Meet The Brown Barbie D’Asia Hargrove | Beauty Influencer

We had the good fortune of connecting with The Brown Barbie D’Asia Hargrove and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi The Brown Barbie, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I’m from waterbury, Connecticut and although this city is known here its super small compared to the rest of the big cities in the U.S! My city doesn’t have that many successful people to come out of it, honestly Connecticut in general! With that being said, since I was a little girl I truly wanted to change that and give back! Being a Darkskin girl I would constantly have derogatory things said to me, various micro aggressions, and people shoot down my dreams. I’ve always had a pretty powerful voice/big dreams and once I started to live in myself, I started to see how I could be a change in my community. Once I started to gain confidence, I became I strong public speaker and this lead me to start speaking on controversial topics within the black community and globally. During this time I just started to get into makeup but when I would search up Darkskin make-up routine on YouTube, I seen there wasn’t many girls of my skin complexion. Also I would have the hardest time finding makeup to suit my complexion and undertone. All of this happened at a pretty convenient time because I indirectly started to truly learn about the beauty word and I subconsciously found my purpose in life. Fast forward to now, I’m truly grateful for all of my trials and tribulations because it indirectly molded to be a mentor/voice for not only the beauty Industry but my community as well. It allowed me to gain this fire/drive to become who I am today!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Many people think the name The Brown Barbie is me being conceited, cocky, or snobby. In actually reality, I wanted to change the stereotypical thought of a barbie doll. In our society black women have many stereotypes about them and positive things about beauty sadly isn’t one of them. Thankfully now those stereotypes are slowly fading away but they still are present. I wanted to change the narrative and show that no matter your skin color, shape, background, and education level anyone can be a “barbie”. When I say barbie I’m not just talking about the doll, i’m truly talking about societies beauty standards and how it was for a long time fixed on one image. Now my friend did help me come up with this name after I told her I truly wanted a name that provoked a bit of thought, and that’s how The Brown Barbie was born! A huge thing I pride myself in on my platforms is being genuine! On my Channel on YouTube i’m very honest about everything that goes on in my life because I want people to truly enjoy me for me not a show i’m putting on for views! As well as show that everything is rainbows and gums drops too! This does come with a lot of challenges because it can look like i’m growing slower compared to other peoples stories, but I know I’m building a community of people that truly enjoy me! This actually affects me a lot as well, resulting in me taking many breaks to reflect on my career. There are so many challenges I’ve had to overcome that very difficult mentally, but every time I wanted to give up I felt this sense of guilt that I was giving up on my purpose! Biggest lesson I’ve learned is truly don’t listen to other peoples opinion! Many people have been conditioned to think there’s only one way to live your life, make your income, and that you can only accomplish certain things! Just because you have big dreams doesn’t mean they’re too big to be fulfilled!! My journey was NOT easy and i’m still learning so much! I learned everything about YouTube and instagram myself through thorough research! I started using my iPhone x barely looking at the camera in my very first YouTube video and looking back at that video I’ve had so much growth! As of right now, Im on a bit of a content break but I’m so excited to get back in the swing of things! I have so much planed for my YouTube and Instagram for the rest of the year, I cant wait to get started on these project!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Connecticut does have some hidden gems!! Now i’m a go with the flow kinda girl, so I wouldn’t have a strict itinerary but id have a list of places to visit! I would start all of our morning by going to a cute dinner to get some breakfast! Bell city dinner in New Britain, CT has SUCH cute milkshakes!! We’d definitely stop by The place to be In West Hartford, CT for a cute brunch moment and this place is perfect for Instagram pictures!! Now for some fun and adventure we would go to Lake compounds (amusement park), Thrillz ( adventure park), IT ( a ropes course), some mini golfing places, and of course Dave and busters! Now night life is a hit or miss sadly, so id just visit a few clubs/ bars and feel the vibe from there! We would start our weekend off by going to Mohegan Sun casino and spending a weekend there! Eat at Tao, go shopping, gamble just a bit, and depending on the weather layout by the pool!!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My mom deserves the biggest shoutout and some credit for my success! She’s my world and she keeps pushing me to achieve my dreams, even if I feel like i’m not good enough or i’m dreaming too big! Not only is she my major support system but she is a big reason why I keep pushing to do/be better! She sacrificed so much for me, so I made it a purpose that her sacrifices will all be worth it in the end!

Instagram: @thebrownbarbiee

Youtube: The Brown Barbie

Other: Tiktok- @thebrownbarbiee