Post by Thandie
Natural
I’ll never forget spending the evening with Stella McCartney a few years ago. I turned up at her house red carpet ready; her date for the premiere of the documentary Food Inc. It was dinner time at the Willis residence; they had 3 kids then, and all were busy eating pasta, hummus and veggie deliciousness. I was in awe of how easily she was raising her brood to be vegetarian. Stella had zipped back from work, was having a lark with her young-uns, and what felt like minutes later we were in the car on our way.… Read more...
Post by Kay
There are so many genres out there with highly questionable ethics, particularly genres of the past (which rather annoyingly have an enduring, appealing aesthetic). 
Take Blaxploitation – strong statements about the way women are seen, heard and portrayed, and of course the way people of colour are seen, heard and portrayed.
Then there’s the whole vintage Playboy thing; many of the photographs are fabulous, and their costumes (designed by African American Zelda Wynn Valdes) are often inspired. But when aesthetic brain catches up with ethical brain, we realise that women have been made into bunny rabbits! Oh.… Read more...
The thing that forced me into considering my stance on makeup – 
who I wore it for, why I wore it – was an old boyfriend.
He lent against the kitchen doorframe one evening, enquiring into my face. “You’ve done that thing with make-up with your eyes,” he said, clumsily.
Fear and a touch of disdain was mixed into his voice. The words came out accusingly: you have purposefully altered yourself, to try and make yourself more appealing.
For who? Was the unspoken question in his voice. For him, hopefully. For another man, maybe.
Except I hadn’t. Men were not on my mind when I’d worked a soft black pencil into my lashes that day, flicking it out at the end, softening the line with my fingers.… Read more...
Post by Thandie.
I discovered the gorgeous Surratt palettes on a rare trip to Sephora. The rich pigment (nearly 10 years in the making by make up artist Troy Surratt in Japan) and velvety soft texture almost justified the expense! I decided to invest in Artistique Blush in Rougeur, Artistique Eyeshadow in Cuivre, and Marron for my palette; it inspired my Oscar party make-up look.
Before. My sad Surratt pallette 🙁
Only days later on a work trip, I unpacked my make-up bag and groaned – suspicious plum coloured powder covered everything.
Another palette had bitten the dust.… Read more...
Posted by Kay
Eyes Like To Party
And boy, did Thandie bust one of her most smokin’ looks at the Vanity Fair Oscar party the other week, all without my help as I was in London! If this acting lark doesn’t work out Thandie, this make-up artist’s in TROUBLE.
Stepping out in Jimmy Choo’s, and with the help of the fabulous stylist Rosemary Kokuhilwa Thandie pulled in a pretty black ‘slip-inspired’ dress by Dennis Blasso (is it a slip, is it a dress?… Read more...
Posted by Kay:
When Thandie posted this cute #SayHerName-selfie on the way to the Essence ‘Black Women in Hollywood’ luncheon last week, I emailed her straight away and said what make-up were you wearing, we gotta tell our readers!
I’ve been doing this a lot with my actresses in the last year, there’s just something about the way a bright watermelon, coral or pink can ‘uplift’ the smoulder. You can’t beat a smoky eye, it’s always been cool, it always will be-but sometimes, especially when you’re wearing black, it can all be a bit gloomy.… Read more...
Post by Kay
I first came across Hafsa through our friend (co-founder of online beauty edit store BeautyMart.com ) Millie Kendall. Hafsa was doing some work there and Millie said, “you have to meet Hafsa, you’d find her really interesting’. 
I’ve since followed her award-winning blog and have been meaning to write about here for ever-so finally, meet the lovely Hafsa!
My parents are from Somalia, but arrived in the UK over 25 years ago by way of Kenya, India and Italy
I was born and raised in London, but I spent my late teen years growing up between London and Saudi Arabia.… Read more...
Posted by Kay.
Way to go with the response Aamito-bravo!
We don’t feed (or direct you to) the trolls here at ThandieKay, we prefer to encourage who and what we love, fuelling the positive rather than echoing the negative so I’m choosing the positive thing about the clickbating storm in an IG cup over Aamito’s beautifully posted pout at the Ohne Titel AW16 in NYC last week.… Read more...
Posted by Kay
They look good on them, does that mean they look good on someone else…?
The thing I like the most is the return to the natural-looking brow. But as is usual with mainstream beauty press, there is a ‘one size fit’s all’ mentality, so a ‘natural brow’ becomes ‘get someone else’s natural brow‘ which as a make-up artist is COMPLETELY missing the point..!
The reason someone else’s brows look good on them, is because they are theirs! Nature has your features in mind and they all work together.… Read more...
Posted by Kay
Thandie wearing ‘Graped Up Chubby Stick
Never mind defining Clinique’s Chubby Stick, this fuss-free gem is a no-brainer in the lip- wear department. Something you just have in your handbag at all times. Great for daytime, plus the perfect understated lip finish to ensure that when you go from day to night, your lips complement any eye make-up, keeping the most smouldering smokey eye the non-tarty side of cool.
Comes in many colours, check them out here.
