Paris has a lot of black women, a lot of beautiful black women who were born in or have ancestors from many different countries, such as Africa, including Senegal, Chad, and others; or the West Indian women who have roots in Guadeloupe or Martinique. I've always been interested in these women because a.) we're all black, and b.) I wonder what they think about us African-Americans; and the third reason is the hair and beauty issue, of course. If you've ever paid attention to some of the un-hairstyles here, you've probaby asked yourself the same question: Why? Yellow thread showing through weaves and weave tracks jumping out at you on the metro...

But this is not the case with Sarah, a young black French model with roots in the Domincan Democratic Republic of Congo and Congo Brazzaville. Maybe you've seen her in a video, or a magazine already, but take it from us, this young woman could very well be the next Naomi or Tyra.

I spotted her one day and the first thing I noticed was her great hair! Now, if you are a black woman in Paris, regardless of your nationality, you really notice it when you see great hair, moreso than you would in the States. The coolest thing about noticing Sarah's hair was the kind response she gave me when I asked her who does it! She didn't lie and say she does it herself, or make up some dumb excuse. She not only gave me the address but the name of the stylist to ask for. As the French say, incroyable!

Sarah is 20 years old and a Communications student. She's been a model for only a year but it has already become a real passion. "I always wanted to be a model and I was lucky enough to meet the right people and get the right projects," she says. Sarah wants to continue working as a model and appearing in magazines and experimenting with different types of shoots until she gets out of school when she will work in marketing.

This young up and comer would love to work in the U.S. or England. She explains, "Those countries are more open and quicker to put a black woman on the cover of a magazine. In France, the métisse (biracial) and the asian women hold those top spots." I've seen this to be true. France has a strange "love" for biracial women! Les jolies métisses... and I'm not quite sure what that's about...to be investigated in another article.

Back to Sarah, super model to be. Who are her role models? Non other than Naomi Campbell and Ethiopian Liya Kebede. Her other heros are her family members who have supported her throughout her modeling endeavors and her collegiate goals. Without them, she says she wouldn't have gotten this far. "Modeling and being a part of this world can be very dangerous. For girls who are just starting you have to be careful because there will be people who want to make you do things against your will. You need a good circle of friends or family around you."

If you are interested in contacting Sarah for work, let us know and we'll forward the message.

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