One thing's for sure: Self Esteem is seriously hot right now.
Having released two studio albums, Prioritise Pleasure and Compliments Please, to critical acclaim, starred in TV series such as Smothered and I Hate Suzie, appeared on a guest judge on RuPaul's Drag Race and worn an iconic dress made from Boots Advantage Cards to Glastonbury, we've been in awe for quite some time.
She even wrote the soundtrack album for Prima Facie, a play that starred Jodie Comer and dealt with consent and sexual assault. Is there anything Self Esteem can't do?
A true sporting icon.
We're saying no, definitely not. She's also an important pillar of the LGBTQIA+ community, with her track Girl Crush – which tells the story of her exploration of being bisexual – being described by the singer herself as “bi-pop”.
As part of GLAMOUR's Beauty of Pride Beauty Memo video series this June – where each week a LGBTQIA+ female celebrity talks how beauty and make up has informed and helped shape their journey to who they are today – we sat down with Self Esteem, who opened up about everything from the importance of not living up to others' expectations and beauty standards to the how empowering it is to not view beauty products as an essential for feeling good in her own skin.
Your beauty cabinet catches fire. What is the one product you'd save?
My beauty cabinet catches fire… I don't know how that happens, but it has. What's the product I save? Currently, my psoriasis steroid cream. Because I'm having a terrible outbreak of guttate [psoriasis].
What is the most radical thing you've done in the name of beauty?
I don't know how radical it is, but when I play live, me and the girls in my band, we're so worried about sweating and sweating our makeup off. And so in the last tour I sort of said that's the goal of the gig. The goal is to look as horrible as possible by the end. So I don't think that's that radical, but it was very fun.
Growing up, what was your relationship with beauty?
Well the Nineties into the Noughties was a difficult time for everyone, especially women I think. So it's not been great to be honest. That's why I'm on about what I'm on about all the time. Because I can't live the rest of my life that stressed out about standards and living up to them and what other people look like and what I feel like I should. Don't get me wrong, I constantly think about it and it's still a big part of my stresses, especially as my job is being on camera, but my goal is to be as free of that as possible and sort of try and help other people to be as well. Because it is all total bollocks.
What's one rule that you live by when taking care of your mental health?
God, the older I get, the easier it's getting, which makes me think it's mostly about not comparing yourself to other people and not being bothered what people are thinking. That really helps my mental health when I can feel stress rising and I'm like, "Why, why, why?" And then most of the time, I zoom out a bit and it's just me worrying about everybody else and not just myself. I think annoyingly eating well and exercising and going to bed early really works. It's so annoying, but it does. I've said it already, but putting yourself first. It truly never occurred to me to do that until recently, which says a lot about society.
Have you had any big beauty disasters?
My eyebrows were bleached for a TV show I was on, so I was like, “that's the character, that's fine”. But then I thought I could make it work for myself and my real life. And there's a few pictures from me with no brows, playing gigs and yeah, I look a bit peaky.
What's your fragrance personality? So what smells do you like for different activities or emotions?
I'm a real smell pervert now. The most successful people I've met in my life have always smelled so good and so I started to care about perfume in a manifesting way, because I feel like if you smell good, then the money comes. So I'm really into perfume and I love an oudy, musky, leathery, all that. I love all that.
What's your best clap back against current beauty standards?
I don't think it's a clap back, but I think I just will let myself get older and accept that. And it's ridiculous still that women especially aren't allowed to, even though it's the most inevitable thing – it's the only certain thing. From as soon as you're born, that's the only certain thing. So it's a bit mad that we spend all our money and time and energy trying to not do the thing that's definitely going to happen. So yeah, trying to stay on top of that, trying to stay realistic about getting older. It's not exactly a clap back, it's a very gentle, it's a slow clap to my death.
“Do you believe me now?”
What's the best beauty hack you've ever learned and from who?
I didn't really have [a lot of] eyebrow and then I started castor oiling and now I've got a lot of eyebrow. I love when something actually works and castor oiling your eyebrows really works.
What has beauty and makeup meant to you on your journey?
I don't know – when I can be bothered, I enjoy it. If I can't be bothered, I don't do it. I still love going into a big shop and buying something I don't need. But yeah I grew up in a very, "You can't go to the shop without making sure your hair and makeup's done." And I gave that up a very long time ago. So in a way it's now become just something fun and creative and something I like doing. Something I like talking to other people about. It's not an essential.
What does pride mean to you?
Pride to me, it's just about doing what I want unapologetically. I think there can be so many rules in queerness that is so the opposite of the point, I think. So, yeah. I'm prideful about doing whatever I want whenever I want to.
