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With June almost at its end, we bid farewell to Pride month for another year – though don’t worry, Pride in London doesn’t take place until July 5.
For the third and final 2025 Beauty of Pride video – alongside Olympic Gold medal winner Tom Daley and Nine Perfect Strangers actor Maisie Richardson-Sellers – DJ and Pussy Palace founder Nadine Noor stops by GLAMOUR HQ.
“I was really nervous because I’ve called myself a bedroom artist for years – I paint, write poetry, make music, but it doesn’t leave my bedroom,” they share as they begin painting their self-portrait. “But then I decided, let’s just see what happens because it’s just a feeling at the end of the day. I’m not thinking when I take the colours out, I’m letting the universe guide me to whatever.”
It’s the same intuitive approach that birthed Pxssy Palace back in 2015. “There was no plan, it was all from the heart,” Nadine says. “I do have a little bit more intention and planning now, but for a long time it was completely from the gut.”
From a humble start as a house party in Brick Lane, in the last decade the inclusive event has become synonymous with LGBTQ+ nightlife – a safe haven for queer Black and brown people to connect, find community, and be free. Not to mention touring with Bree Runway, raising vital funds for charities including Hackney Food Bank, and popping up for special appearances everywhere from Glastonbury to Somerset House.
Here, Nadine Noor shares with GLAMOUR their complicated relationship with Pride, the necessity of queer safe spaces and why nightlife and LGBTQ+ people go hand in hand.
Growing up, what was your relationship with your hair and makeup?
Nadine: It was influenced by being South Asian and Muslim, so: dark eyeliner, long, dark shiny hair, full lips with brown lip liner. I grew up with a lot of women in my family who were obsessed with makeup, and I couldn’t wait to get involved in it. Beauty in South Asian culture is very maximalist so the hair is done, outfit is done – it’s more, more, more.
How has beauty and makeup helped your personal identity?
Nadine: Growing up, I obviously had a lot of influence from South Asian culture but as I was starting to come into my own, I wanted to be the opposite of that. I started wearing heavier makeup and backcombing my hair as a way of rebelling against the culture I grew up with. That shaped my identity, my music choices, the people I hung out with and I gravitated towards more alternative people who were into emo, grunge and indie.
In a way, it was the internalised racism and I feel sad because of the shame I had that came from not liking myself, but maybe there’s a part of me that would have found that path anyway as my safety net is some form of goth. There’s some crossover with South Asian culture because of the dark hair and eyeliner, so maybe I wasn’t as far away as I thought I was.
What’s the best beauty hack you’ve ever learnt and from who?
Nadine: It came from my mother who told me to moisturise 10 minutes straight after the shower to lock the moisture in. Also make sure you’re moisturising twice a day in the morning and at night. Exfoliate your body in two different ways: with a scrubber and also a salt scrub – I usually do that once a week.
Your beauty cabinet catches fire. What are the three products you save?
Nadine: Can’t it be fireproof? If it can’t, I need a lip liner 100%, hair oil and shea butter because I need to stay moisturised at all times.
Are there any scents that evoke personal memories for you?
Nadine: Jasmine, coconut oil and almond oil always remind me of home. When it comes to the scents I gravitate towards, I want to smell like a rich man. I’m going to be wearing a lot of musks, ouds, vanillas, tobacco – those kinds of scents.
What's the most radical thing you have done in the name of beauty?
Nadine: It doesn’t feel that radical in the wider scheme of things, but it was for me at the time. I used to subscribe to a certain kind of femininity where my eyebrows, hair and nails were always done and I did that very much to appeal to men. When I turned 24, I bleached my eyebrows for no reason and the reaction that I got from it was really interesting – men no longer saw me or took interest in me. I didn’t know it was going to be such a radical thing for me and I felt so free afterwards because I wasn’t getting as much male attention.
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What is one rule that you live by to take care of your mental wellbeing?
