Sexy at Any Age Cover-july 2013 Ebony-final

J U L Y 2 0 1 3 / V I S I T E B O N Y . C O M 103

F R O M L E F T:O N L I SA R AY E :

Y I G A L A Z R O U Ë L D R E S S ;

G I A N V I TO R O S S I P U M P S ; K E N N E T H JAY

L A N E E A R R I N G S

O N J U R N E E :B EC & B R I D G E E S P I N A TA N K ;

V I N C E L E AT H E R J O G G I N G

PA N TS ; A N D R E W K AY L A T Y L E R

P U M P S ; M I L K T H E G OAT LO G O

B R AC E L E TS

O N C H A K A :D K N Y L E AT H E R

B L A Z E R ; T BY A L E X A N D E R

WA N G H A LT E R TO P ;

R E I S S L E AT H E R S K I RT; J I M M Y C H O O A N O U K

P U M P S ;BAC CA R AT

M E D I C I S R I N G

The recipe for what makes a woman sexy at any age is simple: beauty, brains and class, all served straight

up, with a healthy dose of con� dence

A M Y E L I SA K E I T H

A M Y E L I SA K E I T H

R O G E R E R IC K S ON

R O G E R E R IC K S ON

ST Y L E D BYST Y L E D BY M A R I E L L E B OB O

M A R I E L L E B OB O

A lthough society may reserve the “sexy” label for young women with a particular

set of entertainment industry-approved attributes, each of our cover models exudes sex appeal while defi antly refusing to allow time or the business to defi ne her. Chaka Khan, with her maroon mane, has fueled funk for more than 40 years and, at age 60, shows no signs of stopping; at 46, LisaRaye proves that her fabulous homegirl next

door fl avor is the key to her career longevity and true charm; and don’t let Jurnee Smollett-Bell’s baby face fool you: She’s 26 going on Hollywood heavyweight.

So in honor of fi erce femmes everywhere, we’ve asked these dynamic women to share their secrets to ageless beauty, staying on top and embracing their bodies from head to toe.KNKNK ONON WIT!WIT!W

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J U L Y 2 0 1 3 / V I S I T E B O N Y . C O M 105

Timeless Treasure

L I G H T S ! C A M E R A ! ACT I O N ! Not a moment after the beat drops on the thumping sound system, the woman born Yvette Marie Stevens transforms into icon Chaka Khan. Those wine-red lips fashion into a pout, those dramatic, kohl-lined eyes squint seductively and the

hair—oh, the wild mane that has become her signature—gets tossed about as she poses for the camera during her EBONY photo shoot. Photographer Roger Erickson can’t keep up, adjusting lighting and the camera’s F-stop while trying to catch the dozens of priceless poses that the 4-foot-11-inch legend is firing with unbridled energy. Giving smoldering face; flexing and arching like a supermodel; harnessing years of dance classes while standing on her tiptoes; clawing the collar of her white motorcycle jacket. Click, click, click. Chaka is in a universe all her own.

“It’s an out-of-body experience,” she confesses. “It’s as if I’m not here.” As the eldest child of a photographer father, the allure of a camera lens is irresistible to the diminutive diva, much like performing in front of thousands of fans. “When I leave the stage, I know I’ve had a really good

show if I do not remember what I did.”When Chaka first rocked the mic back in

the early 1970s as lead singer of the edgy funk band Rufus, men wanted her, women wanted to be her and both were hypnotized by her glass-shattering voice. Onstage in the ’70s and ’80s, she loved to flaunt her assets in belly baring-tops, low-slung jeans and that free-spirited, untamable hair. So when I came right out to ask Chaka, now 60, what comes to mind when legions of fans call her sexy, I expected the Chicago-born songstress to launch into a retrospective on her best looks. Instead, she is dead silent. “I mean, I don’t know because I’m not …” Chaka trails off still searching for the right response. “I don’t try to do anything.” Perhaps that’s the secret to her seductive staying power: being ultrasexy without even trying.

