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Pretty Woman

Over due and under estimated, naysayers beware because an ethnic beauty book is here. Jolie magazine, the ultimate beauty guide for women of color, hit newsstands September 20th. In the vain of good sisterly relations, COCOACHiC vibes with Alicia Marie Rivers, Jolie's Editor-In-Chief, on creating a magazine targeted to your beauty.

Little Woman, Big Dreams

	Alicia Marie Rivers, Editor-in-Chief Jolie Magazine.

Petite and polite, Alicia Marie Rivers is a saint in stilettos in an industry that still doesn't understand us, is plagued with prima donnas and where sistas sometimes don't help one another. Putting pettiness and undue pressure aside, this positive sista left an established publishing career behind to strike out on her own and strike up an inspiration source for you to own your beauty. To her credit, she's achieved in her more than 10 year publishing career, having started as Assistant Beauty and Fashion Editor at Black Elegance magazine and then being quickly promoted to Editor. Moving on and up, she left that title to become the first black woman to edit non-ethnic magazine 101 Hairstyles & Shortcuts and additional special hair care titles under that group publisher. Always up for new challenges, her next and last stop before breaking out was revamping books Black Hairstyles & Trends, Black Hair & Braids and Be Stylish which took off like wildfire under her watch. Now, she is one of few that has bravely stepped up to fill the market void for ethnic beauty. "It's my dream to target us, by us," Alicia impresses. Softly but emphatically she explains Jolie's mission is simple, 'Live Pretty.' Alicia explains: "With Jolie, we're creating a lifestyle. If you feel like you're pretty, you are pretty. Jolie feeds you mentally, physically, spiritually while still being fun."

Four Women and a Magazine

	(L to R): Rachel Breton, Chief Operating Officer, Vivica A. Fox, Editor-at-Large, Alicia M. Rivers, Editor-In-Chief, Natalie Harewood, Director of Public Relations.

Alicia is joined by two partners in attempting to shake things up in beauty. And to add just a bit of bling, Vivica A. Fox brings a celebrity twist to the magazine's editorial. Ask Alicia, what makes her, the editorial team and the magazine different, and she says, "It's fabulush!" Jolie is actually just one part of parent company fabulush inc. that was formed to focus on multicultural women and promote self-acceptance with style. With Alicia at the helm, these ladies are charging full steam ahead in capturing your feelings, thoughts, looks and beauty. As Alicia calls it, "Jolie is the equivalent to a Black Allure [magazine]."

Alicia's fabulush faves

Although doling out beauty advice is second nature to her now, we asked Alicia to dig deep into her beauty bag.

CHiC: "What products do you really love sans advertising hype?"

AMR: "Organic olive oil, any brand from your local grocer applied to hair ends every other day…ApHOGEE Pro-Vitamin Leave-In Conditioner is great too…Aloe from the actual leaf as a hydrating treatment every other night at bedtime…Cetaphil Cleanser and md formulations with gycolic acid for its great exfoliating properties and anything Neutragena…Like Vivica, I love City Lips…And pretty much MAC everything, the powders, bronzers, gloss. Ooh! LipGlass LustreGlass in Love Nectar is a great peach color that looks great on any skin tone. Trust me…And anything Chanel, Allure Sensuelle is my fragrance right now, I just love it."

CHiC: "What do readers have to look forward to?"

AMR: "More beauty features and some great investigative reporting such as ingredients to beware of especially hair chemicals that have negative effects on black women's hair. Skip the pretty packaging and really look at if it works. We want to educate our readers about ingredients and offer them true solutions to beauty questions."

CHiC: "And, let the Cocoa Chics know a little secret something."

AMR: "I am really serious about colon cleansing. I really want to expose people to eliminating toxins from their bodies. It's about eating right, not necessarily perfect, but just increasing your intake of fruits and vegetables. I enjoy mixing oils myself, scents like sandalwood, vanilla and cinnamon, bought at Nubian Heritage or even on the street. On the hush, I believe women should live through all facets of pleasure — sensual, physical and mental stimulation. Those are the keys to happiness."

The Editor has spoken. Live your dreams. Live the fabulush life. And of course: Live Pretty.

~Bernie

Check out Jolie's website in the Magazines category of CHiC Links.

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