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When some beauty brands try to sell empowerment, it’s an eye roll. Raise your hand if you really need a $78 serum to tell you to do you, girl. It’s not that I find the messaging around self-expression and self-care to be silly or vapid—quite the opposite, in fact. Rather, so many brands have tried to jump on the “trend” without any substance behind it, that it’s become exhausting.
Alicia Keys’s new beauty brand, Keys Soulcare, isn’t one of those. In a world where the celebrity-beauty-line fatigue is real, the intention behind hers feels like something plucked from the strings of her heart—as with everything she does, be it music, film, or activism. Her energy reverberates through it.
“Beauty to me is mental, spiritual, soulful, and emotional,” she shared on a Zoom with Glamour ahead of the brand’s launch this week. “Physical is the last part of it.”
If you’ve read the internet at all for the past few years, you know that sentiment tracks. Keys’s decision to forgo wearing makeup on the red carpet in 2016 is in large part what set the movement to embrace individuality into motion. Now, with her brand—which is part online community, part self-care shopping haven—Keys wants to share the lessons it took her years of being in front of a crowd to learn. And yes, of course, some self-care products she really stands by, like her sage and oat milk candle that has a warm, cozy scent and her obsidian face-massage tool.
“I was raised by a single mother. She’s a one-billion-percent feminist. She’s super strong and powerful, and I always thought of myself as very much the same—feminist, independent, and very much my own thinker,” says Keys. “But I began to realize how influenced I had been by society’s standards of beauty and success. I found I was hiding myself in certain ways in order to seek this ideal of perfection, which is just nonexistent and honestly unfair.”
She says letting go of the “subtle suggestions” that influenced her earlier on in her career was a turning point. And it’s something she wants every woman to have the freedom to do—starting with us all taking some time for ourselves before we reach our breaking point.
Ahead, she talks more about what’s to come from Keys Soulcare and answers all our Big Beauty Questions.
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Glamour: One of the key tenants of Keys Soulcare is spirituality. Why was that important to you?
Alicia Keys: We talk about skin care, hair care, nail care, and all those cares—but we never talk about soul care. We never actually talk about how to go deeper with yourself and to be unafraid to sit with yourself. Even me—all the time I have to remind myself to be still. There can be an empty moment, and you don’t have to do anything. Even if it’s five minutes. You don’t have to clean the “this” and fix the “those” and answer the “that.” There’s something about focusing on yourself that’s still a bit taboo, especially for women. We’re taught that we’re supposed to be martyrs and give until we die. We’re supposed to not have one breath left ourselves, and then we’re a good mom, a good wife, and a real woman. It’s like, no! Who and what the hell? When can we start to be comfortable filling ourselves up?
And so this idea of getting to know your spirit and your soul more has really saved me. It’s really helped me be more clear about who I am, where I’m going, and who I want to be. I think spirituality is a big part of how we become more powerful.
What’s one beauty rule you swear by?
I know that I’m supposed to be getting more sleep. And I know if I do, that’s supposed to help my beauty and energy overall. I’m working on that. I do have this huge jug I call my Coconut, which I fill up with water and walk around with all day. It’s my best friend. I really didn’t used to be great about water. It’s more of a new thing. But it’s so simple and it makes a big difference.
What city or country gives you the greatest beauty inspiration?
I’m fascinated by ancient Kemet, which is also known as ancient Egypt. I’ve been drawn to it since I was a little girl. I’ve taken a few trips there and learned so much. With ancient cultures overall, there are a lot of ways I relate to them—with the idea of honoring Mother Earth and that the gods were always accompanied with goddesses. That’s one of the things I love the most about ancient Kemet: There was never a male energy without a woman energy. And that balance was very square and in the middle, and that’s what everybody knew and respected.
Over time that has become imbalanced, and the patriarchy took the lead, but when the two are in this beautiful union, and have a beautiful balance where they’re equally respected, that I think everything is on the right path. I also love the stones they used [for rituals], the prayers, and how things were built around the sun. Ancient Kemet has all these elements that are super fascinating that definitely inspire my beauty rituals.
You’re stranded on a desert island. What are the three products you bring with you?
I’m bringing my Skin Transformation Cream, because I need to be nourished and my skin needs to be nourished, and whenever I’m on an island, I’m going to be in the sun and I’m going to get kind of dry. Then I’d bring my Dr. Pawpaw lip balm, because it’s essential that my lips are not dry or hurting. That’s very important, especially because I’m going to be swimming on that island. I love to swim. And I guess that means I’m going to have to bring some sunscreen. I love the Epicuren Bee Pollen one.
If there were one thing you could change about beauty ideals, what would that be?
I want to change this idea that we’re only allowed to pay attention to ourselves once we can’t take it anymore and we’re totally rundown and exhausted. That’s part of why we don’t have energy and we don’t feel beautiful, because we’re waiting until we fall apart to care for ourselves.
What’s your favorite perfume?
I’m not too big on perfume. I actually like oils and prefer my scents in other ways and not so direct. I love a good rose oil and lavender, even though I know it’s supposed to make you sleepy. I just think it smells good. And ylang-ylang. I love ylang-ylang.
You have $20 and free roam of a drugstore. What do you buy?
Oh, man. What can you get for $20? I think I’d just do a giant tub of Vaseline, since you can use it so many ways. I’d just put my ylang-ylang oil over it, and I’d be good.
Who are the women inspiring you the most right now?
I love Janelle Monáe. She is just spectacular. Phenomenal. I’m very, very inspired by sisters America Ferrera and Kerry Washington, they're so about it and clear. I'm inspired by Lena Waithe and Ava DuVernay. I’m inspired by so many amazing women. I am just inspired.
Lindsay Schallon is the senior beauty editor at Glamour. Follow her on Instagram @lindsayschallon. This interview has been edited and condensed.
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