She'd been married six years to British rocker David Bowie and had had many miscarriages and failed attempts at invitro.

"I foolishly waited a long time to have another child because I don't feel my age, but my biological clock was totally different. When I was ready, I couldn't get pregnant,"says Iman, 50.

An African wives' tale held her last hope. Iman, a native of Somalia, says there's belief that if a woman who can't have children holds a baby all day, she'll become pregnant.

Her chance came at a Vogue magazine photo shoot with model Christie Brinkley, who was there with her baby. "I literally held Christie's baby all day. I joke that it took two blonds to get me pregnant — Christie Brinkley and David Bowie."Iman was soon pregnant with her now 5-year-old daughter Alexandria.

With the release of her new book, The Beauty of Color: The Ultimate Beauty Guide for Skin of Color, Iman was in Houston recently to talk about her life and her beauty secrets, and to help empower young girls of color.

"No disrespect to Paris Hilton — I don't want a black girl looking up to Paris Hilton. This is about women with skin of color--whether they are African-American, Latina, Asian or multicultural. I wanted to celebrate skin tones, not ethnicity.”Iman was born Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid in Mogadishu, Somalia. She was discovered by a photographer while she was studying political science at the University of Nairobi. The daughter of a diplomat, she speaks five languages.