InAbout Face, xoNecole gets the 411 on IGers who give us #skincaregoals on a daily. Here they break down their beauty routines on the inside and out, as well as the highly coveted products that grace their shelves and their skin.
Brianna Ellis captured our hearts with her witty humor and endless love for travel. Her energy captivated 20,000 viewers while sharing her outlook on life. Today, we get to know her views on beauty, which are entirely left-field from what she typically shares online. Ellis arrives on the Zoom call, like how she shows up on her socials, fresh-faced with a smile. The content creator radiates as she opens up about navigating the world of beauty. “My relationship with makeup especially hasn’t always been the best,” shares Ellis.
As a child, Ellis was active in the dance community. She was often performing in shows and competitions. The dance world required Ellis to wear makeup at an early age. A full face became a part of Ellis's beauty routine, causing her to rebel against makeup altogether. In her charm and wit, she describes the frustration of feeling heavy makeup on her skin. The dance community's views on beauty differed from those she was raised in childhood. Ellis says, “My mom always told me I was beautiful just the way I was, so it was hard to hear that and have to wear a full face of makeup.” Still, Ellis sat in the chair and watched as a makeup artist corrected the parts of her skin that she viewed as perfection.
Ellis’s conflicting views on beauty continued in her college years. Women seemed to prioritize physical appearance more than mental presence in their classes. These stigmas often made Ellis feel she wanted to be “one of the girls,” but not to the degree they presented at the time. Her adolescence became triggered with curiosity. At the same time, her inner child reminds her of what she once experienced. Constantly trying to decide between inner beauty or outer beauty, but never feeling like both could coexist. These are the internal conflicts women face daily due to the conditionings of society.
In a world of intense beauty routines, content creator Brianna Ellis believes less is more. Courtesy
Keeping things simple in her adult years has become a silent pushback towards the beauty standards that were placed upon her childhood essence. In a world of intense beauty routines, Ellis believes less is more. Opting for lighter makeup looks over full coverage and consistently keeping her skin together with her mother's teachings: drinking lemon water, using tea tree oil, and going to church on Sundays. She is learning that women can indeed have both. We can be the makeup aesthetic of our choosing and opt for a fresh face while out with friends.
"We are all beautiful just the way we are, so we don't need much."
Ellis teaches us that women's beauty doesn’t lie within products but the wisdom of what it truly means to be a woman. “We are all beautiful just the way we are, so we don’t need much. This how I was raised to view beauty and will always continue to view it as such,” says Ellis. As a beauty writer of several years, I am moved by Ellis's rebellious stance on beauty. Her skincare routine stands true to her to the teachings she preaches. I listened in awe as she shared the details of her skincare routine - simple, refreshing, and daringly forward.
Keep scrolling for more insight into Brianna Ellis's morning and night skincare routines.
Her Morning Skincare Routine:
Tea Tree Oil
Maple Holistics Pure Tea Tree Oil Natural Essential Oil
Amazon
“I love using this because it smells great and clears my skincare,” says Ellis. Always remember to dilute tea tree oil before putting it on your skin.
Good Molecules Lightweight Daily Moisturizer
Good Molecules Lightweight Daily Moisturizer
Amazon
“It has the best cooling feeling when you put it on your face. I love it!”
Her Nighttime Skincare Routine:
Alcohol
Amazon Basics Alcohol
Amazon
“My mom uses this, and so do I. We love it because it cleans the skin after a long day.”
Kiehl's Under Eye Cream
Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Eye
Kiehl's
“This helps with undereye bags.”
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And so I said, let me try to find something different. So what I did was, and it was like, later on in that evening. So I was trying to find somebody who do late-night massages outside of Jeju (Atlanta spa) and going that far. And so I did, like a simple Google search, just massage therapists that are open. I found one, and it was Black-owned, and it was in a reasonable amount of time. It wasn't too far, like it was less than 45 minutes from where I am. And I decided to give it a chance.
I wasn't looking for anything in particular except to get a really good deep-tissue massage because I was in a lot of pain, and they were open up until midnight, and so I went ahead and booked. I submitted my down payment, and I showed up. And when I showed up, it looked like it was maybe; I don't know if you want to call them; they could resemble homes, but it's like a plaza, I guess. It's his actual business. And when I went in there, it was clean. It was small and quaint, but it was very clean. No issues. And the massage therapist was very nice; very professional.
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He broke everything down for me. I told him my areas that I needed attention on, and then he gave me a few minutes just to get undressed. He said, if I'm comfortable, I can just lay on the table. If I would like to be covered up, just go underneath the cover. You don't have to get completely naked. You can keep your undergarments on if that's what you choose to do. But me, no matter where I'm at, no matter what type of massage I'm getting, I just like to be completely naked. And I just laid on top of the table because it was pretty warm in there. Like, it wasn't too cold, it wasn't too hot, it was just right for me. And so once he came in he got everything situated, he got the music playing, and he just gets to going, and he's massaging me on my back.
I opted for a deep tissue, and he's really focusing on my trigger points. And normally, when I get a massage, naturally, I'm relaxed. Naturally, I might get excited. But this time, it was different, and I think it was just because of the way that he really paid attention to my body. And not only was he good at paying attention to it, it had a certain type of sensualness to it. So I guess you can say it reminds you of something similar to a sensual massage therapist that you might see online, like a TikTok or Instagram. So it was something similar to that. So once he finished with my back, and he started going to my lower back and buttocks area, he went into my inner thighs, and he's doing my inner thighs and my calves. And the more he starts working my inner thighs, the more excited I'm getting.
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I'm getting super wet, but in my head, I'm thinking, okay, play it cool. Just be professional. Keep it going. But the more he kept going up my inner thighs, the more excited I got, and I know he felt how wet I was. The closer he got to my private area, I slowly open my legs up a little bit more so he can get the idea that I'm okay with him just going all the way through. And if you want to give me a happy ending, I'm okay with that too. But he still took his time, still kept massaging. And the more I opened up my legs, the closer he got, and then he had touched me on my vagina area, and I liked it, and I let out like a sigh.
And so he kept going and going and going. And then he didn't stop until I came. And once I came, he just like... it was nothing. Just kept massaging the rest of my body, and he told me to flip over. And when I flipped over, you know, he did the top portion of my body. He did like my temples on my head. He did my décolletage area, like the chest area. And then he did my legs and my feet, you know, on the top side. But then when he went into my inner thighs again, I get excited again, and he does it again, and so I come again, and after that, I'm completely relaxed, and this man is like, your massage is complete.
And I was just stunned, because I've never had that happen before, but it was amazing. And I said I could do this again. But then I started thinking, does he do this often? Or did he do it just because he knew that I was okay with about opening up my legs a bit more, so he knew that it was okay to keep going in that area. And I really didn't ask him, 'cause deep down inside, I didn't care. I just knew that it was something that I was going to keep with me that way if I want to see him again. I still got him in my back pocket, and I did see him again, but we'll save that for another time.
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