WATCH: ESSENCE Best of 2023 Lifestyle

essencemagazine

Take a trip down memory lane and check out some of our favorite lifestyle  moments in 2023.

Transcript

00:00 (upbeat music)

00:02 - Hey, hey everyone.

00:12 Hello, beautiful people.

00:13 I'm Victoria Umurogi,

00:14 the Senior Lifestyle Editor for Essence.

00:16 - I'm Dominique Fluker,

00:17 the Contributing Lifestyle Editor for Essence.

00:20 - Yes, yes, and we are Team Lifestyle.

00:22 We are here to chat with you

00:24 about all of the crazy things,

00:25 all things lifestyle that occurred in the year 2023.

00:29 We're talking about the good, the bad,

00:31 and the gentle parenting.

00:32 So let's get right into it.

00:34 We gotta talk about breakups.

00:36 Celebrity breakups were all over the place.

00:39 It was really bad.

00:40 There was like a string of time in the fall

00:42 where it was like at least five people broke up

00:44 and we were shocked by all of them.

00:46 But some of the biggest things that we saw

00:48 kind of decided to take a step back

00:49 on their romantic lives,

00:51 includes Teyana Taylor and Iman Shumpert,

00:53 Miss Tina Knowles and Richard Lawson.

00:56 We got Eva the Diva Marcel

00:58 and Mr. Michael Sterling,

01:00 and then Lori Harvey and Damson Idris, who's so fun.

01:03 But anyway, what happened was sad for all of these couples,

01:07 but we're trying to figure out, you know,

01:08 where you guys stand on the most shocking one of all.

01:10 Dominique, which of those couples breaking up

01:13 did you feel like the most?

01:14 Like, oh my goodness, I can't believe that happened.

01:16 - Yeah, you know, it has to be Teyana and Iman for me.

01:19 I mean, they are just, well, before it seemed

01:22 like a picture perfect family of a little Junie

01:26 and their other little one.

01:27 And I was really shocked to see,

01:30 of course the cheating allegations

01:31 and then Teyana revealing that they're separated

01:35 only to find out that they are indeed divorced, right?

01:39 And that was because the records were leaked, unfortunately.

01:42 So that was a really sad one for me.

01:44 - Yeah, no, I agree.

01:45 I love them.

01:46 And I thought that they were so, like, they were very sexy.

01:48 They have their cute family.

01:49 Like they're the young hip couple that, you know,

01:51 people can look up to.

01:52 And girl, it just wasn't happening

01:54 the way we really thought.

01:55 So, it's unfortunate.

01:57 But in addition to "Love Gone Awry" news,

01:58 we've got to talk about couples that are kind of in flux

02:01 and whose news had us really in a tizzy this year.

02:04 So that includes, of course, Jada Pinkett Smith

02:07 and Will Smith and their whole reality

02:11 that they've actually been separated since 2016, y'all.

02:13 They was on red carpet.

02:15 He was slapping folks at the Oscars for her

02:17 and they weren't even really, like, there anymore.

02:21 And then in addition to that, yeah, they weren't.

02:23 And then in addition to that, of course,

02:25 the mess of Keke Palmer's ex, Darius Dalton,

02:28 pretty much trying to shame her over the very fly dress

02:31 that she wore to go see "Usher" at his Las Vegas residency.

02:34 Which one of those situations really took you aback?

02:37 - Well, for me, it has to be Will and Jada Smith.

02:39 I was actually upset.

02:40 I was taking it back.

02:41 I was pedagogic.

02:42 - You took it personally.

02:43 - I took it very personally.

02:44 - I still was black.

02:45 You took it personally.

02:47 - I took it very personally because, you know,

02:49 you have a platform that's rooted in transparency, right?

02:53 And then only to find that they were definitely separated.

02:58 And a lot of that hullabaloo could have been avoided

03:02 if the truth was placed, indeed, on that red table talk,

03:05 right then and there, with that episode that we all know

03:09 and we can refer back to.

03:11 - The entanglement.

03:12 - The entanglement episode.

03:13 So if they would have just laid it out on the table,

03:17 I feel like we would, the public,

03:20 would have just been more accepting of it.

03:22 - And then we gotta move on.

03:23 We gotta chat about the couples

03:25 that we are rooting for from this year.

03:27 Some people who are newer that we kinda like

03:29 and who rekindled their romances,

03:31 like Nelly and Ashanti, you know,

03:34 taking it back to what, Y2K era?

03:36 And as well as Angela Simmons and Yo Gotti,

03:41 who, you know, he obviously spoke

03:43 that whole relationship into existence.

03:45 So we need the deets from him.

03:46 So which of those two pairings are you most excited about

03:49 and to see what happens with them in 2020?

03:52 - Well, while the power of manifestation is real,

03:55 I will have to give it to my girl, Ashanti and Nelly,

03:59 because like you said before,

04:00 my Y2K dreams have been answered.

04:03 My prayers have been answered.

04:05 Thank you so much, Lord.

04:06 I just love seeing them together.

04:08 I mean, it's not a tooth not in sight when they're together.

04:11 I mean, they're smiling all day.

04:13 - Grinning.

04:14 - Cameras grinning.

04:15 They're doing lavish birthday parties.

04:18 They're living it up.

04:19 And they're inspiring me to, you know,

04:21 really stick a baby toe back into love,

04:24 maybe spin the block once more.

04:26 And, you know, like, really kind of consider my options.

04:31 - And you know, Dominique,

04:32 nothing says I'm happy to be booed up with my ex again,

04:35 or with my new boo again, than merch.

