40 Most Beautiful Dark-Skinned Women of All-Time…Maybe

Posted by NWSO • December 26, 2011 • Printer-friendly

00. MY MAMA/MY WIFE/YOU

What did you think of the list overall? In your opinion, who was missing if anyone? Who were you most surprised to see make the final cut? Why? Who would you add or subtract? Why do you think dark-skinned women tend to get left out of most “beautiful” women lists? Can you think of 40 other famous dark-skinned women that could make a list like this as easy as you could think of light-skinned women? Does the same apply for lists about men of color? Do you think that light-skinned people tend to get placed on such lists easier than their darker counterparts? Who’s the No. 1 most beautiful dark-skinned woman of all-time in your humble opinion?

Speak your piece…

BONUS: Click here for 12 Beautiful Dark-Skinned Women I Forgot to Mention

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Tagged as: AJ Johnson, Alek Wek, Angela Bassett, Anika Noni Rose, Ashy 2 Classy, beautiful women, Bria Myles, Chili, dark skinned, Esther Baxter, Foxy Brown, Gabrielle Union, Garcelle Beauvais, Grace Jones, Halle Berry, Inga Marchand, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Janet Jackson, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Hudson, Jessica White, Jill Marie Jones, Joy Bryant, Keke Palmer, Kelly Rowland, Kenya Moore, Kerry Washington, Lark Voorhies, Lauryn Hill, light-skinned, Maia Campbell, Malinda Williams, Meagan Good, Men's Health, Naomi Campbell, Naturi Naughton, Nia Long, Nona Gaye, Pam Grier, Phylicia Rashad, Regina King, Robin Givens, Rutina Wesley, Serena Williams, Stacy Dash, Tichina Arnold, Tika Sumpter, Vanessa Williams, Yaya DaCosta

http://twitter.com/DCDistrictDiva District Diva

Sooo can we discuss why Jada Pinkett Smith and Joy Bryant are on a list of the 40 Most Beautiful Dark-skinned Women?

Anonymous

I agree! Where is Camile Winbush? She should def be on the list.

http://twitter.com/DCDistrictDiva District Diva

Phylicia Rashad is dark-skinned, too? Oh.

Anonymous

All three are brown by my visual summation and brown equals dark in my book. All beautiful at the end of the day..

Ray.

Fancy tho? Fancy's not even brown skin. With all due respect, this list is just as bad as the Men's Health list. U got A.J. Johnson in the high 40s & Bria Myles under Angela Basset?!?! I understand this is your opinion but damn. U only got about a good 15-20 actual dark skin woman on the list. About half way through I was expecting to see Halle Berry in the #1 spot.

Anonymous

Did you read the intro? I broke down that brown skin and dark skin are the same IMHO. Now if you're saying that some of the sisters are actually light skin (as in not even brown) that's another debate but if you're saying some are not dark enough/brown that's all explained in intro about brown and dark being same in my book.

End of the day, I just wonder who could really name 40 famous women that are all the way on the right of the dark skinned spectrum to fill the slots. Sadly, Hollywood/Entertainment world doesn't given that many "super dark" sisters or brothers time in the spotlight so i pick from what's available (and who I like personally) and go from there.

Can never please everyone with a list and that's a fact I accept. But if you want my list of famous dark and lovely women, here you go with no regrets

Gcrear

"Famous" may be the operative word here. I know plenty of dark-skinned women who are as, and and even more naturally beautiful, as opposed to air-brushed and made-up, as these 40 lovely ladies are. Calling these ladies "the MOST beautiful...of ALL-TIME..." may be a bit over the top.

Anonymous

Yup. I mentioned the same thing in intro about knowing plenty of real-life dark and lovelies that could eclipse most in the public eye. Unfortunately, those sisters don't get to be "famous".

Appreciate the dialogue

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1200376294 Goldie Crear

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, send a photographer to any big city mall in America and show me 40 "real" beautiful dark-skinned sisters.

MJ

OK
Kresslyj

First post, but not new to site. Ur site keeps me entertained when I have downtimes during rotations. Anyway, Nia Long is my girl crush so she should #1, as for some of the others I don't understand

Anonymous

Don't understand in terms of not beautiful enough or not dark-skinned enough?

