I’m a Black Model—These Beauty Products Are My Holy Grails

For years now, Bravo has been sending 20- and 30-somethings to the Hamptons for the summer and recording their antics to make Summer House, one of my favorite non–Real Housewives Bravo shows. As the seasons went on, I started to notice the lack of Blackness on the show. It was mostly white people running around the Hamptons, drinking too much rosé, and getting into love triangles—typical reality TV show stuff. But on the show’s fifth season, that changed. Enter Ciara Miller—who is described by her friend and fellow castmate Paige DeSorbo as “a combination of Naomi Campbell and Mother Teresa”—the show’s first Black female cast member. Miller is strikingly beautiful, and the second she opens her mouth and lets out her sweet Southern accent and shares her background as a nurse, you realize how accurate DeSorbo’s description actually was. 

As Miller’s time on Summer House continued, she quickly grew a community of Black and Brown girls on social media who look to her for all things fashion and beauty, especially beauty. With just one peek at her Instagram, you can see her jetting off to Miami for the Grand Prix, shooting campaigns with Victoria’s Secret, and sharing plenty of videos of her in hair and makeup for appearances, red carpets, and press events. This all makes her page a go-to spot for Black and Brown women looking for hair and makeup ideas to try themselves. I figured Miller was the best person to tap for a Black History Month deep dive on experimenting with makeup as a Black woman, brand inclusivity, her ins and outs for 2024, and, of course, which products she swears by.

Keep scrolling to read our conversation.

What are your beauty ins and outs for 2024?