Podcast Host Jourdan Ash Says This Simple Skincare Routine Is Her Secret Weapon
In About Face, xoNecole gets the 411 on IGers who give us #skincaregoals on the 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.
"On fleek" is an egregious understatement when it comes to NY creative Jourdan Ash's flawless skin. When Jourdan isn't discussing the trials and tribulations of love, sex, and dating with other creatives of color on her podcast, Dating In NYC, this 27-year-old melanated media maven spends her time blessing the streets of Harlem with her glow.
When it comes to all things beauty, Jourdan's mantra is "less is more". While many beauty gurus may emphasize the importance of having a plethora of products, Jourdan says sticking to a simple routine has allowed her to keep her glow-on-go at all times. She told xoNecole, "My relationship with beauty and skincare strengthened when I stopped looking to YouTube gurus and started using what worked for me." She continued, "I've played around with long, drawn-out routines, but that's not realistic for my skin. My skin likes simple routines — cleanser, moisturizer, sunscreen and done."
"I've played around with long, drawn-out routines, but that's not realistic for my skin. My skin likes simple routines — cleanser, moisturizer, sunscreen and done."
Jourdan may keep it simple when it comes to her beauty routine, but she is no stranger to bold makeup trends. Using brightly-colored eyeliners and shadows, this creative holds nothing back and uses as her eyelids as canvases to create true masterpieces, but Jourdan says her sense of beauty hasn't always been this bold. Jourdan explained, "I started to play around with my beauty looks after being depressed last year. It was a way of using color to make myself happier. I've worn glasses every day since 6th grade, so I never showed my eyes much love until last year. Now, I love a bold eyeliner for a pop of color."
Along with staying hydrated and remembering to eat your veggies, Jourdan spilled all the details on how to put a simple skincare routine all the way together. Here's what what learned:
My earliest beauty memory...
"My earliest beauty memory was a super glossy (and sticky) lip with some cherry red lipgloss from the 99 cent store— I'm still a glossy lip girl to this day. My current go-to is Glossier's lipgloss in Cherry and Clear."
My morning routine looks like...
"A typical morning for me means I'm up at 4:40 am and need to be on my way to work by 5:30 am! I wash my face in the shower. I'm usually in braids, but if not I do my hair the night before and tie it DOWN so it's ready in the morning. I moisturize, then apply sunscreen. Makeup-wise: I fill in my brows and put on a lip gloss, then I'm out the door. I don't get cute for work, they don't deserve me like that (laughs)."
For my skincare routine...
"During the day? I wash my face with Drunk Elephant's Jelly Cleanser, moisturize with Base Butter's Radiant Jelly made from aloe (which is Black Woman-Owned!), and use SuperGoop's Glowstick for sunscreen. For my brows, I use Glossier's Brow Flick in Brown and if I feel like it, I clean them up with L.A. Girl Concealer in Fawn."
At night?
"If I'm going out to support my friend's parties, my look depends on how I'm feeling. If I don't really want to do too much, I might wear a bright liner from NYX or Suva Beauty, a highlighter (I wear three at once: the Highlighter Concentrate from Glossier Play and Fenty Beauty's Diamond Ball with a purple highlighter from Justine Skye's collab with MAC years ago that I can't let go of), my mascara is Milk's Kush Lash and I top it off with Urban Decay's All Night Long Setting Spray. I don't always do a foundation [because] number one, I sweat A LOT; two, I'm not the best blender and three, If I'm having a really good skin day, I don't really need to."
How the seasons change my skin and routine...
"I've noticed my skin is drier in fall/winter and oily in spring/summer. I try to stay consistent, but I need a little bit more moisturizing. So, I add The Ordinary's Squalane to Base Butter's Radiate Face Jelly and go to town!"
How I approach beauty inside-out...
"I've noticed my attitude is horrible if I haven't had enough water or eaten well. So, I try to eat or drink my greens and drink water before I say I'm in a bad mood, sleepy or have an attitude."
How I like to unwind...
"I've been taking classes (barre, belly-dancing, yoga etc) to unwind after work. I've built a community with the women there and I feel safe/comfortable, plus it's fun and doesn't involve me needing to monetize it!"
How travel affects her skincare game...
"It doesn't, I just downsize everything! Travel-size, baby!"
To keep up with Jourdan, make sure to follow her on Instagram @lifewithjrdn!
Featured image courtesy of Instagram/@lifewithjrdn.
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Taylor "Pretty" Honore is a spiritually centered and equally provocative rapper from Baton Rouge, Louisiana with a love for people and storytelling. You can probably find me planting herbs in your local community garden, blasting "Back That Thang Up" from my mini speaker. Let's get to know each other: @prettyhonore.
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'Queen Charlotte' Star Arsema Thomas Worked At The United Nations Before Landing Her Breakout Role
Actress Arsema Thomas (Arséma Adeoluwayemi Hamera) may be new to the acting scene, but the star's standout performance in Netflix's limited series Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is already leaving a lasting impression among many.
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, a prequel to Bridgerton, follows the young queen's life as her marriage to King George of England sparks an epic love affair and a societal shift.
In the drama, Thomas portrays the role of a young Lady Agatha Danbury, a close friend and confidant of Queen Charlotte, and it also depicts Lady Danbury's journey.
The series showcases the struggles Lady Agatha Danbury experienced in her lifetime. The list includes being forced to partake in a loveless marriage to a former African king Herman Danbury, becoming a widow, and possibly losing her estate and title following her husband's death.
