Kelly Rowland Reveals Her Genius Beauty Hack & Honestly, I'm Low-Key Shook — EXCLUSIVE
As I nervously walk over to sit across from none other than Kelly Rowland, I can feel my stomach doing flips. After all, this was one-third of the greatest girl group of all time. (Fight me on this.) This was the woman who had just recently Coachella's stage for a Destiny's Child reunion with Beyoncé. This was the only woman who somehow found a way to text Nelly using Microsoft Excel! (Truly iconic.) As nervous as I was, though, Rowland made chatting effortlessly easy. From talking about how to cover up acne to the things she's struggled most with in life, Rowland filled the silence with so much good advice. I guess what I'm trying to say is, she's basically my new life coach.
Partnering with Schick in honor of the release of Schick Intuition's f.a.b. razor (which can literally go back and forth on your leg — excuse me while I shave my whole body with it), Rowland and I spoke during the brand's Unstoppable event, celebrating powerful women everywhere who are "unstoppable" in their own regard, despite the setbacks they might face. When asked about the hardest thing she herself has had to overcome in her life, Rowland says that, for a good portion of her life, she was a big "people-pleaser." "I always wanted to make sure that whatever I did or said was OK with other people," she tells me.
Unfortunately, I'd venture to say Rowland's difficulty with always wanting to please is something many other women, myself included, struggle with daily. Women are expected to always be agreeable, to always be the pacifiers in any situation, to always refrain from being "too much" so as not to rock the boat. But frankly, these unrealistic expectations are bullsh*t, and Rowland agrees. "F*ck what other people think, you know what I mean?" she says. "You have to make sure you're happy with every decision you make and everything that you say, while being respectful toward others."
However, if you think all it takes to become unstoppable and overcome the things that bring you down is to wake up one day is say, "F*ck what other people think," you're sadly mistaken. Changing your mindset and your habits takes practice — something Rowland makes sure to remind herself of every day. "In the mornings, I tell myself, 'You are great. You are smart. Everything that the world tries to take away from you or that people try to take from you, [you] have to fill it up with [yourself.]'" she explains. "I can't expect anyone else to do that for me or to fulfill me the way my faith can or the way I can."
In addition to her prior people-pleasing ways, another thing Rowland doesn't let stop her is blemishes. Whether a single annoying pimple or a full-fledged breakout, Rowland is truly unstoppable when it comes to her low-key genius way for covering up zits. No, seriously, I'm genuinely mad I didn't come up with this sooner.
Rather than loading up with layer upon layer of foundation, concealer, and powder to cover up a blemish, Rowland's method is a bit more creative. When revealing this beauty secret to me, she points to her face and says, "This is not a real mole. That is not a real mole. Those are not real moles." Yes. She makes her zits into moles. I'm just. Wow. "I cover them [blemishes] up with DUO Glue," she continues. DUO Glue is actually a lash adhesive, but it comes in darker colors as well — perfect for creating a natural-looking mole on the skin. BRB, I'm just running to the bathroom to turn every pimple on my face into a freckle or a mole right TF now!!!
However, Rowland warns that you shouldn't go too wild with this trick, otherwise people might, um, notice a little something different about you. "There was this one time I made them super tiny, and I had, like, little freckles," she says. "Somebody goes, 'I didn't know you had freckles.' I said, 'I don't. I'm having a really bad breakout right now, and I just made them, you know, little freckles.'"
Rowland's hack for dealing with blemishes is strangely right on par with what she reveals is the best beauty advice she's ever been given: "You just want to enhance the beauty that's there." When it comes to beauty, Rowland stresses that "every woman is beautiful," both when the makeup is on and when it comes off. And, I mean, I guess you could say making a mole out of a blemish is a pretty creative way of enhancing what's already there.
Whether you're a people-pleaser, you wake up with an annoying breakout, or you're just trying to side-step the obstacles life throws at you, remember what Rowland tells herself. You're great. You're smart. And of course, you're unstoppable.
