Naked Beauty

Toni Bravo is the CEO of Blush and an influencer powerhouse. Based in Los Angeles, the California native has built a loyal community well into the millions because of her impeccable taste and advocacy for inclusivity in the beauty industry. Toni joined Naked Beauty to talk about her life before a viral blush try-on video changed everything. She shared what it was like to grow up as a fraternal twin in the sunny and very diverse Long Beach. We talked about her early forays into filming and editing herself and her family at just nine years old, simply for the love of storytelling. She detailed how influential the women in her life were to shaping the way she saw the beauty in herself and the world around her. It’s precisely this love of telling intimate stories that have shaped her POV into the one beloved by so many.

Toni doesn’t hold back when it comes to the realities of being a successful and full-time content creator, especially when advocating for dark-skinned Black women’s access to high-quality beauty. I was very interested to learn how she maintains strong brand relationships without compromising the truth about product efficacy. She details the commitment and self-trust one has to have to succeed, because your point of view is everything. During our conversation, Toni talked about her interest in product development and why she isn’t limiting herself in anything. Toni also blessed us with a quick tour of her favorite products, from skincare, to haircare, and of course blush! We covered her recent Architectural Digest feature and the intentional design choices that went into making her home, hers.

Tune in as we discuss:
(0:00) Welcome Toni
(2:15) Growing Up A California Girl
(8:01) What It Takes To Be A Content Creator
(10:30) Dealing With Being Recognized In Public
(12:30) The Mental Toll Of Seeing Yourself All The Time
(17:18) What Her Rare Beauty Internship Taught Her
(25:22) Her Top Five Favorite Blushes
(28:40) Toni’s Go-To Lip Combo Tutorial
(37:50) Building Her Dream Home
(39:15) Her Beauty Inspirations
(40:00) Toni's Aunt is Grace Jones
(43:12) Favorite Skincare, Haircare, and Beauty Products
(46:42) When Toni Feels The Most Beautiful

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Join the Naked Beauty Community on IG: @nakedbeautyplanet
Thanks for all the love and support. Tag me while you're listening @nakedbeautyplanet & as always love to hear your thoughts :)
Check out nakedbeautypodcast.com for all previous episodes & search episodes by topic
Shop My Favorite Products & Pod Discounts on my ShopMyShelf
Stay in touch with me: @brookedevard
Follow Toni @tonibravo

Products Mentioned:
Blush:
Tower28 Downtown Dauqiri
Tower28 Sunset Shirley
Danesssa Myrick’s Primadonna
Rhode Date Cake
Rhode Sun Soak
NARS Exhibit A
HAUS Labs Acai Sky
HAUS Labs Glassy Tangelo
NYX Buttermelt
Milani Baked Blush
Lip Products:
Benefit Dark Cherry Lip Stain
Summer Fridays Lip Stain
Marviano Brick Mocha
RHODE Toast
Wallace Daisy Pink Lipgloss
Skincare:
The Outset Gentle Micellar Antioxidant Cleanser
Tower28 SOS Gel Cleanser
Prequel Facial Gleanser Cleanser
Panoxyl 4% Cleanser
Rhode Caffeine Reset Mask
Perfume:
Balmain Rouge
Orabella Salted Muse
Orabella Eternal
Clothing:
Damson Mader Striped Pajamas

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Nour Tayara joined us to talk about his innovative and 100% plastic-free beauty brand, AORA. Before he became a co-founder and CEO, Nour was learning about the power of beauty culture to connect and spark conversation among his community in Beirut. During our conversation, he shared how he found his place in Lebanon’s underground queer scene and shaped his life’s motto to be kind and engaging to everyone, wherever you are. We talk about how Nour supplemented his scholarship by taking guerrilla marketing jobs and how they changed his mind about his electrical engineering major. Nour explains how an incredibly high test score landed him an internship and ultimately a full-time role at L'Oréal, where he worked for 13 years. We cover how, in those 13 years, Nour learned the good, the bad, and the ugly about what it takes to run a legacy beauty brand.

As Nour’s role and responsibilities evolved, he learned more about the waste and overconsumption plaguing the industry. Always prepared to innovate, he pitched a plastic-free brand to his management, which was promptly rejected. While reeling from a series of difficult events, Nour shared that a four-month break in Mexico City ultimately led him to his co-founder. The pair were aligned on building a brand that celebrates Mexican culture and is 100% plastic-free. Join us for an incredible conversation about what happens when you stay open to possibilities for your future and your principles are immovable. Nour details what it means to him to bring color to the clean beauty movement, why Mexico has always been a lifeline, and what it feels like to disrupt an industry.

Tune in as we discuss:
(0:00) Welcome Nour
(2:10) Why Beirut Has An Incredible Beauty Culture
(4:45) Middle Eastern Grooming for Men
(11:27) Nour’s Accidental Start At L’Oreal
(22:30) Buzzword or Buzzworthy In Clean Beauty
(33:00) What It Really Means To Be Plastic Free
(41:30) Exclusive News: AORA Beauty Is Launching On Sephora.com
(45:13) Why We Should All Be Reaching For More Color
(46:10) Top Three Must-Visit Locations in Mexico City
(49:30) AORA Makeup Being Used For Bad Bunny’s Halftime Show
(53:55) How Bad Bunny Upends Machismo Culture
(55:35) The Future Of The Beauty Industry
(01:05:30) Easy Lifestyle Upgrades

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Join the Naked Beauty Community on IG: @nakedbeautyplanet

Thanks for all the love and support. Tag me while you're listening @nakedbeautyplanet & as always, love to hear your thoughts :)

Check out nakedbeautypodcast.com for all previous episodes & search episodes by topic

Shop My Favorite Products & Pod Discounts on my ShopMyShelf

Stay in touch with me: @brookedevard

Follow Nour @nourness

Products Mentioned:
Moma design store lamp
Sophie Pavitt Mandelic Cleansing Serum
Sophie Pavitt Screentime Sunscreen
Dieux Forever Eye Mask
Dieux Deliverance 3-in-1 Serum
Dr. Idriss Major Fade Disco Block Sunscreen
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Dr. Carl Truesdale joins Naked Beauty to talk about how he became the go-to plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills. During our conversation Dr. Truesdale shared how his scientist and artist parents influenced his early interests, and ultimately his career. As a child he was a science nerd who attended science camp, and a gifted portrait artist. He was always interested in finding the beauty in people’s faces, an interest that would never leave him. While in medical school, Dr. Truesdale was faced with more limited perspectives on beauty and technique that prioritized Eurocentric features. Dr. Truesdale shared with us that he made it his mission to challenge these dated perspectives and provide his clients of color with high quality service that does not fundamentally change what they look like, and ultimately, who they are.

Dr. Truesdale is best known for his natural-looking procedures, especially deep plane face lifts, but our conversation covers many procedures. We get the scoop on facelifts filler, buccal fat removal, fat transfers, rhinoplasty, lip lifts and more. Dr. Truesdale generously explains how many of these procedures work, and what he takes into account before agreeing to perform them on his patients. We also talk about his interest in social media, and why dispelling disinformation online about medicine and science is so important to him. We also discuss the treatments he dislikes, when he’ll reject patient requests, and the signs that tell him a patient should be recommended to therapeutic services pre-treatment. Dr.Truesdale has changed his industry and we are so excited for you to hear how he changed what was possible in his field.

Tune in as we discuss:
(3:45) Growing Up A Science Nerd
(5:05) His Background As A Portrait Artist
(6:20) How He Saw Himself Growing Up
(7:25) Challenging Norms About What It Means To Be Beautiful
(8:50) How Plastic Surgery Helps People
(9:45) The Privilege Of This Work
(10:55) How Aging Changes Our Faces
(11:35) If The Collagen Hype Is Legitimate
(13:15) Aging More Rapidly At Certain Periods In Our Lives
(15:15) What A Deep Plane Facelift Entails
(16:40) Why Lip Lifts Are So Interesting
(19:50) Avoiding Overfilling and Over-Injecting
(21:00) Thoughts On The Lack Of Integrity In The Plastic Surgery Industry
(22:25) The Rising Popularity of Blepharoplasty
(23:50) The Value Of Buccal Fat Removal
(25:55) Why Fat Transfers Are The BBL of The Face
(27:00) Fat Transfer Under The Eye Versus Filler
(27:30) How Long Filler Can Actually Last
(28:35) Lower Face Jowling
(29:39) Why He Doesn’t Love KYBELLA
(30:05) Why Brow Lifts Are Effective Procedures
(31:17) How Rapid Weight Loss Affects The Face
(36:20) Unlearning Eurocentric Teaching Models
(36:45) Why He’s Vocal On Social Media
(38:25) Procedures He May Get Done One Day
(39:25) Thoughts On Ethnic Rhinoplasty
(41:08) The Best Way To Determine How We’ll Look As We Age
(42:15) Red Flags From Patients
(46:10) Advice to Upcoming Plastic Surgeons
(47:15) Self-Care and Gratitude Practice
(50:15) When He Feels Most Beautiful

Rate, Subscribe & Review the Podcast on Apple
Join the Naked Beauty Community on IG: @nakedbeautyplanet
Thanks for all the love and support. Tag me while you're listening @nakedbeautyplanet & as always love to hear your thoughts :)
Check out nakedbeautypodcast.com for all previous episodes & search episodes by topic
Shop My Favorite Products & Pod Discounts on my ShopMyShelf
Stay in touch with me: @brookedevard
Follow Dr.Truesdale @doctor.truesdale

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Some creatives are truly in a league of their own and this guest has always stood out as someone pushing aesthetic boundaries all while being incredibly thoughtful. Artist, singer, designer, muse, creative director, and Tumblr icon KESH has never been too interested in adhering to the typical standards of beauty. She effortlessly rocks red eyeliner and gemstones on her nose, treating her face as a canvas for true self-expression. This level of “divine creativity” as KESH puts it, is what made me - along with so many others - fall in love with her. From spray painting the back of her classmates’ uniforms in Croydon, to collaborating with American Apparel, to creative directing a Good American shoot with TLC, tune in as we discuss KESH’s creative journey, inspirations, use of beauty as a form of armor and so much more. Enjoy!

