- 9 months ago
Beauty and style go hand in hand! Some of today's top entertainers will join us in discussing the importance of owning your personal style, how style influences beauty, and more.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00I mean they got too many people out here for me to not hear more energy than that how are we doing
00:09all right that's more like it so again my name is Kaylin I'm your host of the evening afternoon
00:16um so next up we have another panel that I know that y'all are excited for right this is beauty
00:22uninterrupted right and in this segment you're gonna love this segment we're connecting with
00:27some of the fearless beauty influencers on this panel beauty and style go hand in hand of some of
00:33today's top influencers and entertainers will be joining us do y'all know who's joining us today
00:37ah I want to hear a little more something than that right so they will be discussing why personal
00:44style is so important and how style influences beauty but first up I must introduce our moderator
00:50which is Nandi Howard VP content of essence and ventures let's go
00:54hello everyone happy Saturday are y'all enjoying yourselves are y'all enjoying yourselves
01:09well I am super super excited to announce my next two guests so first we have Simi Moonlight
01:17an influencer content creator activist and she is great amazing can you guys give it up for Simi
01:24Simi come on Simi come on Simi yes all right and next panelist we have a music star entrepreneur
01:36beauty and fashion maven JT let's see she coming out there she goes
01:46here you go girl all righty let's get started let's get started all right ladies thank you so much for
01:58talking with me today so today we're just talking about style beauty evolution and I'm gonna start
02:04off with JT we love your style essence is such a big fan of everything that you're doing right now we
02:09just wanted to say can you talk us through your style evolution which right now being the fashion
02:17girl that you are right now okay so I went to school for fashion and merchandising I always like fashion
02:24but I'm from the south so in the south our fashion is pretty like bold and like if you were a designer
02:32you're gonna wear like heavy printed designer yeah so then I moved up north and then I started
02:39toning it down a little bit yeah especially when I started dating my boyfriend because he was like you
02:44know but um yeah and I feel like more money yeah and more things exactly so you know you really like
02:53double down on your experimentation we love all the outfits that you do so what's there's what's your
02:59advice to those who may want to like experience it but are afraid to sort of step out the box
03:04I say do whatever you want to do or do it whatever you feel um being like everyone else would not get
03:12you you'll just go where everybody else is going so just stand out don't be afraid yeah and just do you
03:22do you be authentic send me so from hair to makeup to fashion how would you describe your personal style
03:28um I feel like JT really described it like I just do me like I feel like I just do what I want to do
03:35I don't care if it looks perfect I don't care if anyone else thinks it's pretty or presentable
03:42I really just choose what I'm drawn to and I think I have I have different phases just like JT I have
03:50different phases where sometimes I want to be super proper and like look like a princess sometimes I want
03:56to do street style like it really just depends on how I feel during the day and that's really what
04:00I would recommend for everybody yeah I like that you look beautiful thank you so to you girl as a
04:06digital creator Simi what's the secret of capturing the beauty like your day-to-day life and creating a
04:11story around it how do you think you do that best honestly I sometimes feel like I'm not the best at it
04:17because I'll be forgetting my phone at home y'all but no I think for me I try to focus on being as
04:26organic as possible I don't ever want to be in a position where I'm trying to create a moment I
04:33actually just try to capture the moments that I feel like represent where I am in life naturally
04:40so I think for anybody who's trying to be a creator don't force it you know just like choose what
04:47moments make sense to share choose what choose what feels right to share and allow that to be
04:53what makes people be drawn to you definitely I like that so JT what are some of your thoughts about
04:59fashion and beauty trends do you like to follow them do you like to make your own rules or a bit of both
05:04I probably should spit this gum out but it helped me um beauty and fashion trends sometime I had
05:13are I've already done it already or something when it become a trend and I like what I see the girls
05:20do I always love it and if it's cute I'll do it if it's not I won't but whatever yeah so do you have
05:29you ever felt like you had pressure to conform to certain beauty or style moments or for you that
05:33doesn't really affect you no it doesn't affect me at all yeah yeah I feel like you're very like
05:38I'm gonna do what I want yeah what I want yeah I'm blessed and lucky to be able to do what I want
05:43yeah I like that um so Simi what role do you think diversity and inclusivity play in defining beauty
05:50standards within the fashion and entertainment space oh um well first I want to say I feel like JT is a
05:58really great example of what it means to like push for uniqueness especially in the beauty space like
06:06I know sometimes people be trying to like come for the looks that you got and I'm like no like it makes
06:10sense for JT which means it makes sense period you know right and I think we need more people that are
06:16willing to kind of go outside the box and do what they want to do despite what everyone expects them
06:21to do I think also especially for me being plus size like I think a lot of times people think that
06:29your quote-unquote ailments make you limited and I think for me like I have actually made it so that
06:35I am unlimited despite what the world tries to tell me um and I think that that's what I really want
06:40to encourage everyone to do like be unlimited despite the world trying to limit you I love that
06:46to me and JT just to follow up on that when you are performing and you have all of the things that
06:52you do do you pick an outfit based on that or you kind of just pick wake up and say this is how I feel