Lily78

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder..if you need a list like this or one in other various magazines to validate how you look there's a problem..like you said there are too many variables and list like these are pointless. I could mention that there are no plus size women on this list and how you only picked overtly sexual pictures or women of a certain age, or women who only had a certain type of hair etc...beauty standard and what someone deems as attractive are extremely personal and should not set by a magazine or blog...
http://twitter.com/MsB616 Bunmi Akinnusotu

great list. thanks for this. I would've added Kimberly Elise (her beauty is 1 of a kind) and Jill Scott--some might say she's on the "lighter" side but i think Jill is her own planet. Even w/o make up and all the hollywood decor, she's an amazingly stunning. Come to think of it, I'd add our First Lady as #1..i don't think i need to explain her lol

with regard to magazine/blogs determining who is beautiful or handsome..for the authors it's business. They post stuff that will generate traffic, spark dialogue, etc. *shrug* take it with a grain of salt.

http://twitter.com/WEKetchum William Ketchum III

Those are both great points. Especially if the matter of skin tone is as general as it is in the list

http://modelmayhem.com/2451383 Wofai

Yaya DaCosta is only #27?!?! Other than that I'm just gald to see a list appreciating the great beauty in some of our darker skinned sisters (Y)
Anonymous

Hell, They're all beautiful to me... Good list...But for me the most beautiful dark skinned woman in the world was my mother... She was hot!!!! She pasted in 1997...
Mameo76

Thank you for doing this!
Potato_with_Jive

Oh damn, Garcelle Beauvais... Love her.

Glad you included Gabrielle Union and my old school crush Phylicia Rashaad. Cosby show wasn't the same without her. And it was mostly her grace that did it.

Now, I'm gonna be that dude that complains why you didn't add such and such to the list. My vote is to ditch Grace Jones and add Aisha Tyler! Cutie with a killer smile. Also, no Stacey Dash? Tsk Tsk

Anonymous

Aisha's a good pick. Grace may not win in the face dept but she was one confident woman nonetheless and made an impact that I couldn't deny. Plus her complexion is crazy

NYDiva641

Sooo...I certainly wouldn't call most of these women dark-skinned (or even brown for that matter). What's more interesting is that almost every single one is half-naked/provocatively dressed and not one is on the larger side of the spectrum. I mean, even Phylicia Rashad is shown revealing cleavage. Does sex appeal and thin equal beauty? Just a question...

Anonymous

the color complexion will be an on-going debate that varies by each individuals' perception of color hues so i won't go down that path. As for the provocative images, I'm a man that likes provocative images/women so there you have it. I'm sure if a woman made the list not only would the nominees be different but the pics as well.

As for your other query, i actually have a question for you: Can you name/list 40 dark-skinned and plus-sized famous women that would fit such a list? Not saying such women don't exist in the real-world, but like I said in the intro when pulling from the Hollywood/entertainment pool—which you're forced to for recognition purposes—you have limited options. Only person I can think of is Toccara, as other options like Mo'Nique just personally isn't attractive to me and that's based off face with no regard for her weight.

In fact, I did a ode to the big and beautiful many years ago that you can peep here:

http://nwso.net/2008/09/30/day-29-ode-to-the-big-girl-8690/

NYDiva641

If I thought long enough, yes I probably could list 40 beautiful plus-sized dark/brown skinned famous women. It would include names like Jill Scott, Queen Latifah, and Chrissette Michele. I wasn't suggesting that the WHOLE list should be plus sized. But a sprinkle of thickness and women w/ clothes on would have been a nice balance. #ijs

Anonymous

I'll co-sign Jill and Chrisette whole heartedly. Jill made one of my previous lists and Chrisette is utterly stunning. Jill was actually on the plus-sized list with Jennifer Hudson. So I been up on J-Hud way before her weight loss. She's actually a bit too skinny to me but I digress. as long as she's happy and healthy.

(Sorry Queen's not my cup of tea, not saying she's unattractive she just doesn't do it for me personally and is average in my eyes #NoOffense).

Booo to clothes on this is Naked With Socks On LOL

NYDiva641

Oh yes! How could I forget! Lol #carryon

Thawrite1

You forgot Michelle Obama!

Anonymous

All I'm going to say is... no comment

liberiangirl

You have great taste in women. I loved the list
Kimberly_dsr

You have Kenya and Tika in top 2, soooooo you sealed the deal for me I don't care about any other order anymore , you got the top two MORE than correct!! ;}
Nicole Peters

Jada Pinkett doesn't qualify as dark skinned

Anonymous

So you're saying she's light skinned? Personally, I disagree with that she toasted almond in my eyes

Aries0327

Toasted almond.....I like. LOL. I'll have use that one. Oh yeah. U do the armpit thing too? Lolol.

Anonymous

Where is Keisha Knight Pulliam?? She is gorgeous!

Also where is Miss Universe Leila Lopes, Eva Marcille, Eve, and also Ciara
http://twitter.com/MsNikki0312 Nikki P.

