Our skin is a natural treasure that should be protected at all costs, and DeWanda Wise just came through with a nighttime skincare routine that will get your epidermis all the way together. According to DeWanda, the key to snatched skin lies in a seven-step process that requires time, patience, and a few products you can pick up at your local Walmart.
DeWanda says that although she doesn't wear makeup often, when she does, it's fabulous. For every bomb face beat, there should be an equally bomb removal method, and DeWanda has us covered when it comes to getting our skin ready for a good night's sleep. The self-proclaimed product junkie says that just like the rest of us, she's always willing to try out the latest beauty trend she found on Youtube, and put us on a few of the high-tech beauty finds she's using right now. Along with a Clarosonic Facial Cleanser, DeWanda also thinks we should invest in a handheld facial steamer ASAP.
For a step-by-step guide of how DeWanda keep her bougie beauty routine on a budget, scroll below!
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Estee Lauder Take It Away Makeup Remover Oil
Harper's Bazaar/YouTube
Using oil before you break out your makeup remover might be the life hack you didn't know you needed. To DeWanda, by using Estee Lauder Take It Away Makeup Remover Oil, she gets a lot of the heavy lifting out of the way and prepares her skin to be primed, primped, and purified to perfection.
Le Mieux Phyto-Nutrient Cleansing Gel
Harper's Bazaar/YouTube
Made with 12 botanical extracts that help hydrate, tone, and removed makeup, the Le Mieux Phyto Nutrient Cleansing Gel is said to help restore balance and is good for all skin types. DeWanda explained that a makeup artist put her on this cleanser and she's been hooked ever since:
"I found about this cleansing gel from working on set. A lot of makeup artists who work on these sets kind of have to be experts so they spent a lot of time trial and error seeing what works for actors, what doesn't break them out the next day. Usually, the stuff is vegan, it's not tested on animals."
Clarisonic Mia Prima Sonic Facial Cleansing Brush
Harper's Bazaar/YouTube
Beauty trends may come and go, but facial cleansing brushes are forever. While somewhat pricey, these beauty tools can help clean and exfoliate skin which is why DeWanda uses this product up to three times a week:
"I got this, I feel like it was only a couple of months ago. Again, product junkie. Anytime there's a new fad or a new thing, I'm into it, I'm going to try it. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it does not. But I have found that in terms of a daily exfoliant, it's really effective. Especially going from New York to LA can be a bit finicky, and I have less drying and flaking if I make sure I exfoliate."
Sweet Chef Ginger Vitamin C Fresh Pressed Sheet Face Mask
Harper's Bazaar/YouTube
Some of the best things in life can be found a Target, and this ginger and vitamin C mask by Sweet Chef is no exception. While DeWanda usually opts for a mask that helps with inflammation, this mask promises to offer a paraben-free glow that this actress just couldn't turn down.
Lonove Nano Ionic Facial Steamer
Harper's Bazaar/YouTube
You can't pick apples from an orange tree and you can't take skincare advice from your homegirl just because she likes to watch YouTube videos. DeWanda says that she picks up a number of her beauty tips from the experts in her life, including her esthetician, who put her own this little-known beauty tip:
"My esthetician says that you're supposed to put the mask on first so then everything in the mask can actually penetrate into the skin when you steam. You know, it makes sense. It's science."
SheaMoisture 100% Virgin Coconut Oil Daily Hydration Overnight Face
Harper's Bazaar/YouTube
One thing DeWanda Wise says she's gotta have is properly moisturized skin. That's exactly why she uses SheaMoisture's overnight hydration oil, filled with all of the fatty acids your skin needs to be great.
SheaMoisture 100% Virgin Coconut Oil Daily Hydration Face Lotion
Harper's Bazaar/YouTube
Last but not least, before the 35-year-old actress ties her edges down and catches some z's, she makes sure to apply a small amount of face lotion so that her skin has all the drip it needs before she heads to bed.
Watch the full clip below!
DeWanda Wise's Nighttime Skincare Routine | Go To Bed With Me | Harper's BAZAARwww.youtube.com
Featured image by Harper's Bazaar/YouTube
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While speaking to xoNecole, Eva shares that she’s a lot like the beloved 1994 character in many ways. “Lyric is so me. She's the odd flower. A flower nonetheless, but definitely not a peony,” she tells us.
“She's not the average flower you see presented, and so she reminds me of myself. I'm a sunflower, beautiful, but different. And what I loved about her character then, and even more so now, is that she was very sure of herself.
"Sure of what she wanted in life and okay to sacrifice her moments right now, to get what she knew she deserved later. And that is me. I'm not an instant gratification kind of a person. I am a long game. I'm not a sprinter, I'm a marathon.
America first fell in love with Eva when she graced our screens on cycle 3 of America’s Next Top Model in 2004, which she emerged as the winner. Since then, she's ventured into different avenues, from acting on various TV series like House of Payne to starring on Real Housewives of Atlanta.
Je-Caryous Johnson Entertainment
Eva praises her castmates and the play’s producer, Je’Caryous for her positive experience. “You know what? Je’Caryous fuels my audacity car daily, ‘cause I consider myself an extremely audacious woman, and I believe in what I know, even if no one else knows it, because God gave it to me. So I know what I know. That is who Je’Caryous is.”
But the mom of three isn’t the only one in the family who enjoys acting. Eva reveals her daughter Marley has also caught the acting bug.