06:57today well as a performer we are we're I'm I'm shy right now you're doing great as a performer I'm
07:05self-conscious like I always think like I look heavy or like somebody's gonna catch a bad angle of me
07:12taking pictures so it's like a weird feeling that yeah only I could describe but I was I'm just like
07:21in awe of your beauty and like how you just look right now and how confident you is and it's just
07:26like I'm like I need to be more confident like her because she's killing it so you look good and
07:32I'm happy to do more panels with essence then like I get to meet more like you know confident
07:39girls and get inspired I'm going to inspire me right now like I'm like girl I need to stop being
07:45all like shy because you shine you killing it well like I'm going off script but that's why we wanted
07:50you here because it was like we really support JT we really want her here we want her to like do
07:55things that we don't see her doing so so we know it was a lot to get you here but we love it we love
08:01it um Simi I wanted to just kind of follow up with what JT was saying just about confidence and things
08:06like that um how do when do you feel your best and how do you feel your best um I think I feel my best
08:18I mean I don't I don't know like I think I feel my best when I feel like I'm being true to myself
08:26right you know um I think I feel my best when I can see other black women like JT like you just like
08:33being true to themselves like choosing what it is they want to do in life and going after it to me that
08:39inspires me to do the same um and I feel my best when I'm going after something even when it might not
08:46be working out exactly the way I wanted to you know like I still feel really good because I'm
08:51still choosing it so yeah yeah definitely JT what about you um you mentioned you were shy so what do
08:57you do to kind of like build that confidence because the music is not shy I'm like girl shy
09:01um I just go out there and I just do my thing and I'm being motivated by the crowd
09:10the people that support me right right right I'd be like okay if they feeling it I'm feeling it
09:16we feeling it we're gonna fit it together but yeah I do get shy like I was shy to walk out here
09:21but it's like the love is here y'all isn't it
09:24um for both of you so I wanted to kind of get into when you start planning your look
09:31what goes first do you plan the hair the makeup the jewelry like what are your sort of favorite
09:37things to plan with your outfit for me it's the clothes like the clothes are first and then
09:43I'll see because I'm like I can take I can change the hair like that's a wig y'all I can change the
09:48hair you know I'm saying I can change it anytime I can also change the makeup anytime but like
09:53the clothing would be harder to change so I start with the clothes first yeah what about you JT kind
09:58of where do you start with your outfit where do I start with my outfit I want to say the hair
10:05yeah the hair and the makeup I'm I love makeup more than clothes a little bit for some reason
10:11yeah you make up like the glam and I feel like if your hair and makeup look good the outfit's gonna
10:16look good too I agree for whatever reason I just feel like if up here is good down here gonna follow
10:21yeah no I agree with that it's like okay we gonna get the face going first and then just pick the outfit
10:26um so I wanted to know your who you don't have to say exactly who are your style influences but what
10:33influences your style is it the people is it places you go so where do you guys get your style
10:38influence JT you go first well my style influence is like all over the place like I get inspired by
10:49confidence like when I see yeah I can get inspired by somebody on my explore page you don't have to be
10:54nobody huge or small um my boyfriend style is really really rare and I get inspired by him a lot
11:01so I'll be like you know what I'm boring I need to turn it up a little more but I just can inspire
11:07like anything can inspire me definitely definitely what about you Simi yeah I would say I'm the same
11:13way like yeah I feel like I just but I think first and foremost black women inspire me like it'd be like
11:19all types of black women can we give it up for that yeah I'm like I'm like it don't matter what
11:24that black woman looks like like it's gonna be inspirational to me because I feel like black
11:30black women are just such unique individuals and they just come off so cool all the time so yeah
11:36yeah you kind of touched on something I want to touch on next do you feel like black women
11:40are able to experiment or get that level of let's say just calmness and kind of acceptance when they
11:48experiment like what are your you both thoughts on that I see JT shaking her head something out of my
11:53eye but no we are not allowed we are not allowed at all and I want to just say this it start with us
12:01like when we start sticking together more then other people will be like okay that's what's it because
12:05these big publications and magazines they look at us they look up to us and they think that we're dope
12:11and if we don't think it's cool on us they're gonna put it on somebody else and then it's gonna be
12:15like okay I could have wore a makeup trend first but if y'all saying it's ugly it's ugly it's ugly
12:20they're gonna be like okay well we're gonna put it on another race and it's and then y'all gonna
12:24say look cool on them so it start with us sticking together and believing that like we push the
12:30boundaries and we start stuff first because if we don't trust me it get harder and harder for us so
12:36I we need to support each other more absolutely I like that like it's like even if we do see people
12:41kind of talking down on us our new styles it's like showing up and being a community for one
12:45another yes what about you see me sort of what are your thoughts about that I agree 10,000 percent
12:51with JT like right I feel like I mean JT you're just such a good example of this like I feel like
12:57you really just push for what you desire yourself to look like and to me that is what we need more of
13:04you know I think honestly I'm gonna say something maybe a little tad bit controversial okay but I think
13:10a lot of times people are really really really stuck within this framework of like wanting to be
13:17desirable all the time and like it's okay if the average person doesn't necessarily desire you based
