Gizelle Bryant Talks Her Makeup Line For Women Of Color and 'The Real Housewives of Potomac'

Forbes.com:

The Real Housewives of Potomac premiered on Bravo on January 17 with the network’s highest-rated Housewives debut to date across key demographics. The newest addition to The Real Housewives franchise now airs Sunday nights at 9 pm, immediately following the network’s highest-rated series, The Real Housewives of Atlanta. The two programs come together to create what Bravo affectionately calls, #ShadySunday.

With her striking looks and feisty one-liners, Gizelle Bryant has emerged as the breakout star of the newest franchise. While Bryant is never in short supply of hilarious shade – which at this point she has thrown at nearly every other cast mate – she is not just using her new platform to entertain: Bryant aims to bring social progress through both her business and activist endeavors.

With ‘nude’ having always been synonymous with a stereotypical Caucasian skin tone, the fashion and beauty industries have historically catered to white women. Bryant plans to push back against this with her new skincare line for women of color, Every Hue Beauty. She is also using her ever-expanding social media presence to advocate for revitalization efforts in environmentally destroyed sections of Birmingham, Alabama.

I spoke with Bryant about how she wound up on the show, her forthcoming makeup line for women of color, her social justice work and how she’s using social media to platform her expanding brand.

How did you end up on The Real Housewives of Potomac?
There was a good friend of mine who was doing the casting. I’ve actually known him for 20 years. They were looking for ladies, so he called me, and I immediately told him, “No I am not interested. I don’t want everybody in my business.”

But, once we talked about it, I realized I’m at such a great place in my life for this. You know, it’s just me and my girls, and I’m very proud of where I am, so I decided that it would be great to show that to the world.

When was this?
He recruited me in January, and we started shooting last April.

That was a pretty quick turnaround.
We were shocked at how fast the turnaround was. Once we started filming they were like, “Let’s get this show on the road.” The network execs were really happy with what they were seeing, so they went ahead and got us on the air fast.

Tell me about your makeup line for women of color?
The name of the line is Every Hue Beauty, and it is for women of color. It’s very difficult for women of color to find makeup that matches their skin tone. For women of color, the makeup that is out there now can make you look ashy or a lot of times the color is just not right. It’s a huge challenge.

We’re going to start with our signature product, which is going to be our tinted moisturizer. And we’re going to have 13 different shades, so everyone is matched. We’re also going to alleviate the problem of your skin looking dry or like a different color than it really is. It’s also going to have a great vitamins and minerals in it that are perfect for your skin.

So you’re going to look beautiful and your skin is going to feel beautiful, all at the same time.

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