From Pond’s to La Mer, musician and self-described freak princess Brooke Candy talks the beauty products that defined her childhood
Beauty Biographies is a weekly column where we ask some of our favourite people to reflect on the beauty items that have influenced their lives and have a sentimental place in their heart. From their grandmother’s perfume to the eyeshadow they wore to their first dance, these are the products that have had a significant impact on them and that instantly transport them back to a particular time, place, or person.
“My sex is unconquered / Not the church, not the state, my own fate,” Brooke Candy raps in her recently released sex-positive, feminist anthem “My Sex” featuring Mykki Blanco and Pussy Riot. This message of sexual liberation is one Brooke has advocated since her debut single “Das Me” in 2012 which sees the rapper declare “slut is now a compliment.”
Growing up in the suburbs outside of Los Angeles, Brooke’s mother was a pediatric nurse and her father was chief financial officer of iconic porn magazine Hustler. “Having a dad that was sort of a porn Kingpin made me very inquisitive about sex,” Brooke says, “and a bit sex-charged.” After working various jobs including time as a stripper, an intern for Rachel Zoe, and a mannequin stylist for Hustler storefronts, Brooke’s starring role in Grimes’ “Genesis” video catapulted her into the public eye and she soon began releasing music of her own. A debut EP Opulence, executively produced by Sia, followed in 2014, along with a music video directed by Steven Klein and a campaign with Diesel. More recently, Brooke released a queer porn collaboration with PornHub titled I Love You which features full-length lesbian, gay, and trans scenes. She also has a new album on its way, has just been signed as a director to the agency “Godless,” and is working on another porn film.
From her futuristic gold body armour and platform sneakers to her super-sized nails, Brooke subverts the codes of femininity with her cyber-weirdo aesthetic but she hasn’t always been this bold. “I felt so ugly as a kid. I was about 4 foot 10 inches with braces and no feminine mystique,” she laughs. “I was really awkward and I grew up in a suburban town where all the popular girls had blonde highlights and wore juicy couture tracksuits. I always felt like an ugly duckling.” Although there was a momentary goth phase in high school, during which she experimented with a purple mullet and “a lot of eyeliner,” it was the influence of the drag queens who raised her as a young adult that she says really made her obsessed with make-up and beauty. Here Brooke talks us through the beauty products that shaped her life growing up.
Voyage et Cie in Tabac Vanille
This scent is my favourite scent in the world. My mom wore it growing up and it reminds me of being barefoot on a warm beach in Tulum. This is definitely something I still to this day can’t live without.
Get it here: Voyage et Cie Tabac Vanille
Pond’s Cold Cream
My mom taught me it was the best and most moisturising way to take off eye make-up. You can buy it at any drugstore too! It’s crazy how some of the best beauty products are the cheapest and can be found at your local drugstore.
Get it here: Pond's Cold Cream
La Mer Eye Cream
My mom got me hooked a young age and I can’t imagine using any other moisturiser.
Get it here: La Mer Eye Concentrate
Exfoliating Salt Scrub/ Epsom Bath Salt
I remember taking a lot of these to calm inflammation and body tension. Exfoliating scrubs are always good after a bikini wax too.
Get it here: Westlab Epsom Salt
Water
I guess the final beauty product my mom instilled in my mind was water. She helped me realise it’s the most important beauty regimen I can do. The more water I drink the more my liver detoxifies and the more my skin shines and glows.