Nathalie Emmanuel’s Guide to Natural Hair Care and Healing Breakouts

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Hi, I'm Nathalie Emmanuel

and I am going to talk you through my hair, skincare,

and makeup routine.

First rule of setting your curls

is making sure that they are fully wet

because that's the best version of your curls.

So, I'm gonna wet my hair.

I'm just very carefully just taking out

a few little tangles.

Very important thing for curly, kinky, coily hair,

oiling my scalp with this lovely castor oil.

So I do a little bit at a time,

maybe this much.

And I just kind of massage it into my scalp.

And I sort of make sure I get all over my scalp.

The next thing I do now is put in my leave-in conditioner.

I'm using Jim and Henry Ten Pro.

Corsican rosemary and chamomile.

And Rosemary is really, really great

for hair growth as well.

Oh, I didn't realize quite

how challenging it would be having

very curly, kinky hair in the kind of acting industry.

Like, the idea that my hair would be natural

was kind of like not really seen much.

And I remember having people come up to me and be like,

Oh, it's so great that you wear your natural hair.

It sort of dawned on me. I was like,

Right, I haven't, you're right,

I never see people with their natural hair really.

And, and it was actually became quite important to me

that I always try to just demonstrate

that my hair in its natural form is just beautiful and fine,

I don't have to change it.

I am using Pattern.

Shout out Tracee Ellis Ross, what a queen!

So I'm starting with, like, this amount.

Just in this, you know, routine,

I'm using two different lines for kinky and coily hair.

And the fact, as well,

that these are black-owned businesses,

what's happened is, is that black women are going,

I don't, I grew up not having things in my hair,

and now I'm gonna make one.

I'm here to support all of those people.

This is what I use to dry my hair, with a diffuser.

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Sometimes just to kind of finish off the drying,

I just take the diffuser off.

The next stage is just kind of going through it

with a little pick.

Oh, yeah, I like that.

Okay, so a little styling thing, I'm gonna lay my edges,

I actually just really like, it's again,

Pattern's Edge Control.

It's really good.

Put it over.

Most of the time,

I'm trying to get out the house as quickly as possible.

And, so, I'm just excited that people can see.

It's like the equivalent for me of like shaving your legs

up into the skirt.

You know, like, so no one, we're just shaving our ankles

in your like three quarter length trousers.

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Edges laid.

Juicy, juicy curls.

And so on to skincare.

I have very volatile skin.

I'm actually healing, as you may have already noticed

from a little breakout,

my polka dots, as I like to call them.

Foam cleanser for darker skin tones.

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So, I read somewhere that you should cleanse your skin

for at least, like, 60 seconds.

And now I'm gonna rinse off.

I have a second cleanser, the enzyme cleanser.

I never really went through, like,

crazy acne during puberty.

So yeah, when I got to like my mid twenties,

I just started, like, getting this, like,

hormonal breakouts.

And it was often in these areas,

which is like usually linked to hormones.

I was quite insecure about it.

But, yeah, like with the exfoliating,

I think exfoliation is just really important,

sort of rejuvenate the skin.

So gently pat my face dry,

but I quite like leaving it a little bit damp

for when I apply my serums.

Still recovering from this breakout,

so I'm using the clarifying serum.

So I use just one pipette-ful.

Give it a minute just to soak in before I moisturize.

I get kind of just like small amount.

And just would pat this.

I bought myself a light mask.

And so, you know, it's quite fetching.

And I found that this has really helped with

the inflammation that I get

and it kind of helps reduce it much faster.

Probably the most important thing is your SPF.

The little sun drops.

I have not always worn sunblock.

I haven't always done it in terms of my skincare,

but definitely if I was like on holiday

or where it's very hot.

And final thing for skincare is spot treatment.

So just to deal with my little friends that I have.

I've been vegan now for maybe I think it's been eight years.

There was something about just being really

particular about what I ate

and what I put in my body.

That kind of journey came from my kind of love of yoga

and love of self-care and meditation,

and just being really in tune with my body

and really understanding my body.

