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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Therapy for Black Girls Podcast, a weekly

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Speaker 1: conversation about mental health, personal development, and all the small

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Speaker 1: decisions we can make to become the best possible versions

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Speaker 1: of ourselves. I'm your host, doctor Joy hard and Bradford,

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Speaker 1: a licensed psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information or

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Speaker 1: to find a therapist in your area, visit our website

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Speaker 1: at Therapy for Blackgirls dot com. While I hope you

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Speaker 1: love listening to and learning from the podcast, it is

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Speaker 1: not meant to be a substitute for a relationship with

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Speaker 1: a licensed mental health professional. Hey, y'all, thanks so much

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Speaker 1: for joining me for session three oh nine of the

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Speaker 1: Therapy for Black Girls Podcast. We'll get right into our

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Speaker 1: conversation after a word from our sponsors. Whether your beauty

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Speaker 1: routine simply includes sunscreen and a scrunchy or is a

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Speaker 1: bit more complex with lash extensions and leasers. Black women

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Speaker 1: consumers continue to play a major role in the beauty industry.

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Speaker 1: This week, we're honored to discuss black women's participation in

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Speaker 1: beauty culture with former Beauty and Style editor Blake Nuby.

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Speaker 1: In our conversation, Blake and I discuss what it means

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Speaker 1: to be a natural beauty in today's beauty climate, how

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Speaker 1: to vet dermatologists and estheticians for black skin, and ways

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Speaker 1: to use beauty and self care practices to empower your

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Speaker 1: mental health. If something resonates with you while enjoying our conversation,

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Speaker 1: please share with us on social media using the hashtag

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Speaker 1: TVG in session or join us over in this circles.

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Speaker 1: To talk more in depth about the episode, you can

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Speaker 1: join us at community dot Therapy for Blackgirls dot com.

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Speaker 1: Here's our conversation. Thank you so much for joining us today, Blake.

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Speaker 2: Thank you for having me. I'm such a Therapy for

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Speaker 2: Black Girls.

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Speaker 1: Fan, so excited to hear that. So I'm excited to

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Speaker 1: dig into all of the beauty news and trends with you.

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Speaker 1: So a little Bertie told us that you have been

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Speaker 1: in this beauty game for quite some time. So in

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Speaker 1: college you had a business called beat by Blake tell

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Speaker 1: us a little bit about doing makeup in college and

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Speaker 1: where you saw your career going then.

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Speaker 2: So I had parents that were like, you know, your

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Speaker 2: first few years of college, you don't need to work,

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Speaker 2: you need to focus on your studies, et cetera, et cetera.

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Speaker 2: But I'm a girl that likes to spend money, so

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Speaker 2: I was like, well, this is not gonna work, so

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Speaker 2: we're gonna have to figure something out. So I'd always

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Speaker 2: been good at doing my own makeup, and then when

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Speaker 2: I got there, I was doing like girls on the Hall,

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Speaker 2: and I was like, you know what, I'm kind of

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Speaker 2: good at this. So it's beat by Blake. I was

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Speaker 2: doing full faces for fifteen dollars. The girls would just

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Speaker 2: bring their foundation, you would get a lash, you would

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Speaker 2: get everything. And at the time, it never occurred to

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Speaker 2: me career in beauty. That was not what I wanted

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Speaker 2: to do. Beauty was just what I loved. It was

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Speaker 2: what I came by. Honestly, my mom used to like

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Speaker 2: relax my own hair and like trim my own hair,

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Speaker 2: so she was always inclined in the beauty space. But

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Speaker 2: it was never something that I thought, oh, this is

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Speaker 2: what my career will look like. I wanted to be

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Speaker 2: a serious newscaster. I wanted to be Sola Dad O'Brien.

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Speaker 2: That's what I tell people. But I think in hindsight,

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Speaker 2: I think beat By Blake really was foreshadowing that I

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Speaker 2: didn't know was foreshadowing. But yeah, for the probates for

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Speaker 2: the big evenings that would happen at Howard. If you

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Speaker 2: needed your makeup done, everybody knew go to Blake for

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Speaker 2: fifteen dollars.

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Speaker 1: That is hilarious that you were doing whole faces for

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Speaker 1: fifteen dollars.

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Speaker 2: In hindsight, I'm like, so you were letting people rob you.

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Speaker 2: But you know it's okay. It all came full circle, right.

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Speaker 1: Fifty niners was probably about what we could afford in

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Speaker 1: college anyway, exactly.

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Speaker 2: I'm like, had I gone any higher, I probably wouldn't

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Speaker 2: have had much of a client tele.

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Speaker 1: You're right, so Blake. You started at Essence in twenty

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Speaker 1: twelve as an intern, and then you were back in

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty one as their beauty and style editor. Can

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Speaker 1: you talk about some of the campaigns that you've seen

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Speaker 1: throughout the years that have been really inspiring to you?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, geezh, I feel like I could go on all day,

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Speaker 2: you know when I tell people about Essence more when

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Speaker 2: I was in high school and even younger, the things

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Speaker 2: that I was obsessed with, you know, those covers, Remember

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Speaker 2: the Essence era where we used to get excited for

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Speaker 2: whatever single cover was going to be, Like the issue

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Speaker 2: where all of the ladies were uncolorful. M h.

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Speaker 1: That's the first one I thought about when you started

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Speaker 1: talking about the covers.

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Speaker 2: It's that one. There was the Will and Jada one

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Speaker 2: years and years and years ago, right, And so I

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Speaker 2: think that, you know, when I went into Essence, my

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Speaker 2: biggest thing was I wanted to create content and pages

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Speaker 2: that made people feel the same way that I felt

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Speaker 2: when I was a kid, and we would be so

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Speaker 2: anxious about who was going to be on the cover

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Speaker 2: of Essence, And so when I went in twenty twelve,

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Speaker 2: i went as an intern, and then of course when

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Speaker 2: I went back, that was one of my main priorities.

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Speaker 2: One campaign I did where we highlighted beauty and fashion

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Speaker 2: executives under thirty and we emulated that colorful cover or

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Speaker 2: you know, even if it was the method Man shoot

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Speaker 2: that I worked so closely on and that I chose

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Speaker 2: the style direction on, and like the Simone Biles shoot

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Speaker 2: where we shot her, in my opinion, the best that

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Speaker 2: she's ever been shot. And it was things like that

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Speaker 2: where I just wanted the covers and the way that

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Speaker 2: people looked to emulate the joy and the beauty of

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Speaker 2: what we as black people truly are. And so I

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Speaker 2: think when I think about some of my favorites, Like

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Speaker 2: I said, it was method Man, it was Simone Biles,

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Speaker 2: it was Cardi b and her family. Those covers and

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Speaker 2: those spreads that just got you really excited. M H.

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Speaker 1: Is there any particular one that you really feel like

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Speaker 1: solidified your purpose or why you wanted to work in

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Speaker 1: the space.

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Speaker 2: I think I would have to go back to Simone Viles.

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Speaker 2: So I think, you know, just like anybody else that

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Speaker 2: releases something super public facing, we were glued to social

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Speaker 2: media to see what the reaction was. And when I

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Speaker 2: went on Twitter and there were hundreds and hundreds of

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Speaker 2: tweets that were just like, We've never seen Simone shot

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Speaker 2: like this, We've never seen her makeup look like this,

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Speaker 2: We've never seen her hair look like this. And I

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Speaker 2: think that was the moment that I was like, I'm

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Speaker 2: doing exactly what I want to do, because again, what

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Speaker 2: I felt my role was was making black people the

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Speaker 2: talent that we had reflected in the most beautiful and

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Speaker 2: authentic way. And even Simone when we were talking to her,

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Speaker 2: you know, there have been covers that she's been on

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Speaker 2: that that did not get that reaction right where she

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Speaker 2: wasn't lit properly where she wasn't given the proper glam,

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Speaker 2: And not just how it looked at the end, but

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Speaker 2: the fact that I was able to cultivate safe spaces

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Speaker 2: for black talent behind the scenes. Right, It's like when

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Speaker 2: you were on a set that I was an integral

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Speaker 2: part of. You knew that you didn't have to worry

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Speaker 2: about if a hairstylist could do your hair properly. You

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Speaker 2: knew you didn't have to worry about if a makeup

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Speaker 2: artist could do your makeup properly. You knew you didn't

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Speaker 2: have to worry about if you were going to feel

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Speaker 2: uncomfortable because it's black women around you rooting you on

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Speaker 2: and telling you how beautiful you looked. And so I

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Speaker 2: think that's how I felt for Simone. She was so

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Speaker 2: excited both while we were shooting in afterwards, and I

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Speaker 2: think that definitely was the one. And then, you know,

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Speaker 2: special shout out to methand Man, because I do think

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Speaker 2: of all the spreads that I worked on, Method Man

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Speaker 2: did get the largest reaction, and for good reason, for.

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Speaker 1: Very clearly, for a great reason. So according to Mackenzie

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Speaker 1: and Company, black brands make up only two point five

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Speaker 1: percent of revenue in the beauty industry, yet black consumers

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Speaker 1: are responsible for eleven point one percent of total beauty spending.

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Speaker 1: Talk to us about your work with brain Trust Founder

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Speaker 1: Studio and how your work in that space really supports

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Speaker 1: black beauty brands.

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Speaker 2: Yes, So the thing is, I know that the number

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Speaker 2: one thing that is standing in the way of black

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Speaker 2: founders and their brands funding success is funding. To your point, right,

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Speaker 2: the statistics that you just said, I feel like really

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Speaker 2: kind of lay it out there. And the beautiful thing

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Speaker 2: about brain Trust Founder Studio is that we only invest

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Speaker 2: in black founded, black run beauty brands. And the beautiful

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Speaker 2: thing about it is that not only do we give money,

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Speaker 2: but there's also the studio portion, which is really an

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Speaker 2: incubator that gives smaller brands that are still waiting to

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Speaker 2: get to the point where they're able to scale, the

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Speaker 2: opportunity to get to know other founders, to interface with

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Speaker 2: names and big brand powerhouses that they wouldn't otherwise get

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Speaker 2: to do. And then, of course, you know, some of

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Speaker 2: them get access to the fund and to the money.

