Ahead of her highly anticipated return to the “Real Housewives” franchise, Phaedra Parks is opening up about her beauty routine. Before becoming a glamorous reality television star, Parks revealed, she was a child with very sensitive skin.
“I’ve always had very sensitive skin,” she told People magazine. “As a child, I was allergic to everything — everything gave me hives. I was like the face of Benadryl as a child; anything that touched me, I was allergic to, it seemed like. That made me very aware of harsh chemicals and made me really start researching the best things for sensitive skin.”
As she was forced to become very conscious of what products she interacted with, Parks’ sensitive skin turned her into a self-proclaimed skincare expert. Her affinity for skincare eventually grew to include makeup as the Bravo star searched for cosmetic products to serve both her skin and her glam.
“I’ve got wonderful skin under my makeup,” she says. “But makeup is here to enhance that. I’m a product girl and I love bright skin. I think makeup should not be used to disguise you, but just make you more perfected.”
In her new campaign with IT Cosmetics, RHOA’s “Southern belle” gives her stamp of approval to the brand’s CC+ Cream Foundation, available in over 20 shades. Parks shares her appreciation for the product’s formula and diverse color range.
“As a young girl, makeup really wasn’t made for people with rich, warm skin tones,” she says, recalling how she couldn’t play with makeup growing up. “It was more [for] my mom’s very fair skin. On me, I looked like I was getting ready to get embalmed because it was just too cool, too blue, and it made me look like I was on ‘White Chicks.'”
While the “Real Housewives of Atlanta” (RHOA) star has a glam squad to assist her with her beauty looks today, Parks still fancies herself an amateur makeup artist. From her everyday glam to her skincare routine, Parks calls herself a “hack girl,” turning to natural products like coconut oil to enhance her beauty routine.
“I love coconut oil. You can cook with it, but you can also put it on your face and remove all your makeup and moisturize with it,” she shared. “So I always tell people there are dupes, but then there are things that are in your kitchen cabinet that you can use for a little bit of everything.”