Keke Palmer Earned Her Crown

Keke Palmer does not have the energy to give glass skin. But she can give cracked glass, she jokes, or stained glass on a cathedral, as I interject. “I live for stains. She's giving a stained window. Yes, honey, yes. That gives me life.”

We’re catching up on the eve of the Met Gala, mere weeks before her next flick I Love Boosters, courtesy of Boots Riley, and on the heels of helping launch La Roche-Posay’s Mela B3 products. Did I mention she’s the architect of workout service, Practice by Palmer? Busy, busy girl!

Enter those aforementioned skincare products, which have travelled with her from gym to Uber to Met Gala red carpet and even behind the scenes of the Hollywood sets she frequents. “What's in my bag right now actually is the SPF tint. That's the number one that I have, the new colored one.” It’s the only that doesn’t make her eyes water, a must when filming those Practice by Palmer sets or walking a sunny red carpet. “But then aside from that, the thing that I always make sure that I bring with me is anything from the Mela B3 collection.”

The SPF came in handy while she was filming Spaceballs: The New One in Australia, a land trapped in eternal summer. It was also there the idea for Practice by Palmer first came to her. “I have a section where I talk about practice pillars, the things that I practice that help me to maintain good mind, body connection, but also the ability to handle all the things that I want to do, being an ambitious person. So it was really about curating a community about wellness, not just from the physical sense, but also from a community sense”

Community is core to Palmer’s approach to modern celebrity. After all, it forms a pillar of her workout practice, her creative life and especially her family, too. “I think sometimes we undervalue community, because it's not a big thing that feels like it's saving the world. But the reality is there's no saving the world, and that can seem tragic at first, until you realize the opportunity there is to build with people alongside you.” As Palmer sees it, “Sometimes we get so wrapped up in all the things we can't control that we forget about the things that are in our control and the people around us that we can help support and be a part of making life better and easier for.”

Her wellness practice, her community, her skin — these are the things Palmer feels most in control of. How does she find the time to stay connected to those around her, amidst the pressures of work and fame and motherhood? “I'm definitely a host. So when there's holidays or there's national days, I often am the person that creates parties. They're for kids and their parents. So we all get together in one place and eat, have fun, play games, listen to music, catch up.” She smiles, adding: “I'm definitely that person that always is trying to bring the community together through eating and laughing and talking and dancing and engaging.”

For more with Keke Palmer, read our entire interview below.

How are you doing?

I'm doing pretty good. I was just doing some workshops for Pilates, so it was a pretty good vibe of a day, feeling all energized.

You recently launched your fitness program. What was that like putting that together?

It was literally a burst of just inspiration. I was shooting Spaceballs: The New One in Australia and it just came to me. That was a community I wanted to focus on building. The main things there are workouts, Pilates, strength training, dance, cardio, but also it's really a community. So many conversations. I have a section where I talk about practice pillars, the things that I practice that help me to maintain good mind, body connection, but also the ability to handle all the things that I want to do, being an ambitious person. So it was really about curating a community about wellness, not just from the physical sense, but also from a community sense.

Over the last few years, a lot of people have also understood wellness as not just fitness, not just what you eat, but also skincare as well, the way that you take care of yourself, the products that we use. La Roche-Posay has such a huge history, with being such a scientifically driven brand. What is your history with the products?

I started using them probably a few years before I started working with them, because there’s the scientific elements of the brand. I'll be honest, the only sunscreen that didn't make my eyes burn was La Roche-Posay, because literally I have such sensitive eyes as it pertains to sunscreen. And so I remember that was probably one of the first things. And then from there, it was just the moisturizer. I also loved the Thermal Water Mist. And so I think I had the experiences of coming across it with friends and then online, and then it just became a product I love because it wasn’t just sensitive to the skin, but I actually felt like it was nourishing and gave me what I didn't even know I needed.

When you partnered with them, what was that experience like, and what have been some products you've discovered that have become essential to your daily routine?

The whole Mela B3 line, which was my first introduction with them professionally, helping to launch that product, because it's all about helping with hyperpigmentation. So not only do you have a wash, you have a serum, you have an SPF. That skin protection that I'm always looking for, especially as a person that's recovering from a lot of acne stuff. So I really love that. I also love their acne spot treatment. One of my favorite products from them, and it comes in a small, skinny tube.

