Lianna Albrizio, Assistant Editor02.24.23
In the age of social media, it’s easy for people, especially women, to fall into the trap of comparing themselves with the “perfect girls” they see on Instagram, causing them to second-guess their confidence in their own appearance.
For actress and costume designer Crystal Renee Hayslett, social media, she said, drove her to examine herself with a magnifying mirror, arousing highly self-critical thoughts about everything from her nose to her belly. When she came to her senses, she had a breakthrough: she was, in fact, her own worst critic. She also came to the epiphany that what she felt fell short of current beauty standards were the very things that others deemed her most beautiful features.
She discussed these realizations in a campaign called “Queen Me,” helmed by Clinique and Black creator platform Blacktag. Aimed to foster inclusivity and uplift women of color during Black History Month and beyond, Hayslett joined content creator Skyler Marshai, hairstylist and founder of The Cut Life Tahira Joy, and makeup artist Raisa Flowers in the digital content series from the Estée Lauder-owned brand.
The women also engaged in authentic conversations about what beauty means to them, how they feel pop culture has shaped their ideals of beauty—for better or worse—and how they’ve faced their insecurities and found confidence on their beauty journey. Each had their own photoshoot with photographer Adrienne Raquel, too.
“Clinique as a brand was really founded with a purpose to create good skin for all, regardless of ethnicity, race, creed, size, gender, skin type,” explained Maiah Martin, executive director, consumer engagement, Clinique North America. “We wanted to make sure we continued to champion this mission by working with all different types of women. For Black History Month especially, we wanted to make sure our commitment to making all definitions of beauty mainstream that we celebrated Black beauty and the culture and honoring Black women and what they’ve brought to pop culture and acknowledging their journey through beauty, championing not only the struggle but the strides they’ve made and ultimately celebrating them, their stories and using our large platform to help uplift and champion them.”
The campaign’s name, “Queen Me,” is a spin-off of “King Me”—from chess and a term of endearment used among friends.
“Queen is a woman who claims her beauty and her power. She knows she’s not perfect, she’s complete and she admires herself,” explained Martin. “Within the Black community, it’s something that is ingrained in the culture. When you look at it through an historical context, queen is bestowed upon you from another entity, but within the Black community, it’s something you refer to yourself as and you refer to other women in the community. Oftentimes you’ll hear someone in the Black community saying, ‘yes queen,’ ‘go queen,’ or ‘I see you queen.’ So bringing that authenticity to the campaign was an extra special touch.”
Check out a clip of the campaign below:
Check out a clip of the campaign below: