Covey Confessional: How to Rock Your Summer Looks with Celebrity Hairstylist Brenton Diallo
Welcome back to Covey Confessional! This is a series created for our Covey community to provide insider tips, information, and valuable insights into industry leaders' routines.
At Covey, we believe in the dreamers — the ones who chase after their callings and master their craft. Brenton Kane Diallo is a true representation of what hard work, passion and ambition can create. He’s a New York City-based celebrity hairstylist who has built an impressive career from his innate talents and interests.
When he first landed at the Fashion Institute of Technology, he first intended to become a fashion designer. However, during his time in the classroom, he discovered his main love was — and had always been — the world beauty, creating gorgeous hair looks for his friends and clients. So, he followed this gift by going to cosmetology school and landing a job at a salon. Eventually, he made his way into session hairstyling.
As he shared with Covey, “For me, I always I knew I wanted to be a part of that world that would allow me to transform people with my talent and skills. I’m an artist first, so people are my medium.”
Here, Diallo took time out of his busy schedule to chat with Covey about routine, hair and makeup hacks, and more:
What has inspired you the most?
What inspired me most is the great divas of all time — from Diana Ross and Celine Dion to Patti Labelle, Cher, Lady Gaga and Naomi Campbell. These women have always amazed me with how they can transform into different personas through hair, makeup, and fashion. I’m also obsessed with transforming myself into other characters, which for me is why I love dressing and creating looks for my drag personas.
What is your mission or “elevator pitch”?
I would say, “Why just settle for being yourself when you can use hair makeup and clothing to become anyone — or anything — you want to be?”
If you had to break out a makeup routine in three steps, what would it be?
For makeup, it would be to gel my brows down, use concealer under the eyes and use a good lip balm. My everyday makeup routine, I gel down my eyebrows and fill them in with an eyebrow pencil. Then, I use concealer to brighten underneath my eyes. I like to use a darker shade bronzer to contour just so that I always look sunkissed. And lastly, I like to use a golden highlighter just to make those highlighted areas pop. When I’m doing my daily makeup, I almost want it to seem as if I don’t have on makeup at all but instead that I have fantastic skin and a killer complexion.
Which step of your morning and evening routine will you NEVER skip?
The one step that I can’t go without every day is cleansing my skin. It is so important to me that I wash my face both morning and night. Otherwise, I feel like my skin doesn’t have that glow that I like to see.
What's your favorite Covey product?
Hands down, The Covey First of All Cleanser. Whether I’m doing drag makeup or my natural everyday makeup, the cleanser allows me to build up a lather to break down and take off all of my makeup.
What is your form of self-care?
Self-care for me is doing both hair and skin masks. For my hair, I like to use deep conditioners and mix it with different oils and then put on a plastic cap while I sit underneath a hooded dryer. I like to exfoliate for my skin and then use a mask while sitting under the hairdryer. To me, this is the idea of self-care, and it always makes me feel so good. When I’m done, I feel beautiful.
Who or what do you do that makes you feel empowered?
I create a character. Whether it be my drag character or some crazy headpiece, I think the process of taking something that’s in my head and bringing it to life and performing as that character is something that makes me feel empowered for sure.
What is one secret hack or splurge that makes a difference in your hair, your complexion or your overall energy levels?
The one thing that you should have that makes the most significant difference for me for both hair and makeup is a silk pillowcase. This is the one thing that I can’t go without — and I even take it with me when I travel.
For my workout routine, I love to stretch, do yoga and take extremely long walks. I love these exercises because they are not only good for your physical health but your mental health as well. So for walking, the best thing to splurge on are good sneakers, and for yoga, a good mat that coordinates with your outfit, of course!
What’s your best friend fact?
My best friend fact is for hair, and that cotton pillowcases can dry out your hair and sometimes even cause it to break. This is why no matter what, I always sleep with satin or silk pillowcases.
What's the best piece of advice someone else in your industry has given you?
Never stop learning and or asking questions. I think this will always be so important because no matter how much of an expert you are, there is always someone who knows a better, new or easier way. And that just adds to your arsenal of knowledge!