Kelly Rowland admits in Essence that it took her a long time to recognize her beauty

We all know Kelly Rowland is a bad mutha-such-and-such, and her new #1 single “Motivation” is changing doubters minds by the listen. But it took her a while before she knew it for herself.

Kelly recently wrote a piece for Essence about coming up in the music industry, finding a make-up that makes her feel beautiful, and working through self-esteem issues.

On understanding how make-up works:

I think that as consumers, we often go to different beauty brands and products and expect them to be magicians. I think it’s important for us to know what we have and what we’re working with, what we have and what we possess that we may want to bring out. Maybe you have amazing eyes or beautiful cheekbones or amazing lips. It’s really great to bring that out. I think it’s important to know what kind of skin you have, too. Is it dry, combination or oily? To know what you’re working with before you go heightens the whole beauty buying experience.

On not being comfortable with herself:

It took a long while for me to know that I’m beautiful. I remember going through this phase when I was younger of wanting to pass by mirrors and not look at them. That was so ridiculous. I’ve learned now that beauty starts from within. If you don’t know your worth, if you don’t know your value, if you don’t know how fantabulous you are — it’s going to be hard for other people to see it. Being appreciative of self, is beauty to me.

On her beauty icon and recognizing your worth:

One of my beauty icons is Oprah Winfrey. I love that fact that she’s so comfortable with herself. One of my favorite episodes of her show was when she showed millions of people how she woke up in the morning with no makeup on. That was so selfless and revealing. She’s very real and genuine and I love that. Halle Berry is one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen. Same thing with Whitney Houston and Janet Jackson — especially as a kid, because they have brown skin like me. I remember looking at magazines and television and seeing someone that looked like me and seeing a piece of myself in them.

What I’ve learned is, take better care of yourself. When you make the decision to do that — that’s a step toward reinvention because you probably need it and in that moment, you deserve it.

We don’t know about Oprah as a beauty icon, but whatever it takes to get you through your day…

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