Gossip Girl’s Whitney Peak on Air-Dried Curls and Flawless Brows

[gentle music]

Hey, it's Whitney Peak,

and I'm gonna be running you guys

through my morning routine.

So, we're gonna do some hair,

some skin care, and a makeup look.

For bed, I usually wear my hair in a scarf.

But, I'm just gonna take it out and I would wash my hair.

And then, I'll come back when it's wet.

All right, this is what we're working with.

Now it's kind of, it's still pretty wet.

First thing I'm gonna use is this curl defining, oh,

this is like my YouTuber dreams right now.

I'm just gonna put, okay, like that much.

Next, I use this Pattern Oil Hair Serum.

I'm out of it.

Like, I have to, like, press it against my body

to spray it.

Okay, there we go.

And I do the same thing and just run it all over.

My hair has been through a lot, so.

This is The Closer Instant Repair Cream.

I have really bad split ends.

I just kind of scrunch it into my hair.

The next thing I'm using is this Moisture and Shine Cream.

I'm actually in love with this one.

This one's really, really dope.

My siblings have different textured hair than I do.

And so, I've never really had, or, you know,

been well-educated on products that are good for my hair.

So, I've just been kind of trying

whatever drugstore products I can find.

My hair was really long and wavy.

But now, it's like I actually have a curl pattern,

which is so exciting.

I thought straightening it was the easiest way

to deal with it.

And so, throughout my entire middle school

to like middle of high school career,

I would straighten my hair every single day.

So, that played in the damage

that I'm currently recovering from.

This is the Curl Corps again,

but this is the Enhancing Gel.

It defines your curls and you only need a little bit.

It does wonders for your hair.

Now that I have all that product in there,

I'm just gonna brush it out with this Denman brush,

which I also didn't know about until like a year ago.

I'm the only mixed one in my family.

So, I guess that's where my pattern comes from.

But yeah, my mom has had a lot to do with my hair.

It's kind of always a thing.

I used to cry when she would like braid my hair

because she was like very, very hard-handed with it,

with the scalp.

Okay, so here's what I was gonna show you,

is that for when your hair is drying,

'cause I don't really,

I don't like to use heat on my hair when I don't have to do,

so that it doesn't dry flat,

you have to like kind of brush it off of your scalp.

While I do my skincare,

I'm just gonna keep my hair out of my face.

First thing I use, I wash my face.

I use this Youth To The People Cleanser.

This is a reusable pad, okay?

This is what I use to wash my face.

Whenever I wash the face with my hands,

it doesn't feel like I'm getting a good clean.

But then when I wash it with a towel, it feels too rough.

So, I feel like this is the perfect kind of in between.

I didn't always used to wash my face.

And if I did, it was with really, really harsh products

'cause I didn't really know any better.

But, my mom has fantastic skin

and is very adamant about her skincare routine.

I kind of took after her and started washing my face.

And also, when I started getting breakouts,

I was kind of like, okay, Whitney, get on it,

'cause this isn't cute.

This is actually the best face mask ever.

This is the Tracie Martyn Enzyme Exfoliant.

Look how pretty it is.

So, I did a tape for the show in, like, some point in 2019.

And then, I went to Uganda because my sister got married.

And then when I came back in late January or early February,

I think, I got the phone call from my manager.

And then, he told me that I was on Gossip,

like that I had booked the job.

And I was like, this is absurd.

This is crazy. You tripping.

This aint for real.

And I hope you guys love it.

Somebody told me, or I read it somewhere,

that products are better absorbed by your skin

when it's still like damp, wet.

So, I'm just gonna go right into it and put my toner on,

Tracie Martyn.

And then, I'm just gonna sit here for a minute.

I was actually born in Uganda.

I lived there until I was about nine or 10,

and then I moved to Canada.

It's an insane change.

It's like going from zero to 100 immediately.

Most of my years in Uganda, well,

since I was born until I was nine,

I wasn't really worried about what my skin was doing.

My more formative years, I have spent in North America

dealing with the changes in weather,

and learning about skin care and stuff like that.

But, it is also time to put on my next product,

which is, boom, hyaluronic acid.

My face is still damp right now.

And know y'all can't see it, but it is.

I just put like a drop.

Oh, don't forget about the neck, y'all.

Gotta get in there.

This is niacinamide.

I just use like the tiniest bit of this

because I only use it on the bottom part of my face,

'cause that's where I kind of have more discoloration.

I let this completely dry.

My face is still like a little bit moist right now,

but I just let it sit, dry.

Like, I watch people's videos and I'm like,

oh, their skin looks kind of similar to mine,

so I'll try whatever they're trying

and see if it works for me.

And then if it doesn't then, oh well.

I just find a lot of my sources, I feel like YouTube

and TikTok.

There's like a whole skincare world of TikTok.

