What makes someone feel their best is different for everyone, but makeup is often viewed as a universal confidence booster. For Gooding, she feels like her best self when she has "dramatic, Sharpie-looking drawn-on brows" and access to makeup that works for her skin tone, which sounds like a basic ask, but is unfortunately not always a given.
"In the past, it's been really hard to find makeup that was my skin tone and was my undertone," said Gooding. "I didn't realize at first just how important undertones are, especially for stage makeup. My undertone is pretty red, and so it was really hard to feel confident on stage. I think my biggest struggle, just as it's the same struggle for a lot of dark-skinned people, is just finding makeup that really works." When the makeup is right and Gooding feels like she's looking her best, it affects her energy on stage. "That confidence that I get, I just let that flow into everything."