“There was a time when I used my hair to hide my face because I had a shy streak,” she admits, but now she says her fiery tresses are both a statement of her Blackness and a testament to her inner wild child. “I hate wearing bone-straight hair. It just makes me feel totally out of character,” she says. After a couple of bright-orange dye mishaps, Chaka has found her signature hair color—which she calls wine—and she’s sticking with it. The same goes for her bold makeup. “I love dramatic eyes,” she says, insisting that the Egyptian-inspired look makes her eyes look bigger. “That’s my thing. Dramatic and as dark as we can get.”

Celebrating 40 years in the music and entertainment business, Chaka shares,

CHAKA’S SECRETS

TO BEINGSEXY AT ANY AGE

F I T N E S Swhile juicing was the secret behind her dramatic slim-down, touring and performing help keep the Queen of Funk-Soul in svelte shape. “My best

workouts are onstage,” she says of her high-energy dancing during hour-long

shows. Offstage, Chaka maintains muscle strength thanks to good old-

fashioned cardio. “I enjoy walking and using my resistance bands for toning.”

B E A U T Y & H A I R CA R E

chaka has spent decades perfecting her mane color and the dramatic

makeup that complements it. “Color means so much to me. It really affects

my mood,” she says. To keep her tresses healthy, her glam squad balances out the loads of hair spray with nourishing

oils to achieve the right amount of big and bold. Chaka sets off her rich

locks with her signature red pout, courtesy of NARS.

chaka’s signature must-haves:NARS Damned Velvet Matte Lip Pencil ($25; narscosmetics.com)

Sebastian Professional Shaper Plus Hair Spray ($9.59; amazon.com)

Revlon Finisheen Hair Spray ($6.99; amazon.com)

Moroccan Oil Hair Treatment ($43; moroccanoil.com)

NARS Demon Lover Eyeshadow Duo ($34; narscosmetics.com)

S K I N CA R Ebesides the freckles that are sprinkled across her face, you’d be hard pressed to find a wrinkle. Her secret? Soap and water. Glycerin or foaming soaps help Chaka’s skin stay hydrated and have been shown to help fight the signs of

aging. What does Chaka use for head-to-toe moisture? “Egyptian Magic on my

whole body.” Egyptian Magic All Purpose

Skin Cream ($24.80 for 2 oz.; egyptianmagic.com)

M Y ST Y L E“i’ve always had my own look, my own thing. That just comes naturally for me,” says Chaka. When it comes to fashion, the legend insists that she never wears white—a rule she broke for our EBONY shoot. “I prefer jewel tones or bronzes.”

Chaka sees her sense of style as a way to honor her roots. From Creole to Native American and Black, she says, “I just have to pay homage to all that I am.”

C H A K A K H A N , 6 0

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Y I G A L A Z R O U Ë L

JAC K E T; SA N D R O

T- S H I RT; A M I C LU B W E A R

E A R R I N G S

J U N E 2 0 1 3 / V I S I T E B O N Y . C O M 105

A SHINY WHITE BMW CONVERT- ible zips into the driveway before a white linen-clad LisaRaye hops out to give me a hug and promptly says, “Girl, come with me so I can go get my green juice.” In the passenger’s seat with my feet resting on custom “LR” floormats, I strap

on the seat belt while the no-nonsense actress, with an endearing smile, speeds off. She then asks if I like her new hair. “It’s a wig, of course,” the star of VH1’s Single Ladies says with a laugh and a knowing glance. After one bad lace front experience taught her the value of preserving her natural beauty, she says, “Girl, I’ve got to protect my hair, and I do have hair.”

For the vixen, who as Diamond in The Players Club made men drool, LisaRaye has long cornered the market on sexy. She insists, however, that believing in her sensuality has only been a recent revelation. In her 20s, she blindly trusted when such A-listers as Ice Cube and Will Smith labeled her hot. But now, she’s reveling in it. “It doesn’t surprise me when people call me sexy now that I’m 46 because I’ve always associated the word sexy with an older woman,” she says, confessing that men half her age still try to holler. In fact, icons such as Raquel Welch and Diahann Carroll, who combined class, confidence and charisma, shaped her perception of sex appeal.

