The Charisse Report

It’s a hairstyle that has its own Wikipedia page; that’s how iconic the Rachel haircut was. It was first seen on screen, on Aniston’s character Rachel Green in Friends in 1995, near the end of the first season in the episode entitled The One with the Evil Orthodontist and she wore it until the third season. In this episode I focus on how big the influence of the cut was, and why Jennifer’s longter...

Skunk Anansie is a British rock band that shot to fame in the ‘90s, and from day one, all everyone could talk about was the striking lead singer, Skin, AKA Deborah Ann Dyer. While I knew Skin had to be in this ‘90s series, I initially thought that I would be more focused on her more edgy makeup looks, like black lipstick and liner, but recently I saw the video for one of their hits, Hedonism (Just...

Today’s ‘90s Beauty Moment is dedicated to the star of one of my all-time favourite films; Uma Thurman in 1994’s Pulp Fiction . In this Quentin Tarantino classic, Uma plays newlywed Mia Wallace who’s definitely in the mood for trouble, and looks so good while doing it. The movie set off several beauty trends, and it also helped to catapult the success of Chanel’s Rouge Noir nail polish – the beaut...

Coupled with her deep contralto tones, RnB singer Toni Braxton's short hair became an iconic inspiration for black women the world over in 1993, and it's a look that she still wears today. In this episode I discuss the impact the Pixie cut had throughout the '90s, why Toni's take on the trend has been so enduring and why the Pixie cut is still a stylish go-to today. Don’t forget there’s a full ser...

If you’re someone who ever gets your hair braided, then you will know exactly what this episode is about. Box braids have been a black girl go-to for decades, well, actually, thousands of years! But in 1993, when Boyz N The Hood director John Singleton wrote and directed Poetic Justice , he definitely had no idea that the most enduring conversation around this movie would arrive via his female sta...

If you're up on your social media trends, then you'll be familiar with the less-is-more vibe of the 'clean girl aesthetic' trend, but for many black and brown women, it's simply a more natural, pared-down approach to beauty that they have been enjoying for decades. Despite many a content creator labelling the likes of Bella Hadid and Hailey Beiber as the originators of the 'clean girl' trend, for...

If you love ‘90s makeup AND rnb then you need to check out today’s 90s Beauty Moment; I'm talking about Mary J Blige, AKA the Queen of Hip Hop Soul and an absolute icon for black women around the world when it came to hair, beauty and fashion throughout the '90s. Between 1992 and 1999 Mary released 4 albums and with each album came new looks and new inspiration. Mary absolutely deserves her own fu...

Thirty years ago the image of a naked pregnant woman on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine caused outrage around the world. While it absolutely impacted how the pregnant body was seen, in this episode I question if we've really come that far. Today, the likes of Serena Williams and Rihanna have publicly embraced their baby bumps for the covers of Vogue and Vanity Fair , respectively, but yet, for e...

TW: in this episode I will touch on themes of abuse so please skip to the next episode if that's not something you want to hear today. In the mid 1980s, Sinéad O'Connor was just getting started with her music career, and a record exec asked her to consider growing her hair long and start wearing short skirts ‘like a girl’ as a way of ‘selling’ her music. The next day she walked into a barbershop a...

It’s the third of my 25 '90s Beauty Moments and today its’ Madonna’s music video for her 1990 single Vogue . I believe this video is so valuable to not only the history of music, but also to the New York counterculture of ballroom. Before this video, the pageantry of ballroom, including the style of dance, Vogueing, would not have been seen in the mainstream. In this mini episode I break down just...

It’s the second of 25 '90s Beauty Moments and today I'm looking at the iconic wardrobe, hair and makeup for Madonna's world tour, Blond Ambition, which took place from April to August 1990. Alongside 24 other episodes, consider this my alternative gift guide, or Advent Calendar, as each day I'll be uploading a new minisode, alongside a dedicated TikTok too! In this episode I share insights into wh...

This episode is all about my love/hate relationship with the final print cover of Allure magazine. I’m sharing what I truly love about the shoot with Friends and Along Came Polly actress Jennifer Aniston, and I’m sharing why I’m still annoyed with magazines for their excessive reliance on Photoshop and retouching in general. I’d really love to know what you think if you’ve seen the Jennifer Anisto...