First let me say ALL of these women are beautiful no questions (I'm still questioning where Mrs. Obama is but I'm gonna leave that alone). Nonetheless, I think when the majority of people (including me) hear "dark skinned" they think more of the lines of like India Arie, Naturi Naughton (girl who played Lil Kim), Kelly Rowland, etc. I have to agree, some of these beautiful women I don't consider "dark-skinned" but like NWSO said it depends on the person. But Jada and Phylicia Rashad are a SERIOUS stretch, but I digress. I will say it took me a few minutes to even think of those 3 dark-skinned sisters which is a whole 'nother subject. (Pssttt NWSO I think I just gave you something to write a new blog about)
http://twitter.com/IntoTheScene Mickey Shufflesalot

Most these comments just prove that no matter what you do, someone will complain about it. Smh.
http://twitter.com/EroticaTales Miss-E

Given the handful of dark-skin women that get mainstream attention in hollywood, I love and agree with this list. Some ladies appeared on it that I didn't even think to name like Kenya Moore and Malinda Willimas.
Sage

I'd include Sherri Sheperd of The View, Taraji P. Henson, and most certainly Michelle Obama.
Shezmania

I absolutely love this site...

How can one Forget Mrs Michelle Obama?!?!? You lost me there.
Mike

Thanks for bringing focus to this subject. Very well done. Just to let you know I'm not a blogger but I thought I should hit you with 2 women you might have overlooked that I thought should be recognized because of their outer beauty, intelligence and great hearts, Cherokee, the singer/musician/model & Sheryl Lee Ralph (super talented & super fine). This is just my opinion. In case you forgot here are some photos & a recent track & back-in-the day video from Cherokee.

So Suga Street by Cherokee
http://youtu.be/Whn-4B_04Eg

A Day In The Life of Cherokee
http://youtu.be/nDJt95HopMw

Cherokee Gap Commercial
http://youtu.be/YDcXGXcq6ik

Piece of the Action w/Sheryl Lee Ralph
http://youtu.be/fUIBGHPm1wY
http://twitter.com/SngleMarriedGuy Geoff Ratliff

This is a fine list, but I think the real challenge is keeping it to 40. I'm sure with a little more effort the panel could have created a top 100 that would have blown Maxim's list out of the water. Great work!!!
WaterLove

Thanks for doing this list. While I wouldn't consider some dark-skinned, you explained your point of view in your intro. My favs from your list are Nia Long, Nona Gaye, and Kenya Moore. I am surprised Taral Hicks didn't make the list though.

NWSO

Taral Hicks, yeah that's a big one I neglected to recall #Drat

AfroPetite

As a darker skinned woman, I really appreciate you doing this list. It's so unfortunate that a list specifically catered to dark skinned beautiful women needs to be drawn up just so we chocolate ladies can get some shine. I've always thought Kenya Moore's beauty was underrated, she is gorgeous! Here's some honorable mentions I came up with:

Kim PorterTaral Hicks
Kent KingVanessa Bell Calloway
Judy Pace
Marpessa Dawn

and whoever this beautiful woman is
http://darkskinnedblackbeauty.tumblr.com/post/873768385
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1129971434 Robert Solomon

society hasn't learned yet....smh why even separate or even focus on the fact that they're dark-skinned...SMH!!! How about just 40 beautiful women..period

Anonymous

Because when the brothers over at Ashy2Classy.net made that list all the ladies were upset that there weren't enough "dark-skinned" sisters, so figured I'd highlight the beautiful dark & lovelies of the world.
I hear you though Black is Black and Black is beautiful. #KanyeShrug

---
Anslem Samuel
Writer/Editor/Relationship Consultant/Radio Host http://about.me/anslemsamuel

Creator/Founder of Naked With Socks On [http://NWSO.net] @NakedWithSocks

Host of the Naked Radio Show [Tuesdays 10pm-12am EST on http://PNCRadio.fm @NakedRadioShow

http://twitter.com/WEKetchum William Ketchum III

I would've placed Malinda Williams much higher on the list, she's a personal favorite. The one photo didn't do her beauty justice, lol. Glad my baby Bria's in the Top 20; she's in my current Top 5. Good sleeper pick for #1 too, Kenya Moore is up there.

Overall, damn good list, Ans. Salute.
Anonymous

there all beautiful
Lady Belle

All these women are beautiful but Meagan Goode and Janet Jackson should have been more close to number #1 The orders a little out of wack.
Rintintin

No Barocca or Shari Belafonte?
Jehosh

I love thick Fox Brown.
Jehosh

Regina King needs to eat like a grown woman damn it.
Jehosh

Whoa! My dude, Jada Pinkett is darkskinned? Since when? No offence I love this site, just sayin that broad is lightskinned.
Jehosh

Angela Bassett is every black man's No.1 Nia Long a close 2nd.
Guest

I didn't expect to see Alek Wek high on the list, if at all. Most people don't get her kind of beauty, but I'm glad you did.

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