Strutting up to the juice shop, hips swaying as she watches her reflection in

the window, she explains, “I have a sense of empowerment now that I didn’t have then. I got this now.” Inside, the single mom takes off her aviator shades to reveal a makeup-free freckled face before ordering her usual: fresh-pressed kale, cucumber, celery, spinach, apple and lemon. Juicing has been a mainstay in LisaRaye’s life for the past year, getting her mentally and physically ready for the camera. Her current two-week juice-only fast is in anticipation of shooting season three of Single Ladies. “The other girls on the show are 30,” she says taking a large gulp of the 32-ounce drink. “So I have to bring it, and I do.”

To stay a perfect size six, LisaRaye works out with a trainer or on her own about three times a week. “I’m smart enough to know that when you get older, your metabolism starts slowing down and all kinds of stuff starts changing,” she says. From boxing to high-intensity aerobics and even hiking, there’s nothing LisaRaye won’t do to stay fit. “If I want to keep my looks and keep my body, this is what I have to do.”

But that doesn’t mean she’ll resort to going under the knife. While Hollywood pressures maturing actresses to Botox or bow out, LisaRaye—who is all natural— isn’t buying into it, even if her laugh lines

R E I S S JAC K E T A N D S L AC KS ; G I U S E P P E Z A N OT T I P L AT E D H E E L M E TA L L I C SA N DA LS ; A M I C LU B W E A R E A R R I N G S

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106 V I S I T E B O N Y . C O M / J U L Y 2 0 1 3

LISARAYE’S SECRETS

TO BEINGSEXY AT ANY AGE

F I T N E S S“working out for me is a stress

reliever. It makes me feel better,” says LisaRaye. The actress primarily works

with L.A. celebrity trainer Don “DB” Brooks doing a mix of cardio- and

strength-training to both burn fat and sculpt muscles using jumping moves

along with resistance bands. Workouts are set to a live DJ, which makes the

50-minute sessions go faster.

B E A U T Y & H A I R CA R E

d on’t let the pixie-cut wig fool you; LisaRaye isn’t covering up baldness,

she’s protecting her strands. “It’s easy to think that because we wear a lot of wigs or weaves that our edges are all [gone],”

says LisaRaye, who has her own line of hair care products. “I never said that

my hair wasn’t beautiful. I just want to keep my hair.”

her hair care includes:LisaRaye’s So Smooth Shampoo,

Conditioner and So Smooth Serum ($12.99 each; lisarayehair.com)

S K I N CA R Eto weather the harsh lights on

set and the HDTV makeup, LisaRaye swears by one thing: moisture. “I’m

serious about moisturizing. I moisturize all the time,” she says. After a long day, she’ll come home and give her face a

thorough cleaning before slathering her face and body with potent moisturizer.

lisaraye’s go-to products:Neutrogena Makeup Remover Cleansing Towelettes ($6.99;

neutrogena.com)La Mer Crème de la Mer Moisturizing

Cream ($275 for 2 oz.; cremedelamer.com)

Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Body Lotion ($10.29; target.com)

Alba Botanica Hawaiian Hand and Body Lotion Cocoa Butter

($8.49; amazon.com)

M Y ST Y L Eearly in her career, revealing

outfits were par for the course, but now LisaRaye has settled into her own not-

so-overt brand of sexy. “[If] you saw me out with a skirt way up here, a midriff

out, that was all a character,” she insists. These days, the actress is a “natural dresser” who prides herself on being polished. “You’ll never catch me with

jogging pants on and a hat to run to the store. I always look put together.”

Cont. on pg. 132

WHEN I WAS 3 YEARS OLD, I thought I was sexy,” Jurnee Smollett-Bell declares with a sweet neck roll while tucked up on the sofa of her Los Angeles home. But it was at the premiere of her first major film, Eve’s Bayou, where she could

finally show the world what she was workin’ with. “I had this long red velvet turtleneck dress, and I thought I was the business,” she recalls of that night, the first time she wore heels—black slingbacks, to be exact. “You couldn’t tell me nothin’!”

One of two daughters in a band of brothers, Jurnee was a tomboy with a “girly girl” streak, playing dress up in her mother’s makeup while sporting those memorable thick, sandy-colored braids. “My uncle Jeffrey used to call me Susan Lucci because I would walk around the house with so much attitude,” says Jurnee of perfecting a Naomi Campbellesque walk long before she had the hips to actually pull it off. “I wanted to be Janet Jackson on the Janet. album; I wanted to be Tina Turner,” she recalls. “My mom had to tell me, ‘Baby, not yet.’”

