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00:00Hi there. It's a well-known fact that black don't crack. In truth, the promise of being an ageless
00:13beauty lies as much in our DNA as it does in the self-care practices that we embrace. At Essence,
00:21we celebrate the truth in beauty and how we work the aging process in a way that makes people the
00:27world over. Just say, wow. I'm beyond excited to have today's fireside chat and get the inside take
00:36on this very subject with a sister whose flawless beauty and style sensibility is simply epic.
00:43Won't you please welcome hip-hop legend, MC Lyte.
00:49Hi. Hi there. How are you doing?
00:53I am doing so well. I am just grateful. How about we start off with that? I am grateful to be here
01:03with you today. This is special for me. I haven't seen you in such a long time. I think I saw you
01:08backstage at Essence last year and we got a moment on the red carpet and I even have some shots from
01:16a moment. So I have great memories. I do too. And it's so good to see you and you are absolutely
01:23glowing. So, you know, that says a lot about beauty and quarantine life.
01:29Yes. Well, I tell you what, I've been getting a lot of rest. No stress sitting in traffic.
01:36No stress trying to get to the airport to make a flight. It's been a really interesting
01:46experience. Yes. Stay at home scenario. I'm drinking lots of water. So it makes for the time now to
01:58really get into self. You know, we need to have that self-love and self-care happening. And sometimes
02:08it's really hard to do that when you're not at home. Right. Exactly. So I always say that this
02:14moment has given us a lot to think about. And some things we don't want to shift back to. We want to go
02:20forward to a better way that we've learned during this time. You know, at Essence, we are celebrating the
02:27big five. Oh, we are so excited. Here we are 50 years later, holding up the mirror of black womanhood
02:35and what a mirror it is. And so, you know, we have always celebrated the truth and beauty,
02:42you know, all ages, shapes, sizes, what have you, because that's who we are. And I just, my first
02:49question for you, you know, there's so much talk about images in the media. And I want to ask your
02:56take on, do you think it's important that women, they say of a certain age, I don't like that
03:03expression. I like to say seasoned teens, see themselves reflected in the media.
03:08Yeah. I mean, I feel it's important that everyone have the opportunity to see themselves reflected
03:16in what it is we call popular culture. But I do have to back up a little bit because I'm actually
03:23going to be 50 this year. So I'm riding alongside with Essence. I had no idea that I was born the same
03:30year that Essence was born, which is spectacular to know. It's great to know your history. But yeah,
03:38I always felt like from the beginning, at least me watching, you know, either Essence magazine or
03:47something on television, you know, seeing Diane Carroll, or seeing 2D on facts of life, just to be
03:55able to see myself in those forums, those mediums of entertainment to me was, was everything. And now, with
04:04the way media has just grown, it's wonderful, because now we can get down to the specificity of who it is that we
04:13feel reflects us most, you know, their style, their fashion, their choice of makeup and hues that they use.
04:25It's really important to see yourself reflected. Yeah.
04:29Yeah, I agree with you. I just think that, you know, in this season of truth, and certainly one that I hope is here to stay, it's really time to show
04:40us as we are not advertised, but to show us in all of our glory, which brings me to another subject, you know, as an editor and an author, I get these statements all the time that say, you know, 50 is the new 40, 40 is the new 30, and 30 is the new 20. But, you know, base value, those are just mantras, and not necessarily feel good for us, because we don't need that validation.
05:05But on a deeper level, I remember pinning that the reality women face when it comes to the topic of aging, it makes us say, avoid it at all costs. So now, as you celebrate 50, I want to know, what have you put into practice to ensure that you continue to age confidently and unapologetically?
05:28Well, that's a good one right there. I think I have been practicing things all along. However, this year, with this long time off of travel, has given me the opportunity to actually put them into action, and to exercise them.
05:52And so, whether it be exercising, whether it be appreciating nature, and getting out and talking to the trees and, you know, walking through trails, whether it's not letting things excite me to the detriment of where it is that I want to be holistically and spiritually.
06:16And so this opportunity has given me a time to really focus on the things that I've said that I've always wanted to do. And now, those things are coming into play. So I'm drinking lots of water. I'm resting in the middle of the day, like who would have thought, you know, that I'd want to just sit down and just have a moment of silence.
