My blog is actually all self-photography unless it's a photo shoot.
— Solange Knowles
If I have on a bright red lip, you'll rarely ever catch me with eyeshadow on. It's one or the other for me - pick one feature for the day and really focus on that.
For me, I always have looked at 'indie' as a term of 'independence.' Never associated a sonic gesture with that in the same way that pop music has always meant 'popular' to me; you know, it didn't define a sound.
I love hip-hop. I have gone through many difference phases in my love affair with hip-hop.
I'd rather be on the cast of 'Love & Hip-Hop' than 'Project Runway.'
If a piece makes you look good and makes it easier to get dressed, it wins.
Mainstream media tends to showcase a very specific kind of Mardi Gras, but my experience of Mardi Gras is very different; it's very cultural.
I still stand behind the stuff I did early on, but I was on a record label, and I didn't have a lot of creative control. Another side of that is just being young and having bad taste. There was plenty of that, too.
Beyonce has set the tone as an aunt. I've set the tone as a mom.
I have a father who was the first black student at his junior high and high school and had to do a lot to get to that point.
Luckily, I dated all of the losers ages ago. My love life has been stable for a while.
Every mom believes her kid's school doodles are amazing, and I'm no different.
My name, Solange, means 'Angel of the sun,' and I'm completely enamored of my African history. The culture is so expressive.
When you take care of yourself, you're a better person for others. When you feel good about yourself, you treat others better.
Opening Ceremony is my number one favorite place to shop here. It's the only place I'll shop in New York with my son. All of the sales people are so cool; the music is great; it's just like a big fun house, so he stays entertained.
Motherhood is such an evolving journey.
My beauty ethos? Well, I'd love to tell you it's something like 'less is more,' but honestly, it all starts with happiness. If only someone could bottle that up - when I'm happy, I'm at my most radiant and glowing. It does me better than any product ever could. And I stand by how cheesy and cliched that sounds.
It's always been my dream to look like Mariah Carey in my photos with a microphone. I don't know how she does it. When she sings, she looks perfect.
I can't take any credit for people dressing like me, you know?
My earliest love, which was sort of an obsession, actually, was Nas. I was in seventh grade, I believe, when 'Nastradamus' was out, and I took it pretty far.
I'd rather be the protector than the protected. I'm naturally the protector - being a mother and having a famous family. You have to navigate when it's right to protect.
I'd rather live in the U.S. than Europe.
I feel like I was 30 when I was 17, and I decided to get married and have a baby.
If I had to define 'sexy' now, as Disney as it sounds, I would have to say it's about complete and utter confidence.
My parents constantly tried to talk me out of being an artist. They had gone through the whole journey with my sister and just wanted me to have a normal teenage life.
My sister and I truly are best friends.
I have a mother who never took no for an answer when it came to her creative pursuits. She started a hair salon in her spare bedroom and four years later had 30 employees.
Beyonce adores my little boy. She takes him everywhere.
The Fela Kuti Queens - the band members and wives of the late African musician Fela Anikulapo Kuti - are my fashion icons.
Why is it so important for you to give back? I honestly feel like it's our responsibility as citizens of the world to ground ourselves in selflessness and all do our part.
I'm a lot more interested in style than fashion - style is what makes us who we are.
People who live in L.A. don't like to leave their homes because they have so much space. They have the nice kitchens and a cook and a pool. When you live in L.A., there is a sense of isolation in terms of raising a family.
Whether it be a red eyeliner or a graphic line on the crease of my lids, I'm more attracted to the ideas of something interesting than being 'pretty.'
Through style, you can communicate to the world who you are and what you stand for.
From a very early age, I decided that I wanted to be able to do my music but still be able to live a normal life.
Anytime fashion and music go hand-in-hand and it really is an organic fit, it's amazing.
I don't ever claim to be a hip-hop head.
I'd rather be the cool aunt than the authoritative aunt.
Fashion is a strange world sometimes. Amazing, but strange.
I have always had tremendous respect for my sister as an artist, as a woman, and now as a mother.
Everyone talks about how, in your 30s, all of these growing pains transition into wisdom and you feel more self-assured and confident, but I think I had a bit of a jump-start on that at 27.
I'm not very good at writing songs when I have a lot of clutter in my mind.
I really feel like because I had my son so young, I didn't want everyone's help. I think people felt entitled to give advice, so I'm always very sensitive to moms and letting them feel their way out.
I have a lot of guy-like quintessential relationship qualities that I have had to work on.
In my experience, as a young black artist, you have to fulfill an archetype, or be a token - and I was unwilling to do that.
I wear short shorts. After 10 years of strenuous ballet, it's the least my legs can do for me.
Self-love is really a foundation for everything, and however you practice or express that is so, so important.
Once I had my son, I stopped shopping in stores because it's not an easy process to try on clothes - and I'm not an impulsive buyer. I need to do the dance in front of the mirror, the whole nine yards.
You have Vampire Weekend who have more African references musically than most African-American artists.
My ultimate beauty icon is Diana Ross.