Fast-forward a decade and a half, and Jurnee, now 26, not only has the figure of a woman, but she’s got the confidence to match. Thanks to her mother’s guidance and insistence that she wear her hair natural, the star of Tyler Perry’s Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor fiercely embraces her God-given beauty. “I’m Black and Jewish, so I’ve got all kinds of frizz going on,” she says, pulling her tendrils behind a pair of colorful Melody Ehsani earrings. Frizzy or straight, big and curly or blown out, Jurnee loves to switch up her styles and is even eyeing a big chop. “It’s on my bucket list to go bald,” she admits, unleashing that signature grin showing all 32 pearly whites. Her one concern? “I’ll be a whole lot of lips.” After years of makeup artists trying to put foundation on her full lips to make them appear smaller and less red, Jurnee is relieved to have finally grown into her “ginormous” pout.

Thankfully, there are a few features she’s outgrown as a woman. After years of having acne, Jurnee, who in 2010 married her teenage sweetheart, musician and producer Josiah Bell, just recently achieved clear skin. While shooting the short-lived TV series The Defenders, she would arrive on set dreading the makeup trailer and the hours she would spend getting camera-ready. “Every morning, I’d say, ‘I have more friends today; I’d call them my friends: Peter, Paul, John …,” she recalls of naming her pimples after the Apostles. One of the glam squad members turned her on to the Proactiv acne-treatment system,

M A R I A LU C I A H O H A N JAS M I N E

D R ES S

FO R A L L FAS H I O N I N FO R M AT I O N , S E E W H E R E TO

B U Y O N PAG E 1 3 3 .

J U L Y 2 0 1 3 / V I S I T E B O N Y . C O M 109

J U R N E E S M O L L E T T - B E L L , 2 6

JURNEE’S SECRETS

TO BEINGSEXY AT ANY AGE

F I T N E S Snaturally slender with a speedy

metabolism anyone would envy, Jurnee doesn’t have to do much to stay in

shape. But that doesn’t mean she’s just chillin’. In between regular yoga sessions in Los Angeles, Jurnee heads outdoors for hiking near her home with family and friends, which helps her stay in control of her sweet tooth. “My downfall is that

I’m a chocoholic,” she laughs.

B E A U T Y & H A I R CA R E

the self-described product junkie has an arsenal of potions and creams for when her hair is curly or for when

she feels like wearing it straight. “It’s all about, How different can I make myself look?” says Jurnee, who either diffuses her hair or blows it out and pin-curls it for a softer look. “You [don’t want to]

put too much heat on it,” she says, “… and I have to make sure that it is

conditioned very well.”

what’s in her curl kit

Bed Head by Tigi “Foxy Curls” Line (from $10.99; amazon.com)

Carol’s Daughter Hair Milk Original Leave-In Moisturizer ($20;

carolsdaughter.com)Pantene Daily Moisture Renewal Shampoo ($3.47; walmart.com)

Biolage Fortifying Leave-In Conditioner ($17.99; target.com)

S K I N CA R Ewhile proactiv is Jurnee’s must-have

for battling breakouts, she’s always trying new makeup and testing it

throughout the day. “I carry the world in my purse.” She can’t live with out her

blotting papers, preferring to blot excess oil rather than cover with foundation.

jurnee’s healthy-glo essentials:Burt’s Bees Honey Lip Balm ($3;

burtsbees.com)Proactiv Oil Blotter Sheets ($8.95-

$11; proactiv.com)

M Y ST Y L Eon red carpets and at premieres, Jurnee is known for feminine, soph-

isticated looks, but when she is away from the flashbulbs, the actress is more down-

home. “My personal style is a lot more casual and bohemian,” she explains. “I

pay a lot of attention to color and fabric.” In fact, skinny jeans and a tank top make

her feel just as sexy as a flowing gown. “I dress according to how I feel.”

