cats of this hue.
which hue do you think has the highest percentage of attractive cats?
@The Champ, I think its evenly distributed and highly individualized..not based on complexion…
That albino has them Light-skinned points working hoard – she looked good and I’d holler in a heartbeat.
@ The Champ,
Got damn I’m glad you set it off!
I’m light-skinned (happy wit’ it by the way) and it’s amazing to me how so many of my light-skinneded brothas and sistas refuse to admit to being light-skineded. I run into these types all the time and it’s funny cause if I refer to them as being light-skinned or us (me and them) having the same complexion, they act as if I just called their momma a bytch or something. They get uber-offended at the notion.
I encourage all light-skinned guys and gals to embrace the shade they are born with. Live up to it. If people give you points because of it, take them shyts. If people clown you and call you “light bright”, “mulatto”, “white”, etc., call them a “darkie” and keep it moving. By the way, “darkie” is the least offensive word in my vocabulary to describe dark-skinned folks who tease or make fun of light-skinned folks.
@Monk,
I agree with your statements. Love the skin you’re in!! (c) Dove
@Monk,
Yeeeeeeaaaaahhhhhhh booooiiiiiii!!!!!!
Light skinned folk stand up!!!! ;o)
@Monk, someday, someday, I’ll embrace my shade. But for now, you’ll catch me tanning as soon as summer hits.
@Monk, I agree with loving the skin you’re in.. I think it awesome to love who you are, but remember for a long time you (not you directly) light skinned people used to make fun of and ridicule darker skinned individuals like myself..
BLACKIE, DARKIE, saying we had naps. You know all the bad things associated with being darker skinned.. and it has taken a lot of us years to get over that..
but I do believe that we must LOVE the skin we’re in!! Always!!
@Monk,
Pretty much. I don’t even get why someone should be ashamed of their own skin-color on some ole’ political correctness BS!!
BTW someone told me once or I read somewhere, there are about 36 shades of black skin…
@OrangeStar616,
lol, and at least 13 of them can be found on **11:30 edit** lil wayne’s face
@The Champ,
D@MN! That hurt MY feelings and I don’t even know her.
@The Champ,
The edit removed all harshness.
@Voiceofreason,
It sure did….lmao!!
@The Champ, LMAO colddd blooddedddd
@The Champ, LMAO…..the 36 sound bout right tho when you think about it…..the spectrum is wide…..
I for one have never been color struck or thought I was better than someone soley based on my complexion…….. that was of thinking is ridiculous and a by product of slavery.
@OrangeStar616,
“that was of thinking is ridiculous and a by product of slavery”
Judging by the popularity of bleaching cream where race-based slavery didn’t exist, I’d say this isn’t really true
@The Champ,
I never noticed Tisha’s bad complexion, but I do stand in awe of the exponentially rising pie-likeness of her face. I mean, she was kinda cute in House Party. What gives?
Did Martin work a root on her?
Where did my post go? Growing up in Detroit being dark-skinned and having a African name made be a very easy target. I notice there were more jokes in private school than when I went to public school. I think the color issue has a lot to do with class also. For a while when I was younger I assumed if no one made fun of you for being dark you were light-skinned.
@Humble One,
For a while when I was younger I assumed if no one made fun of you for being dark you were light-skinned.
i think alot of people’s perceptions were shaped this way
Good morning, VSB!!! Um, I think I would have to say that I am in-between dark-brown skinned and chocolate. Depends on the lighting. I love my complextion!!!
I’m chocolate. Used to be called Hershey; Some kids placed one next to my arm in the fifth grade and it damn near matched….
Fast foward a decade or so and the Hershey kiss morphed into sexxxy chocolate; or so I’ve been told.
im a lightsknned girlie…i love my complexion as well although i am prone to dating carmelized menz. i think your example of complexions was quite accurate. i think that most peoples perceptions of what complexion they are is different however i think you were right on th mula with this one
@Leah,
welcome and sh*t
This is a very interesting topic. Growing up my mom’s kids were the DARKER kids of the family. My family was/is very color struck. I look back on pictures of me and my only girl cousin (same age!) who had light skin and could see that even when they dressed us up there was a difference. I grew up hearing she had “GOOD HAIR” & “PRETTY SKIN”. There is one picture I hate. We were going to a bday party and my aunt took the time to corn roll her hair into this pretty butterfly style. She said she was tired and put these Miss Celie braids in my hair and fuggin ribbons on each end. I remember that day and feeling like I was ugly when we got to the party and everybody went on and on about how pretty she looked.
