I've learned to ignore the negative people and just be a living example of confidence and self-love.
To this day, the first thing that I do every morning is look in the mirror. I'll tell myself, 'Look at your skin. Look at your teeth and your smile. You are beautiful.'
I use Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion for my body and Aveeno Clear Complexion Daily Moisturizer for my face. I love how it smooths my skin and keeps it soft and shiny all day.
Negative energy is wasteful.
My mom was the only one who didn't bleach her skin. She was the one who kept her natural complexion. So yes, I consider her a role model. All of her other family members would say to us, 'Oh, your mom is so beautiful. She's lucky she kept her skin.' Those comments stayed with me.
In my family, only my brother has a similar skin color. But in Senegal, the color is common.
A tip that I got from my mom that really helps keep my skin fresh is to wash my face with ice water in the morning. I love it. Just splash with water - cold water. That's the first thing I do every morning.
Make Up For Ever has foundation options that work for me - and everyone.
I want to inspire other young women of color and empower them. I want them to know that they can do and be anything they dream of.
When I was in high school in Paris, some photographers wanted my photos and asked if I was interested in modeling. I wasn't interested because I wanted to get my education first. I was scared because I didn't know what I was getting into.
I feel beautiful when my makeup looks great.
Diversity is what makes life interesting.
Being teased and losing my self value eventually ended up inspiring me to be a better version of myself.
There are so many types of beauty that all deserve to be celebrated.
For those who feel the need to be bullies, I ignore them.
In my country - even though we have a lot of dark-skinned people - people think the lighter you are, the better you are. They think beauty has to do with being light-skinned. I think that's really wrong.
I was in Italy on vacation, and I saw my reflection in a mirror. I saw how unique my skin was and why people stop me on the street to ask about it. I started falling in love with it.
Even though I was very young, it was traumatizing seeing someone try weird things on their skin all for the sake of being lighter. It's as common as relaxing your hair or maybe even brushing your teeth. I had friends not wanting to do it, but their moms gave them creams to help lighten their skin. That's how accessible it is.
I didn't have to listen to nobody or look how anybody wanted me to look. I just wanted to be myself and look however I want.
As I grew, I learned to love myself more every day and not pay attention to the negative people, which helped a lot.