13:24on your look it's still your look it's still something for you you know so I think like once
13:30we get out of this idea that like I have to be desirable to the average person that everybody needs
13:34to look at me and want me and and think I'm pretty it's like it's okay to be quote-unquote ugly is
13:40guess what I'm really trying to say like it's okay you know I'm saying because like it might not be ugly
13:45to everyone but most importantly if it's not ugly to you it doesn't really matter right right absolutely
13:50as a follow-up on that you and the content creation and influencer space do you see some of
13:57the negativity trickle down or how do you sort of maneuver through that
14:01y'all know how many people I block a day yeah exactly it's it I mean I see all the time the
14:08negativity I don't really care about it though like I think for me I'm just like you're not paying my
14:13bills and you don't get the same checks as me so exactly but also at the same time I think I think
14:21I've just really learned to like drown out that white noise like it's really just white noise like
14:25it's like I don't know you you don't know me yep and at the end of the day like I'm still gonna do
14:29what I want to do so yeah definitely and JT for you being in the music industry and being amongst
14:34this group of women rappers you know your style definitely does stand out and so for you how does
14:40that how how do you how are you able to manage just being different than everyone else when it
14:45comes to your fashion well like she said I just block a whole bunch of people a day and I
14:51hurt people out I just will argue with people all day until I can't no more and then they'll be like
14:57you must be bored and I'll be like you must be bored because you starting with me but I just do me
15:03it's not easy yeah you know it's not easy as we think it well people think it is we have feelings too
15:10and a lot of times we only react to what people brings to bring to us so yeah yeah definitely and
15:19then to kind of piggyback off of that just with you being in the industry and stepping out into this
15:25fashion space how can you like what would you tell someone who wants to step into that fashion space
15:30but a little bit scared to experiment with their style I say just do it first they say it's ugly and
15:36then they copy and you'll see somebody say something that's ugly but then they'll do it
15:41and then they'll try to alter it to make it look good on them and I'll be like that's my shit on her
15:47and I'll be like excuse my language but I'll be like I see it but then they'll try to add a twist
15:53after they done told you don't do it or don't wear it as soon as they have enough money to afford it
15:59then they'll they're gonna buy it and it become a later on trend so I just say do whatever you want to
16:03do you know do whatever you want to do I definitely agree so when it comes to something new when y'all
16:08see something on the internet and you're like I want to try it how do you you know try it but still
16:14come still stay with your personal style still stay true to yourself um I feel like I've grown a lot
16:23to understand like what my signatures are like in my style um or how I present myself so when I want
16:29to try something I don't try a lot of trends I will say I will say that I'm really not a trend
16:34trier um but when I do want to try something I usually try to keep one of those signatures like
16:40yeah in it like whether it's like a lot of jewelry like I really love jewelry so I usually wear a lot
16:44of jewelry um or whether it's like a lot of color like I just try to keep one of those aspects in it
16:50definitely definitely and JT what about you when you're like trying a new style are you looking at
16:54new shoes or new bag like what do you make sure to um have on to keep make sure you have your
17:00personal style as well dark lip liner okay yes okay what dark lip liner do you like for what brand
17:08chestnut or yes chestnut I don't want to get a triple with no brands I'm like I don't want to say
17:16I want my money I understand I understand right right exactly I need that check um for so for
17:25both of you just you know experiencing beauty con being here all of that all of those things how does
17:30it feel just to receive that love um and see people your fans your supporters actually in person
17:36and know you for your beauty trends and style I'd be shocked y'all I'm not gonna I really be shocked
17:43because I I think I still look at myself as just like a normal person like I'll be doing normal
17:47staff like I have my cat I gotta go home to my cats and feed my cats okay so it's like I think
17:52sometimes I'm really shocked but I think I'm also very very very thankful because I think without the
17:58people that look to me and see me as as some sort of like inspiration I wouldn't be here so I'm very
18:05very thankful definitely and JT when people come up to you and are saying I love your style I love what
18:09you've done like what does that how does that feel for you um it feels so good I love coming out and
18:15seeing like real people off the internet because it's always so much more love in real life than it
18:19is on the internet so I'm never shocked I'm always happy and enjoying it honestly I love that so just
18:26to wrap up I wanted to know like what are some favorite things that y'all loving in fashion beauty
18:30is there some things that are catching y'all's eye right now would love to know
18:35um I feel like I'm really loving how many people are starting to move towards more maximalist
18:45like style I think we had a wave of minimalist and like no shade to the girls okay um but it's
18:52like I really want people to showcase their personality in their style more so I really
18:56love that I'm seeing more young women um black women like all types of people kind of just like
19:01move towards that definitely and JT what about you what's some things that you're loving right now
19:05I'm gonna say the same thing she said I'm loving how like black women are being more self-expression
19:11y'all don't care we know we know what you're saying we got it explaining they self more and showing
19:17off more and just doing trends that you are only thinking to another race it's like we killing it
19:21right now and I'm loving it definitely well can we give it up for JT and Simi
19:25yes well ladies thank you so much for joining us at Essence Beauty Con and we hope to see you soon
19:33thank y'all
19:34thank y'all