Lately, we have all been seeing these Nicki Minaj selfies hitting the internet and, I must say, they are flawless! Personally, the made-up Nicki Minaj is cool, but I’m really digging this natural look she’s putting on for the city. For whatever reason, especially in the afro-american community, many of our sistas have felt the need make it a trend to wear, what I call Drag makeup. The damn eyelashes, shaved off-painted on eyebrows, foundation, blush, powder, concealer, on top of the weave! It’s just too damn much! Look, I’m not exactly #TeamNatural, but hell I’m not #TeamFaceBeat either; and why do we call that ‘face beat’. Anywho, our girl NIcki Minaj is proving that natural is beautiful, and I have proclaimed her the Queen of the Selfies…whaaaat…

As a graphic designer and self-proclaimed photographer (when I want to be), I have to say that 90% of the selfies I see from “friends” on Facebook and Instragram are a hot ass mess! I’ve decided to do my community a favor and provide 5 Important Tips for Taking the Perfect selfie….Like Nicki!

Tip 1 – Lighting

In the photo industry, most photogs will tell you they love working with light. Light is very important. Look at people who take great selfies – they are usually in the front seat of the car OR in the bathroom. Natural light works best – if you look at Nicki, most of her Selfies are outside, or they appear to be taken by an open window. Natural sunlight on black skin is THE BEST. Also, your phone can focus better with more light, so get out that bunker you call a living room for goodness sake.

Tip 2 – Back the hell up from the camera – DAMN

You ever scrolled down the timeline and some big face person took a Selfie that took up the entire window of your phone. Good lawd, back away from that shit, especially if your head is ginormous! Put some neck in there, let’s see what your shirt look like. If your head weighs 30 lbs or more, you just need to back the eff up and stop scaring people with your big ass face. The bigger the circumference of your dome, the farther away you need to be from the camera. #ExtendArm

Tip 3 – Clean your house Nasty!

If you have dirty draws on the floor, dirty walls, your kid pissed up in the background, you are banned from taking Selfies until you can do better! Nice backgrounds only, cause trust me – people are watching and a lot of yall are slipping!

Tip 4 – Natural – but not exactly

Yeah I applauded Nicki for taking a natural pic, but umm it’s not $% natural – and most of you all don’t need to be going 100% natural either! Those of us with great skin and jeans can make that happen. The rest of us may need some help. So yes, put on a little concealer and handle those dark circles and acne scars, put on some lip gloss just so your mouth aint looking ashy like Pookie. Its ok to get a little help, your girl Nicki has on some light foundation, a little earth-tone lipstick and some eyeliner and she’s rocking her shit! But don’t overdo it!

Tip 5 – Stop fronting with Filters

Lol, sorry but if every Selfie you take is Filtered, you obviously have personal issues with yourself and you may need to seek some help. Especially my darkskin sistas; ya’ll gotta stop making yourselves look lightskin in every Instagram pic with those brightening filters – that’s just sad. See Tip 1 – sunlight on black skin is way better!

Syllabus Magazine

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