Naked Beauty

Some creatives are truly in a league of their own and this guest has always stood out as someone pushing aesthetic boundaries all while being incredibly thoughtful. Artist, singer, designer, muse, creative director, and Tumblr icon KESH has never been too interested in adhering to the typical standards of beauty. She effortlessly rocks red eyeliner and gemstones on her nose, treating her face as a canvas for true self-expression. T...

Hope Giselle joins us to talk about her incredible journey to becoming a sought-after activist and speaker. Hope began her advocacy work fighting for inclusion and access for herself as an undergraduate at Alabama A&M University. Hope founded the university’s first LGBTQ+ organization and later became the first openly trans woman to earn a Master of Fine Arts from the university. She has since built a decade-long career a...

Sami Miro is the founder of Sami Miro Vintage, a Creative Director, and CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund finalist whose innovative approach to fashion merges circular design, emerging AI, and ethical production. During our conversation, Sami discusses how her sense of self was shaped early, growing up mixed-race (Black, French, and Russian) in San Francisco, raised solely by her father who reminded her of her inherent beauty. Sami’s s...

In this episode of Naked Beauty, I'm sharing the philosophy that has shaped the way I get dressed for years, and it's probably not what you think.

When I'm getting ready for a big meeting, a wedding, a gallery opening, a red carpet, or even just a night out, I don't start with the outfit. I start with the character. I start with the story. I start by asking myself one question: What category am I walking?

Inspired by the ballroom...

Madison Utendahl returns to the show on the heels of an incredible career pivot and with her burnout in check. Madison has appeared as a guest on the show in her capacity as the Webby-Award-winning and Forbes 30 Under 30 director of the Utendahl Creative Branding Studio, and founding member of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Refinery29’s 29Rooms, and Museum of Ice Cream. Today she arrives as the Founder of Utendahl Consul...

This episode is sponsored by smartwater®

Ruth E. Carter is a trailblazing costume designer known for her work on Malcolm X, the Black Panther films, Sinners, and so many more iconic works. She has been awarded Academy Awards, a BAFTA, a Critics Choice Award, the Costume Designers Guild Award, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But before that, she was exploring Black literature and history in Black Studies-focused enrichm...

In this very special episode of Naked Beauty, I had the privilege of talking to my grandfather, Calvin George Kemp, about his being 102 years old. He shared his experiences growing up in the segregated Vine City in Atlanta, Georgia. He explained how his father and other elders sheltered local children from the harsh realities of racism, and raised him in a community of Black people where he felt comfortable and safe. Things ch...

Jeneé Naylor is an influencer, founder, and CEO who has been sharing her impeccable fashion taste with social media audiences for years. With over a million followers across Instagram and Tiktok, she has proven that she can translate her endless looks and inspiring personality across any medium and to any audience. Jeneé built her digital presence after being pushed out of a successful and stable six-figure C-suite career at Target...

We gathered in NYC on the first Tuesday in May to debrief the 2026 Met Gala, and my wonderful guests did not hold back. We started with the artists behind two of our favorite looks: Coree Moreno and Sir John, who discussed their respective visions and approaches to hair and makeup for Chase Infiniti and Naomi Osaka. Then, Crystal Anderson and Sean Garette delivered rapid-fire hot takes on the night's best and worst looks — fr...

In this very special Mother’s Day Episode, I am joined by two creative powerhouses, Lynn Whitfield and Grace Gibson. Lynn Whitfield is an award-winning and internationally recognized actress with a career spanning decades. Her incredible artistry has consistently championed the experiences of complicated and powerful women whose stories deserved to be told with the depth and care that only Lynn could provide. Grace Gibson is ...

Sir John and I had a fascinating conversation with Dita Von Teese, the Queen of Burlesque. We talked about her childhood and the Hollywood starlets that inspired her to transform into the pinup girl of her dreams. Dita shared with us how her start dancing in the rave and strip club scene empowered her to always be her unique self. We also got the inside scoop on her Vegas show, a compilation of her life's work that includes origina...

Atiya Walcott is one of the most distinctive voices in fashion content, known for the cinematic quality of her videos, her mastery of silhouette and layering, and an approach to getting dressed that is equal parts intention and joy. In this episode, we get into all of it: her film school background, her relationship to beauty, what quiet luxury really signals, and why the way you dress is one of the most consequential creative deci...

Since Cyndi Ramirez Fulton opened Chill House on New York's Lower East Side in 2017, the brand has grown from a cult downtown spa into a nationwide product line, culminating in a 2025 acquisition by Kiss Beauty Group, with Cyndi still at the helm. On today's episode, Cyndi takes us back to growing up in Queens as the daughter of a Colombian esthetician and how that environment shaped her relationship with beauty and her entrepreneu...

This is THE fragrance episode you’ve been waiting for. If you’re ready to talk top notes vs. base notes, Eau de Toilette vs. Eau de Parfum, get ready for this fascinating discussion with Asia Grant, the co-founder of fragrance brand Redoux. We dive into her relationship with fragrance growing up, why gendering fragrance is a waste of everyone’s time, the story behind her new bar soap products, launching a Black-ow...

This episode is sponsored by smartwater®

During the Essence Black Women in Hollywood event, I spoke with the indomitable Bozoma Saint John live. Bozoma grew up between Ghana, Kenya, Washington DC, and Colorado Springs, a childhood of constant reinvention that taught her to read rooms fast and never apologize for taking up space. At 14, she wasn't crying because she didn't feel beautiful. She was crying because her classmates did...

Erica Chidi is an author, founder,  culinary school graduate, and one of the most genuinely knowledgeable people in the wellness space — and today, she's sitting down with me for an honest, friend-to-friend conversation about one of the most relatable struggles out there: how to actually feed yourself well when your calendar is back-to-back all week. I open up about my own journey navigating nutrition since being diagnos...

Grammy-award-winning artist and beauty entrepreneur Alicia Keys has arrived at Naked Beauty, and we couldn’t be more excited. With braids and makeup choices that have influenced beauty culture for decades (most recently the Super Bowl halftime show), we sit down with Alicia to talk about where her relationship with beauty all started.

Tune in as we dive deep into:

*Growing up biracial in Hell’s Kitchen and the musica...

Before Amy Liu built Tower28, the company that currently sells products every 10 seconds in Sephora, she was working in the beauty industry and struggling with sensitive skin. With encouragement and investments from close friends, Amy leveraged her 15+ years of experience to bet on herself and build Tower 28, a company that keeps sensitive skin at the core of its product development. During our conversation, Amy shared that she dea...

Today's episode is all about what I've learned from doing the 75 Style Hard challenge, created by fashion TikToker Mandy Lee (Old Loser in Brooklyn). The rules are to get dressed intentionally every day for 75 days, buy nothing new, document outfits, and set personal style goals. For me, daily styling has revealed that fit issues were the main reason I avoided many items in my closet, so tailoring has been the key to success in thi...