Nadine: I follow a lot of mantras and one that sticks out to me is: ‘Rest is not a reward.’ In the society we live in, productivity to the point of burnout can be seen as a badge of honour, but you shouldn’t wait to burnout to rest, you should take it whenever you can. It’s really difficult in this society, especially if you’re marginalised in any way, so it's something I really try to remember.
Rest doesn’t always look like lying down, there’s spiritual rest, creative rest, social rest and they’re all really important. I schedule time to rest and if you’re not doing it too, I highly recommend it.
When would you say that you feel the most beautiful?
Nadine: I would say I feel most beautiful when I’m with my partner and waking up in the morning. I’m not quite coherent to the world yet but filled with love because we’re holding each other and seeing each other for the first time that morning. The day hasn’t started yet and you’re just a pure being – nothing else matters at that moment. I’ve never thought about it before but that’s when I feel the most beautiful.
What does Pride mean to you?
Nadine: I have a tumultuous relationship with Pride month because it’s the time where I’m the most commodified, but it’s also the month that I make most of my money in. On the other hand, we should be celebrating Pride month – especially in the line of work I’m in. Even though it’s difficult to ignore the commercialisation of it, it’s important to recognise that this month is for us and there’s plenty of people who can’t celebrate. For a long time, I wasn’t proud and had so much shame in who I was. So, in that regard, it’s important.
Why do you think there's such a strong relationship between the LGBTQ+ community and nightlife?
Nadine: That’s where we’re kept safe, under darkness. It’s a shame in a way because we weren’t afforded safety in the daytime which still exists today – even though a lot of work has been done to change that. A lot of the work we’re doing with Pxssy Palace is trying to find ways to make people feel safe and celebrated during the day, but the night is where it all began and where our history and legacy is.
Why do you think spaces for queer people to come together are so important?
Nadine: There’s still so much stigma and discrimination all over the world in varying degrees – right now, we’re seeing this snapback to conservatism and fascism. We still need spaces to come together, to converse, to dance, to build ideas.
12 years ago at the beginning stages of Pxssy Palace, there was a hopefulness and we were seeing a lot of queer people and other marginalised groups being represented but it was a trap because there were no protections put in place for us and now we’re seeing the fallout of that.
I didn’t come out properly or feel secure in who I am until I was 27 and it was because of Pxssy Palace. I have seen people come through the doors and they’re a little bit shy and not sure if they’re meant to be there, but by the end of the night, they’ve found themselves. I’ve witnessed it first hand and that’s why it’s needed. Marginalised people will always need a space and it’s inherent within us to find each other.
Why is it important to you to use your platform as a member of the LGBTQ+ community?
Nadine: LGBTQ+ people have a legacy of using any platform we have – or creating one if we don’t – to speak about injustice and create more space for ourselves and people that are like us. We should never be complacent about it because there are still so many fights to be had. It’s a necessary part of being queer I believe.
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It’s a tumultuous time for the LGBTQ+ community globally at the moment, what advice would you give somebody who feels disconnected from the community?
Nadine: Ask yourself why you’re feeling disconnected. I felt that way for a long time too and it was because I was purposely disconnecting myself. Think about what would make you feel more connected. Not everyone wants to connect with queer people at the club because of the loud music and alcohol, which can be intense. There are plenty of people that might be similar to you online and offline to make you feel more connected. Start there first.
What would be a message to your younger self about your journey as a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community?
Nadine: ‘It’s okay, you don’t have to try too hard’. For a long time, I was trying to prove something that I wasn’t. Unfortunately I didn’t think I would make it to this age because I had such a lack of self-worth that I couldn’t imagine making it beyond my 20s. Now that I’m here and alive, it’s one of my greatest achievements. There’s no way I would think that I’d be so happy and proud of myself for being in a job I really like. More than that, I love that I get to create and be around people that are so important to me. At the beginning stages of Pxssy Palace, when we started doing parties, I never thought that it would take me on the journey that I’m on now. So I’m really grateful to everyone around me and also myself for pushing through.
