Tasha Smith Is Our 2025 Melanin Beauty Awards Timeless Beauty

Tasha Smith’s beauty is so striking, God created it twice. Smith is a famous twin, and on any given day you might scroll past a viral video of her sister Sidra with captions that describe her as ’90s fine. That’s an accurate description of their shared features. With creamy mahogany skin, cheekbones to die for, and an effervescent glow from within, Tasha Smith is our 2025 Melanin Beauty Awards timeless beauty.

This year’s Melanin Beauty Awards places emphasis on your glow from within, and if there’s anyone who personifies that light, it is Tasha Smith. When I caught up with Smit, earlier this year, she was on a round of press promoting her then-project. Her energy was palpable as she come to the Zoom call sharing laughter with Bevy Smith, with whom she had just had an interview.

“I feel like I’m at my best right now,” Smith revealed. Like at where I am in life, I’m at my best.” And that radiance is palpable. But the 54-year-old director and actress was always confident. She reflects on looking back at her younger self, joking about when her boobs sat up by themselves, and questions “Why was I not knowing how fine I was?”

A lesson she learned is other people’s bullsh*t, particularly men, isn’t a reflection of who she is and what beauty she has. “When I was younger, I was always crying over some man, right? Thinking it was my fault that they weren’t doing right by me,” she explained. “It wasn’t my fault that he wanted to go out and screw a thousand other people—that had to do with him. That wasn’t a reflection of me. My kindness, my goodness, my beauty, the essence of my being, any of it. And so as you get older, you learn that everybody else’s stuff has nothing to do with [you].”

This year’s Melanin Beauty Awards theme “Glow Deeper” spotlights the importance of celebrating beauty from the outside and the inner wellness that causes a beaming glow. When it comes to honoring her melanin, Tasha credits her esthetician Mamie McDonald for her healthy skin. From her face wash to her oxygen plasma drops, Tasha swears by her products and uses many of them.

“I have to give a plug to two different people. There’s my friend named Mamie that lives in Jersey. She’s been my esthetician for probably 20 years. I use all like near all of her products. I love Skin by Mamie products, her face wash, serums, oxygen plasma drops, her oxygen lotion. I use all of her stuff, but I also mix it in with Dr. Diamond’s Metacine products. So, I use a combination of both of those on my skin and I literally only get facials maybe three times a year.”

Tasha’s skincare routine is a combination of effective treatments, luxury products and guidance from the pros. But most-importantly, she likes to keep is simple when she can. “I’m a clean face chick, you know, I put on a red lip like, a little gloss. As long as I got a lash.”