Coachella may have taken its final bow for 2026, but consider this merely the prelude. The season ahead—ripe with festivals, open-air concerts, and long, golden evenings—calls for beauty that is less routine, more reverie. Enter: the return of fantasy.
Earlier today, Chlöe Bailey offered a visual proposition in the form of a carousel—an editorial moment, really—where beauty leaned unapologetically whimsical. Think early-aughts futurism, softened in pastels and reimagined with intention. It wasn’t just a look; it was a language. One that spoke fluently in shimmer, in color, in play.
There’s something deliciously nostalgic about it all. The neon pink brows, the wide-eyed lashes, the coral shimmer amplified with crisp white liner—each detail feels like a love letter to an era when beauty was experimental without apology. And yes, the return of body glitter (in all its unapologetic glory) feels less like a trend revival and more like a reclamation.
Because beneath the surface, there’s a deeper resonance. The freedom to be soft, to be playful, to be adorned for no one but yourself—this hasn’t always felt accessible. Particularly for Black women, whose relationship to beauty and expression has often been shaped by expectation rather than exploration. The quiet pressure to be composed, to be polished, to be perpetually “on”—it leaves little room for whimsy.
And yet, here we are.
What Chlöe offers isn’t just inspiration—it’s permission. A gentle but firm reminder that girlhood, in all its buoyant, expressive glory, doesn’t expire. That softness is not a regression, but a choice. A power, even. Especially now, when the pace of the world seems to demand a kind of accelerated maturity that few of us have truly consented to.
So consider this your seasonal directive: indulge the fantasy. Let your beauty routine wander a bit. Reach for the unexpected shade. Trace the liner a little wider. Add the shimmer, the gloss, the gleam. Not for spectacle—but for self.
Because if this season is offering anything at all, it’s this: a quiet invitation to return to yourself.
