Jackie Aina, also known as La Bronze James (the woman has mastered the art of the highlight!), is a beauty force to be reckoned with. In case you’re not familiar, Aina is the 30-year-old-beauty vlogging sensation known for racking up hundreds of thousands of views on her hilarious and candid makeup reviews — her latest video about nude lipsticks for dark skin women has already been viewed more than 275k times in less than a week. But unlike most vloggers/bloggers, Jackie isn’t afraid to speak up and use her platform to tackle tough issues, like cultural appropriation or depression.
In addition to keeping her 649k Instagram followers up on the latest highlighters, foundations and lipsticks, Jackie regularly let’s us in to her #v.busy life. We caught up with the cotton-candy-haired Aina to find out what it’s really like to attend New York Fashion Week as a beauty vlogger.
On her Fashion Week strategy…
This is my second year at Fashion Week, and I’m super excited about it. This year I decided to attend less shows, and just stick to my favorites. When it comes to prepping for the busy week I don’t really do anything too crazy to be honest. But there is lots of shopping and curating looks for each show and all of the events that happen throughout the week.
And the personal fashion show invitations?!?
The highlight of this year has definitely been being personally invited to a show. Laquan Smith’s team reached out this year and dressed me for his show, so that was amazing.
How she balances it all:
The week can get a bit hectic, so it’s all about balance. I usually do one to two shows a day, and then maybe an event or two. I’ll also try to squeeze in a lunch or dinner dates for all of the brands and media outlets that are New York-based as well. There’s a lot to do for sure, but it’s also about having fun.
Oh yeah, and about Fenty Beauty:
I got to attend the Fenty Beauty launch this season. It was a very well put together event – and Rihanna was there. The few products I have tried I’ve been enjoying!
Why beauty vloggers belong at Fashion Week:
The biggest misconception people have about beauty influencers and Fashion Week is that we don’t belong, but we definitely do! The fashion world used be so stiff and rigid, with very little room for newcomers. It’s still kind of like that, but the digital era is totally changing how we view what’s beautiful and welcome. Influencers come from all walks of life and being involved with Fashion Week and being backstage livens things up a bit.