So moving on to the makeup look,

I sort of start with my lip balm,

which is from a lovely kind of indie company called

Cosmetics à la Carte in London.

Growing up, like, finding foundations

that actually matched your skin was really, really hard.

My skin tone is kind of much more complicated

as everybody's is.

So I went and had my foundation blended

and I kind of haven't really looked back.

And I will just start with a few pumps.

Early on in my career where I was having issues

with people being able to do my makeup,

I just realized it was incredibly important

that I could do my own.

And, often, after I'd been through makeup,

just go and blend my foundation a bit more,

but we are working hard to make that a thing of the past.

Chanel concealer.

I just put a little bit on the back of my hand

'cause I don't wanna touch the kind of tip of it

onto my acne.

So I like to just kind of do a bit with my finger.

And then I'll do a little bit under my eyes

depending on how rested I am.

Yeah, and I have a bit of, like,

sort of scarring that can show through.

So, sometimes I just,

even me just spread it around.

So, next, this is from Ulta and it is

Stay Cheeky Liquid Blush.

I just start in the apple of my cheek.

And this is nice 'cause it's got a little, like,

kind of glow to it as well,

like, almost a bit of a highlight.

My character on Game of Thrones

looked like she had no makeup on, but she,

I definitely had like very natural-looking makeup.

It wasn't beauty makeup.

When I learned that Missandei was gonna die,

as the only woman of color on the show,

I knew that people would feel her loss,

like the loss of her,

because she's also just like a really kind, good character.

I was not anticipating, I guess, the sort of,

the size of the reaction that happened.

And, so, I think that really sparked the conversation

about when we make these shows in the future,

when we are casting these shows, like,

do we just have to have the one person,

is there space for more of us?

And I think the answer is yes.

And I know the answer is yes.

And that's especially true,

not just with what we've been talking about

with hair and makeup and making sure that our makeup rooms,

our head departments, you know,

that they're catering to people who

don't just fit this one box

that we've seen just become the standard.

I always wish that there was someone who was in that room

who would be advocating for me too

and not having to always advocate for myself.

I really like kind of dewy, glossy skin.

And, so, this little product from Glossier,

I just do, like, maybe one pump.

I just kind of get it on my high points, on my cheeks.

And I like to just put a little bit

in the center of my eyelid.

Someone did this to me on a shoot once

and I was like, Ooh, this is so cute.

And I have, like, natural pigmentation on my eyelids

that are quite brown and I quite like it,

I think it kind of gives me definition without trying.

So, thanks Mom, for that.

This cool little brand called Lorac

I use they're liquid, they're Pro Liquid Eyeliner in black.

We're feeling fancy today, so I'm gonna put a complete line.

Oh, I did that quite easily, that never happens.

Some mascara.

I like to sort of brush them towards

the outer edge of the eye.

So, my eyebrows and I, we have been through a lot together.

I was really quite badly about them.

And people used to tease me about how, I mean,

I had like bushy eyebrows, like, joined in the middle.

And I begged my mom for years.

She wouldn't let me pluck them.

She wouldn't let me do anything to them.

When I was about 15,

I finally convinced her to let me get them waxed.

And, when I tell you this woman destroyed my eyebrows,

they literally, I mean, I'm just gonna comb them.

They literally started here

and this was all gone in the middle.

In the end, I just decided that

no one else was gonna do my brows but me.

I know how I like them.

And, I like them fuller.

I like to kind of brush them up

and sort of fan them out.

We're gonna fill them in slightly.

And, basically, when anyone compliments my eyebrows,

I'm like, I guess they're best friends forever.

I use the Glossier Boy Brow.

And, like, what I do, because I've just put the product in,

I don't wanna move it around too much.

I kind of just, like,

almost back, like, comb my hair on the edges,

just in the wrong direction.

Brush them into a nice shape.

And there they are.

So, this is my final look.

I hope you enjoyed learning about how I do my hair,

and my makeup, and skincare.

Bye!

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