It’s
hard to assume that in a world where smart cars have gone electric to cut back
our carbon footprint, and a lot of the futuristic elements of The Jetsons
have come to fruition, Black models still need to bring their very own makeup to
photo shoots to make sure they’ll get a correct beat. It’s the explanation why shows
like VH1’s latest Black Girl Beauty are still needed and appreciated.

Launching on November 2, Black Girl Beauty is a six-episode series on VH1 YouTube hosted by journalist and TV personality Gia Peppers, that discusses the experiences that Black women have with regards to their beauty.

The show features guests reminiscent of reality stars Amara La Negra and Sierra Gates, beauty influencer René Askew, and even ESSENCE’s own Global Beauty Director Julee Wilson. The format is a roundtable style, and looks like having the ability to watch a gaggle of girlfriends have candid conversations about colorism, appropriation, hair journeys, makeup, and all things pertaining to their beauty.

“We’ve truthful,
beautiful conversations. And I feel it’s going to open up a complete latest dialogue
for Black women in the wonder space,” says Peppers. “And I feel it’s really
vital that there’s representation in these spaces. As a Black girl who
loves beauty and has needed to do her makeup by herself for years, I actually
appreciated just being an element of a spot where it just felt so right.”

The show launches just just a little greater than a month after BET launched its digital series The Glam Gap, a documentary style show which focuses on the discrepancies in the wonder industry as Black consumers are concerned. Lots of the experts and influencers from that series will crossover into Black Girl Beauty, as they’re two different parts of a much-needed conversation about Black beauty and the industry that didn’t cater to it for therefore a few years, despite what number of dollars Black consumers continued to funnel into it.

“I learned a lot from
being on The Glam Gap, and lot of my friends were featured on that,” Peppers
told ESSENCE. “One among the things that I at all times love about being a journalist is
sitting down and talking to women, and just telling their stories. I’m here for
all of Black beauty. So whatever gives us a lightweight on what we’d like to do, I’m
here for it.”

And the show’s creators
agree. For creator Sarita Nauth, social strategy manager Bianca Kea, and
producer Felicia Stevens, allowing Black women to inform their stories and have
these sometimes-uncomfortable conversations in a secure space was key.

“This project was to honor
Black women. I still watch a number of brand and photo shoots and different
projects that I work on type of put Black women in a corner,” says Nauth, Creator of Black Girl
Beauty & VH1 Manager of Social Media. “We undergo a number of these different topics within the
show and it type of shines an enormous highlight on that and says, ‘Hey, Black women
are here. We contribute probably the most amount of dollars to the wonder industry and
it’s time that you simply guys give attention to us and in addition be certain that that we’re given the
attention that we deserve.’”

“It’s just wild that we’re still on these sets and we could possibly be the one Black or brown girl there, they would not have hair products for us, they would not have makeup for us” added Kea, VH1 Senior Manager of Social Strategy, who worked closely with Nauth on the show.

“It’s wild that we’re making all these strides in technology, but by way of Black women and the wonder space and entertainment, we still have a number of hurdles to beat.”

For host Peppers, who’s hoping that the series gets renewed for a second season, it’s already been a giant learning experience. From experiencing Black girl beauty through drag queens, to hearing different hair journeys, it has been a welcomed ride.

“[This show] has strengthened my view of my natural, beautiful, flawed self. You would refer to any girl, and even when she’s not wearing any makeup, she’s beautiful,” she says. “If she’s wearing 14 kilos of makeup and that makes her feel beautiful, then that’s what is gorgeous to her. So for me, it just gave me a deeper appreciation for my expression of what Black girl beauty is.”