Storm Reid has been living up to her name and taking the world by storm with her acting. From A Wrinkle in Time to Euphoria, we have witnessed the evolution of the actress as she continues to grow and expand her brand in Hollywood. The 18-year-old star recently shared her beauty secrets with Vogue and gave a step-by-step tutorial on how she achieves what she calls her “makeup no-makeup look.”
Like most teenagers, Storm deals with breakouts but tries not to let them get her down. “When I’m on set my skin gets congested and I’m more prone to breakouts,” she said. “I’ve had to learn over the years that a breakout doesn’t define you. Yes, they’re annoying and yes, we wish we didn’t get them, but they're normal.”
Storm Reid's Glowing Skincare Routine
Vogue/YouTube
For her skincare routine, she uses Tatcha The Rice Wash cleanser and Tatcha The Dewy Skin Cream to moisturize. She also applies 2-3 drops of Dr. Barbara Sturm’s Hyaluronic Serum.
While the Atlanta-born actress enjoys going to social media to find recommended beauty products, she’s also experienced a downside to that. “I am always on TikTok. I am always on social media following the latest beauty trends and beauty influencers and trying to find new products,” she said. “But that got me in trouble because I think I was trying so many things that my skin didn’t know what to get used to so I was breaking out.”
She added, “So I have kinda scaled back.”
Vogue/YouTube
Storm loves to have glowy skin and says that it’s one of the best compliments she can receive. To achieve glowy skin, she uses Dr. Barbara Sturm Glow Drops. Then on to sunscreen. Her go-to is Supergoop! Glowscreen Sunscreen SPF 40 PA+++ and she credits her mom for including sunscreen in her skincare.
Vogue/YouTube
“My mom has the most gorgeous skin ever and she looks like she’s 25,” she said. “So when she tells me to do something with my skin, I’m listening because I hope I look like her when I have two kids that are basically very grown.”
Before moving on to makeup, The Invisible Man star also praised the benefits of water and how it can affect your skin. “Drinking water will do your skin wonders. Water helps internal and external.”
Storm Reid's Everyday Makeup 'No Makeup' Look
Vogue/YouTube
Storm starts off brushing her eyebrows with Maybelline Brow Ultra Slim Defining Eyebrow Pencil and then she applies foundation from Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Perfector 4-In-1 Whipped Matte Makeup with a wet Beauty Blender.
Vogue/YouTube
Then she adds Pat McGrath Labs Skin Fetish Sublime Perfection Concealer and follows it up with Westman Atelier Baby Cheeks Blush Stick. Instead of putting the blush directly on her cheeks, she likes to stroke the blush stick in an upward direction.
Vogue/YouTube
Throughout her career, she has worked with many people who have taught her about beauty. “When I was shooting A Wrinkle in Time, our makeup head, I think she really helped me with the journey of understanding that makeup is to enhance rather than to cover up. Makeup is supposed to be used to make you feel good.”
She doesn’t like to contour too much, but she does love a good bronzer. Huda Beauty GloWish Soft Radiance Bronzing Powder is her go-to.
Vogue/YouTube
Storm keeps her makeup pretty simple on and off-screen even in HBO’s Euphoria where many of the character’s makeup looks have become the star of the show.
“On Euphoria, obviously we have amazing incredible makeup looks. I think we kinda changed the landscape with how makeup was viewed on TV shows,” she claimed.
“My character specifically hasn’t had her makeup moment yet, I don’t think she’s going to enter season three, episode one with a whole bunch of glitter. I think we’re gonna have to take some time to get there, so it’ll be interesting to see the makeup journey of [my character] Gia.”
Vogue/YouTube
As she continues putting on her face, she attempts a winged eyeliner and adds Maybelline The Colossal Curl Bounce mascara. She even added more concealer.
She kept her lips simple by using her Maybelline eyebrow pencil as a lip liner and instead of using regular lip balm, the actress uses Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask in vanilla.
Euphoria’s Storm Reid's Glowing Skin & Winged Eyeliner Guide | Beauty Secrets | Vogue
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Exclusive: Melanie Fiona On Making High-Vibrational Music & Saying Yes To Partnership
Melanie Fiona is back! After taking a little more than a decade-long hiatus, she has officially made her return to music and blessed us with two singles, “Say Yes” and “I Choose You.” While both singles are very different from each other, they both reflect who she is today and the type of music she wants to make. In our conversation, the mom of two expressed what she learned during her time away.
“It's interesting, even when I said it is like coming back, I don't ever feel like I really left because I was always still performing. I've still been public. It's not like I went into being this recluse person or version of myself, but the thing that I really learned in this process is that I think things take time,” Melanie says in a xoNecole exclusive.
“I think often we're so caught up in it, being on the timing of demand or popularity, or, like, striking while the iron is hot and the thing that I've learned is that everything is on God's time. That's it. Every time I thought I would have been ready, or, like, things were taking too long, I had to reship some things, personally, professionally, in my life. I also gave myself permission to make a living, not just make a living, but make a life for myself.”
Making a life for herself included getting married to Grammy-nominated songwriter Jared Cotter, starting a family, and embracing new landscapes, such as podcasting as a co-host of The Mama’s Den podcast. She also began doing more spiritual work and self-care practices like meditation, sound healing, Reiki, acupuncture, and boundary setting, which allowed her to get in touch with her inner voice.
“I wasn't putting out music, and I wasn't experiencing a number one record, but I was being a number one mom,” she says.
