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Why Kerry Washington Is Wearing Her Hair Natural Now


When you watch Kerry Washington handle her shit on Scandal gladiator-style, powerful, confident, and brilliant are exactly the words that come to mind. Fitting then, that on the heels of the season finale, the actress and Neutrogena spokesperson would drop a new Essential Eye Palette—and Essential Cheek Palette—featuring shades with the same names. They’re “colors that a lot of people can use in a lot of different ways, and, of course, they’re meant to have a double meaning,” she says. Practical and powerful—classic Olivia Pope right there.

We caught up with the Scandal star to play a lightning round of 20-ish questions. Here’s what she had to say about beauty perceptions in Hollywood, nudes for every skin tone, and more.

Glamour: What’s one beauty rule you think is BS?

Kerry Washington: I think the idea that you are not enough is bullshit. Anytime the cosmetics industry traffics in the belief that you have to buy a product in order to be who you’re supposed to be is a false idea. We’re beautiful as we are—products exist to enhance and amplify our beauty. I want women to feel beautiful in all their incarnations and variations, and just as great when they wash their face, as they do when they put makeup on.

Glamour: So then what’s the one beauty rule you swear by?

KW: Hydration, hydration, hydration. I believe drinking a ton of water is vital to health and wellness. It’s so important to have hydration on the inside, but also finding products that can really lock in moisture on the outside. It’s all about working internally and externally toward the same goal.

Glamour: Fill in the blank: “I wouldn’t have survived before ____ was invented.”

KW: I’m a survivor. I always find a way.

Glamour: You’ve talked about your struggle with eczema. What are your nonnegotiable skin care products for keeping it in check?

KW: Daily fish oil supplements, because omega fatty acids work. And I’d never, ever skip moisturizer—no way—it’s too critical. I’m a little bit obsessed with Neutrogena Norwegian Hand Cream. It actually makes my manicure last an extra week. And then hyaluronic acid for my face is everything. I love Neutrogena’s new serum. And there’s a new Hydroboost gel with SPF in it, which is great, especially during spring and summer.

Glamour: In the fashion and beauty world, the idea of neutrals can sometimes have an underlying implication of “light skin tones.” What did you have in mind as you were curating your new nude eye palette?

KW: It was about finding colors that a lot of people can use in a lot of different ways. To me, you can open the palette, and no matter where you are, what you’re doing, or where you’re going, you can give yourself a pop of glam and freshness—that added sense of easy beauty. That’s why the kit is essential; the shadows represent a wide range of colors that can really enhance and flatter all skin tones.

Glamour: What’s your favorite way to use them?

KW: Powerful is this soft, chocolaty shadow that’s a great day to evening transition color. For me, combining Powerful and Flirty [a cool taupe] is a no-brainer for an easy nighttime look. And I love layering Brilliant [a shimmery champagne] on as a highlighter.

PHOTO: Noam Galai

Kerry Washington at the 2018 Met Gala

Glamour: On the heels of Scandal‘s ending, you’ve spoken about how Olivia Pope inspired you to be more courageous. How has that translated into your attitude toward beauty?

KW: Olivia has encouraged me to be more bold with my beauty looks, but so have my kids. Wearing my natural hair on the red carpet has a lot to do with me being a mom now and wanting to reflect that for them. Again, it’s that idea that there’s not just one way to be beautiful and that there are lots of ways to bring out your best self. You don’t have to follow one prescription of what beauty is. I try to always be free and authentic and not leave the house until I’m like, OK, I feel good about this.

Glamour: What’s your best curly hair advice?

KW: Clarifying shampoo. I use it once a month, because I rely on so much conditioner and leave-in products that, if I don’t hit the reset button occasionally, my hair can get weighed down. Neutrogena has a good one; it’s not too overdrying, which I think is important for curly hair.

Glamour: If you could change one thing about beauty perceptions in Hollywood, what would it be?

KW: To keep working toward the idea that there’s room for every kind of beauty—in all it’s shapes, shades, and sizes.

Glamour: What’s your favorite emoji?

KW: I love discovering new ones! I have a girlfriend who sends me a lot of upside-down smiley faces ?, and it always makes me laugh. I also like the freaked-out face where the eyes are closed and the tongue is hanging out ?. It’s appropriate for all of the feels: very happy, very sad, and very angry.

Glamour: Speaking of happy, what smell always makes you smile?

KW: I tend to play with scent when I’m developing a role; it’s one of the ways that helps me access character. I personally don’t have a signature scent, but I love what my house smells like when I’m baking with my kids. We’re a big banana bread and waffles on the weekend household. Those scents just smell like family.