What's the product you are always carrying around with you?

So what's in my bag right now actually is the SPF tint. That's the number one that I have, the new colored one. But then aside from that, the thing that I always make sure that I bring with me is anything from the Mela B3 collection.

Working with them has been awesome. I mean, I get to have fun and lean into the humor of the fact that they are so scientific. So from the beginning, I was kind of peeking in on the conversations with dermatologists, but then also really giving education at the same time in a way that feels nostalgic. Back in the day when we were kids, we loved being able to be like, oh, this is edutainment just a little bit. And I feel like we come up with fun concepts when we're showcasing new products to the audience or the consumer.

I'm excited for people to see as we launch this new moisturizer, that's so rich and just amazing and nourishing. And I got to take some samples home. I'm excited for everybody to actually get into it. Beautiful packaging as well. But we shot these mini sketch vignettes that are so fun. Obviously humor is at the center of it, but also, La Roche doesn't play with their science, so get into it.

Many people have been following along with your skincare journey, because you've been sharing so much and you've been so open about it. And I can imagine as a woman, as a Black woman, and also just as a celebrity, it must be hard to open yourself up to the online world and share something that you struggle with as it relates to skincare.

Anyone who posts online gets picked apart, and celebrities are no exception to that. What has that experience been like for you, and do you feel like people have been receptive to it? Do you feel like your relationship to beauty or skincare has changed through it?

It was really freeing, really relieving, to actually just own that struggle for me publicly, because it's kind of like a way of loving oneself out loud while going through something difficult.

Obviously there's boundaries. You don't have to tell everybody every personal thing that you're struggling with. You know what I mean? But for me, the skin is something that people see anyway. You know what I mean? It's not something to hide. It's something that's there. And I think owning my acne troubles or hyperpigmentation and texture, all that stuff, to say it out loud, it made me feel very powerful, because it felt like I was supporting myself and honoring myself in a way that was going to help me to also figure out how to give myself what I need. And I've always had a unique journey with it.

I do believe that you need good products, you need consistency, and you probably need less than you think you do. And then I also am a big believer of dermatologists, which is why I love the scientific background of a product like La Roche, because even if you maybe can't afford going to a dermatologist, you can trust that they've had somebody do the proper research and testing that lets you know that the product is at least not going to screw you up worse.

I'm big on good products, as clean as possible and dermatologists where you need one. It's an investment worth having, how you feel about yourself, how you feel about your skin and how you feel about showing up for what you want and what you desire. You don't need perfection; if your skin is screaming out, do what you can to help it as best you can, but it shouldn't be something that makes you feel less than anything. It's just another one of the human things that many of us are exist with. So it's not a crime. Everybody does not have, what do they call it? What's that skin called? Glass skin. Everybody don't have it.

I don't have the energy for glass skin. I apologize.

My shit is giving cracked glass, okay?

Mine’s stained glass.

She's a little shattered.

I'm on a cathedral window.

I live for stains. She's giving a stained window. Yes, honey. Yes. That gave me life.

I feel like a lot of women, myself included, I picked up so many habits like Mac “Twig” lipstick from my mom. You're sitting there, you're watching her get ready and you're like, "I'm going to do this for the rest of my life because my mom did it. " I'm curious what your earliest memories are of skincare, makeup, haircare, any of it. And do you associate those with your mom, your grandma, or the women in your life growing up?

First of all, my grandma always got dressed up. So getting dressed up before you leave the house, definitely I think about my grandma with that. And I've gone through phases with it, but I definitely feel like I'm back into that phase where I really want to just get a headstart on it all and really put my best foot forward and get glam down and really feel suited and booted. It brings a different energy into your day and you feel like you're more able to attack it. So I get that from my grandma and I always think about my grandma with that. And then my mom, I always remember her putting whatever lipstick she had on on her cheek, which I think is the most classic, old school ‘80s thing. Anybody grew up in the 80s, they were all doing that. And so I still do that.