And once you get in it, it's deep.

Last to final step is this face oil.

Shout out Sun Bum, SPF 50, 50,

generous amount of that.

It doesn't leave a white cast on my face,

and it just feels moisturizing as opposed

to like heavy and dense.

Like, it's just a lot lighter than most sunscreens

that I've tried.

I never really used to put sunscreen on my face.

I used to just steal my sister's, whatever she had,

whenever I was going to the beach.

That's like pretty much the final step.

And then, I just throw on some chapstick.

Took her to Chanel 'cause she fire.

And that's skincare done.

I'm just gonna preface this by saying I'm not good at it.

And I just kinda do whatever I feel like my face needs.

First step is foundation.

These are kind of like, in the winter I'm this shade,

but deep, deep in the summer I'm this shade.

So, I'm gonna just mix them,

maybe like a pump of this and a pump of this.

And sometimes, I have trouble finding the right shade

for my skin, but my entire face, I just cover with that.

And then, because I have like a darker forehead,

so I just take the, like the little bit darker one

and then I just cover that up,

because sometimes it turns out to be, it like looks gray.

When I came to Canada, it was weird

because I was received as like a POC,

a dark skin person of color.

Going back to Uganda, I'm seen as like white.

So, it was just weird seeing the kind of contrast

in the two different worlds that I guess I was a part of.

But yeah, being mixed was definitely a little bit weird

'cause I'm the only person in my family who's mixed.

So, I didn't really have anybody to take tips from.

But, my family did a great job of, like,

I never felt like an outsider.

So it's always, you know, it's been A-1.

It's been great days.

Next step is concealer.

What is matching today?

Okay, so this is like perfectly on point.

But this is lighter, so I'm gonna use this under my eyes.

'Cause I have makeup on,

like I have a lot of makeup on during the week,

my skin starts to break out.

And then, you have to put more makeup on

to cover up the breakouts so you look the same as you did

in the last shot.

It's kind of just this never-ending spiral.

So whenever I don't have to put makeup on,

I tend to opt for that option.

Next, I'm gonna do some brows.

I'm actually so thankful that my mom had good eyebrows

because I inherited them.

And everybody always tells me that.

And I never understood it, but you know,

I'm kind of learning now.

I've had this Anastasia thing for like ever

because I don't use much.

And then, I have this little spoolie thing.

And then take it very lightly.

Every single job that I've done,

everybody's always told me not to touch them.

And also, my mom told me not to touch them.

She'll always be like,

Can I at least give you a little tweeze?

And I'll be like, No, don't touch my brows.

This is a Chanel eyebrow gel, but it's really fire.

This is my Milk Makeup stick.

Roll it up, and then just go, get a little.

Let's just take a moment for this blush right now.

Y'all see that?

I'm gonna be using this,

I think it's like a lip, but I use it as a,

as an eyeshadow.

Zoya is the character that I play on Gossip Girl.

And she is a pretty simple girl.

So, while Zoya's makeup is still pretty innocent and simple,

she still looks really fly all the time.

Okay, I'm gonna use this highlighter next.

I'm pretty much almost done.

I'm just gonna do a little bit of an eyeliner.

So, we're using this again and this little brush.

I mean, sometimes you just got to kind of multi-use stuff.

You know, you've got to find stuff that's functional.

Why buy an eyeliner when you got this?

I'm gonna be curling my eyelashes.

I already have pretty naturally curly eyelashes.

But you know, sometimes you just need that umph.

This is my favorite mascara ever.

This is Kush Mascara by Milk.

Look, look at that.

Look, oh.

Makeup tips that I learned from the girls on set.

I feel like Zion's really good at doing her makeup.

I feel like if I was to take tips from anybody.

Oh, Savannah is also really good.

I feel like it's a competition

between Savannah and Zion.

And I feel like it's pretty even there.

'Cause obviously I'm like 19, and everybody's older than me,

so I feel like I learn a lot from them.

Collectively, we have a wide range of music

that we listen to and movies that we watch.

So, we're always recommending stuff to each other

and just like learning and taking

from whatever's being played around us.

I feel like that's the thing that always comes up

in talking about diversity on a show.

I feel like it's definitely, obviously way diverse compared

to the original, but it's definitely not

the pinnacle diversity in entertainment.

As in, we still have a long way to go.

Oh, I think I might touch up my brows a little bit, y'all.

I'm using this Glossier Lip Stick.

This is the color Cake.

And then, the look is complete, complete.

And now to cement it,

the Chanel Hydra Beauty Essence Mist.

And now, you just gotta let that sit.

Gotta let it sit, let it dry.

We're gonna take the ears off, now that the makeup's done.

We're about to step out.

Thank you for sticking this out with me.

This is the final look. Thank you for watching.

And until next time.

XOXO, gossip girl.