Since Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story debuted on Netflix earlier this month, it has dominated the streaming service's top ten charts and piqued fans' interest in the show's stars, including Thomas.
Although many may not know a lot about the Atlanta native, who goes by she/they pronouns, and how she became one of the breakout stars in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, still, with the recent promotional tour Thomas has been doing for the show, she has shared some shocking details about her life.
Thomas' revelations within the past several months include details about her educational pursuits, previous work experience, her African culture, the steps she took to prepare for her role as Lady Agatha Danbury, and many more.
Arsema On Her African Heritage
Thomas, who is Nigerian and Ethiopian, is the daughter of diplomats.
The 28-year-old's parents, consisting of an Ethiopian mother and a Nigerian father, worked in the government to improve Africa's economic development.
Due to her parents' professions, the actress moved around a lot and lived in various countries like Kenya, Benin, Comoros, Uganda, and India, which exposed her to social issues. In an interview with Teen Vogue, Thomas opened up about having conversations about politics and government at a young age.
"Dinner table conversations were about politics, about African governance. I realized that in a lot of the countries I lived in, the effects of colonialism and imperialism were so blatantly obvious. That became the driving force for what I thought I should be doing as an adult," she said.
Later Thomas would ultimately reveal that her parents' work had inspired her to become a "doctor or something" because she wanted to make them proud.
Arsema Attended Carnegie Mellon University and Yale University
Prior to pursuing acting, Thomas revealed to Shondaland that she was a college graduate.
In 2016, she received her bachelor's degree in biophysics from Carnegie Mellon University. Following her graduation, Thomas interned at a mobile health clinic and a refugee camp in Kenya for over a year.
Around the same time, the star would continue her education by getting her master's in epidemiology and health policy at Yale University. Thomas disclosed that despite the educational success that she has achieved, acting became her main priority when she realized that this is something she could envision herself doing "100 percent of the time." This decision led Thomas to relocate to Paris, South Africa, and then to London to study drama.
"I packed up everything and moved to Paris because I wanted to do acting 100 percent of the time," she stated. "It was always something I had wanted to do, [but] I didn't think I would be able to. I thought it was going to be a hobby or a thing that I'd have to suppress in myself for the rest of my life."
Thomas would land her first role in 2021 as a guest star on the television series One Touch. Shortly after, she would participate in the 2022 film Redeeming Love as the character Rebecca. The rest would be history because, around that time, Thomas would receive the life-changing role of Lady Agatha Danbury in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.
Arsema On How She Prepared for Her Role In Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story
When the opportunity for Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story came along, Thomas took various steps to transform into Lady Agatha Danbury.
The actress, who has admitted to never seeing Bridgerton in the past, told Cosmopolitan UK's Up Close series that because she wasn't familiar with the fictionalized character, she decided to find things that she thought Lady Agatha Danbury would resonate with.
It includes reading books about women by well-known female authors who have made history in their own right, creating a Spotify playlist with music that Lady Agatha Danbury could listen to, and having waist beads made for her character.
"There was a lot of stuff I needed to get into this role because the character is fictional. So I read a ton of books about women or by women, that I thought that Agatha Danbury would resonate. So I read 'Ain't I A Woman' by Bell Hooks. I read Angela Davis' autobiography. I read Assata Shakur's autobiography, 'Tar Baby' by Toni Morrison, 'Eyes Are Watching God,' and 'Vaga Bonds' by Eloghosha Osunde. I made an extensive Spotify playlist, and I got waist beads made for Agatha," she explained.
Further in the interview, Thomas mentioned that she had waist beads made for Lady Danbury and wore them throughout the filming process because it helped ground her as she portrayed the character whom she described as entirely different from who she is as a person.
"It was a Nigerian woman threading these beads, and I asked her to thread beads specifically for this character, and I wore it throughout the entirety of filming," she said. "Because it was just kind of was a physical grounding point to this woman that is really, really actually far from who I am as an individual."
Thomas shared that talking to her grandmother, who had a similar background to Lady Danbury, such as having an arranged marriage at a young age, also helped her prepped for the role.
"I also talked to my grandmother a lot. I didn't realize how similar she was to this character. Because she was also married off when she was quite young," she revealed. "It was really interesting to kind of talk to someone in my life who I've known, who’s gone through something that is essentially the stripping away of their freedom, and someone who doesn't have any resentment or harbored anger towards the situation."
Arsema Worked At The United Nations
Thomas' work experience is an interesting one. Despite interning at three different health organizations, she previously worked at United Nations Population Fund, according to her Linkedin profile.
United Nations Population Fund's site states that the organization is part of the United Nation's "sexual and reproductive health agency." The gathered information on Thomas' profile says that she was an associate for the company from 2017 to 2018.
Some of Thomas' responsibilities included conducting "policy analyses" for United Nations Population Fund's sustainability and "supporting the regional desk specialist" in the program's division.
Arsema Speaks Five Languages
On top of Thomas' overwhelmingly impressive resume, the actress also speaks five languages.
According to the African publication Bella Naija, Thomas speaks English, Amharic, Yoruba, French, and Spanish. Although Thomas hasn't publicly talked about what inspired her to become multilingual, many can assume it is because of the various locations she has lived in throughout her life and her interest in learning.
Thomas may be a rising star now, but with the facts provided above, the actress has displayed through her work ethic and drive that she can soon become a household name.
Thomas' latest work Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, is now streaming on Netflix.
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Feature image by Dominik Bindl/Getty Images
