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senator who was in support of a law that threatened Title X funding. During her interview, Foxx was wearing her “power face” held together by DUO Lash Glue and scarlet-red lipstick. By then, the teen had already experienced hidden homelessness and frustration over the lack of comprehensive sex education in her school. She was growing up quickly and becoming an overnight internet sensation didn’t slow that down.
Foxx didn’t necessarily choose this public life — not at first. She didn’t film the video of her verbally taking down a 50-something white man and she definitely didn’t upload it online. So, when she was suddenly being judged by thousands, if not millions, of people, she took control by doing her makeup. Foxx couldn’t pick and choose how the world would label her, but she could manage what she’d look like when they did.
“I was being treated like I was older, and because I was forced to live life like an adult, my look really reflected that,” she said. “I wore it almost as a badge of honor, that I was older even though I was 16. I was doing all my sh*t myself and no one could tell me I wasn't grown.”
ctivist Deja Foxx is only 21 years old, but she’s lived a long life already. When Foxx was 16, she appeared on CNN to recap her first viral moment, a town hall face-off with a middle-aged
Since that viral moment, Foxx continues to advocate for accessible health care and reproductive rights. She founded GenZ Girl Gang, a growing online community for womxn and femmes, and, during the most recent election, became one of the youngest presidential campaign staffers for Kamala Harris. While we often beg public figures to never change, Foxx’s entire life, so far, has been about exactly that. As she’s evolved, so has her look.
Foxx eventually moved from Arizona to New York City to attend Columbia University, which is where she got a whole new lesson
in beauty. “I was surrounded by people who the world did not
force to grow up quickly and I was jealous in a lot of ways, but I think my more natural look now reflects that I’m embracing that I
deserve to be young,” she said. “I find even more value in stripping [my makeup] back and allowing myself to be really youthful.”
For Foxx, beauty has always been relational and generational and, because of this, her conception of it continues to grow. Before she had her classmates and political peers, Foxx looked to her two older sisters, who she studied even more than YouTube beauty videos. “In so many ways my beauty journey and entry into it was through the lens of sisterhood and having those older sisters model for me what womanhood looked like,” she said. “I started wearing lashes when I was 12 or 13 just wanting to keep up and [play] with them.”
At some point, Foxx’s point of view outgrew the contents of her makeup bag. The nuts and bolts of her old power face may not make an appearance often, but Foxx is aware of the crucial role it played in her origin story. And when she, on occasion, finds herself tapping into that now-retired look — one that almost always features falsies, a razor-sharp cat-eye, and red lips — she feels nothing but gratitude. “What maybe was protective when I was young is now a way of me embodying, or bringing back to myself, the power I had in that moment,” she said. “She was so strong and so many of the things she did I just can't even imagine doing [now.]”
or platforms — it’s on whether or not someone decided to paint their nails red.
The default preference is neutral; if it’s not, it’s seen as frivolous or distracting.
Foxx has become well acquainted with this antiquated pretense, one that disproportionately affects women, especially women of color, when entering a political arena. Popular wisdom may say beauty and politics are incompatible,
but Foxx argues that they go hand-in-hand.
“We have to take a step back and categorize makeup and beauty as a form of self-expression, and then once we do that, we can say that any form of self-expression can be a means for advocacy, for activism, for change-making,”
she said. “Because when you show up as your whole self in spaces you've
been denied entry, places that were built to exclude you, that is radical.”
“So many communities that I'm a part of have been denied self-expression,
have been flattened, have been told to be small or to be quiet. Beauty is a
way of expressing yourself and being yourself loudly.”
Beauty can also be a powerful tool for telegraphing intent. So, when someone implies that Foxx should express herself in a more digestible way, it’s a direct attack on her ethos. “Some of the things that are most frustrating to me are comments I get about using my femininity, or the ways that I express it, as a
way of discrediting what I’m saying — that it’s somehow less important, less valid, less reasonable, [or] less smart because it is coming from me and my
body and the way that I present,” she said. “If I were to tone it down to be heard by people who don't want to hear me anyway, I would be leaving these young women behind and that’s not worth it to me.”