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Speaker 2: And so I think that for me, it was more

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Speaker 2: of a putting my money where my mouth is, you know,

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Speaker 2: I know in essence. The beautiful thing was that I

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Speaker 2: was always able to highlight beauty brands, but I think

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Speaker 2: that there's a difference from highlighting and actually kind of

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Speaker 2: helping them level the playing field, because the playing field

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Speaker 2: is everything butt leveled. But we look at these incredible

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Speaker 2: black beauty brands that are scaling and that are beloved,

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Speaker 2: and all that they need. We see how effective the

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Speaker 2: product is, but all that they need is funding, right,

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Speaker 2: they need improved marketing plans, They need the space to

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Speaker 2: be in a place where they can grow and further

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Speaker 2: scale their business. And that is exactly what brain Trust

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Speaker 2: is creating, both with the fund and with the studio.

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Speaker 2: So I love being able to work on both sides,

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Speaker 2: right with the studio in more of a capacity of

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Speaker 2: talking with the founders, lending expertise, consulting, mar things like that,

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Speaker 2: and then on the fund. What has been the most

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Speaker 2: fantastic is watching these brands that I've interfaced with for

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Speaker 2: years and being able to take them to the brain

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Speaker 2: Trust team and say, you know, this is a brand

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Speaker 2: that I know is going to be scaling big, or

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Speaker 2: this is a brand that is already scaling big and

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Speaker 2: we need to further invest. So it has been so

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Speaker 2: rewarding because I feel like the playing field is not leveled,

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Speaker 2: and it really is not showing any signs of improving drastically.

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Speaker 2: You know, people have asked, well, how do you feel

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Speaker 2: after twenty twenty? I think that the pendulum swung to

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Speaker 2: one side, and I think that we are saying that

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Speaker 2: ninety percent of it was performative, and so now the

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Speaker 2: onus is back on us to continue to uplift these

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Speaker 2: brands and these founders.

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Speaker 1: So I don't know that we always make this connection,

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Speaker 1: but I'm curious to hear how do you feel like

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Speaker 1: your beauty and self care practice is support or empower

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Speaker 1: your mental health?

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Speaker 2: Huge? I think it has been integral, you know. I

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Speaker 2: think the reality is, and you know, you know better

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Speaker 2: than everybody, you can't self care yourself out of depression, right,

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Speaker 2: and you can't necessarily self care yourself out of anxiety.

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Speaker 2: But what I have learned is that routine plays a

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Speaker 2: huge role in that, and so part of that routine

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Speaker 2: is the self care practice. And so you know, when

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Speaker 2: I think about beauty and the things that I have

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Speaker 2: been doing, it's like, you know, Blake, even when I'm tired,

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Speaker 2: I'm like, we need to do our nightly skincare routine.

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Speaker 2: When it's the morning, I need to do my morning

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Speaker 2: skincare routine. Because what I found, especially in the past

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Speaker 2: three years, is my mental health had really deteriorated. Was

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Speaker 2: the biggest issue with my life was that it didn't

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Speaker 2: have routine. And my life still very much does not

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Speaker 2: have a lot of routine. Right. My days are very unpredictable.

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Speaker 2: When somebody is like, what's an average day? What does

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Speaker 2: an average day in your life look like? I really

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Speaker 2: can't tell them. And so that's why it was like

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Speaker 2: I had to create routine in the spaces that I could.

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Speaker 2: And so for me, beauty is the skincare rituals. For me,

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Speaker 2: when my nails and toes are done, I feel good.

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Speaker 2: If a nail is popping off, I won't leave the house.

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Speaker 2: I promise you, I will not leave the house. So

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Speaker 2: it's like really creating those things. I'm a huge candle

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Speaker 2: and fragrance girl. I feel like, you know, Aroma's play

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Speaker 2: an integral part and mental health for me at least,

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Speaker 2: and so I've really tried to hone in on merging

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Speaker 2: the beauty and the wellness thing right when it comes

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Speaker 2: to you know, guasho when it comes to meditation and

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Speaker 2: those things. This year to really try to create routine

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Speaker 2: in a life where I don't get much of that.

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Speaker 1: I appreciate you sharing that because I do think for

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Speaker 1: some people it feels like it's like this silly little thing, right,

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Speaker 1: But it is true that a lot of times when

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Speaker 1: people are struggling with things like depression, one of the

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Speaker 1: first things you see go is like their daily care

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Speaker 1: kinds of activities, and so being able to kind of

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Speaker 1: just start your day and even just wash your face

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Speaker 1: sometimes is just kind of you getting the day started,

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Speaker 1: which can really help to manage depressive symptoms.

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Speaker 2: Is because there was a period of time where like

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Speaker 2: I wasn't you know what I'm saying, Like it was

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Speaker 2: like I have to go out, I would, but it

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Speaker 2: was like the best I could give on some days

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Speaker 2: was just getting up and just what I had to

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Speaker 2: do professionally, and I didn't have anything else to give myself.

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Speaker 2: And so now my thing is like, if I am

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Speaker 2: not caring for myself, then not only am I not

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Speaker 2: the best blake, you know, everything that I pour into

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Speaker 2: my career that won't be the best either. So it

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Speaker 2: has to start with me. And so that is where

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Speaker 2: to your point, managing those depressive symptoms has really been routine,

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Speaker 2: has been imperative.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, So professionally, you have sat in so many different spaces,

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Speaker 1: so you've been on the editorial side. Now you're kind

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Speaker 1: of dabbling more into like the content creator side. So

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Speaker 1: I feel like you have a great perspective on this. So,

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Speaker 1: in what ways have you seen black beauty influencers, bloggers, etc.

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Speaker 1: Really combat the white beauty standards?

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Speaker 2: Phewh I don't know if anybody's been tuned into TikTok

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Speaker 2: right now, but we're witnessing it right now. But I

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Speaker 2: think just sharing our experiences has been enough. You know,

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Speaker 2: there's been a lot of chatter, like I said right

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Speaker 2: now around some of the og beauty influencers, Black influencers

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Speaker 2: that really used to call out and very much so

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Speaker 2: stand firm in breaking those those beauty standards. We think

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Speaker 2: about the Jackie and ANDAs we think about the Alissa Ashley's,

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Speaker 2: we think about, you know, the Nima tangs, and I

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Speaker 2: think that what was so different about them was just

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Speaker 2: that they talked about it, right, We just never spoke

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Speaker 2: about it. We never it was it was something that

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Speaker 2: we just assumed that we had to assimilate to and

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Speaker 2: if we couldn't, then we would be insecure. But we

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Speaker 2: never spoke up about it. And what they did was

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Speaker 2: they just talked about it. And I think it's the

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Speaker 2: same thing when we think about therapy and things like

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Speaker 2: that in the black community in general. Right, Black people

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Speaker 2: just have a history of just not speaking about the

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Speaker 2: things that make us feel uncomfortable, make us feel sad,

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Speaker 2: make us feel insecure. And I think that the way

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Speaker 2: that beauty influencers have done and that is the exact

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Speaker 2: same way. They've just spoken about it. When they were

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Speaker 2: displeased with something, they spoke about it. When shade ranges

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Speaker 2: weren't up to par, they spoke about it. When campaigns

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Speaker 2: reflected only rail thin black women who looked a certain way,

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Speaker 2: they spoke about it, and they spoke about not feeling

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Speaker 2: represented and things like that. And you know, I think

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Speaker 2: what we're seeing right now is a reckoning in once

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Speaker 2: black women were allowed into the space, so many black

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Speaker 2: women believe that we should just be happy to be

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Speaker 2: in the space. And when I say the space, you know,

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Speaker 2: on brand trips right at these high end beauty events,

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Speaker 2: et cetera, et cetera. And what has been so beautiful

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Speaker 2: is that beauty influencers now are saying, not only is

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Speaker 2: it not enough just to be in the space, but

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Speaker 2: we have to be treated well in the space. We

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Speaker 2: have to feel reflected in the space. Don't invite me

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Speaker 2: to your brand trip if the product that you are

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Speaker 2: launching doesn't accommodate women of my skin tone. Don't invite

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Speaker 2: me to a brand trip if I'm going to be

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Speaker 2: the own only black women, the token black woman. And

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Speaker 2: so I think that those conversations are continuing to be had.

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Speaker 2: But I think that in short version, black women and

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Speaker 2: black beauty influencers and black editors and black bloggers, they

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Speaker 2: are just talking about it. And for the longest, we

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Speaker 2: were scared to talk about it.

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Speaker 1: So you bring up a really good point around the

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Speaker 1: difficulty that brands have had like matching shades. Right, Like,

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Speaker 1: for the longest point, you could not go into a

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Speaker 1: store even online, order a shade depending on your melanin complexion. Right,

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Speaker 1: So why do you think makeup brands have continued to

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Speaker 1: have such difficulty diversifying their shades.

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Speaker 2: I think, in short, they just don't care. And I

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Speaker 2: think I think it's not that difficult, right, brands have

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Speaker 2: been able to do it. I think they just don't care. Right,

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Speaker 2: when we talk about the science of makeup, we'll just

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Speaker 2: talk about foundation shades. In order to create a truly

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Speaker 2: diverse foundation shade, it's not enough to just darken every shade. Scientifically,

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Speaker 2: what you have to do is you have to adjust

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Speaker 2: the form of every single shade as the complexion deepens.

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Speaker 2: So that takes time, that takes money, that takes real resources.

