ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16TH’S THE DREW BARRYMORE SHOW  

BEAUTY WEEK KICK-OFF WITH IMAN COSMETICS FOUNDER SUPERMODEL IMAN

DREW GIVES “THE NEIGHBORHOOD” STAR MAX GREENFIELD BEAUTY TUTORIAL TO CELEBRATE BEAUTY WEEK

THE DREW BARRYMORE SHOW AIRS WEEKDAYS

MUST INCLUDE TUNE IN

VIDEOS:

Iman on Correcting Her Discovery Story

https://drewbarrymoreshow.cimediacloud.com/r/te3HD8AubhXJ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyHWTwMqNfE

Drew: When he (photographer Peter Beard) discovered you in Nairobi and the way he convinced you and then brought you over and that press conference where you glamorously came off the airplane but then felt curious, indignant and very strong about the reaction from the press towards you, I was riveted by your powerful response back in the day.

Iman: Yes, when he brought me here he concocted this idea, this story, that he found me in the bush. Needless to say, my father was a diplomat and I speak five languages, and he told everybody that I didn’t speak a word of English, literally. So it was indignant, I can definitely say he did not mean any harm by it, but of course I was indignant about it. I even speak more languages than he does. So I did correct the whole idea. You know it’s like this fantasy about like a ‘Fair Lady,’ somebody that is brought from the jungle to another jungle, which is New York, and then just becomes a supermodel. It’s the whole idea of that fantasy. I’ve always said it’s rooted in racism but I can definitely say in all honesty that he was not, because he has passed away, a racist person, but sometimes that’s what it is. The language that we use that we don’t think about it when people say, ‘Oh you don’t look black.’ I mean l look very Somali, so I don’t know where they are coming from but a lot of the times people would even say, ‘Well you look like you can be mixed.’ I’m not mixed, I’m pure Somali so language does matter.

Iman on Her First Photo Shoot Planting Seed For Creation of IMAN Cosmetics

https://drewbarrymoreshow.cimediacloud.com/r/iGL58NygY5yf

Drew: And I read a story about how you showed up to a shoot and the makeup artist said, ‘Did you bring your own foundation because we just don’t have it,’ and was there several catalysts that got you to launch IMAN Cosmetics, that was so necessary, important and groundbreaking at that time?

Iman: Yes, actually because it really happened at that photo shoot. It was 1975, it was my first photo shoot and it was for American Vogue. I had never worn heels, I had never worn makeup before I arrived in the United States, I was studying political science, I had never seen fashion magazines. I had no idea there was anything called fashion that existed in the world. So at that photo shoot I walked in and there was another model on the shoot and she was Caucasian and the makeup artist asked me, and by the way I was then 19-years-old, he asked me specifically, ‘Did you bring your own foundation?,’ but it wasn’t lost on me that he didn’t ask that question to the Caucasian girl. I had no idea what he was talking about, I didn’t even know what foundation was. So then he proceeded to mix and match some products and put it on my face and I looked in the mirror and I looked grey, I looked horribly grey my skin. So what saved my career, because that way my first shoot, what saved my career was that the photographs were actually black and white and those black and whites hide a multitude of sins. What I did was I made it my job to find something that was suitable for my skin, so I went to all these department stores…and I mixed and mixed product and put it on my face and I took a Polaroid camera and I took pictures so I could see how it would translate. That was the seed that was implanted in my head that I had to take control of my own image.

Drew Gives Max Greenfield Makeup Tutorial to Celebrate Beauty Week

https://drewbarrymoreshow.cimediacloud.com/r/3zmezup73Mpn

Jessica Liik

VP of Communications

The Drew Barrymore Show

Cell: 551-486-2761