And I feel like it's come back from many of the girls, the matching of the lips and the cheeks and all that kind of stuff. So yeah, so I remember that with my mom as a kid, and that's something that I still do today. The one thing that I have not totally brought back that she did back in the day, I don't know how any of us feel about it, but them girls used to put on that inner eyeliner and let it rock. And it was like, that's all their asses did. That inner eyeliner and they went out.

I used to feel like my mom would do it so that I could see what her eyes were doing from across the room. If she was going to cut some eyes at me from across the store for misbehaving, it just made the eyes pop, made it easier for her to clock me.

One thing she was going to always do was waterline the eyeliner.

I used to make fun of my mom because she would put on mascara to just go to the grocery store, get gas. And then I see myself now at this age and I'm catching myself in a reflection like, I should have put on some fucking mascara.

Just a little zhuzh!

I want to talk about some of your upcoming projects. Mainly I Love Boosters. What was that experience like working with Boots and being brought into his world, seeing as it is so stylized.

I loved it. I loved it. I loved it. I loved it. And even watching the movie after filming the movie really, it's a whole different experience, to see how all the elements work together. It's truly art.

On the glam and makeup conversation we've been having, and that is something that people picked up from the trailer right away, the hyper-stylization with costumes and the looks and the fashions. Everyone in the movie is just really popping off the screen. What was it like working on that side of the film as well, getting to be brought into that world and get brought into these crazy costumes and crazy makeup looks?

We had the same costume designer from Everything Everywhere All At Once. So I knew from that point that we were going to be doing insane looks. I was very excited. And it was just cool to mix the high and the low and to have all these different custom pieces and to see the consistency with the color way. The whole idea of Christie Smith, and her stores in general, is that they're all monochromatic. And in order to get a certain color, you've got to go to a whole different store that might be across town. All of that conversation around fashion, around fast fashion, around who creates culture and who creates the culture that fashion then emulates, and how the people that are part of creating the culture actually feel about being both the art and not the creator.

All of that was just very fun to explore.

This film, it does feel very topical. There's all these conversations you see online now about sourcing and who gets credit for things and where, like you were saying, trends come from, where styles come from, who gets to represent them and sell them and make money off of them. What is something that you're most interested in for audiences to take away from the film, or explore within their own lives, from the film?

Probably just their relationship to community. I think it's really easy for us all to get into the nitty-gritty of things and then feel like almost either like we've got to put our life on the lines in order to make a change, or we are completely just paralyzed to the point of being apathetic and not feeling like we have any moves to make. And I think what this movie does really well in talking about those destabilizing topics is giving you another way to look at how to manage them.

I think sometimes we undervalue community, because it's not a big thing that feels like it's saving the world. But the reality is there's no saving the world, and that can seem tragic at first, until you realize the opportunity there is to build with people alongside you. Because sometimes we get so wrapped up in all the things we can't control that we forget about the things that are in our control and the people around us that we can help support and be a part of making life better and easier for.

Community is a word a lot of people have really strong feelings about right now. You hear all these stories of people feeling isolated. Or people finding it hard to make friends or form relationships with other people. We live in very isolating times, as you mentioned. What are the things you do to stay connected to the people around you?

I'm definitely a host. So when there's holidays or there's national days, I often am the person that creates parties. They're for kids and their parents. So we all get together in one place and eat, have fun, play games, listen to music, catch up. I'm definitely that person that always is trying to bring community together through eating and laughing and talking and dancing and engaging.

I definitely curate in that regard for me and my community. And then as far as my even tighter community, I am always with my family. My family and I are very close. My sisters and I live together. And then even with what I was talking about with Practice by Palmer, or with KeyTV Network, whether it's helping to curate spaces for creative communities or communities built around overall wellness, I'm definitely big on creating spaces.

Besides Boosters, what else are you looking forward to the on horizon?

I'm really excited for the next installment of Lady Mis Jacqueline, which is my Southern Belle character that I started on Instagram back in the day. And so she's had quite a life over the past, I guess, wow, about 10 years that I've been doing that character. She is now getting a new memoir, Becoming Miss Jacqueline, which is going to be an Audible series, coming July 30.

All skincare by La Roche-Posay