BEAUTY : SPOTLIGHT AGE: 31 HOMETOWN: Walnut, California My big break I think it was being accepted into the Yale School of Drama. There were 6 women in my class of 16, and I believed my training there and the relationships I made would set the tone for the rest of my career. My go-to karaoke song “Proud Mary.” The last thing that made me LOL My dog running too fast and sliding into things. The beauty product that has changed my life Mario Badescu rosewater facial spray. It just makes you feel fresh and light. My fave Instagram filter Hefe or Lo-Fi. Why being in The Birth of a Nation is such an important role for me I wish there were a film like this when I was growing up. To see enslaved people fully aware of how powerless they were against their oppressors actively make the choice to fight and defy them. To see that kind of bravery and self-love would have meant everything to me when I was younger. And knowing that I get to be that for someone else, that I’m a part of that narrative, means everything to me now.
FRESH FACE:
HER BEAUTY FAVE
A refreshing, hydrating mist, Mario Badescu Facial Spray With Aloe, Herbs and Rosewater ($12, 8 oz, mariobadescu.com) keeps Aja’s skin radiant.
AJA NAOMI KING THIS CALI NATIVE SHARES WHAT KEEPS HER GLOWING ON-SCREEN AND OFF AND WHY A BREAKOUT ROLE IN A MUCH BUZZED-ABOUT FILM MEANS SO MUCH TO HER 52 ESSENCE .COM OCTOBER 2016
KING , MA ARTEN DE BOER /G E T T Y IMAG ES . PRODUCT, COU RTESY OF B R AN D.
The first time I saw The Birth of a Nation, I couldn’t believe that was me. I didn’t recognize myself.
How I felt seeing myself on the big screen for the first time I saw Birth at the Sundance Film Festival with a thousand other strangers and I couldn’t believe that was me in the film. I didn’t recognize myself.