So as I got older, I tried to look past the color thing and learn that all shades are beautiful.
It still is really bothersome when we are out and a light skinned girl walks in the spot and all heads turn no matter how fat, ugly, skinny, fake hair…she is the DC BEAUTY QUEEN.
All 3 of my kids are different shades even though their dad and I are what you’d consider dark skinned and it doesn’t seem to be an issue for them or between them.
This actually made me think about my preference for BLUE & BLACK BERRY shades of men. It probably comes from my upbringing and having some type of resentment towards light being seen as the ultimate in beauty. Hmmm I need to think about that one.
OH…and thanks for the pic of KG (HE CAN GET IT!!)
@Yaa,
Same goes on my dads side of the family. My grandma called me at work to tell me the new (chocolate skinned) baby in the family looks JUST like me and my cousin (we’re both dark), as opposed to looking like her sisters (who are both light). None of us look anything alike!
I had to whoo-sahhh for a week before returning her call.
@Yaa, KG, DWAYNE WADE, LEBRON… all can get it.. we would have some beautiful dark skinned babies (don’t care which one) Dark skinned with thick hair and pretty teeth…
@Liryc,
Word. Champ, just so happened to pick all the dudes I’ve had crushes on over the years ‘cept Bibby and Banks’s Grady Sanford-lookin ass…
@Yaa, WORD on KG, just sexy.. Him, Dwayne Wade, Lebron (sometimes) and so many more chocolatey chocolate men!!
Given the chance me and one of these men (preferably KG) would get together and have some pretty dark skinned babies, with kinky hair and pretty teeth… damn!!
I’m light-brown skin and resent the yellow sh*t people throw in there.
I don’t care what shade a woman is, I just find people give too much credit to light skinned chicks. Sometimes she gets a pass just because she is gold tinted. One things for certain…I just like nice smooth, clear and soft skin on a woman…it says a lot about their internal health.
@CPT Callamity, ((STANDS UP AND CLAPS))
where were you during the light skinned wave!! I mean everyone was jumping on the light skinned band wagon.. I had homies who dated ugly light skinned girls just cause they were light skinned.. One chick just didn’t look right, she reminds me of a cross b/w shrek and donkey and he was all over her cause she was light..
DARK SKINNED PEOPLE UNITE!!!! WOOHOO!!
ok, I’m done with my rant!
@Liryc,
I’ve been here through all of the waves. Christopher Williams killed it for us in the 90s when he started wife beating and we haven’t recovered well since.
I think some dudes are so thirsty and psyced to have a red bone that they’ll take them regardless of what shape their in.
@CPT Callamity,
“I think some dudes are so thirsty and psyced to have a red bone that they’ll take them regardless of what shape their in.”
Either that or extra thirsty for a “cracka-ass-cracka”. No offense to my cracka-ass-cracka brothas and sistas. : )
@RedBeanzNRice, my friends call “the fairer complexioned ones” that.. I just busted out laughing and had my co-workers look over!!
@RedBeanzNRice,
“cracka-ass-cracka”
Also known as a 313.
@Voiceofreason,
Y’all racist mofos! LMBAO!
@Liryc,
DARK SKINNED PEOPLE UNITE!!!! WOOHOO!!
See I don’t know about this. I’ve not lived long in the US… 8 years and some change. But since I’ve been here, I have often thought the light-skinned people get the brunt of the “negative talk”… Yes, I’ve met a few confused dark-skinned girls (one I pray for every day of my life, bless her heart)… Maybe because I missed the wave when light/bright was right, from my vantage point being light-skinned seems to be more of a burden than the opposite…
And for the record, I’m dark-skinned (chocolate in winter.
).
Question: Does this even matter? In the grand scheme of life? Will the fact that I am chocolate/dark skinned allay the fact that I am still a Negress? Nope.
That being said, I love the skin that I am in. Its clear, even and when I get just the right amount of sun, it is luminous with shimmery gold undertones.
That is all.
Oh, and whoever referenced “Black Girl Pain”… LOVE U MUCH! That is THE song.
