Although she considers herself to be a dedicated skin-care enthusiast now, Smith's introduction to that side of the beauty world didn't come until after high school. "I didn't really know that [skin care] was a thing that I was supposed to be focusing on or thinking about," she said. "Then, I went to college and I started educating myself on skin care and I realized that I really love it."
You could say college was her awakening to all things beauty. When she moved to New York City to pursue a degree at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, her whole perception of what "beauty" means "changed drastically."
"In high school, I went to a predominantly white high school in a predominantly white area and my idea of beauty was just so skewed," she said. "Then I went to college and I got older and I started meeting different types of people and just immersing myself in kind of the melting pot of New York City."
For the 20-year-old, it's still hard to put into words exactly how she would define what beauty means to her, but she certainly knows what makes her feel like her most beautiful, authentic self. "I feel the most beautiful when I feel comfortable in my own skin," said Smith. "That's why I think skin care has become a love for me — because I do love going outside and feeling just as beautiful without any makeup on as I do with a full face."