It’s the first of 25 '90s Beauty Moments and I’m starting with George Michael’s 1990 video for Freedom! 90. In this mini episode I break down just why this music video was so iconic – and still is, 30+ years later. I’ll be back with 24 more similar mini episodes as part of my alternative Advent Calendar. I’ve also created a TikTok to go with each of the 25 episodes so head to my account  @cha...

This episode is all about the products that I always go back to. They might not have anything to do with a specific concern – they are simply the products that make my skin feel good or better – the kind of products about which I only have good things to say. If you’re a regular listener to BeautyMe you might have heard me mention a couple of them in the past so this episode will be further proof...

This episode is all about about what I liked and loved about the Savage X Fenty Volume 4 show and I’ll share some of the looks and how they were created and just my thoughts in general. For me this was a heavily produced and edited take on the show and I totally get it's likely that that's what Rihanna and the team wanted to achieve with this fourth show. I just prefer the rhythm of the previous s...

This episode is all about the magic of the annual Savage X Fenty show that Rihanna and her team have been producing since 2019. I thought it could be fun to look back at its history and share some of the beauty looks from the first three shows as volume 4 is happening this week. By the way, at the time of recording, I didn’t know that Johnny Depp might be featured in the show and even if I did, I...

In today's episode I sit down with Ata-Owaji Victor, a London-based beauty and lifestyle writer of Nigerian descent who writes for the likes of Black Ballad, Elle and Vogue and is on a mission to encourage discussions around the politics of beauty. Ata briefly touches on her ADHD experience and brings up so many thoughtful subjects, such as why we work the way we do; why work and labour are so pri...

This episode sees the return of my friend and former guest Ava Welsing-Kitcher. She moved from London to Los Angeles earlier this year and I really wanted to catch up with her to find out what, if anything, was different when it came to beauty trends between the two cities. During our chat we touch upon trends in makeup and plastic surgery and Ava shares how she's enjoying certain aspects of the w...

This week it’s a beauty news round-up; I’m talking about the latest print issue - the penultimate print -  of Allure and dipping into the history of the magazine, and I’ll be talking about the early reactions to Sephora’s online store here in the UK and briefly wondering what Taylor Swift’s visuals for her new album Midnights could look like.  I had to dedicate much of this episode to Al...

This episode is going to be a timeline of the life, impact and death of Donyale Luna, the first black supermodel. We’ll be touching on her life growing up in an abusive household in the 1940s, becoming a model during a time when racism was alive and well within the fashion industry and 1960s America as a whole, and we’ll be looking at how her rise to the top led to an inevitable drug addiction and...

Today’s guest is Brooklyn, New York-based writer, trend forecaster, analyst and content creator Mandy Lee. If you’re a regular TikTok user, then you’ll likely know her as @oldloserinbrooklyn . Since focusing on fashion content in February 2021, Mandy has built up a 400,000 following in a bid to bring real research and context to her trend critiques. I really wanted to get her on the pod to basical...

This episode is dedicated to mascara. It’s that one product that for me, makes my face feel finished. So I'm sharing my top reasons for deciding why a mascara deserves a place in my routine and I'm sharing my top 5 mascaras that I'm loving right now. It would be amazing to hear from you when it comes to your favourite mascara, as I'm always up for trying a new one! Let me know on Twitter or Instag...

This week I’m taking it back, all the way back to a 2002 copy of British Vogue, to look at how we used to talk about beauty. I've always been a big magazine collector, especially when it comes to the international editions of Vogue, and lately I've been drawn to flicking through old issues for inspiration. What I found in this 2002 issue were adverts for Dior mascara (pre DiorShow) and Estee Laude...

This week it’s a chatty, newsy kind of episode. I’m talking about Ami Cole products finally arriving in the UK (whoop!), thinking about buying the new Liquid Lipstick Vinyl range from Byredo and discussing the value of It Girl Lori Harvey’s makeup artist James Kaliardos.  James is the original multi-hyphenate, a major player in beauty, and for some reason, when Lori referred to him as simply...

This week’s guest is Alice Audley, founder of Blogosphere , an online magazine and events agency that also has its own podcast: Serious Influence . London-based Alice has a background in print journalism but decided to ditch her job to launch Blogosphere in 2013. Since then it's gained the respect of the influencer community and has become known as a media company that respects the craft of the bl...