Yara Shahidi Is the New Face of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics

It was for my high school homecoming dance when mom took me to get my makeup done professionally for the first time and I discovered Bobbi Brown. I didn’t feel uncomfortable, I didn’t have to blend two shades together to make one, I didn’t have to keep searching for another brand, I found my perfect shade at the Bobbi Brown makeup counter. Even before brands like Fenty Beauty changed the makeup game with an extensive foundation shade range, Bobbi Brown was championing inclusivity with their range of shades, especially for darker skin tones.

Now the brand is continuing to practice what they have always preached and expanding their range even more, adding 10 more shades (there are currently 42) to their SKIN Long Wear Weightless Foundation. The expansion is more about adding more options for undertones, than adding lighter or darker shades as the brand has always had that range. It’s no surprise that actress and advocate Yara Shahidi, who has always been outspoken about representation and inclusion, is joining the Bobbi Brown brand and helping to launch the new expansion. She will serve as the new face of the brand, with a campaign shot by Tyler Mitchell.

Teen Vogue chatted with Shahidi about learning to do makeup, her routine, and growing up in a household full of amazing black women.

Teen Vogue: When did you first learn to do makeup?

Yara Shahidi: I think on set, that's where I had my formal education. Other than the fact that I was on set getting my makeup done, I was learning how I introduce makeup into my life and establish a positive relationship with it. Being young and having to be on TV with HD cameras, I had to make sure that my relationship with makeup was on my own terms.

TV: What is your makeup routine like now?

YS: It depends on the day. On a regular day, I wake up, I wash my face, moisturize my face, [then I use] Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick which is also moisturizing. I'm very big on brushing up my eyebrows, and then a lip gloss. If we're talking about an event or red carpet, then it gets a bit more complicated. I use Bobbi Brown foundation because it goes so nicely on the skin and it doesn't feel like you have a layer on. Then some blush. We love to have fun with the eyes. I feel like the past couple carpets we've been doing some really cool eye looks. Then sometimes the lips.

TV: So you and your mom are twins and seem to have a really lovely relationship. How were you taught about beauty and beauty routines in your household growing up?

YS: The one thing is that mommy and I are always very transparent with each other, and that's definitely helped me growing up because I've been able to have an open conversation when I wake up and I'm like, I'm not feeling my best, I don't feel like I look my best. Really little things that we hate to admit because so many times I just wish that I was bigger than that. Being able to be an active conversation around that means that our conversation is really about how do we have fun? How do we make sure that this is not a tool that we are using to cover up, that this is not a tool that we are using to hide, that this is something that actually brings us active joy? And that means it changes every year, every month, every moment of going. Sometimes I do like to say, I'm headed somewhere I want to put a face on. Some days I'm like at my last event where I was wearing moisturizer and glasses and some lip gloss.

TV: Was there a certain moment growing up when you realized that black women in particular were not always considered a part of mainstream beauty?

YS: I was really grateful because growing up I had that foundation of being surrounded — I mean I still am surrounded — by amazing black women. Being black and Iranian, my definition of beauty was very much defined by the people that I got to see everyday. So, I never put it into the terms of what our features were or what theoretically we should look like because that wasn't the example that I was given nor would I internalize. It wasn't really until I was stepping out in the world more often and working in the media. I was 11 when I first had to straighten my hair and I remember the most random kids being like oh my gosh, I like this so much better. These are little things now in the grand scheme of things and I know are our community has been faced with so much worse, especially when you talk about the criminalization of a black girl's hair, in particular. But I think that level of awareness of just personal things and then being in media and being on Blackish really opened up the conversation. I think combining my love of history and what I feel about historical past treatment in this country coupled with just us and the media being more aware now, we realize that it is so much exclusion.

TV: What are some moments where you did see yourself reflected in beauty ads or commercials and what impact did that have on you?

YS: I remember getting to see my mommy in commercials, I think that's where I had the really exemplary childhood of my family being my representation. I didn't watch much television, until two years ago. That was intentional, choosing media and choosing things that reflected our nuance or beauty or complexity. Often times, I was turning to books, and of course then supporting the shows and movies that are actively doing that expansion work.

TV: How does it feel to be a part of Bobbi Brown expanding their ranges and taking a step toward being more inclusive in the beauty industry at a time when not every brand is doing that?

YS: It was really important to me and I think what was even more important is that it has been ingrained in the company since the beginning. I mean look at the range of colors they offered when I was first starting. What really spoke most to me is not only do they have the track record, but they're still pushing themselves as a brand to figure how they can expand more, which made it such a perfect partnership. Because, again speaking about trend versus vocation, it's important and you can tell when it has already been a part of the brand and we still realize that there's more to be done.

TV: Tell me when you first learned about Bobbi Brown and what your relationship was to the brand as a consumer.

YS: Being in commercials and on set, I was very familiar with the foundation and the palette. There was always that sigh of relief because I knew they'd have a skin tone that would match me. We do this test in my family of how many people does [this product] work on? It’s been really fun because our family is a whole range of brown. It's like, well the real test is not just me, right? The real test is the fact that my momma can use it, and my aunty Nel has used it for the past three decades, my cousins can use it. I just feel like Bobbi Brown products are so familiar to me, so this was such a natural next step.

TV: Are any new beauty trends that you're looking forward to trying out on the carpet this year?

YS: I'm enjoying experimenting with texture so a lot of times my eyelids will be textured and glossy. It's really just about getting more and more creative and colorful. People that follow me on social media know I draw on my face [laughs] so finding a version of that that is carpet ready.

This interview has been edited and condensed. Additional reporting by Jessica Andrews.

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