Actress Storm Reid boasts a confidence and maturity that far exceeds her years. I was able to find out first-hand during a Zoom interview earlier this month, where we discussed her being the newest face of makeup powerhouse Maybelline. And while Reid isn’t the drugstore favorite’s typical spokesperson — the brand is notorious for its extensive roster of supermodels — the 17-year-old’s impact is already being felt.
Ahead, find out why the partnership is a match made in heaven, how Reid maintains her mental health, and the Black women she admires most.
For you, who has access to every makeup brand that she could ever want, why did you choose to partner with Maybelline?
STORM REID: It’s such a blessing and so surreal, especially as we get closer to the announcement. Maybelline has been a part of my life for basically my entire life. My mom is not a big makeup person, but she’s always a worn mascara. I always just saw Maybelline mascara in the house, and sometimes she would put it on me for recitals or auditions. So I was already familiar with their products. And when this opportunity came to me and when I was having conversations with the Maybelline team, I immediately felt like I was a part of the family. I really knew and could see that my voice and my opinion mattered.
And as a young Black girl, I won’t just be “the face” of something. I’ll be able to implement ideas, I’ll be respected. So yes, even though I do have access to tons of different things, whether that’s makeup brands or not, I’m a purpose driven person. And that’s whether I’m working with brand or jumping on a project as an actress or producer, it has to mean something. It has to not only impact me, but impact audiences. I’m trying not to get too excited, but like on Friday when the product launches and all these things come out from Maybelline, to see a young 17-year-old Black girl in like CVS representing a brand, that’s impactful. And that’s something that young girls like us need to see.
And with so many products to choose from, if you had to make your favorite Maybelline product, what would it be?
REID: Oh my gosh, wow. I would usually say the Fit Me Foundation because it’s full-coverage and amazing, but I would probably have to go with the mascara. My mom used the Colossal Mascara when I was growing up and it’s been around for awhile.
And you talk about impact, which is so important. Growing up, who were those celebrity representations of beauty for you?
REID: There were so many, but there also weren’t enough. But of course, I had Zendaya, so it was like, oh my God, there’s a girl that looks like me on television. And when I look at her now, she’s somebody that not only looks like me, but a person who’s succeeding like crazy, so I know I can do something great, too. But now looking back, I didn’t really have a lot of those young girls on television or on ads that made me as encouraged as Zendaya did. But women like Miss Ava [DuVernay], Miss Oprah, Miss Cicely Tyson, may she rest in peace, those people who have done the work and dedicated their lives and their careers to make us feel seen and heard. So I am forever indebted to all of those women that I mentioned, and so many more.
You’re so young and you’re in an industry that is incredibly critical. Atop of that, you’ve grown up in the social media era, which it makes things even more critical. How do you manage to keep your mental together and remain confident?
REID: Yeah. I mean, it’s hard. I think people fail to realize or sometimes forget that I’m just 17 and I’m still trying to figure it out. Even when people praise me or applaud my talents, while I do take their sentiments wholeheartedly and I appreciate them, when I see the bad comments I internalize that too. I am just a young girl trying to figure things out.
So I think it’s really my support system. They keep me grounded and they keep me sane, and I can go to them if I do see them back Instagram comment and, and they lift me up. So I think it’s all about having those support systems and those people around you, whether that’s your family, friends, or your team specifically. Have people around you that respect you, that listen to you and, and know that you are going to make mistakes and that you’re not going to say all the right things and you’ll figure it out.
You know, you are so much more mature than I was at 17. So with so much of the world ahead of you, where do you see yourself in 10 years?
REID: It’s funny, because I don’t like answering this question, because I always say that I don’t know what God has in store for me. So I don’t know what the next 10 years is going to look like. But if I had a say, in what the next 10 years would hope to continue to still be in this space of entertainment as an actress and as a producer but most importantly, as a human that is using their art for impact. I want to tell people’s stories, multicultural, multifaceted stories, and I want to create a business to give others opportunities. So that’s what I’d like to do, but again, I don’t know what the universe and what God has in store for me. But I feel like if I continue to stay on this track and simply be a good person, I’ll continue to be used by God as a vessel to inspire people. I think this is something I’ll be doing for a really long time, but we just never know.