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Cont. on pg. 132

“I’ve always had my own look, but I just follow my heart. I’m not a fashionista at all.” Instead of designer labels, she designed nearly all her costumes for both comfort and to accentuate her curvy-yet-compact frame. “I like to wear things to make my legs look better and look longer,” says the 10-time Grammy award winner who famously donned a bedazzled catsuit during a 2012 American Idol performance. Honestly, who can blame her? Aft er recently shedding 75 pounds and getting sober eight years ago, Chaka is looking and feeling better than ever.

“I have so much energy,” says Chaka, crediting a diet of protein shakes and vegetable juices for her age-defying looks and her life. “That’s the reason I’m alive right now aft er all the substance abuse.” Being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure in 2006 gave her a harsh wake-up call. “I have a granddaughter who is now 12 years old, and I have to be here for her,” says the singer who is aff ectionately called Nana at home. From bowling to cooking and even bringing young Daija (the daughter of her son, Damien) to recording sessions, “I’m pretty cool as a nana.”

Nevertheless, full-time grandma duties aren’t keeping the living legend on the sidelines. This month, Chaka releases her 23rd studio album, The iKhan Project: Alive! The Commemorative Edition, and is planning to host events in New York City, Los Angeles and Miami. “Longevity comes from consistency and trust in myself and in my craft ,” says the newest inductee into the Apollo Legends Hall of Fame.

The Queen of Funk-Soul admires her hard-earned legacy, which includes protégées such as Beyoncé and Mary J. “We call this the Chaka Khan School of Music. I’m proud of these girls,” she says of the talent who now name her as an inspiration. Looking back at the journey, however, isn’t

which quickly transformed her skin. Soon aft er getting word that she was a faithful fan of the brand, the skin care company asked her to be its new spokeswoman. Now, to maintain her glow, Jurnee swears by Proactiv’s Refi ning Mask and treats herself to regular hot baths to steam her face. “Sometimes I get lazy and think I don’t need to do that anymore, then the next day I’ve got Paul again.”

The talented actress doesn’t revel in the public praise of her beauty. “I’m so much more than just my appearance,” says the HIV/AIDS activist and Children’s Defense Fund board member. “I have a newfound boldness that says I don’t need to depend on that.”

Jurnee’s brand of courage comes in handy when managing the personalities and opinions of Hollywood. Currently starring in the new season of HBO’s True Blood, she is constantly faced with making career-defi ning decisions in an industry that still sees her as that knobby-kneed child or worse, a desperate ingénue. “It’s so important for me to hear my own voice,” says Jurnee, who regularly meditates and keeps a journal. “I’m constantly working on building myself up to continue to be who I am and not apologize for that.”

are deepening. “I used to be tighter and more toned in my face,” she says looking at the wall of memorabilia in her L.A. living room. “My smile lines show, but I’ve been smiling a lot more in the last two years because I’m just happier.” Aft er fi nalizing her divorce from Turks and Caicos Prime Minister Michael Misick in 2009, the former fi rst lady, who admits to being nervous about the prospect of falling in love again, enjoys answering only to herself these days.

Plus, LisaRaye sees her laugh lines as potential moneymakers. “I’m in my 40s, and I’m just looking for 40-year-old roles now,” she says of wanting to play a nurse, librarian or a mother. “I’m ready for the diff erent roles that age brings.”

One thing that age hasn’t seemed to change is her penchant for the color white.

Timeless TreasureCont. from page 105

Forever FabulousCont. from page 107

Grown & GlamCont. from page 109

something Chaka wastes much time doing. Aft er all, the self-described phoenix is too busy eyeing the next decade of high-intensity, soul-stirring music. “I don’t have any regrets,” Chaka says matter–of-factly. And with a sassy combination of her 1983 Rufus hit and the latest pop culture saying by Sweet Brown, Chaka declares, “Ain’t nobody … got time for that.”

Perhaps her most distinguishing feature, LisaRaye wears head-to-toe white even when she’s whipping up dinner! “I still buy clothes in other colors,” she says shaking her head and recounting gowns that still bear tags. “The time will come when I will wear them.”

Yet of all of the clothes in her meti-culously organized closet, there’s only one thing that makes LisaRaye feel truly beautiful: her birthday suit. “I’m naked all the time, and I look in the mirror all the time,” she says of fl aunting her goods as an instant confi dence boost. “I love me!”

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