Related Stories:
–Kerry Washington’s Farewell Letter to ‘Scandal’ Would Make Even Eli Pope Cry
–Kerry Washington on Art As Activism and the Importance of “Staying Awake”
–16 Celebrities Who Gave Us Rare, Incredible Glimpses at Their Curls



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The Best Natural Beauty Products From Dermstore's Earth Day Sale


Not too long ago natural beauty was considered squarely in the domain of tree huggers and earth mamas. Thankfully for our skin—and the planet—that kind of thinking has shifted and clean beauty has infiltrated the top shelves of women’s medicine cabinets everywhere. Need more evidence of green beauty’s popularity? Product review site Influenster saw a whopping 127 percent increase in reviews of natural beauty products last year. Knowing that, we’re betting you already have a few green beauty favorites, but if you want to branch out or need to restock, this week is a good time to do it. In celebration of Earth Day, online retailer Dermstore is giving customers 20 percent off its natural beauty selection (we’re talking about more than 100 brands) when you use the promo code NATURAL by April 25. There are so many stellar options to choose from you could legit spend hours scrolling through, so we narrowed down some of our top hair, makeup, and skin picks to get you started.



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11 Best Foundations That Look Natural and Feel Lightweight


Trying to find the best foundation can often feel more like a chore than a walk through Sephora. There’s a lot of guesswork involved and what looks great on in the store can quickly become a different story four hours later. But like running a marathon or doing your laundry, the work is worth it. So, we put ourselves to task. What we came up with: 11 stellar recommendations from our staffers (some makeup veterans, others who hadn’t worn the stuff in years) on the best natural-looking foundations. As they’ll tell you below, once you find the perfect base—something light enough to actually look like your skin, but strong enough to hide redness or even out dark spots—it changes everything. Scroll on to shop our picks.



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Viola Davis Won't Let Her Daughter Dress Like a Princess Unless She Has Natural Hair


In between being nominated for all the acting awards and being a damn inspiration, Viola Davis spends a fair amount of time going to bat for women of color. She did at last year’s Oscars, at the 2015 Emmys, and she did it again this afternoon by sharing a very important rule she has for her daughter.

We all know that women of color face discrimination everyday—from the workplace to the makeup counter—and Davis never allows a moment of personal achievement to pass without reminding the world of this imbalance. Still, at the same, she celebrates the power of black women (see the straight up transcendence of any one of her acceptance speeches). So it’s not surprising that she brings the same fire and fierce affection for blackness to raising her daughter. When it comes to playing dress up, Genesis, age 6, is given the full range of Disney princesses and superheroes to choose from, but Davis draws one line.

“I say, ‘You’ve gotta wear your hair exactly the way it is,” Davis told Yahoo Lifestyle. “You can be Wonder Woman, but you gotta be Wonder Woman with your hair. You can be Elsa, but you gotta be Elsa with your hair.’”

The news is run through with stories detailing the obstacles that women of color face simply for living life with natural hair and this uncomfortable truth makes Davis’s rule all the more meaningful. She goes on to explain that she tells her daughter she can be anyone she wants, “if you start with the palette of loving who you are.” Cue total and absolute sense of affirmation.

Judging by Davis’s throwback Instagram post below, this rule has been in place for some time.

And judging by this Instagram post, it’s giving Genesis a sense of self-worth that is truly exceptional:

Related Stories:
–Everyone Should Read Taraji P. Henson’s Powerful Message About Natural Hair
–Why Are My Daughter’s Beauty Apps Othering Brown Girls
–An Open Letter to My 7-Year-Old Black-Latina Daughter



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How to Actually Get Natural Makeup: The Best Expert Tips


There are countless iconic scenes in Bridesmaids, but the makeup moment is one of its very best. Annie wakes up in Ted’s bed, darts to the bathroom to put on a full face of natural-looking makeup, and he wakes up none the wiser. And in that moment, the movie distilled the pure essence of “no-makeup makeup.” The goal: you still look like you, but with a filter (or “makeup”) to subtly brighten, enhance, and spotlight your best features.

But to say that’s easier said than done is an understatement. It’s also easier to read about flying to the moon than it is to get there yourself, and one does not equip you for the other. With that in mind, we got your flight plan: the best, most crucial pointers from the makeup artists backstage at New York Fashion Week. Here we break down exactly how to pull off a look that says, “oh, this? I woke up like this.”

Tip 1: Press on Lipstick With Your Fingers

PHOTO: ROB LATORRE

If you want to step things up a notch from Chapstick, but still pull off a lip color as realistically your own, Nars Global Artistry Director Uzo says the power is in your hands. Literally—instead of applying lipstick from the tube, rub a finger on the bullet of a shade just slightly darker than your natural lip color and press it onto your lips, like she did at Mansur Gavriel, above. Blot with a tissue, and the resulting stained effect—she used Nars’ Audacious formula—will look super natural.