The color complex is major in Nigeria (Well, amongst Yorubas, anyway. Can’t speak for the Igbos or Hausas). There, light is right and people go to stupid lengths to make sure they achieve it.
I know someone was born dark chocolate. Her skin was smooth and rich and amazing. She is now currently light-skint (think: LisaRaye) because she’s bleached her skin. It’s ridiculous the lengths people go to be light-skinned.
Oh and bleaching with all these chemicals is the pits. Instead of being a smooth shade of cocoa, she’s walking around mostly light with patches of dark on her knuckles and other places she forgot to put the cream. She now looks like the 101th dalmatian. *shaking head*
The worst part in all of this is its way too rampant. There are even some men bleaching their skins. My mom and her sisters go to parties just to roast the people who look polka dotted from bad bleaching.
@Luvvie,
“Instead of being a smooth shade of cocoa, she’s walking around mostly light with patches of dark on her knuckles and other places she forgot to put the cream. She now looks like the 101th dalmatian. *shaking head*”
This is sooooo sad.
@miss t-lee,
Aint it? It aint worf it, Ms Celie! It ain’t worf it! *rocks back and fo’th*
@Luvvie, yeah I think this applies to parts all over Africa. I don’t think its so bad though that a dark skinned beauty will be passed up for a light skinned fugly. Because most everyone is a varying shade of brown, I think more emphasis is on features, hair texture, and oh, how could i forget, your tribe.
rep yo hooooooooood.
@overit,
oh, how could i forget, your tribe.
Yet another interesting phenomenon that clearly needs addressing… Are u up for it overit?
@Ms. Sula, seeing as to how the country i hail from has been in civil war for over 20 yrs due to tribe, and my fam has seen all sorts of tragedy cause of it..maybe not lol. i just cuss and stuff.
but maybe one day i can break down how idiotic it is:)
@Luvvie,
The skin bleaching is a problem in Asia and India also.
@Humble One,
Word??? I never knew!
@Luvvie,
Japanese people are famous for this ish! Now to my untrained eye, they all look pretty light to me. But the most subtle differences to my sub-Saharan self are miles apart to them. Take a good look at some of those Shisheido (sp?) counters, esp. in areas with high Asian populations. I’ve seen alot in Desi (South Asians) communities too
@Humble One,
Yeah, I’ve heard Asian chicks say they bleach their skin b/c they don’t want to look like they’re Filipina. D@mn shame.
@Luvvie, don’t those chemicals have dangerous long-term effects? I’d imagine that being polka dotted is the least of their concerns when see-through skin and cancer could be involved
@Luvvie, Ghanaians call them Fanta faces (like the orange soda LOL). It is a shame that we cant love the skin we are in.
@Yaa,
LMAO @ Fanta Face.
Btw, is it me, or does the Fanta in Africa taste different (and better) from the Fanta here? I think they use a different formula.
@Luvvie,
It’s not you Luvvie. The first thing I picked up on when I came.
Maybe because it’s in a glass bottle instead of a plastic one?
@Luvvie,
OMG!!! Re. the men bleaching themselves. I heard this story (um…inappropriate story alert) of this friend of a friend (honest- it wasn’t me)- who was seeing this guy who bleached his w.illy. Andd when she finally got to see it, it was two-toned meat n’ veg. So after crying with laughter and just good ole fashioned crying, she dressed and exited (and threw up a little bit in her mouth).
He still wonders why she never calls.
@Wanjiru,
“it was two-toned meat n’ veg.”
Lord help!!!!! lol
@Wanjiru,
This entire comment just needs to go to the pits of Dereon Hell. People bleaching their magic sticks??? *faints all dramatic like*
@Wanjiru,
They say everything looks bigger in white…
@Luvvie,
Yes, I was about to mention the phenom that is bleaching in the sub-continent of West Africa. It’s insane and needs to be studied at length… There has to be some serious twistage of mentality going on when people will chemically put themselves in danger to achieve a certain look.
Very disturbing…. and ultimately sad as heck.
I’d have to say that I am dark brown skinned, though I’ve always told everyone (men) that I am chocolate so that I can make sexual connotations and tell them that I melt in their mouths and not in their hands but that’s another story that I don’t want to get into on vsb!! Well for right now that is…
But I remember during my H.S. years wanting to be lighter skinned cause all my homegirls were light skinned and that was when only the light got play cause of their lack of melanin, but since the DARK SKINNED revolution I have embraced my semi-chocolate skin…
OH BTW, Alek Wek is SEXY!! 3 am winter time sexy… that’s refined dark.. with no blemishes!!
