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What happens when you take a beauty guru and a supermodel and put them in front of a camera? You get Naomi Campbell’s latest No Filter With Naomi YouTube series episode So far, guests have included Anna Wintour, Diddy, Karlie Kloss, Venus & Serena Williams, Lee Daniels and the latest interviewee Jackie Aina.

The two beauties came together today to bring fans from all over the digital world to discuss Jackie’s journey as a YouTuber, the evolution of the beauty industry for Black women and army life.

For those of you who missed the live YouTube, you can catch the replay of her season finale on Naomi’s YouTube channel, or check out HelloBeautiful’s cliff notes below:

Jackie Aina Originally Went To College For Pharmaceuticals 

While sharing her “quintessential rags to riches story” as she told Naomi, prior to joining the army, Jackie Aina attended college for two years to study biochemistry in hopes of becoming a pharmacist. The Nigerian-American beauty influencer soon realized that the traditional college experience was not for her, so she decided to take the advice of her then-boyfriend to consider enlisting. Two years after leaving the army, Jackie launched her YouTube channel in 2009 and the rest was history.

Naomi Campbell Hated One Of Her Editorial Covers

As she began to tell the sweet story of how she used to steal her mother’s foundation because she couldn’t afford it –  though her mother was lighter than her – she admitted to hating one of her Italian VOGUE covers because her makeup shading was incorrect. Though she’s had a couple jobs in her career, this one seemed to be one of the most memorable. “At 17 years old and I’m new to the game, what am I gonna say?,” Naomi shrugs as she reminisces on wanting to “cry her eyeballs out” at the finished product.

Naomi Campbell Was One Of The Muses For The NARS Brand

Jackie Aina named a few brands from Lancome to MAC to NARS on brands that she feels are doing the work in diversity and inclusion for Black women and darker shades. Then, she expressed admiration for Naomi when she remembered how big of  an influence Naomi Campbell had on the beauty brand’s work. “The fact that you could literally get Francois NARS to make stuff for you,” Jackie says about her interviewer, “that’s incredible”.

Jackie Didn’t Wear Makeup For 10 Weeks When She Was In The Army

In a discussion about her Christian background and fasting, Jackie shares that her religious background sometimes calls for fasting, but that she’s never done it herself. When asked by Naomi if she’s ever done beauty fasting, which she says is “great for the skin,” Jackie says that she technically did it for approximately two and a half months during her army experience. “That was rough, but could I do it again? Yeah, I can do it again.”

“When I joined the army, we weren’t allowed to wear makeup. I mean, you couldn’t even sneak it. Only when I went to basic training,” Jackie tells Naomi about her experience in basic training. “You cannot groom yourself in any way, shape or form. They make everybody look the same; everybody is going through it.”

Jackie Takes A Lot Of Time To Research Before Creating Content

We’ve discovered one of Jackie’s secrets to successful YouTube uploading and maintenance – and that’s research. “I put a lot of time into researching what is trending on YouTube; what is trending on social media, in general?,” the Los-Angeles based influencer shares. “I spend a lot of time researching new products, new launches.” As you can imagine, everyone wants to send Auntie Jackie their products for a review from the queen herself to send her honest thoughts and opinions out into the world. She does her due diligence and research into what’s coming out and upcoming campaigns on Instagram and Twitter. 

She’s also not shy to slide into the DMs to be the first to review a product. “If something is coming out and I know it’s not going to be on the shelves for another couple weeks, I might slide in the DM,” she jokes. “I know it’ll benefit my viewers either way because they want to see it regardless”.

Jackie Was The First YouTuber To Receive An NAACP Image Award

Jackie Aina has made history by receiving an NAACP Image Award for YouTuber of the Year in 2018. “It made me feel like I’m being recognized by my community now,” the award recipient gushes. “I’m not just being recognized for the technical teaching, contouring and highlight.”

When Naomi asked Jackie about how she feels about her community recognition, Jackie says, “it’s everything”. She continues, “it truly validates all of the work that I put into what I’m doing now”

“You deserve your credit for what you’ve done for women of color and what you continue to do,” Naomi virtually embraces Jackie. 

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