Herieth Paul on Diversity & Dreams Beyond Maybelline

Following her announcement as the new face of Maybelline New York, Tanzanian beauty, Herieth Paul has been caught dishing on all her beauty loves – from the models she admires to her home-made skin remedies and her go-to makeup style.

Speaking with Glamour.com’s Lipstick team, Ms Paul said her favourite Maybelline girls were the legendary Christy Turlington and model-turned-childrenswear designer Jourdan Dunn, saying;

“Christy is such a strong beautiful woman. She’s a mum and she helps charities – she’s just an icon. Jourdan is also a mum and is doing her thing to help others.”

The spot for her all time beauty icon though, is reserved for her mother (though also mentions that like us, she loves Queen Bey) with Herieth saying;

“She has this naturally rosy, peachy colour in her cheeks. Her skin is little bit lighter than mine and it comes out when she’s blushing or she’s cold.

It’s so beautiful on her; it makes her face look like sunlight.”

The 20-year-old Dar es Salaam-born model who is known for her cropped natural hair, explained her go-to beauty look, revealing;

“I love a red lip, especially if I’m going out with friends. And a ton of mascara on my top lashes – specifically Maybelline “Falsies Push Up Drama Mascara”. I bring it everywhere I go. I’ll apply five coats because I have really thin lashes, and I have to do a lot to get the look that I like.

On her signature tresses specifically, the Tanzanian star says;

“Whenever I go on vacation I like to change up my hair – I’ll braid it or get dreads – but my favourite is just keeping it short and curly.

I have this olive oil gel – it’s called EcoStyler Gel. I buy it at the drugstore and it’s the best thing ever. I use a little bit of it after I wash my hair in the morning. I just rub it in, and that’s it!”

“I …watch a lot of YouTube videos and create my own products. My favourite has to be making my own serums: I buy hyaluronic acid – I get a food-grade version on Amazon and mix it with distilled water and lavender oil, and I use it every day.

The trick with hyaluronic acid is it keeps the moisture in your skin, especially in the Winter. My skin is always so dry  – I literally recommend this recipe to everyone. I keep it in the fridge and it turns into a gel. After a week, I toss it out and make a fresh batch.

“I did my own makeup. I wore false lashes, pink cheeks, a nude lip, and I highlighted a little bit. I looked so beautiful.

I watched Jaclyn Hill YouTube videos to learn how to do the lashes. It took me hours, but I finally did it right. Everyone asked who did my makeup, and I was like, “I did it myself!”

Last season I did the Balmain show, and they styled my hair into a high ponytail. I hadn’t seen my hair in a ponytail for so long.

They had to straighten it – it took three hours and I had three people straightening it. Then I got this beautiful cat eye and nude lips.”

On the diversity fashion’s catwalks are experiencing, Herieth said;

“When I first started modeling in 2011, there were very few darker-skinned girls. Now I see girls from all over the world.

You see Asian girls, Indian girls – you see every kind of girl. I feel like it’s getting better – we’re not there yet – but I see a change. There’s still some work to be done!”

Going deeper, the stunner talked about her philanthropic ventures, and her dream to open a school in Tanzania, telling Lipstick;

“When I grew up in Tanzania, I went to school with kids who were blind and deaf, and we were all in one class. There wasn’t a different class or teacher for them, so they didn’t learn anything.

I’m hoping to organise a school to train teachers to help children with disabilities. It’s my future goal. I want to move back to Tanzania and do that eventually.

My mum has had an orphanage in Tanzania since I was born. All the girls she helped have graduated high school and now they’re going to college.

My mum and I have organised to take a percentage of my income to send them to school. We’re paying for university, bus fare, books…everything they need, we’re taking care of it. It’s such a small contribution and it makes a big difference in their life.”

Team SPICE are super impressed by the model’s pledge to better the education of young people in her home country, and can’t wait to see the first shots from Herieth Paul’s Maybelline Spring’16 campaign, and the rest of her dreams come true.

Image source: Glamour.com, Vogue.com, Fashionsizzle.com, @Heriethpaul, Zenmagazineafrica.com