@Liryc,
“though I’ve always told everyone (men) that I am chocolate so that I can make sexual connotations”
*DEAD*
I love you for this.
@Liryc, Cracking up!
@Liryc,
“OH BTW, Alek Wek is SEXY!! 3 am winter time sexy… that’s refined dark.. with no blemishes!!”
Hmm… methinks I may need to give oyu a tour of the Corner. Step this way.
@Luvvie, daaammmmnnnnn I thought I slipped under the radar for that one…
((walking slowly and looking for someone to help))
Geesh. I fall somewhere between passing and light skinned. I’m quite pale, even when tanned I don’t get caramel.
I would say my nose would put me firmly in the light skinned group and keep me out of passing but no one sees the nose but me. The green eyes don’t help.
@iloV.E.G.rits,
I’m right there with you. Sunburn anyone?? smh
@iloV.E.G.rits,
I don’t think you could pass. Mayb its cuz I know you but you look like a Black woman who just happens to be slightly see-thru with green eyes.
@Luvvie,
I don’t think I could pass either. But nor could Mariah Carey…I think that, based on Champ’s comments, ‘cuz I have green eyes I can’t put a firm foothold on the plain ol’ light skin category.
And I ain’t see through, Naija! I am beige.
@iloV.E.G.rits,
But, as I said, my fat tipped nose should keep me out of the passing category.
@iloV.E.G.rits,
Yeah, Mariah Carey def. could not pass, unless the white people she was passing for were blind. I’d believe she was dominican or smthg… But not Italian like she said she used to claim.
@Me fail english?,
She could pass for something other than black but definitely not white. lol.
When I first saw the “Vision of Love” video I squinted to take a good look at her. I knew something was up. Glad she claims it now.
I’ve been called ‘light-skinned’ my entire life. While my mom was (and I say ‘was’ because now she’s a little darker) the yellow-ist of the family (like Mike Bibby up there) , my dad is moreso the shade of Lebron James (even though HE’S the one that’s immediately biracial. Weird, right? lol). Now mommy is like Lisa Raye.
My siblings and I came out to be like Lloyd Banks’ complexion though. Family of extremes……sorta.
@Ms_Slim,
welcome and sh*t (i think)
I’m tempted to post a pic of myself to see what yall would classify me as. I think I’m just light-skinned, but I’ve been called yellow and red-boned before.
Let me do a quick self-evaluation and see if I need to be validated. I’ll get back to yall.
@nia,
I thought I about including a pic, too. lol.
Getting wrapped up in color is bad if you think a particular shade automatically qualifies you or someone else for the segzy award or makes you/someone else better than others.
BUT, as black folks, skin color is something we use to describe each other. White people can say “look for the blonde with the blue eyes”, etc. Before Ms. Clairol we were not able to say “oh look for the blonde chick”. For the most part, everyone has brown eyes and brown hair. So we had to say “look for the chocolate brown boy” or “the girl with skin the color of burnt honey will be waiting for you”.
Just a thought.
@iloV.E.G.rits,
“the girl with skin the color of burnt honey will be waiting for you”
Is that what Harriet tol folks in the Underground Railroad? That just sounds sneaky. Like “when you get to the 4th fork in the road, there’ll be a girl with a brooch pinned to her right arm…”
@Luvvie,
Sigh. Luvvie. A negro girl in the woods with a brooch pinned to her arm would attract attention and get everyone captured!
“***the easiest place on the list, brown-skinned bastards can live their entire life without the hyper color-consciousness plaguing the rest of the spectrum. they can date whoever they want without being labeled as colorstruck or an overcompensator, and they are typically free of the color-centric insults (high-yellow b*tch, african booty scracther, etc) thrown towards other ends of the spectrum. if it sounds like i’m hating, good. mission accomplished.***”
My name is Cornell Westside, President of the Brown Skinned Brothers Association of America (BSBAA), and I approve this message.
@Cornell Westside,
nukka, youse chocolate. don’t even front.
tee hee
@Cornell Westside,
toast to you!! Can I be on the board????
LMFAO @ Mariah being “tragically passing”.
