Prudence Wade chats to Kahlana Barfield Brown, one of the most influential voices in beauty right now.
In a world where everyone knows how to contour like a professional make-up artist, Kahlana Barfield Brown is a bonafide beauty expert.
She started her career as an intern at InStyle, and soon made her way up to beauty director. Now, she’s more of an influencer, and posts all of her newest make-up finds to her 245k Instagram followers. Brown has emerged as a someone you can really trust when it comes to beauty, and in a traditionally white industry, brings some much-needed diversity.
So who better to take us through some of her favourite products? Brown has given us a peek into her beauty bag, divulging some of her make-up secrets along the way…
The lashes
“I discovered lashes five years ago and it was a gamechanger,” says Brown. “I always used a lot of mascara, and when I got lashes it was an easy way to boost my look without doing too much.”
Brown got extensions to make her beauty routine that bit easier, but “they completely damaged my real lashes,” she notes with a groan.
So instead, she taught herself how to use strip lashes, however, she’d always been “intimidated by dramatic lashes – my eyes are small and I don’t really feel like I can carry a bold, vibrant lash,” she explains, “so it was hard finding a natural lash that I could wear in the office but could also take me out for drinks with my girlfriends.” As a result, she’s collaborated with Huda Beauty to create her own set – a look she says is “right in-between natural and glam”.
Huda Beauty Kahlana #21 Classic Lash, £17, Harvey Nichols
The lipstick
One look at Brown’s Instagram and you’ll immediately see she’s rarely without a bright red lip. “That’s my signature,” she explains. “When I started to wear a red lip it elevated my look, it made it more edgy. I’m a true New York implant so I wear a lot of black, and red is the perfect pop of colour.”
The first red lipstick she fell in love with was MAC’s Ruby Woo. “There’s something to me about matte that’s much more modern, edgy and cool,” says Brown.
She still loves Ruby Woo, but does mix things up. “I love blue-based reds, and I cocktail them together depending on my mood,” she says. “Sometimes I’ll put the darker shade on the bottom and layer the lighter shade on top, making it look a little bit different.”
“It’s bright, it’s bold, and there’s a confidence that comes with wearing a red lip,” she adds. “I can step out and be the Kahlana that I know I am, and be confident. It just makes me feel like myself, and [that] I can do anything in the world.”
MAC Cosmetics Ruby Woo, £17.50
The sunscreen
Brown spent a long time not wearing SPF. “I always thought, as a black woman, I had natural melanin in my skin and I was immune,” she says.
It was only when she started working in beauty that she realised the truth: Everyone should be slapping on sunscreen, no matter your skin type. Now, her everyday sunscreen is Shiseido’s Clear Stick UV Protector – in SPF 50+.
Shiseido Clear Stick UV Protector SPF 50+, £28
The foundation
Being a black woman in the beauty industry comes with its difficulties. Before Fenty Beauty came in and changed the game, Brown was used to testing and writing about products that didn’t cater to her skintone.
“For so many years I would meet with a make-up brand and they would present their new collection of foundation, but there’s nothing even close to my skintone as a dark-skinned African American woman,” she recalls. “It’s always been so disappointing, and very hurtful.”
Brown accepts that before Fenty, there were some brands like MAC and Nars who had offered a wider range of shades. However, she adds: “The way Rihanna marketed to women, it really celebrated women of all different types. Even the brands that were catering to women of colour, their marketing campaigns didn’t reflect that. Even if you make products for me but I don’t see myself in marketing materials, then it doesn’t feel like you’re really trying to cater to me.” Now, thanks to Fenty, other brands have been forced to catch up.
As a true make-up obsessive, Brown doesn’t use just one product regularly, but rotates between a few – one of which is Shiseido’s Synchro Skin Self-Refreshing Foundation in Shade 520.
Shiseido Synchro Skin Self-Refreshing Foundation in Shade 520, £39