06:39I'm meditating more than I'm meditating more than I've ever meditated before. I'm praying. I'm reading books that's soothed the soul. And, you know, the funny thing about, like, fighting age, or this desire to hold on to youth, the great thing about aging is the wisdom that comes along with it.
07:06And so I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world. Because, you know, I've heard Oprah say, you know, 40, 50, you, you don't know nothing, wait till you get 60, you know, so not that I'm like 60, come on today, but I certainly am open and inviting towards anything that's going to teach me what I don't already know or what I have yet.
07:36To experience. I mean, what does that mean for you?
07:39You know, I'm with you 100%. And I've been doing all of those things, including listening to my body more. And who knew sleep was such a luxury. And then I started this kitchen garden. And, you know, the interesting thing is that I'm growing my own lavender from my bath oils and sachets.
08:01I've got, you know, foods that will feed my inner beauty and reflect itself in, you know, hopefully my continuous glowing skin. I'm really proud of that.
08:12But yeah, and reading more, absorbing more information and just the stillness, the meditation, like you say, is such a gift that I know that I'm going to always treasure my vision space on the other side of this.
08:29I don't, I don't want to be like in the, that hustle aspect again. That's a gift that this time has given me. And I like that, you know, which is another question, you know, for us beauty gals, as a result of the pandemic, the task that we once entrusted to our glam squad, you know, everybody has one.
08:52If you got a question. If you've got a question, if you've got a question, if you've got a beautician, if you've got a barber or nail tech, you've got a squad.
08:57So they'd be quickly, they quickly become our own responsibility. So in looking at you, though, it's clear that you're making quarantine look amazing.
09:08So how can you share your stay at home beauty regimen that that allows you to look like camera ready? Your skin is glowing.
09:17I don't think it's all out of a bottle by any means.
09:20Don't tell me that.
09:23But, yeah.
09:24Well, thank you so much for that compliment.
09:30You know, prior to this pandemic, I've always, and you know it,
09:40you just have to have your own tricks in your bag.
09:43Doing all of the travel that I've done over 30 some odd years of being in this business,
09:50it was important that I know how to at least make myself look presentable.
09:55So let's start there.
09:59And so, you know, just playing with different ways to, you know, look put together,
10:04but also look natural.
10:06You know, like you didn't do much.
10:07You want to show up like you didn't do much, but you know how much work it took.
10:11But I can tell you one thing, it hasn't been easy with the hair.
10:17First off, I think when we went into the quarantine, I had just gotten a cut.
10:22I had just gotten, you know, this little blunt kind of one-sided bob thing.
10:29And I just couldn't keep up with it.
10:31But as soon as I knew that we weren't leaving the house, I wet it.
10:36I was like, ooh, I cannot care.
10:38You know, it gets to the point of not giving a hoot about what your hair looks like.
10:43So I really appreciate that time.
10:47So then I just talked to my stylist and he kind of walked me through some things that I can do.
10:52I've worn my hair natural before, so it wasn't too much of a big deal.
10:57There are certain products that I need in order to, you know, tame it.
11:03Because, you know, our hair takes so many shapes and forms, you know,
11:08and it reacts to different types of products in different types of ways.
11:13And so I have seen him, though, because he had to cut it.
11:17The thing was out of control, you know.
11:20And my hair doesn't grow all at the same time one length, you know.
11:25So you got more hair, more.
11:28It was just a style of its own.
11:30But in any case, once he put me back in order, then it was easy for me to manage, you know, manage it myself.
11:37I, on a day like today where I'm before you, yeah, I'll do more than I do on a regular day.
11:47On a regular day, I'm set and I'm moving and I have nothing about nothing is on.
11:54I don't have a face.
11:55I don't have hair.
11:56I don't have anything, Mickey.
11:59And I feel free.
12:00Let me just say that.
12:02Yeah.
12:03But what's your regimen?
12:04Listen, so how do you treat your skin?
12:07Because your skin has always been the smoothest canvas I've ever seen, no matter what the calendar, no matter what the birthday.
12:16So how do you treat your skin?
12:19Well, that is nice of you to say.
12:21I have to tell you it's a lot of water, first off, because I am prone to break out.
12:28So it takes a lot of discipline to not eat the things that I can't eat.
12:32Take, for instance, chocolate.
12:36Who can't eat chocolate?
12:38That's terrible.
12:40That's a terrible infliction upon God's children.
12:44Okay.
12:44So I can't have chocolate.
12:47I cannot have dairy.
12:50Okay.
12:52That means I'm missing all that good ice cream.
12:55I can't have soy.
12:56So the crazy thing is a lot of the alternatives to dairy I can't have either.
13:03So I can't have soy.
13:04I can't have cashew, ice cream, coconut.
13:08I can't have coconut.
13:09It's just a trip.
13:11So my regimen has a lot to do with my discipline on not eating the things that I should not eat.
13:18And if I decide, okay, well, I don't have to be in the public's eye for however long, I'll negotiate whether I'll eat it.
13:27I'll go, oh, I'll eat it.
13:28And I'll suffer for about two weeks trying to dissolve this pimple into nothing.
13:34And then you have a mark.
13:35And then you got to work on the mark.
13:36You know, so I really weigh my options as to what I want to spend my time thinking about, whether I want to think about a new creation or how it is that I'm going to cover this situation that I created for myself.
13:51So it's really washing, you know, it's getting a thorough wash.
13:55I don't sleep with makeup, eyelashes, all that craziness.
13:58I know friends who will leave eyelashes on for three, four, five days.
14:02Can't do that.
14:03I also know friends that get extensions.
14:06Those are cute, but for me, I like a clean eye when I go to bed.
14:10I don't want to be bumping up into my pillowcase with a lash that double backs and does something crazy.
14:18I'm really sensitive about my eyes.
14:21I should wear contacts, but I can't seem to get them going.
14:26It takes me too long to put them on in the morning.
14:28So that's how sensitive I am about my eye.
14:31So it's just a cleaning scenario.
14:34I use silver spray.
14:38I use sometimes I'll use an astringent, but sometimes astringent's a little tough, a little hard on my face.
14:48I use a great moisturizer.
14:49Got to use SPF because my skin has a tendency to absorb sun really quickly.
14:59And if I have any blemishes, it'll just take that blemish from a one to a 10 real quick.
15:06So it's just taking care.
15:09You know what it is.
15:11Yeah.
15:12Yeah.
15:12Sounds like really in tune, really in tune with what works even to have the power to negotiate.
15:18I love that, the power to negotiate with your skin.
15:22You're going to make a deal here.
15:25Yes.
15:26Yes.
15:26We're going to make a deal.
15:27I can't use any oils.
15:28You know, some people say, oh, use cocoa butter.
15:31I've never been a cocoa butter on the face, girl.
15:34I need to feel like my skin can breathe.
15:37And that means I need something that is water-based and that leaves my skin feeling light and airy, not like it's covered.
15:49And some people find protection in that, but it just, it doesn't work for me.
15:54Yeah, I'm with you.
15:55I don't like anything heavy.
15:58So, you know, what I've found is like serums have been a real friend.
16:01So, like at night, I use a vitamin C serum, and in the morning under my moisturizer, I use like a vitamin serum.
16:10And they're really light, and I'm not conscious of them on my skin because I'm really sensitive like you,
16:16and I just don't even like that tactile feel of something coating my skin.
16:22Right.
16:22Another question for you.
16:24There is a different stress that occurs when the place you call home is very busy, like simultaneously.
16:33It's become work, school, a host of other residences for us, if you will.
16:40What has been your favorite form of self-care during this quarantine time?
16:46Can I tell you, I have never gotten in a bathtub as much as I have during this quarantine.
16:55I am in that tub every day about six o'clock, and I'm in there till eight.
17:06I take books.
17:07I take my iPad in case I want to watch a little movie, which, by the way, Girl from Ipanema is really good.
17:13No, the girls, the girls from Ipanema.
17:15It's a really good series.
17:18I'm into that now.
17:19I'll take my speaker.
17:21I'll play some meditation music.
17:24I make it an event.
17:25It's like me, myself, and I in the tub from about five to about 6.30, seven o'clock.
17:34I've never enjoyed the tub as much as I have now.
17:38You know, as an editor and an author, you know, it became critical for me years ago to mine this thing called beauty because it's so much more than how we look.
17:51But I realized that, you know, this talk about aging that larger society has, that if we weren't careful, that it might creep in.