04:38 Not only did these two come back together,

04:39 and not only did Angela and Yo come together, super cute,

04:43 they out here with their faces on each other's clothes,

04:45 bags, everything.

04:47 Are you doing this for your bae?

04:49 - No.

04:50 - Okay.

04:51 I love Ashanti.

04:52 I'm so excited that she's excited and in love,

04:55 but I'm not having my man on a purse,

04:57 especially not in public.

04:58 Everything doesn't need to be displayed in that way.

05:02 So it's a no for me, dog.

05:04 - Which you would have, you would,

05:05 you would want your man out here

05:06 with your face on his shirt.

05:07 So don't do that.

05:08 You would want to be like Angela and Yo.

05:10 (laughing)

05:12 I did like Angela and Yo Gotti,

05:14 just because like you said, of the power of manifestation.

05:17 But I also really like Angela and Yo,

05:19 because they like to be jet setters.

05:21 They like to see the world.

05:22 And I know one of their locales this year

05:24 was near Mykonos.

05:26 It was gorgeous, in Greece.

05:27 And Greece was a hotspot for travel this year

05:31 for a lot of people, the famous and the not so famous.

05:34 I was there.

05:35 Don't go on my Instagram looking for my business.

05:37 I didn't do all that, but I was there.

05:39 It was fabulous.

05:40 Other hotspots this year for travel included Italy.

05:43 And we know that for Deci-Decemba, Nigeria, Ghana,

05:49 a lot of locales in Africa

05:51 are really gonna be hot and popping.

05:52 So where of those places are you trying to go?

05:55 Would you love to go on a free ticket

05:56 if somebody had to give it to you?

05:58 - Well, I would have to say Greece,

06:00 but I'm kind of embarrassed

06:01 that I haven't been to my homeland at all.

06:04 I have not been to Africa at all.

06:06 So I feel like I need to change that as well.

06:08 - That would be very, very exciting for you.

06:10 And when it comes to the domestic spots, honey,

06:12 nothing can ever be hotter than New Orleans.

06:14 And I'm not saying that just because we have festival there

06:17 and it's always amazing and the food is bomb

06:19 and the weather is nice and balmy too.

06:21 But anyway, you gotta get there.

06:23 - And I know something else you're very excited about

06:25 'cause you're all about wellness.

06:26 Dominique, can you tell us about some of the wellness trends

06:28 that happened this year?

06:29 Maybe like run down a few of them and tell us your favorite.

06:32 - Yes, okay.

06:33 So we have to start with Ozempic, okay?

06:37 That Ozempic had the girls in the tizzy.

06:39 As you know, it is for diabetes,

06:42 but it can be used as a weight loss drug as well.

06:44 And everybody was taking Ozempic,

06:47 from the nurse to the grocer and to our-

06:50 - The men.

06:51 - The men were on that Ozempic, everybody.

06:55 And so we recently did a great wellness check

06:58 with a medical expert,

06:59 really kind of delving into the benefits of Ozempic

07:02 and if you should try it or not.

07:05 And it's really up to you at this point.

07:07 - You know who doesn't get rest?

07:13 Parents, like myself.

07:16 Love our children, it's a blessing.

07:17 But this is a very interesting year

07:18 for parental conversations.

07:20 There was a lot of mess happening.

07:21 We saw T.I. and his son, King,

07:24 get into quite the tussle on social media,

07:27 on Instagram Live after they pulled his card

07:29 about whether or not he has any good points,

07:31 if he's really been through the rough

07:34 or he was really born in a gated community.

07:36 And we also saw Miss April Jones and her son, Mega,

07:40 him way too much in her business on Instagram Live,

07:43 talking about where her man or ex-man, Taye Diggs,

07:46 was a little bit cringe-worthy that that was happening.

07:48 But one of the biggest conversations

07:50 that I saw happen on social media this year was,

07:53 we're back to gentle parenting versus butt whippings.

07:56 And people are really like,

07:58 there's been so many videos and jokes about like,

08:00 this is what happens when you do gentle parenting,

08:02 your kids out here cussing you out,

08:04 talking crazy out in the world.

08:05 And so, you know, it's very hard to know where to stand,

08:07 but if you, you know, you are a parent,

08:09 where do you kind of stand on like,

08:10 how you would go about things, do you think?

08:13 - I'm definitely in the middle, okay?

08:14 'Cause you're not gonna be grown,

08:16 talking to me all types of crazy,

08:17 and not get a pat pat or, you know,

08:20 a little swat on the hand,

08:23 and embarrass me in public.

08:24 After all that I've sacrificed for you, no ma'am.

08:28 So I'm definitely in the middle.

08:29 But you know, I do think it's important for children

08:33 to have their own voice and have their own identity

08:36 and have them feel like they have agency

08:40 to come to you respectfully, number one,

08:45 and speak about their feelings.

08:47 That's very important.

08:48 - I do think when you get out of pocket,

08:51 when I done told you three, four times,

08:53 a little pow pow on a blood ain't gonna do no harm, really.

08:55 So I'm about being in the middle

08:57 and just giving grace to both methods of parenting.

08:59 So I'm glad we kind of are on the same page on that.

09:02 We can't wait to talk about all of the new things

09:04 happening in 2024, the trending topics, all the tea,

09:07 and we can't wait to get into it.

09:08 So we just thank you for watching and happy holidays.

09:12 - Happy holidays.

09:13 (upbeat music)

09:16 (upbeat music)

09:18 (whooshing)

Category

Transcript

Recommended