The security gate slides open, and a Lamborghini Urus rolls into view.
Out steps a petite, doll-like figure.
Sunkissedcurlswhip around in the breeze.
Selina King bracelet and cuff.
A cropped bustier reveals toned biceps and tight triceps, low-slung cargo pants hang off those famous hips.
Mayyyyybe 54 in platform sneakers.
Christian Cowan dress. Agmes cuff. Selina King bracelet and cuff.
Tiny but mighty, I whisper to myself.
(And neither do her hair, face, and various other body parts.)
I didnt think beauty was my forte.
Jade swim bathing suit. Hanro tights. Gianvito Rossi heels. Versace sunglasses.
I thought it was just one more thing that I could exploit.
Jade swim bathing suit.
Speaking of which, a superhero would be right at home cruising in her set of wheels.
Luar top. Area shorts. Wolford tights. Lizzie Fortunato cuffs. To create this makeup look: Juvia’s Place The Coffee Shop Eyeshadow Palette, MAKE Beauty Multi-Chromatic Metllaic Eyeshadow in Blaze, and Buxom Full-On Plumping Lip Cream in Hot Toddy.
This one is tricked out in neon purple.
Shakira is not your typical Miami soccer mom, sure, but shes not your typical anything.
As the title suggests, the project comes after a period of personal pain.
I was in the mud.
I had to reconstruct myself.
I had to reunite all the pieces that had fallen apart.
To create this makeup look: Milani Silky Matte Bronzer in Sun Light, NARS Afterglow Liquid Blush in Dolce Vita, and Tarte Maracuja Juicy Lip Plump in White Peach.
Making this music has shown me that my pain can be transformed into creativity.
(She is crying diamonds on the cover.)
The songs are full of anecdotes and some very intense emotions I have experienced in these two years.
But creating this album has been a transformation in which I have been reborn as a woman.
I have rebuilt myself in the ways I believe are appropriate.
Something in her tone tells me shes not done.
We sit quietly for a minute.
She sips her espresso and begins simultaneously tugging and twirling at one of her long, golden curls.
Now, no one will control us.
No one will tell us how to heal, how to clean our wounds.
Shakira is certainly not crying in silence.
She is an artist experiencing a career renaissance that has her sitting pretty atop a mountain of professional accolades.
In January 2023, she dropped Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol.
(Shakira unleashes the famous she-wolf howl on this new album, too.)
No one tells me how I become a better version of myself.
She is all too aware that every phase in her career as a performer is open to scrutiny.
I consider 2005sOral Fixation, Vol.
2., her second English language album.
On the cover, Shakira plays Eve, clothed only in strategic leaves, apple in hand.
I ask if she identifies with the biblical character.
To keep things as they are.
Ill take that as a resounding no.
Because weve had to apologize so many damn times in the past.
Last summer, Shakira found a kindred spirit, a partner in crime in the unlikeliest of places.
The song represents the newborn woman, she explains.
It was filmed here in Miami.
She mentions that hottie, erm, actor Lucien Laviscount flew in from Paris to play the centaursheconquers.
The centaurs, they’re in ecstasy, she says, obviously very pleased with how the production went.
Because on this planet, the men are happy to be dominated by women.
Shakira hails from an entirely different planet.
My idol was Wonder Woman.
I remember my mom stopped working at some point.
She stopped wearing miniskirts, and the length of her skirts got longer because my dad said so.
I proudly share my nugget of research with her.
If true, a seismic shift is underwayand Shakira is here for it.
I watched it, yeah.
My sons absolutely hated it.
They felt that it was emasculating.
And I agree, to a certain extent.
I’m raising two boys.
I want ‘em to feel powerful too [while] respecting women.
I think that men have a purpose in society and women have another purpose as well.
We complement each other, and that complement should not be lost.
Just because a woman can do it all doesnt mean she should?
This is part of the Shakira Paradox.
And yet it doesnt betray her brand of feminism to expect men to man up.
Of course, Id put on mymascaraandstraighten my hairoccasionally.
But I think I rely on other aptitudes rather than just beauty.
Fair, but this isAllure.
I need her to break down her beauty routine.
I don’t do a lot of shit, she says.
And when I have an appearance, I do the craziest thing.
I’ve tried every single hair product on the market.
The secret to Shakiras amazingcurlsat least when those curls are not a wig.
Women have been waiting decades for this information.
I went to a lab and developed my own products for myself, my own line.
Maybe one day I’ll share my secret.
Bathed in strobe lights, Shakira takes the stage.
The traditionalmusica nortenasounds of the Texas band come pouring through the sound system.
A moment later, she shades her eyes and motions for an assistant to bring amirrorand hermakeup pouch.
I don’t know if every woman goes through life like this, wondering, Am I pretty enough?
Am I considered beautiful or not?
Sometimes you just look in the mirror and say, “It’s a yes.
And I can conquer the world.