Scrutiny has its place in politics, but all too often that eagle-eye surveillance isn’t focused on policies
by Samantha Sasso
the features she once tried to hide or minimize based on society’s standards.
“I really did grow up struggling [with] being darker than my sisters, being darker than a lot of my Filipino family,” she said, adding that her internalized colorism eventually led her to find products that help her embrace the things she’s been told not to love. For example, the discovery of gold highlighter, like the Florence by Mills Self-Reflecting Highlighter Stick, helped her to feel confident in her skin.
Save for some spot-concealing with an SPF-infused foundation, like the Clinique Even Better Clinical Serum Foundation Broad Spectrum SPF 25, Foxx prefers a nearly-naked base. “I try not to alter my skin too much because it is something I've had a fraught relationship with in the past,” she said. “Now, I’ve kind of embraced my skin as it is.” Even so, she does spend a lot of time on video calls and for that she enlists a multipurpose product, like the Live Tinted Huestick Corrector, which can cover everything else — eyes, cheeks, and lips.
As for her eyes, Foxx has been on a long journey to love their almond shape. “I was so obsessed with making them look bigger and rounder,” she said. “Once again, this is a part of me embracing my cultural identity.” Foxx usually reaches for a brown eyeshadow, like an Ulta Beauty Collection Eyeshadow Single, and an angled brush. She uses the latter to blend out the shadow in her outer corner, so it creates a smoky, elongated effect. While you’ll never catch her curling her lashes — that would foil her look entirely — you will find a couple of different mascaras in her bag, including the Tarte Maneater Mascara and the Lancôme Lash Idôle Lash-Lifting & Volumizing Mascara — her two best-kept secrets for looking awake, a necessity for a student-activist. Finally, Foxx frames her everyday eye look with relatively natural-looking brows, touching them only with a clear gel, specifically the Benefit Cosmetics 24-HR Brow Setter Clear Eyebrow Gel with Lamination Effect.
Her routine might seem minimal, but even these few steps play a crucial role in her mental health. Even if Foxx sometimes skips foundation or mascara, she will never skip her skin care routine. “I think building in routines is helpful because for me, no day looks the same,” she said. “I've created this life for myself and it requires a lot of newness and innovation and thinking on my toes, and so my [skin care] routine should not.” She might not have a lot of consistency in her life, but her favorite products, like the OSEA Ocean Cleanser or Supergoop! Unseen Sunscreen SPF 40, help provide her a level of no-brainer normalcy.
Some people think of self-care as a circumstantial healer, but for Foxx, it’s
the practical daily steps she follows to prevent feeling swept away by all the change happening around her. “Self-care is preventative,” she said. “It’s a ritual and routine, and it’s not always super-fancy or cute. Sometimes it’s just those routines that make you feel secure.” Senators might not add newly-formed wrinkles to their meeting agenda, but Foxx can confirm that at just 21, she’s sure she would have a whole family of fine lines if it weren’t for her structured regimen. Like we said, beauty and politics: an unlikely pair.
As much as she’d like to be, Foxx isn’t impenetrable.
Just like many other young women, she’s been manipulated into thinking that her face — her eyes,
her skin tone, etc. — aren’t beautiful. Now, she uses
was 16, she appeared on CNN to recap her first viral moment, a town hall face-off with a middle-aged senator who was in support of a law that threatened Title X funding. During her interview, Foxx was wearing her “power face” held together by DUO Lash Glue and scarlet-red lipstick. By then, the teen had already experienced hidden homelessness and frustration over the lack of comprehensive sex education in her school. She was growing up quickly and becoming an overnight internet sensation didn’t slow that down.
Foxx didn’t necessarily choose this public life — not at first. She didn’t film the video of her verbally taking down a 50-something white man and she definitely didn’t upload it online. So, when she was suddenly being judged by thousands, if not millions, of people, she took control by doing her makeup. Foxx couldn’t pick and choose how the world would label her, but she could manage what she’d look like when they did.
