There were Alessandra, Gisele, and Adriana.
Isabeli, Cintia, and Izabel.
Today, a new guard of Brazilian women with beauty influence has refreshingly less in common.
Courtesy collage of Magà Moura, Nathalie Billio, Letticia Munniz, Danielle DaMata, and Roberta Munis. Illustration by Clara Hendler
Meet Maga, Nathalie, Letticia, Daniele, and Roberta.
I didn’t know about my Blackness," Moura says.
“White, blonde girls with blue eyes, green eyes, this was the stereotype of beauty.”
Courtesy Nathalie Billio
Her sister suggested she see a Black stylist, who did abraided styleon Moura’s damaged hair.
“I was like, ‘Oh, my God, I’m Black!
I want to be this girl I’m seeing in the mirror.'”
Courtesy Letticia Munniz
From then on, Moura began wearing colorful piles of braids, locs, and curls.
Happily, Moura says, those biases are being corrected.
“Girls are no longer afraid to embrace their hair.
Courtesy Danielle DaMata
Now it’s like, ‘I’m Black, I’m proud, I’m beautiful.’
This is my Black power.
These are my braids.”
Courtesy Roberta Munis
She grew up in the small town of Araruama, where no one had much money for makeup.
Thered lipsticksshe saw on the screen signaled a world of glamour she could only dream of.
She eschews sexualized Brazilian beauty standards for more androgynous, artistic ones.
“I think women were using a lot of makeup to give a shot to change their face.
This is changing,” she says.
I love receiving this kind of message."
“It was the thing I would start my day thinking about and end my day crying about.
We learn you’re going to be successful when you’re pretty.
And pretty girls weren’t my size.”
Then Munniz came across American modelAshley Grahamon Instagram.
“Her body looks so much like mine,” Munniz says.
“She set me free.
From that day on, I decided to be Ashley for someone, you know?”
Munniz began sharing her journey to a positive body image on her own account.
Today, she has a successful modeling career and over 720,000 Instagram followers.
Munniz is happy to be in a place where she can give to others.
“I am so hot and so sexy and so inspiring.
How can I keep that to myself?”
“Black women felt they had to hide themselves.”
So DaMata decided to become larger than life.
She wanted to ensure she was seen and that everyone like her was seen.
Today, DaMata only wears her signature Cruella wig on special occasions.
If she leaves the house without her wig, “People still recognize me.
I have this nose that’s mine.
I have this smile and my eyes.
People know who I am.”
She says she is impossible to reach during Carnaval, which I fully believe.
I was barely able to elbow my way onto her calendar for this interview in the off-season.
In short, her nail art is calculated to raise eyebrows.
For Munis, this marks a sea change in attitudes toward beauty in the country.
“That’s a thing of the past.”
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