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Speaker 2: And that's why when brands don't genuinely do it right.

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Speaker 2: There have been brands that have launched fifty shades and

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Speaker 2: every single shade is gray, right. That is because that

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Speaker 2: brand has not put the resources or the thought into it,

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Speaker 2: into doing what they know they need to do. These

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Speaker 2: brands know that you have to change the formula for

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Speaker 2: every single foundation based on the shift and color, but

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Speaker 2: they don't do it. And so the thing is, you know,

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Speaker 2: Jackie Ina said at once, and I think it is

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Speaker 2: so true. Let's stop trying to bully these brands into

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Speaker 2: being inclusive if they don't want to, when there are

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Speaker 2: truly inclusive brands out there. Right. When I think of

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Speaker 2: long Com, even before finty, before the finty effect when

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Speaker 2: everybody wanted to create forty shades. Long Comb Truly had

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Speaker 2: diverse shade ranges. Like Truly had diverse shade ranges. Gnars

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Speaker 2: had a diverse shade range, and it's only gotten more diverse.

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Speaker 2: So not have to strong arm and try to bully

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Speaker 2: and shame these brands when they just don't care. My

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Speaker 2: parents have always told me only go where you're wanted,

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Speaker 2: and so I think that is also indicative for us, Like,

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Speaker 2: let's as a people, let's as a collective go to

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Speaker 2: the brands that, even if they necessarily haven't always been

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Speaker 2: doing it right, like a long hom or aurs. Let's

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Speaker 2: go to the brands who are at least putting in

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Speaker 2: the work and listening to the consumer, investing the resources

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Speaker 2: and the time and the care that they do in

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Speaker 2: their customers and clientele that don't look like us. Mm hm.

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Speaker 1: So you mentioned lunk Home and Noise and Fancy as

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Speaker 1: kind of being some of the ones that have the

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Speaker 1: most diverse shades. Are there other companies that you feel

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Speaker 1: like are getting in right in that space?

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Speaker 2: I do. I think one thing that black women have

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Speaker 2: been very serious about right because it does impact us,

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Speaker 2: is using more natural products, so that is very important.

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Speaker 2: So a brand that I think for women who value

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Speaker 2: a cleaner ingredient cosis is really doing a wonderful job.

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Speaker 2: A Mi Cola, which is a black owned brand, is

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Speaker 2: doing a fantastic job. They have a lip oil. It's

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Speaker 2: not a complexion shade, but they have a lip oil

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Speaker 2: that I think every Black woman that is super into

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Speaker 2: beauty right now is absolutely obsessed with. And it was

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Speaker 2: founded by a former Loreal executive, so it's a black

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Speaker 2: woman who truly has a deep knowledge of not just

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Speaker 2: the brand side, but the corporate and the business side.

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Speaker 2: I think Do Your Beauty is also doing a wonderful

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Speaker 2: job because they've listened right. They're a luxury brand that

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Speaker 2: has not always had a diverse shade range, as we know,

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Speaker 2: but they have done the work to push shades that

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Speaker 2: truly are wonderful. So yeah, those are two others really

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Speaker 2: doing it right. When we speak about makeup, right like,

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Speaker 2: I can go on for days about skincare, hair, but

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Speaker 2: when I think about makeup and when I think about

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Speaker 2: those products that I absolutely cannot live without, it would

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Speaker 2: be them. And then Minted as well. Minted Cosmetics, which

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Speaker 2: is another black owned brand really doing fantastic things and makeup,

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Speaker 2: And when I talk to makeup artists, professional makeup artists

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Speaker 2: and ask them what some of their favorites are. Black

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Speaker 2: makeup artists right now are loving Black Opal and the

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Speaker 2: researchers of Black Opal. They did a rebrand and almost

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Speaker 2: every makeup artist that I know has those Black Opal

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Speaker 2: foundation sticks and their kit. So you know, the brands

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Speaker 2: are coming back and I love it for us.

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Speaker 1: Mm hm Yeah. My makeup artist definitely does a lot

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Speaker 1: with Black.

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Speaker 2: Opal contouring foundation, highlighted. You can do anything with.

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Speaker 1: Those sticks more for my conversation with Blake after the break.

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Speaker 1: So it does feel like, you know, the pendulum kind

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Speaker 1: of swings back and forth in terms of like what

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Speaker 1: is on trend for beauty styles. So you know, right

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Speaker 1: now we're hearing a lot of people talk about like

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Speaker 1: soft glam and clean girl, and it kind of feels

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Speaker 1: like the trend now is to have your face look

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Speaker 1: as if you're not wearing any makeup, but you're actually

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Speaker 1: you know, having a whole beat. What do you think

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Speaker 1: are the trends or what are your predictions for trends

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Speaker 1: for the rest of this year as well as twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty four.

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Speaker 2: So I think that we're going to continue to venture

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Speaker 2: into that. Right. The issue that I have with like

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Speaker 2: the clean girl and the soft girl aesthetic is that

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Speaker 2: I think when the clean girl aesthetic came out, it

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Speaker 2: was rooted in again white beauty standards, right, and that's

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Speaker 2: when black women hopped in to kind of say, you know,

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Speaker 2: we've been doing no makeup, a high gloss and a

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Speaker 2: slick bund for decades. That's been our thing, and a

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Speaker 2: hoop in the air, that's been our thing for decades.

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Speaker 2: But what I do like is that as we are

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Speaker 2: having conversations about people liking this clean look, we are

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Speaker 2: also having conversations around there's absolutely nothing wrong with the

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Speaker 2: full glam either, and we should just let black women

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Speaker 2: do what the hell they want to do. And I

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Speaker 2: think that's really important because I think that black women,

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Speaker 2: with our hair, with our makeup, with everything, we have

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Speaker 2: been policed since the beginning of time. And so I

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Speaker 2: think that we are going to continue to see a

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Speaker 2: more part down aesthetic, which, do not get me wrong,

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Speaker 2: I think is absolutely lovely. Even as a girl who

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Speaker 2: loves high glam, I absolutely love the super sleek, super

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Speaker 2: easy going look. It's not something that I feel I

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Speaker 2: look my best in or something that I am most

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Speaker 2: comfortable in, but I absolutely love it, especially particularly on

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Speaker 2: Black women. So I think Black women in general are

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Speaker 2: just very tired of being policed, and so I think

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Speaker 2: that it used to be a lot easier to predict

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Speaker 2: beauty trends for black women, but I think Black women

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Speaker 2: are just doing whatever they want. And because Black women

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Speaker 2: are so creative and we are so not a monolith,

434
00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:54,040
Speaker 2: that spectrum is so broad. So I think that, like

435
00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:56,520
Speaker 2: I said, we definitely will continue to see a lot

436
00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:59,679
Speaker 2: of the parts down beauty moments, but I think that

437
00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:02,439
Speaker 2: we can expect to see the not far down. You know,

438
00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:04,520
Speaker 2: one thing that I talk about a lot on my

439
00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:06,800
Speaker 2: social media's and I'm seeing a lot of other black

440
00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:09,960
Speaker 2: women talk about is black women and injectibles. So I

441
00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:12,280
Speaker 2: think that we're going to start seeing black women are

442
00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:14,520
Speaker 2: no stranger to injectibles. This isn't new, but I think

443
00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:17,399
Speaker 2: we're going to start seeing more Black women talking about it,

444
00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:20,000
Speaker 2: which I think will remove continue to remove a lot

445
00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:22,800
Speaker 2: of the stigma, which will result in, you know, a

446
00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:26,040
Speaker 2: lot more Black women feeling more empowered to do so,

447
00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:28,480
Speaker 2: So I think that we will start seeing not just

448
00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:31,280
Speaker 2: in the things that we put on top of our

449
00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:33,359
Speaker 2: skin and our hair, but I think that we will

450
00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:36,399
Speaker 2: start seeing a lot of trends around what we put

451
00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:38,560
Speaker 2: into our skin and into our bodies.

452
00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:41,720
Speaker 1: Hmmmm. So I definitely want to go there. But I

453
00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:43,359
Speaker 1: have a little game I want to play with you

454
00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:46,240
Speaker 1: before we talk a little bit more about injectibles. So

455
00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:50,879
Speaker 1: this is called worth the hype or keep it pushing? Okay,

456
00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:53,320
Speaker 1: So I'm going to read off some trends or things

457
00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:55,159
Speaker 1: that people are, you know, kind of getting into, and

458
00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:56,920
Speaker 1: I want you to tell me is it worth the

459
00:23:57,000 --> 00:23:59,960
Speaker 1: hype or should we keep it pushing? So the first

460
00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:04,160
Speaker 1: one is celebrity skin and beauty lines. Should we keep

461
00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:05,560
Speaker 1: it pushing or is it worth the hype?

462
00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:07,480
Speaker 2: I'm gonna say keep it pushing?

463
00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:11,200
Speaker 1: Any commentary to offer there.

464
00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:14,280
Speaker 2: So here's the thing. I think what people are just

465
00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:17,280
Speaker 2: jaded by it, right because I think the industry is

466
00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:21,080
Speaker 2: so oversaturated, so people want to feel like whatever they

467
00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:24,080
Speaker 2: are buying, their's reputability behind it. Now, what I will

468
00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:27,520
Speaker 2: say is there are some beauty brands out here that

469
00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:31,800
Speaker 2: truly are fantastic. That skincare and makeup brands I love,

470
00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:33,920
Speaker 2: rare beauty. I want to make that clear. I think

471
00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:37,680
Speaker 2: Rare beauty is fantastic. Not to bring up their names

472
00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:40,040
Speaker 2: in the same conversation, but you know, when we talk

473
00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:43,920
Speaker 2: about road In Haley Bieber's skincare line, that is fantastic

474
00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:48,320
Speaker 2: because it is helmed by a black chemist named Bron Robinson,

475
00:24:48,359 --> 00:24:50,640
Speaker 2: who has his own beauty brand called beauty stat, which

476
00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:53,719
Speaker 2: in my opinion, is the best vitamin C focused skincare

477
00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:56,640
Speaker 2: brand on the market. Some of these beauty brands are

478
00:24:56,680 --> 00:24:59,480
Speaker 2: out there and really are fantastic, but the reality is

479
00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:02,479
Speaker 2: when theelebrity is so much at the forefront, it can

480
00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:07,119
Speaker 2: almost take away from the reputability that we're seeing because

481
00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:09,879
Speaker 2: people don't know that, right. People don't care to know

482
00:25:10,280 --> 00:25:13,399
Speaker 2: that a brand like that is helmed by this fabulous chemist, right.

