Rocking a red lacquered lip for PEOPLE’s2022 Beautiful Issue, actressDenée Bentonsays she’s reconsidering her approach to makeup.“I am never brave enough to walk around with this lip,” theGilded Agestar, 30, admits. “And now that I have it, I don’t think I’m ever going to take it off. It’s such a power boost.“Benton also received a boost in confidence when she chopped her hair off before her sophomore year of college at Carnegie Mellon University.“I had a relaxer my whole life. And then the summer before my sophomore year I was listening to a lot of India.Arie and ‘I Am Not My Hair’ and I shaved it off,” theHamiltonalum recalls. “Especially as Black women, our hair holds so much. It can be such a source of shame. So to release that for the first time, it really made me feel like I was unstoppable. I felt sexy.“Sarah SilverIndia.Arie continues to serve as beauty inspiration for Benton, specificallythe song “Video"with its lyrics: “Sometimes I shave my legs and sometimes I don’t/ Sometimes I comb my hair and sometimes I won’t / Depend on how the wind blows I might even paint my toes.““It really just depends whatever feels good to my soul. That’s my way of beauty,” Benton says. “The most consistent is a fresh cut, fresh eyebrows and a maxi dress with back out, no bra, some Birkenstocks and gold hoops. I could really wear that uniform every day.“RELATED VIDEO:Oprah Winfreyand Gayle King on 46 Years of ‘Beautiful’ Friendship: ‘No Matter What, I’m Here for You’The actress finds that working on period pieces likeGilded Ageand Broadway’sHamiltonandPierre & The Great Comet of 1812actually makes her want to go a little bolder with her looks.“I’ve done so many 1800s corsets and the makeup is so natural that I actually think that doing period dramas has made me have more fun in my day-to-day,” she says. “I got purple long tips after we finished shooting [Gilded Age] because I just wanted to break out of the held mold. It’s pushed me to take advantage of the times where I get to be more bold.“Those projects have also caused Benton to reflect on previous societal norms. “In period dramas, there are so many restrictions on women and the way we were allowed to be and look, and I think as Black women, we internalize so many of those rules about what colors we can and can’t wear and how you need to look professional and all of these things,” she continues. “So it’s been a really beautiful invitation to break those respectability politics and just actually shine.“Benton shouts outMegan Thee StallionandCardi Bas role models for “letting us be in our vibrant spaces” and credits social media with allowing Black women to connect with one another.“Black women have been pushing those standards from the dawn of time, but now with social media, we’re able to hear each other’s stories and be like, ‘I felt that way too!'” Benton says. “I feel like it expedites the process of realizing that that messaging has nothing to do with us.“The Tony nominee admits she hasn’t always had that kind of confidence and would tell her teenage self “she looks exactly as she needs to look,” and “that you will grow out of Eurocentric beauty standards stifling you and realize that being Black and beautiful is the best thing ever.“For more withDenée Benton, pick up PEOPLE’s Beautiful Issue, on newsstands now, or subscribehere.
Rocking a red lacquered lip for PEOPLE’s2022 Beautiful Issue, actressDenée Bentonsays she’s reconsidering her approach to makeup.
“I am never brave enough to walk around with this lip,” theGilded Agestar, 30, admits. “And now that I have it, I don’t think I’m ever going to take it off. It’s such a power boost.”
Benton also received a boost in confidence when she chopped her hair off before her sophomore year of college at Carnegie Mellon University.
“I had a relaxer my whole life. And then the summer before my sophomore year I was listening to a lot of India.Arie and ‘I Am Not My Hair’ and I shaved it off,” theHamiltonalum recalls. “Especially as Black women, our hair holds so much. It can be such a source of shame. So to release that for the first time, it really made me feel like I was unstoppable. I felt sexy.”
Sarah Silver
India.Arie continues to serve as beauty inspiration for Benton, specificallythe song “Video"with its lyrics: “Sometimes I shave my legs and sometimes I don’t/ Sometimes I comb my hair and sometimes I won’t / Depend on how the wind blows I might even paint my toes.”
“It really just depends whatever feels good to my soul. That’s my way of beauty,” Benton says. “The most consistent is a fresh cut, fresh eyebrows and a maxi dress with back out, no bra, some Birkenstocks and gold hoops. I could really wear that uniform every day.”
RELATED VIDEO:Oprah Winfreyand Gayle King on 46 Years of ‘Beautiful’ Friendship: ‘No Matter What, I’m Here for You’
The actress finds that working on period pieces likeGilded Ageand Broadway’sHamiltonandPierre & The Great Comet of 1812actually makes her want to go a little bolder with her looks.
“I’ve done so many 1800s corsets and the makeup is so natural that I actually think that doing period dramas has made me have more fun in my day-to-day,” she says. “I got purple long tips after we finished shooting [Gilded Age] because I just wanted to break out of the held mold. It’s pushed me to take advantage of the times where I get to be more bold.”
Those projects have also caused Benton to reflect on previous societal norms. “In period dramas, there are so many restrictions on women and the way we were allowed to be and look, and I think as Black women, we internalize so many of those rules about what colors we can and can’t wear and how you need to look professional and all of these things,” she continues. “So it’s been a really beautiful invitation to break those respectability politics and just actually shine.”
Benton shouts outMegan Thee StallionandCardi Bas role models for “letting us be in our vibrant spaces” and credits social media with allowing Black women to connect with one another.
“Black women have been pushing those standards from the dawn of time, but now with social media, we’re able to hear each other’s stories and be like, ‘I felt that way too!'” Benton says. “I feel like it expedites the process of realizing that that messaging has nothing to do with us.”
The Tony nominee admits she hasn’t always had that kind of confidence and would tell her teenage self “she looks exactly as she needs to look,” and “that you will grow out of Eurocentric beauty standards stifling you and realize that being Black and beautiful is the best thing ever.”
For more withDenée Benton, pick up PEOPLE’s Beautiful Issue, on newsstands now, or subscribehere.
source: people.com