Links to Products/Resources Mentioned: Simi Haze Eye Gems, Lady Vengeance (2005), TLC for Good American (directed by KESH)
Join the Naked Beauty Community on IG: @nakedbeautyplanet
Check out nakedbeautypodcast.com for all previous episodes & search episodes by topic
Rate, Subscribe & Review the Podcast on Apple
Thanks for all the love and support. Tag me while you’re listening @nakedbeautyplanet & as always love to hear your thoughts :)
Stay in touch with me: @brookedevard
Follow KESH: @kesh
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hope Giselle joins us to talk about her incredible journey to becoming a sought-after activist and speaker. Hope began her advocacy work fighting for inclusion and access for herself as an undergraduate at Alabama A&M University. Hope founded the university’s first LGBTQ+ organization and later became the first openly trans woman to earn a Master of Fine Arts from the university. She has since built a decade-long career as an activist, author, speaker, and nonprofit founder (AllowMe). Hope has proven that nothing is off limits to her, and she has committed her life’s work to ensuring the same for all others. During our conversation, we talked about the incredible life she’s built fighting against marginalization, and how she manages to look so good doing it.

During our conversation, Hope told us what it was like growing up in Miami and having others project their beliefs about her gender and sexuality onto her at five years old. We talked about how growing up surrounded by her stylish Caribbean family of Cuban and Haitian descent shaped her ideas about femininity and womanhood. She shared that her journey of defining and redefining herself was difficult, but at 19, a video of Janet Mock opened up new possibilities for her life. Hope talked about the most eye-opening aspects of her transition, especially at an HBCU that skews conservative about gender and sexuality. We have an incredible conversation about why there is sometimes a struggle among cis women, with being in community with our trans sisters, and how we might overcome those barriers. Hope brilliantly outlines the dangers trans people face each day, and the tangible ways we can all fight transphobia and transmisia. Of course, there was beauty talk, about the ways that the LGBTQ+ community has shaped the beauty industry across time. She also gave us her entire skincare, body care, and makeup routines.

Tune in as we discuss:
(00:00) Welcome Hope Giselle
(4:35) What Being Caribbean Taught Hope About Gender Presentation
(8:15) Early Introduction To Definitions of Queerness and Gender Identity
(10:45) How Janet Mock Introduced Her To Transness
(17:45) The Struggles Of Being In Community With Cis Women
(26:10) Facing Violence After Being Outed
(30:40) What Keeps Her In The Professional Activism Space
(36:58) Why Hope Wants Accomplices, Not Allies
(40:55) How To Support Trans People In Your Everyday Life
(47:20) How Queer and Trans People Have Shaped The Beauty Industry
(47:35) Trans Icons Across Time
(55:35) Her Skincare Routine
(58:39) Her Bodycare Routine
(1:00:43) Favorite Makeup Products
(1:04:04) Her MAC Classics
(1:05:49) Hair Journey
(1:12:15) When She Feels The Most Beautiful

Rate, Subscribe & Review the Podcast on Apple

Join the Naked Beauty Community on IG: @nakedbeautyplanet
Thanks for all the love and support. Tag me while you're listening @nakedbeautyplanet & as always love to hear your thoughts :)

Check out nakedbeautypodcast.com for all previous episodes & search episodes by topic

Shop My Favorite Products & Pod Discounts on my ShopMyShelf

Stay in touch with me: @brookedevard

Follow Hope @hopegiselle

Products:
Face:
The Ordinary Granactive Retinoid 2% Emulsion
Salt Water Vanilla Body Butter
TIRTIR Ceramic Milk Ampoule
Drunk Elephant B-Hydra™ Intensive Hydration Serum with Hyaluronic Acid
Good Molecule Daily Moisturizer
Olay Super Serum
Innisfree Green Tea Seed Hyaluronic Serum

Body:
Sol de Janeiro Limited Edition Cheirosa 71 *out of stock
Lush Golden Egg Glitter Mist Spray

Makeup:
TIRTIR Foundation
About Face The Performer Foundation
YSL Lipstick
ONE/SIZE Oil Sucker Spray
ONE/SIZE Powder Melt Glass Setting Spray
MAC Lip Pencil Chesnut
MAC Time Check Lotion

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.