The Conscious Beauty Routine Actor Arsema Thomas Has Been Loving As Of Late

The beauty industry is a work in progress—progress toward the greater good, we hope, but we do have a ways to go, especially when it comes to our environmental impact. And, look, it's not fair or productive to put all the onus on the consumer (as lasting change will likely stem from industrywide shifts), but you shouldn't underestimate the power of your dollar. 

Arsema Thomas certainly knows the significance of mindful spending. "It's very evident in my beauty regimen that the kind of products I like to put my money toward have to have good underlying values," the actor (who speaks five languages and has a master's in public health policy from Yale—casual!) tells me over Zoom. 

Her commitment to conscious beauty makes her the perfect partner for the Tom's of Maine Incubator, a program that awards five entrepreneur applicants $20,000 to materialize their community-driven vision and drive environmental solutions. In addition to funding, winners will receive mentorship from climate movement leaders, guidance and support from Tom's of Maine, and collaboration opportunities with fellow Incubator members, all from underrepresented, underserved communities. (Apply here before October 15!) 

"My sister is really big in the environmental justice space, and she constantly reminds me of the difference between a greenwashing company and an actually sustainable company," Thomas adds.

"I think it would have to be the process of washing your face with hot water, and then doing a very cold water rinse right after to seal everything in. It just feels like it's working—it's magic. 

"I have always been a standard [traditional] toothpaste user. It was only recently that my sister told me I should start using more organic toothpaste, so I started to use Tom's of Maine.

"I always color in my eyebrows with mascara that's running low. I don't throw it away if it's not enough for my eyelashes—it always has a second life as an eyebrow situation. 

"The mascara I usually use is [by] Rare Beauty. It comes in such a small case, so I can bring it with me everywhere. 

"I honestly think the newest thing I've been trying, which is definitely not part of the zeitgeist but will become something popular, is not shaving my armpits. I think it is such a retro move and a physical way of reclaiming the body. 

"It's quite a vulnerable space, but there's something about women not shaving that feels very revolutionary, and it's going to change the beauty and wellness space in a really different way. So I'm praying that it will come back.

"I made [the decision] actually during COVID, but then I did a lot of reading about the racism that is ingrained in shaving the body. It's this whole idea of entrenching in the gender binary by creating as much difference between men and women, but it was also weaponized against Black people during the earlier parts of America's history.

"Black women weren't allowed to wear skirts or shave themselves, but white women were emphatically encouraged to do so. That was also to create a difference between the races, to show that one is more civilized over the other. 

"Probably my hair oils—anything for hair. I'm looking around my apartment right now, [and I have] like 18 little tincture bottles of different oils that I just massage into my scalp.

"I love them, and they're all kind of expensive, but head and scalp care is really important to me. A lot of them are just made by small businesses, like women at flea markets and places like that. They have no labeling on them, and you can see all of the black castor or chebe powder that they've used to make them. 

"I feel like the best places to get a lot of the greatest things for your skin, face, body, and mind tend to be at marketplaces.

"Usually, you're paying what is deserved of that person's work and effort into the product. You're also meeting the person that made your thing. It goes against the whole capitalist structure, and you'll always find something or something close to what you want.

"The whole practice of putting lotion on [is] meditative. It's almost like giving back to your body—you never self-massage unless you're already in pain. 

"I think that also comes with being Black, and the idea of what lotion and moisturizer means for our bodies and how we're perceived. So there's something I love about investing in really, really good coconut butters or body butters for making yourself look glossy. My mother always told me, 'Elbows and knees are the places to be.' 

"I'm the type of person who always travels around with multiple deodorants. Maybe it's a self-conscious thing—I don't want to smell, and I sweat a lot—but I always carry small amounts of deodorant.