483
00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:16,320
Speaker 2: They're more concerned with the celebrity aspect. I played a

484
00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:20,440
Speaker 2: huge part in the beginnings of Tamari's hair care line

485
00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:25,240
Speaker 2: for You by Tia. There's a dynamic, dynamic chemist who

486
00:25:25,280 --> 00:25:28,720
Speaker 2: is also a woman of color, who is leading the

487
00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:32,520
Speaker 2: charge for their ingredient science and things like that. So

488
00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:37,119
Speaker 2: I think that if celebrities are going to continue I

489
00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:42,080
Speaker 2: think that maybe they need to market the brands as them,

490
00:25:42,359 --> 00:25:45,679
Speaker 2: plus the science to add to the reputability, because I

491
00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:48,000
Speaker 2: will say the general market is over.

492
00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:52,560
Speaker 1: It, got it. Appreciate that. So what about chemical PILs?

493
00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:56,480
Speaker 2: Oh? Yes, worth the hype every single time I think

494
00:25:56,520 --> 00:26:00,639
Speaker 2: that chemical peels are particularly helpful. You can find a

495
00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:04,639
Speaker 2: black esthetician to do that, you know. I think the

496
00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:06,960
Speaker 2: thing that we all know is that black skin it

497
00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:10,600
Speaker 2: is more sensitive by default, scars more easily, things like that.

498
00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:13,520
Speaker 2: So when doing anything chemical related with black skin, it

499
00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:17,720
Speaker 2: is important to go to someone who understands your skin.

500
00:26:18,359 --> 00:26:21,920
Speaker 2: I have a fantastic black dirm that I absolutely love

501
00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:26,560
Speaker 2: doctor ingleton and I say absolutely, but proceed with caution.

502
00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:30,080
Speaker 2: Do not go buying those intense peels on Amazon. I

503
00:26:30,119 --> 00:26:33,960
Speaker 2: personally do not suggest. I think chemical peels guided with

504
00:26:34,359 --> 00:26:37,600
Speaker 2: proper expertise, yes, absolutely all the way.

505
00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:42,040
Speaker 1: Okay, what about bucle fat removal.

506
00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:45,560
Speaker 2: Oh, bucle fat removal, We're going to have to keep

507
00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:48,280
Speaker 2: it pushing on that one. We are going to have

508
00:26:48,359 --> 00:26:50,160
Speaker 2: to keep it pushing when it comes to bugle fat

509
00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:53,480
Speaker 2: removal for really a myriad of reasons. And this is

510
00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:57,199
Speaker 2: coming from a girl who wanted bucle fat removal, right, Like,

511
00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:01,840
Speaker 2: I've always had a really face. It's been since birth,

512
00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:04,440
Speaker 2: and you know, now that I'm on camera a lot,

513
00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:07,240
Speaker 2: like recently, I've been telling people my empathy has grown

514
00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:09,480
Speaker 2: so much for women who we look at and we're like,

515
00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:12,280
Speaker 2: what the world is wrong with their face? Because, for

516
00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:14,240
Speaker 2: the first time ever, being in front of the camera

517
00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:17,280
Speaker 2: this often, I now understand how women get severe body

518
00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:22,160
Speaker 2: dysmorphia and facial dysmorphia and things like that, because when

519
00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:24,800
Speaker 2: you see yourself under lights and in cameras, you feel

520
00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:27,359
Speaker 2: like you look like a completely different person. So my

521
00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:29,480
Speaker 2: empathy is very much grown in that space. But every

522
00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:31,639
Speaker 2: single doctor that I have gone to has refused to

523
00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:34,520
Speaker 2: do it. And reason being is because as you get older,

524
00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:37,760
Speaker 2: you need that fat. And so what we're seeing now

525
00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:40,159
Speaker 2: is a lot of people who have opted into bucle

526
00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:43,399
Speaker 2: fat removal now have to inject their faces as they

527
00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:47,040
Speaker 2: get older with a whole lot of filler to combat

528
00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:50,080
Speaker 2: the fact that with aging, the collagen and the face

529
00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:54,359
Speaker 2: does inevitably diminish some So we're going to have to

530
00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:56,320
Speaker 2: keep it pushing on the bugle fat removal.

531
00:27:57,160 --> 00:27:59,760
Speaker 1: Okay, what about eyelash extensions?

532
00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:02,919
Speaker 2: I say absolutely. The issue with me is I am

533
00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:07,240
Speaker 2: allergic to eyelash extensions very bonous. So I am allergic

534
00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:10,160
Speaker 2: to the glue. And what is so interesting is I

535
00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:12,560
Speaker 2: had gotten like maybe five or six sets, was fine,

536
00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:15,120
Speaker 2: and one day I just started losing it. I thought

537
00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:17,800
Speaker 2: it was just that Lash tech tried another one, tried

538
00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:21,199
Speaker 2: the non toxic glue. I can't do Lash extensions, but

539
00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:23,720
Speaker 2: I love them, and I feel like, you know, we're

540
00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:26,439
Speaker 2: beautiful regardless when we wake up. But what I loved

541
00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:28,159
Speaker 2: about Lash extensions when I had them is that I

542
00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:30,200
Speaker 2: felt like I woke up cute. I felt like I

543
00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:32,960
Speaker 2: didn't have to do I felt like I woke up

544
00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:35,480
Speaker 2: and could just go. And I'm a huge Lash girl.

545
00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:38,320
Speaker 2: But now I've just really perfected strip lashes for myself.

546
00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:41,800
Speaker 2: So I wear strip lashes religiously. So I'm all for

547
00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:44,360
Speaker 2: full lashes period, got it.

548
00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:46,520
Speaker 1: And the last one is jel X.

549
00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:50,280
Speaker 2: Oh. I don't leave the house without my gel X on.

550
00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:53,960
Speaker 2: So I to say that I am a huge gel

551
00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:58,320
Speaker 2: X girl. I think past it just being more user friendly, right,

552
00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:01,080
Speaker 2: it's something that I think, well, I don't do it right.

553
00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:03,440
Speaker 2: I have a fantastic nail tech. I think that the

554
00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:06,280
Speaker 2: beautiful thing about Gelx is that if you wanted to

555
00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:09,320
Speaker 2: learn how to do it yourself. You could, but it's

556
00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:12,040
Speaker 2: just it's so much healthier than acrylic. You know, I

557
00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:14,800
Speaker 2: think there is a misconception that like, oh, jel X

558
00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:16,840
Speaker 2: doesn't do any damage to your nail. I think that

559
00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:18,960
Speaker 2: we do have to come to peace with the reality

560
00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:21,800
Speaker 2: that anything long term sitting on top of the nail

561
00:29:21,840 --> 00:29:25,520
Speaker 2: will inevitably weaken the nail. But it weakens it far less.

562
00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:28,960
Speaker 2: The chemical ramifications are far less, which I think very

563
00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:32,320
Speaker 2: much matters to the nail technician who is doing the nail.

564
00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:34,960
Speaker 2: And they're easier. The shape is already there, you don't

565
00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:37,840
Speaker 2: even have to shape it. So I love them. I

566
00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:40,360
Speaker 2: think that they're not only healthier, but I do think

567
00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:42,840
Speaker 2: that they add a sleeker look to the nail bed.

568
00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:45,479
Speaker 1: Perfect. Thank you so much for playing that with us.

569
00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:48,840
Speaker 2: Of course I like that one. Those are good ones.

570
00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:50,360
Speaker 2: Those are great ones.

571
00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:55,200
Speaker 1: So getting back to your comments around injectables, you know

572
00:29:55,240 --> 00:29:58,640
Speaker 1: you've been pretty public and talking about getting fillers, botox

573
00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:01,320
Speaker 1: and other cosmetic enhancements. So why do you think it

574
00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:04,160
Speaker 1: is important for us to speak candidly about these procedures.

575
00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:06,640
Speaker 2: I think now more than ever it's important to speak

576
00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:10,960
Speaker 2: about these procedures because not speaking about it is killing

577
00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:14,040
Speaker 2: Black women. And I know that might sound drastic, but

578
00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:17,240
Speaker 2: the realities are in this day and age, there are

579
00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:22,680
Speaker 2: women getting braces and veneers in the basements of people's homes.

580
00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:26,280
Speaker 2: There are people getting body augmentations in the basements of

581
00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:29,640
Speaker 2: people's homes. There are people getting injectables in nail slans.

