Beauty Dispatch From Zambia

·27 min·2 clips

Brooke shares her beauty dispatch from Zambia, revealing how traveling as a Black American reconnects her to ancestral roots.

Brooke DeVard hosts this episode of Naked Beauty, detailing her recent trip to Zambia. She introduces her desire to explore African beauty cultures as a Black American with West African ancestry. Brooke plays a snippet of an interview with Sabrina Elba discussing favorite African destinations. She describes arriving in Livingstone, Zambia, and staying at the Royal Livingstone hotel on an animal reserve. On day one, Brooke is struck by the beauty of Zambian schoolchildren in uniforms, reflecting on how blackness has been marginalized in beauty standards. She notes the variety of braid styles and hair traditions among locals. Day two involves learning about Zambian names and wildlife behaviors, including how elephants protect birthing mothers and hippos give birth alone. Brooke discusses animal skincare, such as elephants using mud as SPF and hippos secreting 'blood sweat' for moisture. She visits the Buma Women's Collective to see the traditional harvesting of mongongo oil from nuts, a process dating back 12,000 years. A UN consultant explains efforts to help local businesses scale through e-commerce. Brooke explores Maramba Market, where she buys wrappers (Shtenge) used for clothing and baby-carrying. She enjoys a local meal of Nishima and discusses cultural connections with her guides, including Zambian pop culture and generational views on independence. The episode concludes with Brooke expressing her desire for more unique travel experiences in the future.

As heard by us

A Zambian beauty dispatch links mongongo oil, animal grooming, and the social meanings behind care.

Beauty Dispatch From Zambia treats beauty as a way to read place, following Brooke DeVard's return from a week in Zambia into reflections on ancestry, travel, animals, and natural skincare.

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Why you'd press play

Want your beauty routine to take a detour through Zambia, hippos, baboons, and mongongo oil?

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