“I was experiencing things that were allowing me to heal and get in touch with myself so that I could make new music from a space of joy and freedom, and excitement again because I definitely feel like I did lose some excitement because of just politics and industry and what it can do to your mental health and even your physical health. So giving myself the space to really just say, ‘Hey, it's okay. Everything's right on time.’”
The joy and excitement are felt in one of two new singles, “I Choose You,” which is more of a lovers rock vibe, a tribute to Melanie’s Caribbean roots. While the Grammy award-winner is known for ballads like “It Kills Me” and “Fool For You,” she is becoming more intentional about the music she makes, calling it high-vibrational music. She says her music is a “reflection of my life,” as it captures every facet, from hanging out with friends to riding around in her car.
“Say Yes” has the classic R&B vibe Melanie is known for. However, both songs are inspired by her relationship. Melanie and Jared got married in December 2020, and the Toronto-bred artist dished on their relationship. Fun fact: he is featured in the “Say Yes” music video.
“When we first started dating, I had come into that relationship post a lot of self-work. I had gotten out of a long-term relationship, I had a year and a half to date and be by myself and do a lot of work on myself alone. And when we met, I remember feeling like this has to be my person because I feel it,” she says.
“And so when we went into that relationship, and we started dating, I was very clear. I was like, I know what I want. I'm very clear on what I need, and I'm not going to withhold my truth about myself in this process because of pride or fear of rejection. I know you love me, but I'm coming with my heart in my hand to let you know that if we're gonna get there, we have to put fear aside and say yes. So that was kind of like my open letter to him, which is why the video is us having a conversation.”
Melanie also shares that saying yes to her partner has empowered her in many ways, including motherhood and showing up for herself. Her new EP, also titled Say Yes, will be available at the top of 2025.
Check out the full interview below.
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Meet The Black Woman Behind Cynthia Erivo's 'Wicked' Nails
Almost two weeks later, Wicked is still on everyone's lips. The high-grossing film stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande as Elphaba and Glinda, as their characters, tell a story about race and acceptance. However, what has captured audiences on and off the screen are Cynthia's and Ariana's looks as they play on their characters' styles.
Ariana, like her character Glinda, is often dressed in pink, and Cynthia, much like Elphaba, is covered in green. But what also has many people talking is the British actress' nails. Her nails are often long, blingy, and, of course, green. Many TikTok girlies are even doing their own versions of Elphaba's nails. But there's one person to thank for the green nail mania: Shea Osei.
The London-based nail artist has been working with the Wicked actress since she was 16 and shared all the tea on her epic nail styles with Unbothered UK.
Here what she said.
Shea On Elphaba's Nails Being The First Thing We See Before Seeing The Character
I was ecstatic. I was happy. It was just great to see my craft, my artistry just out there, not just nationally but globally.
Shea On Elphaba's Nails Representing Her Character Development
When we started with the first [nail] look, we chose nice, subtle green ombre nails that show who she is but a calm, chilled-out version of Elphaba. As she grew into herself, became more confident, and found herself, she was more like, yes, this is me, I’m Elphaba, I am who I am, and her nails became more daring. In the salon scene, when she had a transformation, her nails were, one, longer and two, they were more daring. There are many close-ups of Elphaba’s hands in the film, where you see her nails, and you see the difference in what they were [at the start of the film], so I feel like that helps to tell the story.
Shea On Elphaba's Nails Representing Black Womanhood
Yes, it was 100%. And I feel like, yes, the nails represented Black womanhood but also just being yourself. I just feel like the nails represented Cynthia as if to say, ‘I'm Black and I can be a Black witch’. This is who I am. And also, I can have braids and they can be done in any kind of way and can still be styled however is needed. I think we saw, if I'm correct, three or four different braid styles in the movie. Sim Camps, who styled the braids, did an amazing job — there would be mornings when she would be making sure the braids were intact and looked amazing on camera. So, yeah, definitely the braids were an ode to Black culture and the nails were 100% like, yes, we're doing it.
Shea On Seeing The Fan Recreation On TikTok
Yes, I have! If you are going to the salon and you want to recreate Elphaba's nails and let's say, you're going for the nails after the salon scene, where she just gets a fresh set, I would say ask for a plain black base and then ask if they have green foils to stick it on top to give that green effect. Then apply a shiny top coat. And it looks insane! The green ombre is more complicated with colours mixed to give it a green earthy colour.
Shea On The Importance Of Expressing Yourself Through Nail Art, Despite Some Criticism
We love it and don't want anyone to change. Let's look at athletes such as Flo-Jo, remember her nails? Now we have ShaCarri Richardson and her nails are always long and she's always got nice designs [on them]. It’s also Black people, not only Black women — because if you look at athletes that are men that make sure they get their nails painted as well. A$AP Rocky gets his nails painted. It's just so good to see that our culture is so colourful and also so inviting. It’s not only Black people that can have these kinds of nails, anyone can have them. I’m glad we can be the inspiration to everybody and they can draw bits of our culture and add it to theirs.
I like the fact that Cynthia is able to go out of there into the world and still be authentically herself. She hasn't changed for anything or anyone. This is how I am. I like my nails like this, my nail techs love doing my nails like this.
I'm over the moon that Cynthia can go out and still have her nails how she wants to. [Cynthia’s nails] has been a topic this entire Wicked press tour. Everyone will ask Cynthia about her nails in every interview and I love that. I love it because that's who she is. And if you see her you'll see that she's always got her nails done and she’s always got some banging heels on. Even on her down days, she’s always dressed. That's just how she is.
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