582
00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:32,960
Speaker 2: And I think that it's important to have these conversations

583
00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:36,760
Speaker 2: because the reality is that black women aren't not going

584
00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:39,240
Speaker 2: to do it, so we need to do it safely

585
00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:43,880
Speaker 2: and having open conversations and sharing who we go to,

586
00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:49,000
Speaker 2: sharing the proper preparation, sharing, the proper post care, sharing,

587
00:30:49,080 --> 00:30:52,720
Speaker 2: price breakdown right so that someone understands that if you

588
00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:54,520
Speaker 2: want to get this done the right way, right, then

589
00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:56,800
Speaker 2: this is a price range that you might need to

590
00:30:56,840 --> 00:30:59,120
Speaker 2: be in. And if you're seeing that wherever you go

591
00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:02,240
Speaker 2: the price is either far lower or far higher, you

592
00:31:02,360 --> 00:31:05,520
Speaker 2: might need to reevaluate. So I think that it's important

593
00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:07,680
Speaker 2: just to talk about it because for the safety of

594
00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:11,360
Speaker 2: black women. Right it's like non black women we're doing

595
00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:15,160
Speaker 2: breast augmentations in droves. In the eighties and nineties, it

596
00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:17,880
Speaker 2: wasn't like black women weren't doing them too, right. You know,

597
00:31:18,280 --> 00:31:20,479
Speaker 2: we were doing them, but we weren't speaking about it,

598
00:31:20,560 --> 00:31:23,040
Speaker 2: and so not speaking about it and it goes back

599
00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:25,840
Speaker 2: again to like we talked about earlier with the therapy piece,

600
00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:28,880
Speaker 2: as black people, not speaking about things doesn't make it

601
00:31:28,880 --> 00:31:32,480
Speaker 2: go away, and so we might as well talk about it,

602
00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:35,200
Speaker 2: and we might as well share our experiences so that

603
00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:38,240
Speaker 2: we can make sure that one another is safe as

604
00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:40,240
Speaker 2: we do it. Because the reality is, this is what

605
00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:42,800
Speaker 2: I found. You know, even when we look at these

606
00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:46,520
Speaker 2: instances when we talk about body augmentation, women are not

607
00:31:46,600 --> 00:31:49,080
Speaker 2: going to stop doing it right. We can preach self

608
00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:52,200
Speaker 2: love and self care and all of these things till

609
00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:54,480
Speaker 2: we're blue in the face, right, but when I look

610
00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:56,640
Speaker 2: in the mirror, if I don't love what I see,

611
00:31:57,160 --> 00:32:00,200
Speaker 2: it will not change. It will not change that I

612
00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:02,000
Speaker 2: would want to enhance it or I would want to

613
00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:05,840
Speaker 2: fix it. But why not have the resources from women

614
00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:08,040
Speaker 2: who look like you, and have the community from women

615
00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:09,920
Speaker 2: who look like you, so you can at least make

616
00:32:09,960 --> 00:32:11,160
Speaker 2: sure that you are doing it right.

617
00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:13,680
Speaker 1: So was it a difficult decision for you, Blake, to

618
00:32:13,760 --> 00:32:16,280
Speaker 1: decide to do things like fillers in both hots or

619
00:32:16,320 --> 00:32:18,320
Speaker 1: was it something especially because you're in the space that

620
00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:20,480
Speaker 1: you thought like, oh, yeah, I'm definitely going to do this.

621
00:32:20,880 --> 00:32:24,080
Speaker 2: Oh no, I was like, poke me up. I personally

622
00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:27,400
Speaker 2: was look in my face.

623
00:32:27,600 --> 00:32:30,320
Speaker 3: I mean, I will say, the thing is to your point,

624
00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:32,560
Speaker 3: access made it easier, right, because it's like, you know,

625
00:32:32,640 --> 00:32:36,800
Speaker 3: my injectibles for the most part, especially when I was

626
00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:38,920
Speaker 3: an editorial I never had to pay for it, right,

627
00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:40,560
Speaker 3: And I had access.

628
00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:44,680
Speaker 2: To these wonderful doctors who do the injectibles for celebrities

629
00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:47,440
Speaker 2: and things like that, So I always had access. But

630
00:32:47,520 --> 00:32:50,440
Speaker 2: I only think the reason for being so eager was

631
00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:52,120
Speaker 2: because I knew that I had access to some of

632
00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:56,160
Speaker 2: the best doctors and estheticians, so it wasn't scary to me.

633
00:32:56,560 --> 00:32:58,880
Speaker 2: But it also wasn't scary to me because I do

634
00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:01,760
Speaker 2: think when we go into these spaces, we need to

635
00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:05,400
Speaker 2: be comfortable speaking up, and I've always been comfortable speaking

636
00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:08,160
Speaker 2: up and letting doctors know, like, look, I don't want

637
00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:10,240
Speaker 2: to go overboard, right When I tell people all of

638
00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:12,720
Speaker 2: the fillers or injectibles that I've gotten, they're like, you

639
00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:15,480
Speaker 2: have injectibles where you have injectibles where? Because I was

640
00:33:15,600 --> 00:33:18,240
Speaker 2: very comfortable on speaking up and saying like I don't

641
00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:20,400
Speaker 2: want to look like this, or I do want to

642
00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:24,240
Speaker 2: look like this, So please be extra conservative in how

643
00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:26,960
Speaker 2: you're injecting and things like that. So I think that

644
00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:31,040
Speaker 2: I was always very okay with it and very experimental.

645
00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:33,880
Speaker 2: I will say now I have done enough trial and

646
00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:37,080
Speaker 2: error and not like certain things to where now there

647
00:33:37,080 --> 00:33:39,280
Speaker 2: are certain injectibles that I won't do right. There are

648
00:33:39,280 --> 00:33:42,040
Speaker 2: certain places I won't put filler because I've been able

649
00:33:42,080 --> 00:33:44,200
Speaker 2: to experiment, and that is now. That is the great

650
00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:47,680
Speaker 2: thing about filler is that you can remove it. But

651
00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:49,840
Speaker 2: the thing is, like I said, I always and I

652
00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:54,280
Speaker 2: implore anyone who is looking to do filler go conservative first,

653
00:33:54,640 --> 00:33:57,000
Speaker 2: because it is much safer and much easier to add

654
00:33:57,080 --> 00:34:00,000
Speaker 2: than to take away. And sometimes, as we're seeing now,

655
00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:01,920
Speaker 2: you know when we talk about black China and things

656
00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:05,040
Speaker 2: like that, if you stretch the skin so much when

657
00:34:05,080 --> 00:34:08,239
Speaker 2: you choose to dissolve the filler, that can present its

658
00:34:08,239 --> 00:34:10,760
Speaker 2: own set of problems in the skin that it leaves behind.

659
00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:14,879
Speaker 2: So I just implore women to number one, make sure

660
00:34:14,880 --> 00:34:17,400
Speaker 2: that you are going to someone who is trained. Please

661
00:34:18,200 --> 00:34:20,720
Speaker 2: do not get lip injections in your hair salon. I

662
00:34:20,760 --> 00:34:23,000
Speaker 2: beg you to not do that. I know that's something

663
00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:26,560
Speaker 2: that's going on a lot. Anything that is going into

664
00:34:26,600 --> 00:34:30,040
Speaker 2: your body is worth a real investment. And I'm not

665
00:34:30,080 --> 00:34:31,560
Speaker 2: saying you need to go to the most you know,

666
00:34:31,640 --> 00:34:34,520
Speaker 2: botox is so easy. You know, neural modulators in general

667
00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:37,719
Speaker 2: are so easy to access, so you know, when it

668
00:34:37,719 --> 00:34:40,080
Speaker 2: comes to neural modulation, that's a little different. But when

669
00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:44,719
Speaker 2: it comes to filler, I implore black women to number one,

670
00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:48,160
Speaker 2: go conservative and number two, find someone who actually knows

671
00:34:48,200 --> 00:34:50,759
Speaker 2: what they are doing so you are not spending the

672
00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:53,040
Speaker 2: rest of your days trying to repair what you might

673
00:34:53,080 --> 00:34:53,839
Speaker 2: have overfilled.

674
00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:57,120
Speaker 1: Those are great suggestions, And what tips would you give

675
00:34:57,160 --> 00:35:01,400
Speaker 1: people for how to vet dermatologists and estetution and cosmetic surgeons,

676
00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:03,680
Speaker 1: especially to make sure that they know what they're doing

677
00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:04,359
Speaker 1: with black skin.

678
00:35:04,719 --> 00:35:07,680
Speaker 2: Well. Social media has made, of course, this a lot easier.

679
00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:11,880
Speaker 2: Right If you go on to someone's Instagram or TikTok

680
00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:16,560
Speaker 2: whatever and their clients don't look anything like you, and

681
00:35:16,600 --> 00:35:18,879
Speaker 2: you see no one that looks like yourself, then you

682
00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:21,799
Speaker 2: might want to reconsider. But it's also important to do

683
00:35:21,840 --> 00:35:23,719
Speaker 2: your research on the doctor because there are a lot

684
00:35:23,719 --> 00:35:30,720
Speaker 2: of Instagram instagrammy doctors who people have real life stories

685
00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:34,560
Speaker 2: about that aren't so positive. So social media makes it easier,

686
00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:37,440
Speaker 2: but also do your own research outside of social media,

687
00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:40,400
Speaker 2: right hit the Googles. You know, there are chat rooms

688
00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:43,200
Speaker 2: and their forums that I've heard about, you know, or

689
00:35:43,360 --> 00:35:46,360
Speaker 2: more on Facebook and Reddit and things like that. So

690
00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:48,719
Speaker 2: Reddit is a great place to find out. You know,

691
00:35:48,719 --> 00:35:51,160
Speaker 2: if somebody has a really terrible experience and they're scared

692
00:35:51,200 --> 00:35:53,959
Speaker 2: to speak out publicly, a lot of people might speak

693
00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:56,759
Speaker 2: out or Reddit and things like that. So just do

694
00:35:57,440 --> 00:36:00,480
Speaker 2: real research, but look for someone who looks like you.

695
00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:03,360
Speaker 1: Thank you for that. I appreciate that. You know you've

696
00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:07,240
Speaker 1: used these terms before today, Blake, natural beauty, clean beauty.

697
00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:08,880
Speaker 1: It does feel like those are a little bit of

698
00:36:08,880 --> 00:36:12,560
Speaker 1: buzzwords kind of in the industry today. What does being

699
00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:14,839
Speaker 1: a natural beauty mean to you? And does that mean

700
00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:17,279
Speaker 1: that you don't have any cosmetic enhancements?

