Beauty Fix with Naomi Shimada

Model Naomi Shimada speaks to a pioneering blogger about beauty without boundaries.Gary Thompson AKA The Plastic Boy first fell in love with make-up as a teenager in Birmingham, even though shades to suit his skin tone were hard to find. Later, when he couldn't find black male beauty bloggers to inspire him in the UK, he decided to start his own channel. Since breaking into the mainstream with an appearance in a landmark make-up advert in 2016, he's been using his platform to speak out.In a conversation recorded in the months following the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, Gary tells Naomi about the inequalities he still sees within the beauty industry, from advertising campaigns to board rooms and from cosmetics counters to social media.Presenter: Naomi Shimada Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordIf you are affected by issues raised in this episode you can get more information at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.Photo: Gary Thompson/ Naomi Shimada Credit: Jade Keshia Gordon/ BBC

Model Naomi Shimada meets Sinéad Burke, the former teacher now schooling the fashion industry on designing and marketing for people with disabilities.In 2019 Sinéad became the first self-described ‘little person’ to attend the annual Met Gala fashion fundraiser and feature on the cover of Vogue. But when will the industry move beyond such milestones to become truly representative and inclusive?Fashion blogger and teacher, turned campaigner, consultant and author, Sinéad Burke is now educating children and chief executives alike. By working to fix fashion to represent people of all shapes and sizes, she’s also expanding the very idea of beauty.Presenter: Naomi Shimada Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordIf you are affected by issues raised in this episode you can get more information at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Model Naomi Shimada asks if it's possible to go green in our beauty routines, to help fix the beauty industry for people and planet.Now that so-called ‘clean beauty’ is on trend, online and, chances are, on a shelf near you, it seems easier than ever to bring sustainability into the bathroom.Or is it? Could it be clever marketing, playing on so-called ‘chem-phobia’- fear of chemicals - and cashing in on the need to clean up the planet in a climate emergency?From green chemistry to greenwashing, Naomi quizzes Dr. Richard Blackburn, Associate Professor specialising in sustainable materials at the University of Leeds, and co-founder of Keracol, the company behind Dr. Craft cosmetics.Presenter: Naomi Shimada Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca Stratford

Naomi Shimada speaks to the Queer Eye stylist about challenging skin lightening in the beauty industry and colourism in society.Tan France recounts his own healing process, from secretly using skin lightening cream as a child, to learning to love the skin he's in and celebrating every skin tone on social media using his Shaded account.In a conversation recorded following the Black Lives Matter protests of summer 2020, with beauty brands showing their support online, Naomi asks Tan about his hopes for healing the industry as well as the individual.Presenter: Naomi Shimada Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordIf you are affected by issues raised in this episode you can get more information at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Naomi Shimada speaks to fellow model and activist Ebonee Davis about embracing her natural hair texture.When her breakthrough fashion campaign coincided with the fatal police shooting of an African American man, Philando Castile, in 2016, Ebonee's open letter to the fashion industry calling out systemic racism made headlines.What does it mean - and what does it take - to defy Eurocentric beauty standards, against a backdrop of racial inequality and injustice?In a conversation recorded before the killing of George Floyd in May 2020 and the Black Lives Matter protests that followed, Ebonee speaks to Naomi about learning to love her hair and her heritage and helping others do the same.Presenter: Naomi Shimada Producer: Kirsty McQuire Researcher: Candace Wilson Editor: Rebecca StratfordIf you are affected by issues raised in this episode you can get more information at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Model Naomi Shimada meets the people who know how to get their beauty fix, while showing that beauty is anything but fixed.Naomi meets fellow models, campaigners and designers fixing broken beauty standards, from Ebonee Davis embracing her natural afro hair, to Tan France celebrating his skin tone and Dame Zandra Rhodes, still standing out from the crowd at 80.How to look good, do good and feel good, from selfies to self-care. Download & subscribe to get your Beauty Fix.Presenter: Naomi Shimada Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca Stratford Photographer: Tricia Yourkevich

Can face masks be sustainable and stylish? Model Charli Howard meets the woman on a mission to make masks functional, fashionable and ethical.Smruti Sriram is the entrepreneur behind the Great British Designer Face Coverings project, bringing together big name designers and emerging talent, to produce reusable masks with profits going to charity.She's also the CEO of Bags of Ethics, a family business that made its name making reusable tote bags for the high street and high fashion alike.Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca Stratford & Nicki PaxmanImage: Presenter Charli Howard wearing a fabric face mask (producer's own)

