She also just landed a L’Oreal Paris campaign and is on tour this spring.
Though she has a glam squad now, that wasn’t the case back when H.E.R.
H.E.R.s personal definition of beauty continues to evolve.
Arielle Bobb-Willis/August Image
As do her eyeliner skills.
The most important tip: confidence.
When I was a kid, my mom actually put me in some pageants.
Arielle Bobb-Willis/August Image
I was six, seven years old.
And I would always win Best Hair.
I’d also win the talent portion.
Arielle Bobb-Willis/August Image
I used to cover “If I Ain’t Got You.”
I lovedAlicia Keys’sstyle: When she wore braids, I was wearing my hair in braids.
I looked up to Alicia Keys a lot in that way.
I also looked up to my mom.
[I’d take a stab at do] the things my mom would do with her makeup.
I had Black aunties on my dad’s side.
And they took me to the store to get the right products for my hair.
I’m from Vallejo, California.
That was such a blessing to be around.
I went to the hair salon in downtown Vallejo anytime I had to do a performance.
I used to be intimidated when I was a kid.
Oh, my gosh, being in this chair.
Its a sacred place.
The women are talking and its like, How do I fit in?
But then you start listening to the conversation and having a good time and your hairstylist comforts you.
And then it turns into something else.
It started to be a safe space for me and I started to appreciate my hair.
A lot of the Black women [there] showed me how to do my hair.
That means we’re almost done."
I’ll never forget that.
I thought that was so funny.
I thought that was so funny."
I’ve had great skin the majority of my life.
I barely had a pimple, maybe one or two.
Then I turned 22 and everything changed.
I started having issues with my skin.
It wasn’t working anymore.
It got better and then worse again, then better and then worse.
It’s part of being a woman: Sometimes, our bodies are just all over the place.
Everybody has a different definition of feminism.
I think there’s so many factors to being a feminist.
It’s not just one thing.
I think thats a mistake that people make.
So I think its a feeling, it’s a way of expression.
I dont think I woke up one day and was like, Im a feminist.
is the real me, but its still a persona.
It’s kind of like me hiding in plain sight.
I just tuck my hair away and people don’t recognize me.
I’m not even going to blame the music industry for making me present myself in a certain way.
Being on camera, you want to look your best.
Lately,pamperingmyself has felt more like a chore because I’m so busy.
But sometimes, taking care of myself in the moment really makes me feel better.
It goes back to putting on my favorite T-shirt, my favorite sweater.
I don’t have to get my nails done every two weeks.
It doesn’t make me more or less ofa woman if I don’t get my eyebrows done.
Once I realized that, I was much less reliant on those things.
Ive been experimenting with a lot of different [makeup] colors.
Lips with a brown liner has been fun.
And then thewinged eyeliner… On my own, doing it myself, it’s a task.
But you have to have that confidence.
I draw eyeliner on and I freehand it.
I just trust it.
Once you start panicking, it goes wrong and then one side is bigger than the other.
And when you take a stab at fix it, it just keeps getting messier.
So you just have to hope it goes well.
Prince is one of those people who didn’t believe in standards or social norms.
He was so expressive in a way that was so Prince.
We see it now and you’re like, that’s Prince.
I admire that so much about him.
He just did whatever he wanted to do and wore whatever he wanted to wear.
I make a run at be like that, an individual who does things that feel right for me.
Getting ready forthe Oscars, I made an Old Hollywood playlist.
It was a bunch of Minnie Riperton and Earth, Wind & Fire.
Anything that sounded whimsical, but still soulful.
Then I started playing some worldwide kind of music Afrobeat and Fela Kuti, [things] like that.
It was a nice, relaxing day.
We were in downtown L.A. and I was looking at the view while I got my makeup done.
I was thinking about how far Ive come.
I dont know how to describe it.
It was just easy.
I think we have been listening with our eyes too much and I want things to change.
You didnt know too much about the artist, just the album cover and that was it.
Its not going to give you anything you haven’t worked for.
That’s one of my biggest messages.
It costs to be the boss.
I didnt work as hard as I could have."
But, of course, it’s okay to stop for a second.
I’m trying to be more mindful of that.
I love walking in the morning.
I dont live too far from the beach, so I go there to chill and reflect.
Once I stopped saying, “Oh, I dont have time for myself.
There’s not enough hours in the day,” then I started having time.
It does start with your mentality.
Anything that I do myself and put some effort into, thats when I feel beautiful.
