A teenage Teyana Taylor would tell you that walking past the MAC store on 125th Street in Harlem and envisioning herself on a campaign billboard was simply a dream. Now 29, the artist, fitness aficionado, and soon-to-be mother of two can etch that fantasy into reality as she celebrates a new capsule collection with MAC.
"I have always been a fan of MAC, so to have this opportunity means so much to me," she tells me over the phone in late May. "To walk into a room and feel so much warmth and color was incredible."
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It didn't take long for Taylor, a beauty enthusiast in her own right, to envision what her first collection with the makeup brand would look like. "It's one thing to tell someone you're a fan, and it's another thing to know your shit," Taylor says. "It made the process much easier."
After working on the products with MAC for the past year, the 13-piece collection reflects Taylor's true beauty style: red lipsticks, lip glosses, and lip liners in shades of earthy nude and retro red, and shimmering gold highlighters that play up her signature glowing skin. "I wanted to create colors that would look great with or without makeup," Taylor shares, revealing that while she's been quarantined at home, she's kept her skin bare while playing up her lips. "I usually always have my glosses on around the house. Sometimes I'll throw on my Rose In Harlem red lip."
While Taylor prefers to focus on her lips, she's rarely seen without her custom highlighter, which has made several secret video debuts. "I've used it in every video that I've put out recently," Taylor says about the reflective gold powder. "My makeup artist, Japanese Faces, and I mix it with my favorite oil and use it all over." In case you've ever wondered why Taylor's abs always look so glistening, there you have it.
Ultimately, Taylor says her latest album, "The Album,"and this collection — which she worked on in tandem — are subtly interconnected. "I wanted this [album] to embody every emotion, and you can say the same thing for this collection," Taylor says. "I wanted to capture many different moods in my music and the same with these products. It's all about embracing how you feel at any given moment."