Can our footwear reduce our carbon footprint? Model Charli Howard learns how one brand is stepping up to that challenge.In a pre-lockdown chat, Charli hears from François-Ghislain Morillion- one half of the sneaker head brains behind Veja. With one foot in France and one foot in Brazil, the brand’s shoes are made using wild rubber sourced from the Amazon Rainforest. Their distinctive V logo has been spotted on famous feet, from Meghan Markle to Eddie Redmayne. Charli asks whether they can take further steps towards sustainability and, in a world producing 24.2 billion pairs of shoes each year, how we can all walk the walk towards more sustainable consumption.Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordImage: Presenter Charli Howard holding up a pair of trainers (model's own)

What's the deal with buy now, pay later in online shopping? Model Charli Howard learns how to get the get-up we want, without getting into debt.Eve Obasuyi of the Money Medics offers money management tips on social media, tailored to millennial and Gen Z lifestyles. In a pre-lockdown chat, she shows Charli how to make sure a wardrobe crisis doesn't become a financial crisis.Earlier this year, 'buy now pay later' became the fastest growing online payment method in the UK, according to research by payment processors Worldpay. It's big in the online fashion world but some charities and consumer groups warn that younger shoppers are at risk of falling into debt.Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordIf you are affected by issues raised in this episode you can get more information at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Model Charli Howard meets the designer taking costume change to a whole new level in TV and film.In her day job, Assistant Costume Designer Sinéad Kidao's credits range from period drama (Little Women) to Disney princess (Beauty and the Beast) and from the biblical (Mary Magdalene) to the comic (Aisling Bea's This Way Up). When not dressing Saoirse Ronan and Emma Watson's characters, Sinéad runs The Costume Directory- connecting costume designers with sustainable and socially responsible suppliers all over the world.In a pre-lockdown chat, Charli asks Sinéad whether costume can ever be sustainable- and what can the rest of us can learn from her ethical on-screen creations.Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordImage: Presenter Charli Howard in a black vintage cloak (producer's own)

In a pre-lockdown chat, model Charli Howard meets a fitness influencer turned innovator, to find out how what we wear to work out is working out for the planet.Award-winning entrepreneur Grace Beverley swaps the boardroom for her bedroom to chat about becoming a girl boss before she'd even graduated and taking on the big brands, by creating more sustainable activewear for all shapes and sizes. Athleisure is big business but with most sportswear made from synthetic fibres, micro-plastic pollution is also a big problem across the industry. So how can you look good in your gym gear, care for the planet and keep fit, all while keeping #Fitspo anxiety at bay?Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordIf you are affected by issues raised in this episode you can get more information at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.Image: Presenter Charli Howard wears leggings and crop top (model's own)

Model Charli Howard meets the activist remodelling fashion for people with disabilities.Jillian Mercado: Teen Vogue and Gay Times cover star, L Word actor and New York Fashion Week catwalk queen. She's also worked with the United Nations on reducing inequality and modelled a groundbreaking adaptive fashion collection for Tommy Hilfiger. But what exactly is adaptive fashion?In a pre-lockdown chat, Jillian tells Charli why adaptive fashion benefits everyone and how the whole industry needs to adapt to become truly accessible and representative.Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordImage: Jillian Mercado models for The Blonds catwalk show at New York Fashion Week, February 2020 Credit: Alex Cruz

Can you be vegan and still love fashion? Model Charli Howard gets her head around the vogue for vegan fashion with actor and activist Evanna Lynch.Evanna rose to fame playing Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter films, at a time when the leather 'It Bag' was a must-have. Feeling she was 'brainwashed' by the fashion industry as a teenager, she now champions cruelty-free fabrics made from pineapple, mushroom and apple. In a pre-lockdown chat, Evanna shows Charli how veganism and vogue can mix.Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordIf you are affected by issues raised in this episode you can get more information at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.Image: Presenter Charli Howard with actress and activist Evanna Lynch

Is Gen Z gender fluid? Model Charli Howard finds out why gender fluidity is always in fashion for one stylist.Kyle De'Volle has dressed Bruno Mars and Rita Ora, walked in London Fashion Week and now he’s Fragrance Ambassador for Jean Paul Gaultier. In a pre-lockdown chat, Kyle tells Charli why dressing up became his escape route as a child, why he won't be put in a box and why gender fluidity is nothing new- but it could be the future.Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordIf you are affected by issues raised in this episode you can get more information at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.

How do you make fashion sustainable? And sustainable fashionable? Model Charli Howard learns how high fashion is setting trends for the high street on sustainability.Before lockdown, Charli popped round to the home of designer Amy Powney, whose sustainable style journey has taken her from living off-grid in a caravan in Lancashire, to the cutting room floor in London, to Creative Director of ethical womenswear brand, Mother of Pearl.Amy explains why she swapped the high street for high fashion but has recently come full circle with a department store collaboration. Also, Charli learns just how far the average T-shirt has travelled.Presenter: Charli Howard Producer: Kirsty McQuire Editor: Rebecca StratfordImage: Presenter Charli Howard in a long-sleeved, ankle-length evening dress (model's own)