The object of this article is to analyze the process whereby new images of Blacks are being built in contradistinction to the representation prevailing in Western societies. It therefore examines the appearance and increasing diffusion of ethnic beauty parlors as a privileged locus for understanding the discourse about several developments pertaining to aesthetics and beauty. Drawing upon newspaper articles, the author tries to make out the subjects’ discourse as involved in publicizing those images and makes a brief ethnographical survey of two beauty parlors in the city of São Paulo.