Esthetician Myesha Polnett, 23, a native of Washington State, is Fenty Skin’s newest global ambassador. She connected and built a relationship with the brand primarily on Instagram, where she has 91,000 followers via her account @myesha.polnett. She joins Sean Garrette in repping Rihanna’s skin-care line. Fenty Skin launched its first three products in July 2020. Since, the brand has launched a night cream, an eye cream and, most recently, its Butta Drop Whipped Oil Body Cream. Polnett’s first marching orders have entailed creating content around this drop, the brand’s first venture into body care.
Polnett has been an esthetician for three years, though she doesn’t actually perform services at this point in her career as an influencer and, now, ambassador. “My passion really lies in education. What I’ve been taught [while being] in the industry is that 80% of your results come from what you do at home and 20% is [the work of] your esthetician. So, I can perform certain treatments on you, but they won’t work the way they’re supposed to if you don’t do your part at home. If I can really educate people and make it simple for them to understand and help them create a routine that works for them, that’s more important to me,” she said.
Glossy Pop spoke to Polnett about why she loves Fenty, what skin-care tips she recommends and how she used social media to get to where she is today.
How did you get this gig?
“What connected [the brand and i] in an authentic way was my authenticity, my personability and my education. I pride myself on being knowledgeable, to the best of my ability, but also being very raw. [I’m] someone that people can really relate to and understand, and [I help them] feel as though they’re not alone. If you’re struggling with skin care, if you have [skin] issues, [it helps to know that] I have issues, as well. It’s been a roller coaster for me. I am not perfect, but we can all relate because of that. Fenty Skin does a great job of encouraging and uplifting those who maybe feel different, with genuine inclusivity and diversity.”
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Why did the partnership make sense?
“I have been a fan of Fenty Beauty for years. I just showed genuine support [on social media]. I love what they stand for. And then when they came out with Fenty Skin last year, it was something that I was just so ecstatic about, because skin care is so important to me. As soon as I learned about the brand, I learned about the ingredients and formulations. They have great formulas and great ingredients, but beyond that, it’s their culture. They include everyone and make everyone feel a part of [the brand]. It’s not just for women — it includes men, too. [It’s for] everyone, and they really amplify that. In this day and age, being earth-friendly and conscious and being inclusive and diverse is so important. [The brand] aligns with my morals and how I operate through social media.”
Tell us about the moment that Fenty reached out to you.
“I was in a place where I felt a little discouraged by social media, because it changes so much. It takes a lot of work to keep up with it, and it takes a lot of work and dedication to create and produce. At that time, I was feeling a little discouraged by the planning in your head required to keep up with social media. So when they reached out to me, it was life-changing. It gave me the opportunity to do something a little bit more purposeful.”
Did you have a social media moment that was a turning point for you?
“Back in 2016, was when my platform took off, I was just a normal girl getting out of high school and loving makeup. And at that time, makeup was so huge. I was creating posts, and I didn’t have a following. I just was creating and posting, and I posted a photo of myself, makeup all done, and smiling. I typically don’t smile in a lot of my photos. As soon as I smiled, that photo just took off. I think about that photo a lot. I actually captioned it, ‘Mazee [her boyfriend] told me to smile.’ We look back and joke. We talk about it all the time. He’s like, ‘I made you famous.’ I thought ‘Well, maybe people really do enjoy the happiest parts of you, the pure joy.’
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Five years later, I started to think, ‘OK, this is a career path for me, this isn’t just an app [Instagram] for me to use. This is something I can support my family with. I can build a community, I can inspire…’ That picture was the defining moment for me.”
What’s your favorite Fenty Skin product, and what’s your best skin-care tip?
“I would say the Hydra Vizor Invisible Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 30 Sunscreen. It’s a 2-in-1 moisturizer and SPF. I know that anything that I do for my skin will be ineffective if I don’t use an SPF. I could do all my other steps, but if I don’t protect my skin from the sun, it’s almost pointless. My No. 1 tip would be to always wear sunscreen. And I really like to promote this within communities of people of color. I am Black, so I grew up being told that ‘Black doesn’t crack,’ and ‘You don’t need to wear SPF.’ But I came to learn how important it is for people of color and Black people to wear SPF. We suffer from hyperpigmentation and so wearing SPF is very important.”
