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Alicia Keys wants you to have more soul
Award-winning musician has unleashed her creativity on the beauty world
Perhaps Alicia Keys should have called her latest album Gold. Released on 18 September, the singer-songwriter’s seventh album - the eponymous Alicia - has snagged the No.1 spot on Billboard’s top R&B album chart.
She certainly has the Midas touch when it comes to making music but now she’s also unleashed her germinal creativity on the beauty world, with the launch of her brand new self care and skin care platform keyssoulcare.com in collaboration with e.l.f. Beauty, producer of popular e.l.f. Cosmetics since 2004.
So far, the 15-time Grammy Award-winning artist hasn’t unveiled any products - a full collection of cruelty-free, dermatologist-developed items are slated for early 2021 - but the site has been populated with editorial that emphasises self-nurturing as its calling card with articles filed under “body”, “spirit”, “mind” and “connection”.
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You can currently watch a video of Keys discussing the power of words as a means of harnessing your fears, albeit in a pretty abstract manner. Kitted out in a “New York” graphic print T-shirt and wearing futuristic shades along with extra large hoop earrings, Keys discusses her emotive interpretation of the animated series The Legend of Korra. Rest assured, this is better than it sounds mainly because Keys’s utterances are always so impassioned and immersive, even if she hasn’t scripted the video (again, a good thing in this overly edited age). In another video, the star discusses what beauty means to her: “the soul, the heart, the spirit, and more than just the surface.”
Cynics may roll their eyes, but Keys Soulcare feels more home-made and earnest than sites like Goop and Poosh. It’s already embracing a more honest approach and while its advice is not exactly breakthrough - “choose a quiet space. A sunny window. A corner of your bedroom covered in images that speak to your present dreams or future goals” - it makes for a pleasantly gentle distraction. Plus, there is the promise of more insights from her burgeoning community of “lightworkers”, a compelling group of mentors who use their voices to spread “light and positivity”, among them healer/creative Emilia Ortiz, Orenda Tribe founder Amy Yeung, and Mama Medicine founder Deborah Hanekamp.
The skincare line will be introduced with a small holiday drop over Christmas. But if you want to know more, here’s what the company says about the products.
A statement reads: “Based on Alicia’s own skincare experiences and desire for truly efficacious formulas and soul-nourishing rituals, the products have been carefully developed in partnership with Dr. Renée Snyder, M.D., co-founder of clean beauty pioneer W3LL People, part of the e.l.f. Beauty family of brands. Based in Austin, TX, Dr. Snyder is a board-certified dermatologist specializing in medical dermatology as well as skin rejuvenation and care to help people achieving their best skin.”
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Alexandra Zagalsky is a London-based journalist specialising in luxury, art and travel. She began her career working on a cultural guide for English-speaking expats in Paris, where her first major break was an interview with Lionel Poilâne, the late baker of Saint-Germain-des-Prés famed for his signature sourdough loaves. Returning to London in her early 20s, she went on to write for not only The Week but also The Art Newspaper’s Art of Luxury supplement, The Telegraph and The Times, as well as art and design platforms including 1stDibs’ Introspective Magazine and the magazines of the V&A, Sotheby’s and Christie’s. She studied fine art and art history at Goldsmiths, University of London and continues to explore travel journalism through the lens of art, craftsmanship and culture.
