For Nour Tayara, founder of the Mexico City makeup brand Aora, Mexico’s Independence Day isn’t just a date on the calendar — it’s a month‑long celebration of history, identity, and shared experiences. She lives in Mexico City, where each September streets transform with flags, lights, traditional dishes, and a festive spirit that extends well beyond September 16 itself. This extended wave of national pride is known as Mes Patrio (Patriotic Month) and sets the stage for days filled with color, food, and reflection.
For Tayara, who is of Lebanese heritage, this celebration carries personal resonance. Her family’s connection to Mexico goes back decades — her grandfather’s brother emigrated there in the 1920s — and over years she came to feel deeply at home, especially after moving back during the pandemic and co‑founding Aora with business partner Rodrigo Peñafiel.
Mes Patrio: More Than One Day of Celebration
In Mexico City, patriotic pride is visible everywhere throughout September: the national colors of green, white, and red flutter from buildings, major avenues like Paseo de la Reforma are illuminated at night, and the food culture embraces seasonal specialties like chiles en nogada — a dish composed of stuffed poblano chiles topped with walnut sauce and pomegranate seeds that reflects the colors of the Mexican flag and is eaten primarily during this time of year.
Piñatas — once introduced from China by Spanish settlers and originally symbolic of spiritual practice — also pop up in parks and markets, now filled with sweets and enjoyed by people of all ages.
The pinnacle of the festivities arrives on the eve of Independence Day with El Grito de Dolores (The Cry of Independence), a reenactment of the 1810 rallying call for freedom from colonial rule. This year’s ceremony carried added emotional weight because Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo presided over it as Mexico’s first woman president, marking a historic moment that invited reflection on inclusion, leadership, and national identity.
Beauty Rituals Before the Dinner Begins
To kick off the festivities with her inner circle, Tayara and Peñafiel hosted a cozy dinner at their home. Her preparation was both festive and practical: she started with careful sun protection — essential for anyone spending time outdoors under Mexico’s bright September sun. She layered La Roche‑Posay’s Hyalu B5 SPF in the morning and later switched to a sunscreen from UTU, a plastic‑free brand she helped launch, reapplying throughout the day to keep her skin protected.
For makeup, she reached for her own products: a red eye pencil from Aora called Admírame in the shade Rojo, lined softly in her lower waterline for a subtle pop of color, and the Acaríciame lip serum in Vanta, which added a hint of hydration and sheen without heavy coverage.
These choices reflect Tayara’s practical yet expressive approach — letting her skin breathe while still nodding to the vibrant cultural mood of the holiday with bold accents.
Dinner, Traditions, and Community Launches
At the dinner itself, Tayara and Peñafiel joined friends in making chiles en nogada and poured tequila while they shared stories and laughter. The evening also doubled as a small launch event for Aora’s new Hablamé lip liners, an offering designed to be precise, creamy, and entirely plastic‑free — in line with the brand’s environmentally conscious ethos.
Among those in attendance were creative friends and collaborators, including designer Lorena Saravia and gallery owner Rita Marimen, adding cultural warmth and connection to the celebration.
Weekend Festivities: Community, Colors, and Culture
Over the weekend, Tayara maintained her routine of movement and connection — biking to local markets for fresh fruit and vegetables, stopping for coffee at Café Villarías, and ending up at a party called Por Detroit. The scene was saturated in red, white, and green, from outfits and accessories to cowboy boots and mariachi clothing, capturing the unrestrained energy of Mes Patrio and how people across Mexico come together to celebrate.
This blend of personal tradition and cultural participation reflects the unique way Independence Day is felt across Mexico: not just as a historical remembrance, but as a vibrant expression of identity, creativity, and shared pride that binds people together over days of food, music, and ritual.
