from NOLA with love

Today’s newsletter is brought to you in partnership with Target

I spent most of last week in New Orleans attending the Essence Festival of Culture with Target. I’d been back stateside for all of three days after spending the first six months of the year between Nigeria and Europe. As I told anyone who would listen, it felt as though my body had only just discovered the concept of jet lag—and was determined to make sure I understood it too.

New Orleans, with its languid humidity, woke me right up. Target had invited me to the festival after we partnered to bring three as seen on readers to Essence Fest, so my first order of business was finally meeting them. We were all staying at The Windsor Court, where Target had put us up for the weekend, and that first evening I got ready in my suite with Karren, one of the winners and my newest favourite beauty creator (who, naturally, also writes a Substack). Slightly overdressed for a seafood boil—but committed to the bit—we headed to Fiery Crab to kick things off.

It was just Karren and me on our first morning at the festival. Despite the Essence lore looming large in my mind, I hadn’t really known what to expect. Within minutes, I’d had two thoughts. The first, spoken out loud, was that I’d never seen so many Black people in one place in the United States. The second, a note to self: I’m going to have to check a suitcase after all. I was a kid in a candy store and I would be leaving with goodies.

You couldn’t miss the Target booth as you walked into the convention center. The giant red logo suspended from the ceiling certainly helped, but the crowd queuing up to be let in was genuinely insane. They barely let up all weekend.

Some of the biggest as seen on stories over the past year have been beauty stories, so it was fun to see so many of those ideas distilled into one space. Within the Target booth was The Styling Seat, inspired by the Black salon, where people stopped to have their hair and makeup retouched by local stylists. The Shade of You offered personalized shade matching and custom Target beauty lip kits, while the Main Stage hosted conversations with founders, wellness leaders, and creators, alongside appearances from Ryan Destiny and Latto.

I asked a few of the women waiting in line what they were most excited about. Every single one gave me the same answer: the goodie bags. Makeup, skincare, and haircare products from Black-owned brands stocked at Target — a reminder that experiential remains one of the biggest drivers of discovery in the industry. People weren’t just lining up to leave with products; they wanted introductions to brands they hadn’t tried before.

Beyond Target, the festival was more expansive than I had imagined. Established beauty brands sat alongside independent vendors selling handmade jewelry, clothing, books, and art. I was also struck by how intergenerational the programming and attendees were. Beauty marketing often assumes the customer is twenty-five. Essence didn’t. Grandmothers, mothers, daughters, aunties and friends moved through the convention center together, comparing products, swapping recommendations, and attending talks. It reminded me that beauty trends may begin on TikTok, but beauty culture has always been passed from person to person.

While the convention center was all energy and movement, some of my favourite moments happened in the quieter conversations. Across the weekend, Target’s programming brought founders, creators, and wellness leaders together to talk about the businesses they were building and the communities they were serving. As someone who spends a good chunk of her time interviewing founders, it was refreshing to step away from the headlines and hear them speak candidly about the work itself.

Somewhere between all of that, there was still time to actually experience New Orleans.

One of the unexpected joys of the trip was getting to know the three giveaway winners beyond the convention center. Oreoluwa introduced us to frozen daiquiris and, within about ten minutes of meeting, we’d discovered a few mutual friends. Flora, our New Orleans local and de facto tour guide for the weekend, introduced us to the actually good food spots in the city, regaling us with a bit of local history on every drive.

I didn’t get to see Cardi B or Kehlani perform because jet lag, but I did watch Michelle Obama in conversation with Keke Palmer, which was life-changing enough. The weekend ended with an intimate dinner hosted by Target. After several days of moving through packed convention halls and festival crowds, it was a nice way to close things out. I got to spend more time with the Target team, and got in a good chat with Pamela Brown, their head of talent and experiential, who had somehow managed to make an event of this scale feel remarkably personal from the moment we arrived.

It’s one thing to write about an industry from your laptop. It’s another to spend a weekend watching it unfold in real time.