18:02And so I just had to ask you, what advice do you have for women who do grapple with getting older?
18:12Oh, goodness.
18:13Well, this is actually something my mom and I talk about often because she's a black don't crack type of woman, but she just turned 70.
18:26I shouldn't say but.
18:27She just turned 70.
18:29And, you know, she notices a little bit more than what other people do.
18:33Yeah.
18:34And I just, she just needs to be reminded of how beautiful she is with every nuance.
18:42But then I'm also for whatever it is that makes anyone feel better in their own skin.
18:48So if you got a tuck over here and a nip or relaxers, as a matter of fact, there's a, I forgot what you call them.
18:58They're a little sticker that one of my celebrity friends told me about.
19:04And you can get them from Amazon for, for, I can't think of the name of it right now, but they're stickers and you just lay them right into where your lines may be.
19:16And it'll, it helps relax because all that is, is you frowning throughout the day or sleeping and frowning or whatever the case.
19:25And, and they help her and she loves them.
19:27So I have it on Amazon on automatic to come every month.
19:32Yeah.
19:32So she's able to get her little stickers and she is happy as can be.
19:38Yeah.
19:39They're, they're patches and they're really great.
19:41And even you can get them in some beauty supply stores and they really do relax those expression lines.
19:48And, you know, to me, those are just lines from having our say, but yeah, they do have.
19:55I love it.
19:57Yes.
19:57They do have things for them.
19:59And, you know, for that matter, you know, I talked to dermatologists and, you know, they tell me that there are those of us who are coming in as preventive measures, you know, for those lines, for, with getting Botox, you know, and just all kinds of skincare practices.
20:21Because we want to define.
20:22Because we want to define even how we come of age, if you will.
20:27And I really am happy to hear you say that because I don't want us to ever be in a place where others get to say what we can and cannot do to be acceptable.
20:41Right.
20:42Or embrace our beauty.
20:44Because I don't think anyone should get to define that but you yourself.
20:47So I'm really happy to hear you say that.
20:51I think that each of us should embrace what we want.
20:55Right.
20:56No, absolutely.
20:58You know, it's so crazy because I thought many years ago that I wanted to get rhinoplasty.
21:05And I said, let me just check out some doctors.
21:09Let me see what it's all about.
21:10And so I had this appointment all lined up with a doctor and I was talking to one of my friends and she said, okay, well, you know, if you go in, once you get out, you're going to have to have someone at the house to watch you.
21:25And I was like, this was years ago.
21:28And I was like, somebody can watch me.
21:30What do you mean?
21:31She said, yeah, you've got to be careful.
21:37After you go through the operation, you're going to be all bandaged up and there's a chance that you'll be home and what if you fall or if there's more bleeding?
21:47And I was like, what?
21:48Oh, hell no.
21:49Like, this ain't for me.
21:51So I backed out of it and I was like, this, it was too scary of a thought.
21:58Right.
21:58I was going to tell you why I wanted it because I didn't have any bone here.
22:05I didn't have cartilage.
22:07So I had my nose kind of fell here in the middle.
22:14Right.
22:14And, you know, I feel like I'm deserving to do whatever it is.
22:18I mean, it's me.
22:18I can do whatever I want with me.
22:20And so I had to be clear that it was something that I wanted.
22:24And then I kind of forgot all about it.
22:26And then there was an article in Essence magazine with a doctor who was located here in Los Angeles.
22:34And I said, well, I still want my nose.
22:38I just want a bridge.
22:41That talented man went up there and gave me a bridge.
22:46Right.
22:47So that, you know, and my thing was, you know, people were so accustomed to seeing MC light with this, with this face.
22:59Yeah.
22:59But I said, what about what I want?
23:01People can grow accustomed to whatever changes may occur.
23:05You know, some people, unfortunately, end up in accidents.
23:09Something may cause the look of someone to change without involuntarily.
23:15Right.
23:15So I said, you know what, I'm going to take my time with this.
23:18I found the right doctor and I was able to do it.
23:21So Botox to me ain't nothing compared to what it is that I've been through in terms of rhinoplasty.
23:28But it's something that I absolutely do not regret.
23:32And I think if there's anything that you feel like you want to change, change about you or yourself, it's only you that has to deal with you.
23:42So I wouldn't, I would pay it.