701
00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:20,319
Speaker 2: I think, like I said, going back to the policing thing,

702
00:36:20,400 --> 00:36:23,839
Speaker 2: is I think that natural beauty by definition, right, if

703
00:36:23,880 --> 00:36:26,560
Speaker 2: we want to go by definition, then yes, it is

704
00:36:26,640 --> 00:36:30,799
Speaker 2: someone who doesn't have fillers and doesn't wear a ton

705
00:36:30,840 --> 00:36:35,479
Speaker 2: of makeup and doesn't have many augmentations. Right by definition, yes,

706
00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:40,160
Speaker 2: But if you are not a natural beauty, it doesn't

707
00:36:40,200 --> 00:36:42,640
Speaker 2: mean that you are not a beauty. When I got

708
00:36:42,640 --> 00:36:44,840
Speaker 2: a relaxer, people were like, you don't love yourself. You

709
00:36:44,880 --> 00:36:47,160
Speaker 2: want to feed into your ow central mind. You I

710
00:36:47,200 --> 00:36:49,960
Speaker 2: had been natural for twelve years, right at that point,

711
00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:54,320
Speaker 2: it was never about that. How we like to show

712
00:36:54,440 --> 00:36:57,800
Speaker 2: up matters just as much. Right, Because if a woman

713
00:36:58,440 --> 00:37:01,640
Speaker 2: has decided, oh, well, you know, I'm going to be

714
00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:03,600
Speaker 2: a natural beauty, but she looks in the mirror every

715
00:37:03,600 --> 00:37:06,239
Speaker 2: single day and feels like she really doesn't like what

716
00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:08,320
Speaker 2: she sees, or she's not her happiest when she steps

717
00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:11,440
Speaker 2: out the house, well then that's not good either. Right.

718
00:37:11,840 --> 00:37:13,919
Speaker 2: It's just as bad in my opinion as the woman

719
00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:17,279
Speaker 2: who has done far too much to augment or to

720
00:37:17,440 --> 00:37:22,920
Speaker 2: change things about herself. So I think that yes, by definition,

721
00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:27,480
Speaker 2: that is what natural beauty is. But I don't want women,

722
00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:31,960
Speaker 2: especially in this era of clean beauty and the clean aesthetic,

723
00:37:32,400 --> 00:37:37,160
Speaker 2: to think that if they do not operate within those parameters,

724
00:37:37,200 --> 00:37:40,000
Speaker 2: that they are not natural beauty. But also to understand

725
00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:43,239
Speaker 2: that a lot of the celebrities and these big you know,

726
00:37:43,280 --> 00:37:47,040
Speaker 2: social media personalities that you see that you assume are

727
00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:51,560
Speaker 2: natural beauty, those people too have a lot of access

728
00:37:51,719 --> 00:37:54,359
Speaker 2: and a lot of augmentations just because it doesn't look

729
00:37:54,440 --> 00:37:56,640
Speaker 2: like it I have a lot of filler. I don't

730
00:37:56,680 --> 00:37:58,799
Speaker 2: look like I have a lot of filler. Do what

731
00:37:59,040 --> 00:38:03,520
Speaker 2: you want to do, and don't let this natural phase

732
00:38:03,840 --> 00:38:05,799
Speaker 2: make you unhappy or make you feel like you have

733
00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:07,799
Speaker 2: to do things that you just simply don't want to do.

734
00:38:09,560 --> 00:38:24,000
Speaker 1: More for my conversation with Blake after the break and

735
00:38:24,120 --> 00:38:27,400
Speaker 1: thinking about like this clean beauty and like clean products,

736
00:38:27,400 --> 00:38:30,160
Speaker 1: what does it mean for products to be clean? Because

737
00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:34,520
Speaker 1: don't most products require some kind of like chemicals to

738
00:38:34,760 --> 00:38:36,200
Speaker 1: be able to sit on the shelves?

739
00:38:36,960 --> 00:38:41,279
Speaker 2: They absolutely do. It's interesting. I recently was actually talking

740
00:38:41,320 --> 00:38:43,239
Speaker 2: to the founders of brain Trust founder Studio, and I

741
00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:46,239
Speaker 2: referenced an article by The Cut and the title of

742
00:38:46,360 --> 00:38:50,960
Speaker 2: the article it was something around how much does clean

743
00:38:51,040 --> 00:38:54,799
Speaker 2: beauty actually matter? Right? And they were talking around how

744
00:38:54,920 --> 00:38:59,600
Speaker 2: much do these ingredients in products actually matter in the

745
00:38:59,600 --> 00:39:03,840
Speaker 2: grands of things, right when we are also inundated with

746
00:39:03,920 --> 00:39:06,360
Speaker 2: so many other chemical things. Right. So it's like, let's say,

747
00:39:07,080 --> 00:39:09,279
Speaker 2: the arguments that they made were, like somebody who is

748
00:39:09,920 --> 00:39:13,239
Speaker 2: adamant about not wanting certain things in their skincare but

749
00:39:13,360 --> 00:39:16,799
Speaker 2: dyes their hair every three months, or is adamant about this,

750
00:39:16,960 --> 00:39:18,680
Speaker 2: but goes and gets her nail done in the nail

751
00:39:18,719 --> 00:39:22,000
Speaker 2: salon with the Crylix everything. So I think the reality

752
00:39:22,040 --> 00:39:23,880
Speaker 2: is that we are living in a world where it

753
00:39:23,960 --> 00:39:27,040
Speaker 2: is very hard to figure out what clean is. But

754
00:39:27,160 --> 00:39:29,200
Speaker 2: the thing is, if that is something that you are

755
00:39:29,239 --> 00:39:31,759
Speaker 2: emphatic about, and you are like, I only want products

756
00:39:32,200 --> 00:39:36,160
Speaker 2: that are clean, there are websites and apps out there

757
00:39:36,200 --> 00:39:39,279
Speaker 2: where you can actually type in the ingredients of your products. Right,

758
00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:42,000
Speaker 2: you can take photos of the back of your products

759
00:39:42,320 --> 00:39:44,759
Speaker 2: and they will break down the ingredients and let you

760
00:39:44,800 --> 00:39:48,560
Speaker 2: know they're clean. Levels. There are certifications, very rigid certifications,

761
00:39:48,600 --> 00:39:51,480
Speaker 2: like if a product is Leaping Bunny certified, then it

762
00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:54,840
Speaker 2: truly is and I'm saying this in quotation marks clean

763
00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:57,680
Speaker 2: that is I think the cleanest that it gets in

764
00:39:57,719 --> 00:39:59,680
Speaker 2: terms of beauty products, in terms of the way that

765
00:39:59,680 --> 00:40:02,799
Speaker 2: the un United States regulates. So yeah, so if that

766
00:40:02,920 --> 00:40:05,560
Speaker 2: is something that is very important to you, then there

767
00:40:05,560 --> 00:40:08,719
Speaker 2: are ways to decode ingredients. But we've seen it when

768
00:40:08,760 --> 00:40:11,560
Speaker 2: I think about the scaling of honeypot, right and the

769
00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:15,680
Speaker 2: way that women lost their minds when they thought that

770
00:40:16,160 --> 00:40:19,759
Speaker 2: it was no longer clean. No, honeypot is still clean, right,

771
00:40:19,800 --> 00:40:23,320
Speaker 2: but there are certain ingredients that have to be added

772
00:40:23,760 --> 00:40:26,719
Speaker 2: to produce at certain levels or else we would not

773
00:40:26,760 --> 00:40:29,080
Speaker 2: have access to it. And so therefore that is how

774
00:40:29,080 --> 00:40:32,040
Speaker 2: it lost its Leaping Bunny certification. But it doesn't mean

775
00:40:32,360 --> 00:40:35,080
Speaker 2: that it is not cleaned by most people's standards, just

776
00:40:35,120 --> 00:40:37,839
Speaker 2: not by Leaping Bunny, which like I said, is very

777
00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:42,440
Speaker 2: bare bones in the ingredients that they allow for. So,

778
00:40:42,840 --> 00:40:45,239
Speaker 2: like I said, do your own research, but I do

779
00:40:45,320 --> 00:40:49,239
Speaker 2: employ people to not get so caught up in certain ingredients,

780
00:40:49,280 --> 00:40:53,080
Speaker 2: like I said, like with the honeypot debacle, because in

781
00:40:53,120 --> 00:40:57,200
Speaker 2: some instances there are some ingredients that have to exist

782
00:40:57,960 --> 00:40:59,239
Speaker 2: for mass production.

783
00:41:00,120 --> 00:41:03,880
Speaker 1: Right right, So I'm curious, Blake, do you feel like

784
00:41:04,040 --> 00:41:06,160
Speaker 1: in your experience has been a point where you have

785
00:41:06,280 --> 00:41:09,640
Speaker 1: felt the need to disclose to either friends or romantic

786
00:41:09,719 --> 00:41:13,239
Speaker 1: partners that you have had like certain augmentations or do

787
00:41:13,280 --> 00:41:15,360
Speaker 1: you feel like that is something that is better just

788
00:41:15,440 --> 00:41:16,280
Speaker 1: kind of kept personal.

789
00:41:16,640 --> 00:41:18,319
Speaker 2: Well, I will say, me and my friends are like

790
00:41:18,360 --> 00:41:21,320
Speaker 2: the black girls that talk about injecticles and all the things.