This post is much-needed. I always considered myself to be caramel and looking at Lloyd Banks, I’m probably right.
You posting that Alek Wek pic reminded me of how much I envy an ebony sister’s skin. I mean, their ish is more likely to be flawless. The more melanin, the less chance of cracking. Damn 2520 devils.
Also, there have been tons of light-skinned/dark-skinned revolutions, but will there ever be an over-hyped mass love for us folks that fall in the middle? I mean, I know there’s no need for it, but that doesn’t matter.
My brother wrote like 5 papers in college on the color hierarchy (sp?) and it’s always interesting to me how black people treat other black people based on where they fall in the spectrum. I loved the chick who mentioned her MAC colors to describe her color. I don’t wear that stuff enough to know but I do know that after Texas Relays this weekend I was too dog-on dark for my make-up. Hahaha. So I think I’m normally Dark-brown skinned but after a track meet I’m Chocolate or I’m always chocolate and then dark-skinned after a meet. I don’t know and I don’t care. I’m sexy either way! LOL
@RunBabyRun,
Oh snap! You were here for the Relays?
@miss t-lee, Yes ma’am. No running for me anymore…I’m old…well my body is lol…but yea I came down there and enjoyed myself for the weekend…becoming a tradition of mine.
@RunBabyRun,
Yep it was nice this weekend, I’m just glad the weather cooperated…lol
@miss t-lee, Oh yeah because last year it rained on friday and a couple years ago it rained all weekend!! But yeah, I wonder if we crossed paths! I love how it’s a small world…after all.
@RunBabyRun,
Let’s not forget two years ago when it snowed. SNOWED!!!! What kind of ish was that? lol
You’re right…we probably did cross paths a few times this weekend.
Small world, indeed.
@RunBabyRun,
welcome and sh*t
@The Champ, Thanks boo! I’ve been lurking around for a few weeks but felt I had to comment on this one! Like many other women I get that “you’re cute for a dark girl” comment, a lot! So I love convos that have to do with color because the topic is always interesting.
::sigh:: I’m light-skinned, and after 24 years, it seems like that’s not changing anytime soon. Though I always had a preference for darker skin, the fact that I now have a little yellow Mini Me helps me see the beauty in our particular shade.
@Kindred Smile,
awwww @ mini me. I will now stalk her pics on Facebook. lol.
BTW folks: a birdie (i.e. Luvvie) told me Kindred was once quite concerned she was told her paler than usual complexion resembled mine.
I think Kindred spent the next day at the beach. lol.
@iloV.E.G.rits,
LMAO! Dang, V! How you gon tell my bitness in telling HER bitness? U aint right at all. lol
@iloV.E.G.rits, awww Veggie it wasn’t even like that! Let’s say I was more surprised than aghast…
@Kindred Smile,
Okay. I feel better. lol.
This post offers some clarity. Depending on what part of the country I can go from brown skinned to light skinned. I now see I am within the parameters of caramel to light skinned. This shall be a reference.
I think some of the infatuation with darker skinned hues involves the monochromatic effect: they are the same color all over.
When it’s time to get down with a light skinned person different areas look like multi color mix and match skin spots…
I get the ‘Red Bone’ term often; but, me and my siblings have red undertones, I think that’s where it come from.
A.Keys (sorry, best example) would be a ‘yella bone’…
Soon as I read this I started hearing that Heavy D song in my head, “Black coffee no sugar no cream…”
@Blk Bond,
“When it’s time to get down with a light skinned person different areas look like multi color mix and match skin spots…”
I need clarification. PLEASE tell me you are talking about brothas!
I am the same shade up and down…my booty is not darker nor are my knees (obviously, in the summer I get tan lines, but dang)…I don’t want the fellas thinking “eww…you know them light skin girls are different shades underneath they clothes.”
And…yellow bone? why? lol.
@iloV.E.G.rits,
I’ve seen some light-skinned girls get dark-skinned under the cheeks.
@Humble One,
They need to exfoliate. Use a good body scrub.
@iloV.E.G.rits,
LOL……..darker guys have lighter penises/heads and lightskin guys have darker penises/heads..just a lil interesting fact, I’ve alwasy wondered why that is tho LOL
@OrangeStar616,
This I knew (hehe) which is why I thought maybe this was just for the guys. The wood is always a different color.
