She may have just starred in Eddie Murphy’s highly anticipated sequel Coming 2 America, but Teyana Taylor has been entertaining the masses since childhood. The 30-year-old singer, actress, director, choreographer—and more importantly wife and mother—was singing at seven and choregraphing Beyonce videos at 15. Although largely known for her music as well as her unforgettable physique (four words: that Kanye West video), Taylor says her new focus is acting and directing. The star, who has recently partnered with Olay Body, takes a minute to catch up with NewBeauty and share how she keep her body looking and feeling its best while balancing new mom responsibilities and a multi-faceted career.
NewBeauty: You just gave birth to your second child, Rue Rose, five months ago and you look amazing. Do you have a bounce-back plan or philosophy toward getting back in shape after baby?
Teyana Taylor: Honestly, I don’t have a bounce-back plan. I kind of just was enjoying my baby but you know, in all fairness, both my babies came a month early. They were both premature, right, so, like right after having them I think it was definitely important to kind of just like, spend time embracing and enjoying them. But my body just naturally went down to what I originally was. But maybe a month or two later after my first, Junie, I went out on tour. And then with Rue we were just chillin’. I try not to do too much or worry too much about what I should look like.
NB: Erykah Badu was your doula and midwife this time around. What did you learn from her and her experience that made this one different from your first?
TT: Erykah Badoula! I mean, honestly, she’s so amazing. When you’re pregnant you’re hormonal and there are a lot of different moods, a lot of different things that are going on in the mind of a pregnant woman. We meditated a lot and she really helped me keep that peace within me. She also gave me a lot of knowledge on how to balance being pregnant while being in the entertainment industry. It was just great to be relaxed and around that kind of energy. I really learned a lot, even about babies, all the little stuff that you probably wouldn’t know or even think of. She had me so prepared that even though Rue came unexpectedly, it wasn’t as much of a shocker as it was when Junie was born. Even though I didn’t know she was coming that day, I was ready. There was a confidence and a secureness, like okay this is about to happen, rather than “oh my god it’s happening.” It was peace and calmness.
NB: You always look beautiful and youthful. What are your beauty secrets?
TT: My beauty secret is concocting different potions, and my friends always laugh at me but once I’m done, they’re begging me to make them one too. It’s basically a mix of coconut oil, olive oil, shea butter and I mix in a few essential oils. Oh my god! It’s literally amazing. That’s for my face, body, everywhere. It’s a multipurpose potion. I love to create stuff like that. For my body, I’ll use that same concoction, but I’ll use it with my Olay Body products. I use the Olay Cleansing & Renewing Nighttime Body Wash ($11) and follow it with the Olay Nighttime Rinse-Off Body Conditioner with Retinol ($8), which is an absolutely genius product. You know how sometimes where you get out that shower your skin is all dried up before moisturizing, it’s the most horrible feeling. With the Conditioner, you leave it on for like a minute or two, rinse it off, pat dry and everything is so soft. You don’t even have to put lotion on if you don’t want to. It’s one of those things whether you want to moisturize at night or not, it leaves you feeling really smooth and soft. If I want extra moisturizing, then that’s when I throw my concoction over it to top it off.
NB: Dionne Warwick recently confirmed that you’ll be staring in an upcoming TV series about her life. Will you be directing, too?
TT: Oh, my god. Honestly, this whole project is really, really special to me. She’s amazing and she’s so sweet. This was actually born out of a Twitter back-and-forth. She’s so big on Twitter and it started as a joke when posted saying I should play her in a movie about her life and Netflix responded, but now it’s actually become a real project. We’ve been on Zoom with her son like every other day, so to be able to talk to her and learn from her has been amazing. When do you get to do that for any role? I get to ask her anything and every question about her past, her career and her life. And that’s so special because it’s very rare that actors actually sit and spend time with the artists that they’re portraying. These are her own words, you know, and I’m just bringing it to life on the big screen. As far as directing, I’m still working all of that out. We are in the beginning stages and are just plotting it all out right now, but I’m so excited for this project. I can see myself co-directing so that I can really focus on being in front of the camera, but it’s all in development right now and I’m really looking forward to seeing this manifest. It really is incredible.
NB: There are so many moms that are juggling it all right now, how do you balance it all?
TT: That’s very important with anything that you do, whether it’s your kids, your loved ones, your relationships, your business, whatever it is—you need balance. I’m a firm believer in stability. So for me, I know that balance plays a big part in having proper stability. So I’m doing my thing and I’m balancing it all out.