23:44No, nevermind to whatever anyone else had to say.
23:47I love it.
23:48My folks used to say, no, nevermind.
23:51That shuts me down.
23:52But, you know, the interesting thing is, I think that we have to be careful not to be a chauffeur to someone else's opinions of how we should live our life or embrace our beauty or celebrate our beauty.
24:07Like you said, that really belongs to each of us individually.
24:11And I think also what's important to keep in mind is that, you know, life is not a dress rehearsal.
24:17This is it.
24:18We're not getting to come back and try it another way for ourselves.
24:22You know, and so we'll say, oh, well, I live the last one for what they say.
24:26And now I'll come back and this is about what I say.
24:29No, this is about what I say.
24:32The whole, right.
24:33The whole time.
24:35And it certainly shouldn't be a flippant decision.
24:38You know, it took me almost 10 years.
24:42And it probably took me about five years prior to that to get over what people would think.
24:49Like, oh, my God, it's MC Light.
24:52She's like the realest one we got.
24:55She can't, you know.
24:56So I spend, you know, by nature, I am who I say I am.
25:02Right.
25:02I'd love to say that again.
25:05Okay.
25:06By nature, I am who I say I am.
25:09And everyone who thinks they know MC Light is because I've been open and you understand who it is that I am by the decisions that I've made throughout my life.
25:21And I spend a great deal of spending time with detailed scenarios so that I am not misunderstood or things that I communicate, getting misconstrued.
25:41I pay a lot of attention to that.
25:44And so I've been offered gigs where I said, no, that'll send a wrong message to the people who love MC Light.
25:52Oh, no, I can't say that.
25:54Oh, no, I can't be on that record with that.
25:56I can't be seen over there because that would totally be an opposition of who it is that I've said I am for the last 30 years.
26:08So, yeah, I want to do something to my face.
26:11I'm going to do it because everything else is on point.
26:14Now, I tend to be a little conservative in other areas, you know, in terms of, you know, butts and all of the other stuff.
26:28Yeah.
26:28You know, I'm going to work with what God gave me.
26:31But I also think that's the liberty of each and every individual to be able to choose for themselves.
26:39Yeah.
26:39I agree.
26:40I agree totally.
26:41And that's what freedom is, you know.
26:43One last question for you.
26:47What note to the future of Black women that are our young girls would you pin today on beauty and aging?
26:57Oh, goodness.
26:59What note would I pin to beauty for the younger female generation?
27:05What would you pin to the young girls on beauty and aging?
27:08I would tell them to err on the side of their individuality.
27:17And they're going to see so much in terms of variety out there as to what it is they feel they should look like aesthetically or be like internally.
27:33And I would just urge them to find their own voice.
27:39And you may even find that through finding someone whose style you like.
27:46And it doesn't mean to copy, but it means you can use them as inspiration for what it is that you do.
27:55You know, oftentimes throughout my, you know, career, it wasn't until I saw someone dressed a certain way or saying a certain thing that sparked me to want to create another lane for myself.
28:12So, I would just urge them to embrace their individuality.
28:18That's beautiful.
28:20Something you said when you said that sparked you and when you saw others.
28:25So, if you look at your 30-year-old self, your 20-year-old self, weren't there role models for that you admired at age 50?
28:37Well, yeah, you know, I don't know that I said if that's what 50 is like, but I know, I know when I see wisdom at work.
28:47Yeah.
28:48And Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison and Nikki Giovanni and when I hear them, because I'm, I'm much more inclined to be dazzled by words than I am aesthetics.
29:02I'm an emcee, you know, I'm an emcee, you know, and so when I hear them speak, and the byproduct is teaching, and you get all of this experience and wisdom and history, and that's what I felt like, ooh, I can't, I can't wait to get to that, you know?
29:29So, yeah.
29:31This has been awesome.
29:33It's always lovely talking to you.
29:35I know that I'm always going to learn.
29:37I'm going to be treated like royalty, and, you know, I am just honored to have met a queen like you.
29:49Oh, likewise, likewise.
29:51I love you dearly.
29:52I love how you fill every inch of your shoes.
29:56I love that you are who you say you are, your word is who you are, and, and you're just a beauty and a role model for the aging.
30:08And I'm thankful that I live in a world that there is you.
30:13Aw.
30:15I am.
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