@iloV.E.G.rits,
“They need to exfoliate. Use a good body scrub.”
I see. So they are a little crunchy under there?
@Humble One,
I hope not. lol. But exfoliating can help even out the skin tone a bit.
@Humble One,
lol. Not necessarily. Hyper-pigmentation, esp. concentrated in certain areas (elbows, knees, knuckles, underbutts) is sometimes just genetic. It’s more evident on lighter women though
@iloV.E.G.rits,
nah love, the females: butt, knees, etc. Sometimes I’m really thrown for a loop when the areolas are WAY off….I digress.
@Blk Bond,
“Sometimes I’m really thrown for a loop when the areolas are WAY off”
This generated a deep guffaw. Thanx.
@iloV.E.G.rits,
lighter-skinned women also usually have grayish women parts.
@The Champ,
My mind’s eye just developed cataracts. Ihatechu, Champie
@The Champ,
wth? Stop spreading these vicious lies.
@The Champ, WTF? Are you bagging catfish now?
@Kindred Smile,
Really…I was wondering the same thing.
Whose parts are grayish?
Lawd-a-Mercy!
@Kindred Smile,
No! Not catfish!
@The Champ,
if I get fired I hope you can get me a job cause I’m seriously on a thin line today!!
Grayish woman parts.. SERIOUSLY?? I wouldn’t know….
@The Champ,
lol. This sounds funny. Like their schmaginas have teeth and claws too.
However, my limited expertise in porn leads me to believe that what you’re saying is somewhat true, but some lighter men are colored this way too. Like no matter how much baby oil they slap on these people it just stays gray. Not dirty, not tanned. Just gray.
Mayhaps this is what dermablend was made for
I never really considered my shade until I was dating my ex and he used to say he loved my peanut butter complexion, and he was chocolate, so we were like Reese’s.
Anyways, I would say I’m between the caramel and brown skinned. So now that’s what I refer myself, but in reality I hadn’t really given it much though before then.
Even living in Atlanta, I actually don’t hear much color shade discussion like earlier posts were refering to.
@Alynrochelle,
welcome and sh*t
@PeachyKeen,
“I’m a native Atlantan and that was just too true. People down here are just color struck>”
Tell me about! I live in ATL also. I think black people on a whole in the world are colorstruck otherwise products like “Fair and White” Bleaching Cream and all the other hydroquinone and heavy metal creams that cause ochronosis (Sp? I can’t check write now) wouldn’t be some the best selling items in Kenya and other West African countries. Go into your local Korean Hair store and you will find so many bleaching and fade creams that women actually buy. It’s ludicrous! I’m a tall, slim chocolate brown sister myself and the guys that approach me tend to run the spectrum from dark to light skin. However, I see the tendency of mostly caramel to light skins approach me in Atlanta and if I date one of them people think I’m colorstruck. Hey, I see some fine chocolate and dark skinned brothers and I want them to approach me but they look right through me to the caramel or light skinned chick who may not look as good, but gets “light skin points”. I think it’s the mentally that if you are dark you should date/marry someone who is lighter then you so can even out the skin tone of your kids?! Growing up friends, family, and people always told me I should get a light skin (even a white/hispanic guy??!) since I was already dark (what the??!). However this is a stupid logic because two dark people could have light kids and vice versa. For example, my mother is caramel according to your scale and my father is brown skin yet I came out chocolate (if the logic held up wouldn’t I have been between caramel and brown skin?). My uncle is dark and my aunt is chocolate and my cousins both came out light brown skin. Skin tone is neither a dominant or recessive trait unless it’s extreme like albinos. Skin tone is a imcompletely dominant trait and it could skip generations.
@Blue Skyez,
Sorry I meant Kenya (in EAST Africa) and other African Countries including West Indian countries, and The U.S. Typing fast because mi pantalla is visible to all my coworkers lol.
Yes! Champ you have truly conquered the beast with this post! I often read the post but don’t comment, but I had to on this one! P.S. I love this site!
As a person that has fought for her light brown coloring against the light-skinned blows thrown at me, I’m happy someone has clarified the true color spectrum. I’ve had to disappoint too many friends that were confused about their status redbone and Godiva alike. And yes I’ve seen sexy in all shades.
