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90th Annual Academy Awards - Arrivals

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Danai Gurira doesn’t need much to look stunning, and she’s got her beauty routine down to a science. That includes knowing what does not work for her aesthetic.

“I don’t wear a ton of makeup daily, but I do love to explore. The older I get, the more confident I am exploring,” Danai told The New York Times.

The Black Panther star has a handful of go-to items, and it seems that she focuses much of her daily look on her eyes and lips.

“My key things are eyeliner, some shadow, and a gloss. Sometimes I put a base on over my Beauty Flash glow, but only if I need it,” she told The New York Times. “If I do, I use M.A.C. Matchmaster in Numbers 9 and 10. Eyeliner, I would say I have some good ones from M.A.C. M.A.C. also has some great eyeshadow palettes I lean into. I have mascara by L’Oréal.”

No matter what she wears, though, Danai’s guiding principle is that she always wants to look like herself. A proper beat can have you looking like a whole new person, especially when using one particularly popular cosmetic technique.

“The one thing I don’t do is contour. I would never even attempt it,” she said. “It’s partly because I leave that kind of stuff to the pros, but even when I’m working with makeup artists, I don’t like when they contour so much that I can’t see my face anymore. I want to see my face!”

Aside from that, Danai seems pretty open to learning from the pros to step up her everyday look. “I definitely take what I learn from the pros and apply it to what I do at home,” Danai explained.

In particular, Danai is becoming something of a lip color connoisseur. “Lately I’ve really grown to love a good lip,” she dished, adding that she has designer tastes for her lipstick. But, the label isn’t the thing that draws her to the brand.

“I use a lot of Chanel lipstick for the bold colors. They have a really great variety of reds that work on my skin tone,” Danai shared, adding that she was even wearing one of their shades as she played Okoye. “For my character on Black Panther,’= I brought out my own Chanel lipstick in Etienne, which is like a burgundy red. It worked so well, it became part of my character.”

With that ringing endorsement, we sincerely hope there is still some that Etienne available the next time we drop Chanel’s beauty counter.

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The grand return of the Melanin Awards amplifies and honors the finest Black-owned beauty brands with honest reviews, and discusses the evolution of beauty in Hip-Hop culture.