From texturism to colorism, featurism to transphobia, the Black community is often told beauty does not look like us. With most of us growing up internalizing racist, homophobic and fatphobic definitions of beauty, we take on the responsibility to help each other unlearn harmful ideals. At the 30th ESSENCE Festival of Culture’s BeautyCon™ stage, the ESSENCE senior beauty editor Akili King sat down with WNBA athlete Kysre Gondrezick about how to tap into your natural beauty—and define beauty on your own terms.
“Beauty comes from within and not from the exterior,” Gondrezick told King. “As long as we keep chasing illusions of beauty we’re always going to be altering ourselves. I took off the lashes, I took out the lip fillers, I took out the breast implants, and I just went all back natural,” she shared for the first time on the Beautycon stage.
Meanwhile, with athletes like Tina Thompson and Skylar Diggins-Smith leading her beauty inspiration growing up, Gondrezick is now turning to ‘90s beauty for inspiration, leaning on the “JLo bun” as her signature look. “Now just being my most authentic self, I’m attracting everything it is that I want,” she said. “Deservingly so, because of the gifts that God has given me, I covered up for so long.” Taking these lessons to the hoop, the former Chicago Sky athlete keeps hair and makeup off of her face, leaning on products her mother recommended, like Noxzema, Neutrogena Treatment Pads, and collagen. “Mothers know best,” King added.
From skincare to health and wellness, discipline is Gondrezick’s biggest beauty advice. “There are vibrational foods that make you feel better,” she said. Drinking ACV-enriched water, plenty of greens, and reducing sweets helps her maintain the health of her body. “I notice that it does have an effect on my mood, it has an effect on my skin, I’ll start breaking out,” she said. “The best form of self-love is truly discipline. If you can learn to have accountability with yourself and be disciplined you’ll see it flourish in other areas of your life from the inside out.”