791
00:41:21,360 --> 00:41:25,160
Speaker 2: I also reveal it on social media. So here's the thing,

792
00:41:25,280 --> 00:41:27,680
Speaker 2: like I said, I am in my what Blake wants

793
00:41:27,719 --> 00:41:29,920
Speaker 2: to do. Blake is going to do Era and so

794
00:41:30,080 --> 00:41:32,600
Speaker 2: if I happen to come across a romantic partner who

795
00:41:32,640 --> 00:41:36,520
Speaker 2: that makes him uncomfortable, well then he's just going to

796
00:41:36,560 --> 00:41:38,840
Speaker 2: have to go find someone else, because Blake is not

797
00:41:38,960 --> 00:41:42,480
Speaker 2: changing what she likes to do right now, and that

798
00:41:42,520 --> 00:41:45,120
Speaker 2: would be his prerogative, right If his standard is that

799
00:41:45,200 --> 00:41:48,200
Speaker 2: he wants to as we spoke about earlier, by definition

800
00:41:48,360 --> 00:41:51,560
Speaker 2: and natural beauty, then he can go and find that.

801
00:41:51,600 --> 00:41:53,120
Speaker 2: But the thing is, I do want to be honest.

802
00:41:53,280 --> 00:41:57,160
Speaker 2: I don't present as natural beauty, right, So it's like

803
00:41:57,520 --> 00:42:01,719
Speaker 2: io up with twenty four inches of weed and a

804
00:42:01,760 --> 00:42:06,120
Speaker 2: full face and lashes. A romantic partner who might that

805
00:42:06,200 --> 00:42:09,240
Speaker 2: might be a requirement. He probably is not even speaking

806
00:42:09,280 --> 00:42:11,640
Speaker 2: to me in the first place, so we probably would've

807
00:42:11,760 --> 00:42:14,799
Speaker 2: been there. So yeah, but I have no problem disclosing,

808
00:42:14,840 --> 00:42:17,560
Speaker 2: But I wouldn't be disclosing for them. I'm disclosing because

809
00:42:17,560 --> 00:42:19,920
Speaker 2: to be honest, like beauty is a day to day

810
00:42:19,960 --> 00:42:22,160
Speaker 2: part of my life. I talk about it all the time.

811
00:42:22,600 --> 00:42:24,960
Speaker 2: Me telling my partner that I went to get injections

812
00:42:25,120 --> 00:42:28,279
Speaker 2: or I want some other form of augmentation. To be

813
00:42:28,360 --> 00:42:32,520
Speaker 2: honest is like regular dinner combos is somebody like me

814
00:42:33,480 --> 00:42:33,920
Speaker 2: got it?

815
00:42:34,120 --> 00:42:36,520
Speaker 1: Got it? So I feel like we have covered a

816
00:42:36,560 --> 00:42:38,600
Speaker 1: lot of ground here, Blake, and I feel like it

817
00:42:38,760 --> 00:42:41,200
Speaker 1: is easy to kind of get overwhelmed by all of

818
00:42:41,239 --> 00:42:44,720
Speaker 1: the beauty stuff. If somebody who is you know, enjoying

819
00:42:44,719 --> 00:42:47,440
Speaker 1: our conversation today wants to get started on a beauty

820
00:42:47,520 --> 00:42:50,760
Speaker 1: journey or learn more about makeup and skincare, where should

821
00:42:50,760 --> 00:42:51,760
Speaker 1: they start?

822
00:42:52,520 --> 00:42:56,120
Speaker 2: Okay, so what I would do first? Funny enough, when

823
00:42:56,160 --> 00:42:58,160
Speaker 2: I was an editor, because I had so much access

824
00:42:58,160 --> 00:43:00,760
Speaker 2: to so many things, I ended up ruining my skin barrier.

825
00:43:01,320 --> 00:43:03,279
Speaker 2: And so essentially what that means is the top layer

826
00:43:03,320 --> 00:43:05,520
Speaker 2: of my skin. I had ruined it from using too

827
00:43:05,560 --> 00:43:09,920
Speaker 2: many products with actives, and so my skincare routine is

828
00:43:09,960 --> 00:43:13,360
Speaker 2: now bare bones. And so what I implore people to

829
00:43:13,440 --> 00:43:19,920
Speaker 2: do is start bare bones and incorporate and don't do

830
00:43:20,000 --> 00:43:21,880
Speaker 2: too much. Right, So, the best thing that you can

831
00:43:21,920 --> 00:43:27,560
Speaker 2: do start with a great gentle or simple cleanser. Right,

832
00:43:27,600 --> 00:43:31,040
Speaker 2: I have very acne prone skin, So for somebody like me,

833
00:43:31,440 --> 00:43:34,399
Speaker 2: a simple acne cleanser. Brands that I think that are

834
00:43:34,440 --> 00:43:37,600
Speaker 2: wonderful for people that are starting off their skincare journey,

835
00:43:37,920 --> 00:43:41,880
Speaker 2: polished choice is great. I think the ordinary is wonderful.

836
00:43:41,880 --> 00:43:44,520
Speaker 2: The ordinary is wonderful. Because they just have one ingredient,

837
00:43:44,920 --> 00:43:47,520
Speaker 2: one active in each, right, so you're not doing too

838
00:43:47,600 --> 00:43:49,959
Speaker 2: much to the skin. Start with a great cleanser, start

839
00:43:50,000 --> 00:43:52,320
Speaker 2: with a great moisturizer, and start with a great SPF.

840
00:43:52,719 --> 00:43:55,640
Speaker 2: I think that for black people, the perfect SPF to

841
00:43:55,680 --> 00:43:59,040
Speaker 2: start with either start with Black Girls Sunscreen or Super Goop.

842
00:43:59,160 --> 00:44:01,880
Speaker 2: I think those are that you really can't go wrong

843
00:44:01,960 --> 00:44:04,880
Speaker 2: with and they're made for our skin tones, which is

844
00:44:04,960 --> 00:44:07,560
Speaker 2: very important. But you cannot forget the SPF. So I

845
00:44:07,560 --> 00:44:13,400
Speaker 2: think skincare always cleanser, moisturizer, SPF. And then as you

846
00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:16,359
Speaker 2: start to incorporate or hear about, you know, let's say

847
00:44:16,360 --> 00:44:18,520
Speaker 2: you want to incorporate a retinal because you heard that

848
00:44:18,560 --> 00:44:22,080
Speaker 2: a retinal is fantastic for skin, which it is. I

849
00:44:22,120 --> 00:44:24,800
Speaker 2: love a retinal. Then just do one product with retinol.

850
00:44:24,920 --> 00:44:28,200
Speaker 2: Just incorporate that to the part down routine. And the

851
00:44:28,239 --> 00:44:30,680
Speaker 2: same goes for hair. Right, we're seeing a lot of

852
00:44:31,480 --> 00:44:34,680
Speaker 2: curl specialists and hair specialists basically say that black women,

853
00:44:34,719 --> 00:44:37,200
Speaker 2: we have applied too much product to our hair and

854
00:44:37,239 --> 00:44:40,560
Speaker 2: that's why our hair doesn't retain water. And so it's

855
00:44:40,600 --> 00:44:43,800
Speaker 2: the same thing with hair. Right, start their bones and

856
00:44:43,840 --> 00:44:46,040
Speaker 2: then incorporate when it comes to makeup. I think that

857
00:44:46,080 --> 00:44:48,920
Speaker 2: the things that everyone needs is a great foundation, a

858
00:44:48,960 --> 00:44:53,480
Speaker 2: great mass scara, a good concealer, and blush. Blush adds

859
00:44:53,520 --> 00:44:58,520
Speaker 2: so much dimension, particularly to black women's faces. So start there.

860
00:44:59,200 --> 00:45:01,800
Speaker 2: Get a good bra set you don't have to spend

861
00:45:02,080 --> 00:45:05,240
Speaker 2: a million dollars on it, and a good beauty blender.

862
00:45:05,960 --> 00:45:08,840
Speaker 2: And I feel like that is the perfect starting point

863
00:45:09,440 --> 00:45:12,120
Speaker 2: for someone who is, you know, just trying to start

864
00:45:12,160 --> 00:45:16,040
Speaker 2: the beauty journey. And then you incorporate, but don't do

865
00:45:16,360 --> 00:45:19,360
Speaker 2: too much because we end up doing more harm than good.

866
00:45:19,600 --> 00:45:22,399
Speaker 2: As you mentioned, the industry is so saturated and every

867
00:45:22,400 --> 00:45:26,040
Speaker 2: single day TikTok is telling us that we need this new, incredible,

868
00:45:26,080 --> 00:45:29,080
Speaker 2: wonderful product. And most of the time, yes, it is

869
00:45:29,120 --> 00:45:31,200
Speaker 2: a great product, but it's not always a great product

870
00:45:31,280 --> 00:45:35,239
Speaker 2: for you. So start there and then build as you can.

871
00:45:35,600 --> 00:45:37,800
Speaker 1: So I would love to know some of your favorites

872
00:45:37,840 --> 00:45:40,120
Speaker 1: for mascara and blushes for black girls.

873
00:45:41,800 --> 00:45:46,520
Speaker 2: So Nars has a fantastic mascara, the Climax mascara. That's

874
00:45:46,560 --> 00:45:48,560
Speaker 2: for if you like volume, right, So if you're a

875
00:45:48,640 --> 00:45:51,120
Speaker 2: volume girl, then I would go there. If you like

876
00:45:51,239 --> 00:45:56,480
Speaker 2: more elongation, do your show mascara is absolutely wonderful. Some

877
00:45:56,600 --> 00:46:00,000
Speaker 2: blushes that I love Nars, of course, I mean orgasms.