But seriously black men please stop insisting that I must be mixed and questioning if I know my real parents! Dudes be so off-put if I don’t admit my G-ma was half-white (that’s our hidden business LOL)! I’ve had a man give me the most disappointed face when I said I was from the midwest and have no connects with Belize. I gave him the meanest side eye and left his presence IMMEDIATELY! He acted like I killed his dog. Like he damn sho couldn’t be caught in the streets with a *gasps* BLACK woman!
@YaDaddyLikesIt,
LMAO@ ur screenname!!!
@YaDaddyLikesIt,
“But seriously black men please stop insisting that I must be mixed and questioning if I know my real parents!”
Black folk in general like to do that to me…I swear I want to reach for my .45 every time!! Don’t question me sucka!! *wooooooo saaahhhh* again
@YaDaddyLikesIt,
welcome and sh*t
@YaDaddyLikesIt,
welcome ((gets welcome wagon, pops a cork and sh*t))
Some black want to hear a mixture of something with something else.. cause if you have what they call good hair something must be mixed in somewhere… totally smh @ them
I’m brown skinned and like Colbert, I don’t see color beneath the sheets. . . usually it’s stars, angels, that sort of thing.
@kamakula,
LMAO @ stars and angels…but I feel you! he he ;o)
@kamakula,
This made me smile a very slow (and chexy) smile.
@kamakula,
Heyyyyy eBoo!
Umm so I JUST discovered this blog a few days ago and i am currently risking my job going thru all the archives. My boos keeps giving me weird looks but I quickly became addicted… HELP ME!
lol
As a nigerian and chocolate woman, my family is an anomaly. My mother is fair, my dad chocolate, one of my sibs is bronze. We have direct relatives with random eye and hair colors. I often get odd looks when i go tanning with my “high yella” roomie. I love my beutiful tone.. i can wear any color and it POPS. Plus, there is nothing quite like a choclate man… Im gonna have me some chocolate babies yall
@CoCo,
welcome and sh*t
@CoCo,
NAIJA STAND UP!
I’m brown skinned and since I don’t hide from the sun in the summer I get NICE AND TOASTY then. Can you tell I LOVE being me?
Dude…LOVE.IT!
I think this is a great disection of the black color spectrum and all of its beautiful shades in between. It’s funny because where I fall depends on the weather and people’s interpretation. Last week a man compared my friend and I to Marge Simpson and a banana. I think it must have been the dim lighting because I am defeinitely not of a light according to your scale. But in his mind I was.
I am caramel in the winter and brown-skinned in the summer. Anyway it goes, I am a beautiful intelliegent black woman and I love it.
@Silent Scorpion,
“Marge Simpson and a banana”
BWAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!!
I think this is a great disection of the black color spectrum and all of its beautiful shades in between. It’s funny because where I fall depends on the weather and people’s interpretation. Last week a man compared my friend and I to Marge Simpson and a banana. I think it must have been the dim lighting because I am defeinitely not light-skinned according to your scale. But in his mind I was.
I am caramel in the winter and brown-skinned in the summer. Anyway it goes, I am a beautiful intelliegent black woman and I love it.
My cousin would have this ” I wanna be your complexion” talk with me.. she’s a cute dark skinned girl (dwayne wade complexion) and though I’m only maybe a shade lighter she thinks I’m like beyonce light.. just ridiculous..
SIDE BAR:: I just came back from getting something across the street at my job and this sexy dark skinned dude in a suit walked past me, I almost tripped and fell cause he was so damn delicious.. I was droolin and sh*t.. I’d double take at a light skinned dude …but a dark skinned brother in a suit just makes you wanna call his name in all different languages while you…. wwwwwwaiiiitttt (going off on a tangent, forget it…)
Viva la Chocolate and all of its addicting creamy smooth deliciousness!!!!
I’m Caramel (I think) but my only other immediate relatives are all dark brown-skinned (mom, brother and niece) and my mom and brother have insisted that I’m light-skinndeded but I don’t think I am. I have the opposite thinking of a lot of others where I think I’m darker than I really am. Funny thing is sometimes I’m Caramel then other times I’m really light and it shocks me, especially in the winter months. I also have jet black hair which probably makes me seem lighter. I think because the others in my family are browner I have a complex where I think I’m too light and wish I were browner (all colors are beautiful to me but that’s a different story), that shows you it’s your environment that gives you a complex.