Stacy Ike Talks Performative Perfection, Natural Hair, & Red Lipstick

To say Stacy Ike is an entertainer is like saying Gucci Westman does makeup — it's an oversimplification of an amazingly creative, prolific, and enigmatic person with a drive to succeed and the talent to blow everyone away. Stacy's resume is an A+ credits list that includes hosting a late-night show on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) and founding Fight For Your Fairytale, a brand focused on helping creatives realize their potential and encourage them to find success and fulfillment in themselves first and their work second. If that wasn't enough, she used her quarantime to create a new digital show, human 2 human, where she has in-depth conversations with talented people she admires to "honor collective experiences while learning from individual ones." She's a Renaissance woman for the modern age.

She's also one of the most stylish people we've ever met and a true beauty lover with an eye for great products. We sat down with Stacy for this month's The Regimen to talk about the beauty routine she swears by, her genius trick to make foundation stay put, and breaking the cycle of performative perfection. Keep reading to hear her story.

Name: Stacy Ike

Profession: Entrepreneur, TV host, storyteller

Skin type: Combination

Hair type: Naturally thick and curly

Duration of beauty routine: Each day is different but during quarantine I got it down to a solid 15 minutes. If I randomly decide to wear makeup, it's 30 minutes.

Walk us through your daily beauty routine:
I start my day with a cleanser and moisturizer. I use an avocado eye mask every evening — avocado not only is my favorite fruit, but it is high in vitamin E, C and soothes inflammation and wrinkles. I would love to do face masks once a week but it's really more like once a month. 

For makeup, most days, I love a sweet and simple look. I start with a primer,  add my foundation, and before blending I spray a bit of setting spray so it truly holds throughout the day. With eyeshadow, I love neutral colors — browns and gold always make my brown eyes pop! To seal the deal,  I do a bit of highlighter on my cheeks and nose, brow gel, mascara, and a neutral lip.

My hair journey is ever-evolving. Because of quarantine I have committed to keep it natural and not add any heat to it. It’s been five months and I am loving it!

What is your philosophy on beauty?
Beauty beams from the inside out. I know it's cliché, but it's because it's true. Focusing on my relationship with my mind, body, and heart directly cultivates my beauty. I also believe beauty is not synonymous with perfection.  No one is perfect but EVERYONE is beautiful

What is your best beauty advice?
Makeup needs you, you don't need makeup.

What are your three must-have products?
Face cleanser, moisturizer and a retinol eye mask. I also have to shout out this amazing vaginal cream that I use regularly. It's from a brand called ConditionHer and it's a small business owned by a woman of color. I started using it about a year ago and love it. I use it as a moisturizing cream for my external intimate skin and hair area to soften hair, prevent ingrowns, and balance PH.

Any special application techniques?
My best advice is consistency. Having some kind of daily routine will let you know what is working and not working faster.

What's the biggest beauty mistake you've ever made?
Believing that because I was a dark-skinned black woman I couldn't pull off red lipstick. I believed that lie for years. By the way, it is UNTRUE!

What do you love most about your job?
I get the chance to connect with so many different people, highlight their stories, and ultimately bring their humanity to the forefront by creating a safe space for them to be real. It’s what I was born to do. 

Tell us a bit about human 2 human:
It's a new show I created and launched as a space to explore curiosity, dismantle shame, acknowledge differences, grow in understanding, and reimagine self-love all while connecting the truths of our parallel human experiences. I created this show because I believe human connection and love is the fundamental purpose of our collective existence. The only way for us to be more human with each other is to feel safe and seen enough to be more human with ourselves. I want this show to be a home for connection, curiosity and community — one conversation at a time!

Why do you think it's important to have these conversations that spark curiosity, connection, and community?
It’s important for us to be more real! The world truly isn't really set up to invest in self-love, self-trust, or empathy in a deep way so to explore those things, we need as many safe spaces as possible. These conversations are pivotal to remind people they are not alone and whether we realize it or not, we are all in this together. 

Your goal with human 2 human is to honor collective experiences while learning from individual ones. Can you share an example of that concept from your life?
We naturally make assumptions about people based on what they do, what they look like, where they are from, and so on but those things never make up a full story of one’s experiences. When I choose my guests, on the surface I’m sure we can relate in some way but it’s only through an open and trusting conversation where I find out what makes them who they really are. The true story is in the details. 

I think this is important because we all live in a never-ending cycle of performative perfection. With social media amongst other things, it is so easy to compare our day-to-day lives to someone else's highlight reel but the truth is everyone goes through joy, pain, failure, and success. The more we understand these universal experiences, the more we can learn from our fellow human while still trusting our individual journey.