878
00:46:00,000 --> 00:46:02,960
Speaker 2: One of the first blushes that I ever use. Nars

879
00:46:03,000 --> 00:46:06,239
Speaker 2: has fantastic blush. Rare beauty of course, has been the

880
00:46:06,239 --> 00:46:08,960
Speaker 2: blush that has been holding black girls down these days,

881
00:46:09,440 --> 00:46:13,719
Speaker 2: even her purple blush. Black women are absolutely in love

882
00:46:13,760 --> 00:46:15,560
Speaker 2: with it. And then I think, you know, when it

883
00:46:15,600 --> 00:46:19,200
Speaker 2: comes to liquid blushes, I mentioned them earlier. Mikola has

884
00:46:19,200 --> 00:46:21,880
Speaker 2: a new blush that is absolutely fantastic. It's like the

885
00:46:21,920 --> 00:46:25,759
Speaker 2: most beautiful flush that it adds to the skin. So

886
00:46:25,960 --> 00:46:29,000
Speaker 2: those are some of my personal favorites. And then, like

887
00:46:29,040 --> 00:46:31,520
Speaker 2: I said, you can just continue to experiment. But every

888
00:46:31,560 --> 00:46:34,440
Speaker 2: brand is creating blush these days because it is back

889
00:46:34,880 --> 00:46:37,920
Speaker 2: and in demand more than ever. So yes, I'm a

890
00:46:38,000 --> 00:46:40,520
Speaker 2: huge proponent. I'm almost like, there's no such thing as

891
00:46:40,520 --> 00:46:42,879
Speaker 2: too much blush right now, but yes, blush it up

892
00:46:42,960 --> 00:46:43,919
Speaker 2: as much as you can.

893
00:46:44,480 --> 00:46:46,440
Speaker 1: So what message do you have for Black women who

894
00:46:46,520 --> 00:46:49,640
Speaker 1: might feel a little hesitant or unsure about exploring cosmetic

895
00:46:49,680 --> 00:46:51,440
Speaker 1: surgery or other beauty procedures.

896
00:46:51,800 --> 00:46:54,719
Speaker 2: If you are hesitant about it, don't force yourself to

897
00:46:54,719 --> 00:46:57,120
Speaker 2: do it. Don't force yourself to do it because your

898
00:46:57,120 --> 00:46:59,080
Speaker 2: friends got it, or because the girl that you love

899
00:46:59,080 --> 00:47:01,680
Speaker 2: on TikTok got it, because your favorite celebrity got it.

900
00:47:01,719 --> 00:47:04,520
Speaker 2: Don't do that. But if it is something that speaks

901
00:47:04,560 --> 00:47:08,680
Speaker 2: to you and it is something that you feel you

902
00:47:08,840 --> 00:47:12,600
Speaker 2: truly want to explore, then like I said, number one,

903
00:47:12,640 --> 00:47:14,400
Speaker 2: you need to make sure that you go to an expert.

904
00:47:14,840 --> 00:47:19,680
Speaker 2: I do not believe in cutting costs in that space.

905
00:47:19,760 --> 00:47:22,640
Speaker 2: And the reality is, I know that it is wildly expensive.

906
00:47:22,680 --> 00:47:25,680
Speaker 2: But we saw the terrible happening that happened to the

907
00:47:25,800 --> 00:47:28,640
Speaker 2: black women who went to Mexico, and we hear it

908
00:47:28,640 --> 00:47:33,239
Speaker 2: every day. They are black women dying overseas. I understand that,

909
00:47:34,320 --> 00:47:38,040
Speaker 2: especially in this day and age, times are more difficult

910
00:47:38,080 --> 00:47:41,480
Speaker 2: financially for so many of us. But your safety, I

911
00:47:41,480 --> 00:47:43,040
Speaker 2: don't think you can put a price on your health

912
00:47:43,080 --> 00:47:45,200
Speaker 2: and a price on your safety. So you need to

913
00:47:45,239 --> 00:47:48,840
Speaker 2: go to an expert with wonderful reviews, with very sound

914
00:47:49,640 --> 00:47:54,680
Speaker 2: sanitary and medical practices. And yeah, so I think that

915
00:47:54,680 --> 00:47:56,799
Speaker 2: that is the next step, and I think with that

916
00:47:56,880 --> 00:47:59,320
Speaker 2: everything will follow right because we talk about some women

917
00:47:59,360 --> 00:48:01,799
Speaker 2: who you know, the way that it looks now is

918
00:48:01,840 --> 00:48:03,839
Speaker 2: you know, has come under fire and things like that.

919
00:48:03,880 --> 00:48:05,359
Speaker 2: But what I will say is I think that if

920
00:48:05,400 --> 00:48:07,960
Speaker 2: you go to a sound doctor, then you won't go

921
00:48:08,040 --> 00:48:10,719
Speaker 2: to a doctor that will overfill you or will over

922
00:48:10,760 --> 00:48:12,880
Speaker 2: augment you, or things like that. So I think that

923
00:48:13,000 --> 00:48:15,920
Speaker 2: it starts with the specialist that you go to. But

924
00:48:16,000 --> 00:48:18,160
Speaker 2: do it for you, don't do it for anybody else.

925
00:48:18,440 --> 00:48:20,520
Speaker 2: Don't do it for a romantic partner. Don't do it

926
00:48:20,520 --> 00:48:22,960
Speaker 2: for your friends. Don't do it because Instagram told you so.

927
00:48:23,040 --> 00:48:25,160
Speaker 2: If it is not something that you truly want to do,

928
00:48:25,680 --> 00:48:27,879
Speaker 2: then do not do it. But if it is, then

929
00:48:27,920 --> 00:48:29,920
Speaker 2: make sure that you go about it the right way.

930
00:48:30,000 --> 00:48:32,600
Speaker 2: And it might take a little longer if that means

931
00:48:32,640 --> 00:48:35,280
Speaker 2: that you have to go a more expensive route. But again,

932
00:48:35,760 --> 00:48:37,960
Speaker 2: we as black people, we cannot afford to put a

933
00:48:37,960 --> 00:48:39,400
Speaker 2: price tag on our safety.

934
00:48:40,239 --> 00:48:43,400
Speaker 1: Mm hmm. Thank you for that. So you have shared

935
00:48:43,520 --> 00:48:45,960
Speaker 1: so much great information with us, Blake, I know that

936
00:48:46,000 --> 00:48:48,759
Speaker 1: the community will once to stay connected. Where can we

937
00:48:48,840 --> 00:48:51,959
Speaker 1: find you online and continue to support you and stay

938
00:48:51,960 --> 00:48:53,560
Speaker 1: connected to the work that you're doing. Do you have

939
00:48:53,600 --> 00:48:56,200
Speaker 1: a website and any social media handles you like to share?

940
00:48:56,800 --> 00:48:59,720
Speaker 2: Yes, so you can find me on Instagram. It's Blake

941
00:48:59,800 --> 00:49:03,200
Speaker 2: Low but Laurena spelled lawr e N. Don't ask me

942
00:49:03,239 --> 00:49:06,239
Speaker 2: ask my mama, I'm just as confused, biet you. And

943
00:49:06,280 --> 00:49:10,480
Speaker 2: then my TikTok is Blake Newby Underscore. I'm also launching

944
00:49:10,480 --> 00:49:12,839
Speaker 2: my YouTube channel, so you will be able to catch

945
00:49:12,840 --> 00:49:15,520
Speaker 2: me there. That's just Blake Newby, so yeah, that is

946
00:49:15,560 --> 00:49:17,839
Speaker 2: where you can find me. I post quite a bit

947
00:49:18,320 --> 00:49:20,800
Speaker 2: on all of the platforms, so so I'm not hard.

948
00:49:20,640 --> 00:49:23,279
Speaker 1: To find perfect. We'll be sure to include all of

949
00:49:23,280 --> 00:49:24,880
Speaker 1: that in the show notes. Thank you so much for

950
00:49:24,960 --> 00:49:27,319
Speaker 1: spending some time with us today, Blake. I appreciate it.

951
00:49:27,920 --> 00:49:29,040
Speaker 2: Thank you so much.

952
00:49:32,280 --> 00:49:34,600
Speaker 1: I'm so glad Blake was able to share her exercise

953
00:49:34,640 --> 00:49:37,160
Speaker 1: with us today. To learn more about the work she's

954
00:49:37,200 --> 00:49:39,759
Speaker 1: doing or to do more research on this topic, be

955
00:49:39,840 --> 00:49:42,720
Speaker 1: sure to visit Therapy for Blackgirls dot Com slash session

956
00:49:42,760 --> 00:49:45,400
Speaker 1: three oh nine, and don't forget to text two of

957
00:49:45,440 --> 00:49:47,600
Speaker 1: your girls and tell them to check out the episode

958
00:49:47,600 --> 00:49:50,880
Speaker 1: as well. If you're looking for a therapist in your area,

959
00:49:51,280 --> 00:49:54,319
Speaker 1: check out our therapist directory at Therapy for Blackgirls dot

960
00:49:54,320 --> 00:49:57,400
Speaker 1: Com slash directory. And if you want to continue to

961
00:49:57,440 --> 00:49:59,719
Speaker 1: get into this topic or just be in community with

962
00:49:59,760 --> 00:50:02,279
Speaker 1: others sisters, come on over and join us in the

963
00:50:02,320 --> 00:50:05,640
Speaker 1: sister Circle. It's our cozy corner of the Internet designed

964
00:50:05,680 --> 00:50:08,440
Speaker 1: just for black women. You can join us at Community

965
00:50:08,520 --> 00:50:12,560
Speaker 1: dot Therapy for blackgirls dot com. This episode was produced

966
00:50:12,560 --> 00:50:15,680
Speaker 1: by Frieda. Lucas and Elise Ellis and editing was done

967
00:50:15,680 --> 00:50:19,040
Speaker 1: by Dennis and Bradford. Thank y'all so much for joining

968
00:50:19,080 --> 00:50:21,680
Speaker 1: me again this week. I look forward to continuing this

969
00:50:21,760 --> 00:50:25,120
Speaker 1: conversation with you all real soon. Take good care.

970
00:50:29,400 --> 00:50:29,640
Speaker 2: What's