
I remember one year, me and Destinyโs Child had these green outfits on. I looked at the pictures [later] and was like, โYikes! Why did I even try? Just some foundation and lip gloss would have been fine.โ
I sat up one day, and paid to attention to how every makeup artist did things. I told myself that I wanted to know my face even better than the makeup artist did. I went home and played with the different foundations and colors and found what was perfect for me; what I liked on my eyes, what I liked on my lips โ because you have to be happy with the way you look in the mirror.
I had the most fun with MAC makeup. I remember going into the stores and just trying on all these colors. LโOreal Voluminous Mascara, I bought it and fell in love, because honestly, to this day I still donโt know how to glue eyelashes.
The makeup lines I really love right now are Scott Barnes and Bobbi Brown; Scott Barnesโ concealer and Bobbi Brownโs foundation. I remember going to that counter for the first time and going โOMG, itโs so awesome to find my skin color.โ
I think that as consumers, we often go to different beauty brands and products and expect them to be magicians. I think itโs important for us to know what we have and what weโre working with, what we have and what we possess that we may want to bring out. Maybe you have amazing eyes or beautiful cheekbones or amazing lips. Itโs really great to bring that out. I think itโs important to know what kind of skin you have, too. Is it dry, combination or oily? To know what youโre working with before you go heightens the whole beauty buying experience.
It took a long while for me to know that Iโm beautiful. I remember going through this phase when I was younger of wanting to pass by mirrors and not look at them. That was so ridiculous. Iโve learned now that beauty starts from within. If you donโt know your worth, if you donโt know your value, if you donโt know how fantabulous you are โ itโs going to be hard for other people to see it. Being appreciative of self, is beauty to me.
What makes me feel really beautiful is when I wake up and my skin is acting right [laughs] and I have a really great workout. When those days come, remember you deserve them because you work so hard.
One of my beauty icons is Oprah Winfrey. I love that fact that sheโs so comfortable with herself. One of my favorite episodes of her show was when she showed millions of people how she woke up in the morning with no makeup on. That was so selfless and revealing. Sheโs very real and genuine and I love that. Halle Berry is one of the most beautiful women Iโve ever seen. Same thing with Whitney Houston and Janet Jackson โ especially as a kid, because they have brown skin like me. I remember looking at magazines and television and seeing someone that looked like me and seeing a piece of myself in them.
What Iโve learned is, take better care of yourself. When you make the decision to do that โ thatโs a step toward reinvention because you probably need it and in that moment, you deserve it.
Kelly Rowlandโs โMotivationโ is the No. 1 song on the Billboard R&B Charts.