Tip 2: Use Highlighter As Eyeliner

PHOTO: Courtesy of brand

By this point, you’ve probably heard the go-to makeup artist trick of adding white or flesh-colored liner on your waterline, which subtly covers up redness and weaves the illusion that your eye is just that much bigger. That one’s a failsafe, but the eyeliner trick that Maybelline makeup artist Erin Parsons thought for Jonathan Simkhai’s show is the new-and-improved, better-than-ever version. The twist? You actually use a brow highlighter, like Maybelline’s Brow Precise Perfecting Highlighter, to line your upper lash line. The nude hue looks supremely natural—which makes sense, given its intended use.

Tip 3: For More Natural-Looking Lashes, Master the “Wiggle”

PHOTO: INSTAGRAM / @NARSISSIST

Mascara is usually the hardest part of no-makeup makeup to pull off, just because most mascara immediately looks visible (just doing its job). But at Alexander Wang, makeup artist Diane Kendal revealed the secret: wiggle the mascara brush into your roots only to get volume and definition, without overtly “done” lashes. She used Nars’ yet-to-be-released Climax Mascara (coming this spring, no pun intended), but its Audacious Mascara also works.

Tip 4: Skip Powder Blush and Go for a Cream

PHOTO: INSTAGRAM / @HONEST_BEAUTY

For a fresh spin on no-makeup blush, makeup artist Daniel Martin says to lightly blend peachy blush along the tops of your cheekbones. At Rebecca Minkoff, he chose Honest Beauty’s Crème Blush in Truly Teasing—he says the cream consistency sinks in for a windswept, glowing look. To add some dewiness, tap a salve like Honest’s Magic Balm over your cheekbones, down your nose, and onto your cupid’s bow.

Related Stories:
–This ‘Invisible Foundation’ Stick Made My No-Makeup Makeup Dreams Come True
–21 Products That’ll Give You the Best No-Makeup Makeup Look Ever
–How to Make Your Skin Look Awesome When You’re Not Wearing Any Makeup



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Taraji P. Henson's Take on Embracing Natural Hair Is Totally Refreshing


All this summer, Taraji P. Henson has been inviting us to join her on her natural hair journey. From posting photos of her newly cropped—and utterly amazing—natural curls on Instagram in June to sharing messages of empowerment while hosting Black Girls Rock in early August, Taraji’s been on message and on point. She’s also—as always—refreshingly straightforward when it comes to shame, beauty standards, and black hair policing.

In a recent interview with HuffPo, Taraji once again got real about the process of learning to love her unprocessed hair. While she’s been natural for a while, she say she’s still found herself returning to straightening and processing her curls. It got to the point where she decided to chop it all off and start from scratch. “I’m in the phase of letting it grow and I just wanna see,” she said.

Part of the reason she says she felt pressure to straighten her hair was due to biased beauty standards. While women are finally starting to express themselves as they please, Taraji pointed out that black women still face particular difficulties. The definition of American beauty (though evolving) is still largely Eurocentric, an unfair set of blond and blue-eyed standards that have put women of color at serious risk.

Taraji made a point to emphasize that black women should wear their hair however they want—weaves, wigs, natural, whatever suits your personal fancy—but that they should strive to love their natural hair, regardless of style. She also opened up about how she’s still working to undo the damage that occurs when specific beauty standards are internalized, telling HuffPo: “[Black women] have shame when it comes to our hair. What we’ve been told, ‘Your hair is nappy.’ It’s not nappy, it’s curly. That’s a curl, that’s a coil. That’s energy leading up and I was like, we need to convey that message because I see a lot of girls, natural, is it for fashion or do you really understand what that is? It is a crown that God gave you. Our hair defies gravity without any products. Do you know how powerful that is? That’s powerful.”

As a multiracial woman, I can speak to living with hair that’s a source of shame as well as a source of power and it’s refreshing to hear such an accomplished celebrity admit that she’s still struggling with self-love. It’s even better to hear a celebrity acknowledge that there is more than one way to get to there. Hearing Taraji speak out about how she’s personally learning to love herself and her natural hair, regardless of her styling choices, makes me feel empowered to do the same. I hope she continues to share her natural hair journey. After all, she’s got a powerful voice and a gorgeous head of hair.

Related Stories:
–Taraji P. Henson’s Natural Curls Are Everything, As Is the Reason Behind Them
–Gabrielle Union: “I Won’t Be Defined By My Hair Choices”
–The Top 10 Natural Hairstyles Blowing Up on Pinterest Right Now



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