“It is the most adorable thing you can ever see. She’s got a part in her school play. She's in her chorus, and she loves it,” she says. “I don't know if she loves it, because it's like, mommy does it, so maybe I should do it, but there is something about her.”
Overall, Eva hopes that her contribution to the role and the play as a whole serves as motivation for others to reach for the stars.
“I want them to walk out with hope. I want them to re-vision their dreams. Whatever they were. Whatever they are. To re-see them and then have that thing inside of them say, ‘You know what? I'm going to do that. Whatever dream you put on the back burner, go pick it up.
"Whatever dream you've accomplished, make a new dream, but continue to reach for the stars. Continue to reach for what is beyond what people say we can do, especially as [a] Black collective but especially as Black women. When it comes to us and who we are and what we accept and what we're worth, it's not about having seen it before. It's about knowing that I deserve it.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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Fortunately, five simple words have simplified my dating process and ushered in clarity faster: “Would my husband do this?”
A couple of years ago, I met an entertainment lawyer who was tonguing down a twenty-something-year-old woman for breakfast while I slurped my green smoothie and chomped on a flatbread sandwich. Okay, Black love, I grinned and thought as I sauntered out of the Joe & The Juice. As soon as I stepped down from the front door, a torrential downpour of Miami summer rain cascaded and throttled me back inside to wait out the storm.
I grabbed a hot green tea and vacillated between peering out the wet door and anxiously checking my watch. My lengthy agenda started with attending the Tabitha Brown and Chance Brown’s “Black Love” panel, and I was already late. That’s when the lawyer introduced himself to me, after he made a joke about neither one of us wanting to get soaked by the rain. His female companion had braved the storm, leaving us to find our commonalities.
We both lived in L.A. and had traveled to the American Black Film Festival to expand our network. He represented various artists, including entertainment writers, while I was working as a writer/creative producer in Hollywood.
While there is no shortage of internet advice on how to strategically meet a prominent man at conferences, if I spend my hard-earned funds on career growth, I have tunnel vision, and that doesn’t include finding Mr. Right. So, I stowed his contact details away as strictly professional.
Keep It Cute Love And Hip Hop GIFGiphyAs the humidity and mosquitoes were rising around L.A., two months later, another suitor-turned-terrible match cooled off after three unimpressive dates and a bevy of red flags. I posted what some of my friends called a thirst trap, but it was really me wearing a black freakum jumpsuit with a plunging neckline to my friend’s 35th birthday soiree despite feeling oh, so unsexy and bloated on my cycle.
I’d been waiting to post a sassy caption and finally had the perfect picture to match: “You not asking for too much, you just asking the wrong MF.”
That’s when the entertainment lawyer swooped into my DMs and asked me to dinner. I was quite confused. Is he asking me on a date? Or is this professional? Common sense would’ve picked the former. Once it clicked that this would in fact be a date, I told my mentor, who’s been happily married for over twenty years and has often been a guiding light and has steered me away from the wrong men.
Upon telling him about how we met, he emphatically stated, “He ain’t it.” He followed up with a simple question, "You have to ask yourself: Would my husband do this? Would you tell others that you met your husband, tonguing down another woman, and later married him?"
Aint It No Way GIF by UFCGiphyOuch. The thought-provoking question cleared any haze. Prior to going out with the lawyer, the first thing I inquired about was the woman.
“You saw that?” He said, taken aback that I’d witnessed his steamy PDA. Surely, anyone with two open eyes peeped him caressing her backside as he kissed her in the middle of the coffee shop.
He brushed her off as a casual someone he’d gone on a couple of dates with but had since stopped talking to. He said he hadn’t been in a serious relationship in over three years. Though I was still doubtful, dating in L.A. is treacherous and ephemeral. Making it past three months is considered a rarity.
With my antennae alert, I dined with him at a cozy beachside steakhouse restaurant where we were serenaded by a live jazz band. I’d emphasized forming a platonic friendship first.
Break Up Friendship GIF by TLCGiphy“I’ll come to you,” he obliged. I liked that he had made me a priority by driving over 50 miles to see me. I also liked the effort he made to check in with me daily. But I still couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that he initiated on a professional pretense and then alley hooped through the back door on a romantic venture, which bombarded me with confusion.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my dating life, God is not the author of confusion; any man who brings confusion, rather than clarity, is simply not The One. It doesn’t matter how many boxes he checks–eventually, that confusion will manifest itself into bigger problems, in time.
After diving into deeper conversations on the phone, post our first dinner date, I quickly realized this man was indeed not The One for me. But I’m grateful for the valuable lesson I learned.
I don’t expect some unattainable fairytale of a husband; we all have our own flaws and conflict is inevitable, but after dating for two decades, through failure and success, I’ve realized that the person I ultimately marry must mirror the values I exert into the world. He must reciprocate kindness, patience, and respect. He must be quick to listen and slow to respond. He needs to be forgiving and trustworthy, practice healthy communication, and be a man of his word at the bare minimum.
If I’d had “Would my husband do this?” in my toolbox when I was dating and floundering in stagnant relationships, in my twenties, it would’ve saved me a lot of precious time. But now that I’m equipped with the reminder, it’s allowed me to ground myself in my non-negotiables and set/maintain the standard for the special person, I’ll one day say, “I do,” to.
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