“I was being treated like I was older, and because I was forced to live life like an adult, my look really reflected that,” she said. “I wore it almost as a badge of honor, that I was older even though I was 16. I was doing all my sh*t myself and no one could tell me I wasn't grown.”
Foxx eventually moved from Arizona to New York City to attend Columbia University, which is where she got a whole new lesson in beauty. “I was surrounded by people who the world did not force to grow up quickly and I was jealous in a lot of ways, but I think my more natural look now reflects that I’m embracing that I deserve to be young,” she said. “I find even more value in stripping [my makeup] back and allowing myself to be really youthful.”
For Foxx, beauty has always been relational and generational and, because of this, her conception of it continues to grow. Before she had her classmates and political peers, Foxx looked to her two older sisters, who she studied even more than YouTube beauty videos. “In so many ways my beauty journey and entry into it was through the lens of sisterhood and having those older sisters model for me what womanhood looked like,” she said. “I started wearing lashes when I was 12 or 13 just wanting to keep up and [play] with them.”
At some point, Foxx’s point of view outgrew the contents of her makeup bag. The nuts and bolts of her old power face may not make an appearance often, but Foxx is aware of the crucial role it played in her origin story. And when she, on occasion, finds herself tapping into that now-retired look — one that almost always features falsies, a razor-sharp cat-eye, and red lips — she feels nothing but gratitude. “What maybe was protective when I was young is now a way of me embodying, or bringing back to myself, the power I had in that moment,” she said. “She was so strong and so many of the things she did I just can't even imagine doing [now.]”
Her routine might seem minimal, but even these few steps play a crucial role in her mental health. Even if Foxx sometimes skips foundation or mascara, she will never skip her skin care routine. “I think building in routines is helpful because for me, no day looks the same,” she said. “I've created this life for myself and it requires a lot of newness and innovation and thinking on my toes, and so my [skin care] routine should not.” She might not have a lot of consistency in her life, but her favorite products, like the OSEA Ocean Cleanser or Supergoop! Unseen Sunscreen SPF 40, help provide her a level of no-brainer normalcy.
Some people think of self-care as a circumstantial healer, but for Foxx, it’s
the practical daily steps she follows to prevent feeling swept away by all the change happening around her. “Self-care is preventative,” she said. “It’s a ritual and routine, and it’s not always super-fancy or cute. Sometimes it’s just those routines that make you feel secure.” Senators might not add newly-formed wrinkles to their meeting agenda, but Foxx can confirm that at just 21, she’s sure she would have a whole family of fine lines if it weren’t for her structured regimen. Like we said, beauty and politics: an unlikely pair.
Scrutiny has its place in politics, but all too often that eagle-eye surveillance isn’t focused on policies or platforms — it’s on whether or not someone decided to paint their nails red. The default preference
is neutral; if it’s not, it’s seen as frivolous or distracting. Foxx has become well acquainted with this antiquated pretense, one that disproportionately affects women, especially women of color,
when entering a political arena. Popular wisdom may say beauty and politics are incompatible, but Foxx argues that they go hand-in-hand.
“We have to take a step back and categorize makeup and beauty as a form of self-expression, and then once we do that, we can say that any form of self-expression can be a means for advocacy, for activism, for change-making,” she said. “Because when you show up as your whole self in spaces you've been denied entry, places that were built to exclude you, that is radical.”
“So many communities that I'm a part
of have been denied self-expression,
have been flattened, have been told
to be small or to be quiet. Beauty is a
way of expressing yourself and being
yourself loudly.”
Beauty can also be a powerful tool for telegraphing intent. So, when someone implies that Foxx should express herself in a more digestible way, it’s a direct attack on her ethos. “Some of the things that are most frustrating to me are comments I get about using my femininity, or the ways that I express it, as a way of discrediting what I’m saying — that it’s somehow less important, less valid, less reasonable, [or] less smart because it is coming from me and my body and the way that I present,” she said. “If I were to tone it down to be heard by people who don't want to hear me anyway, I would be leaving these young women behind and that’s not worth it to me.”
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