Humanrace 'Clean' Beauty Skincare Is Pure Pharrell Williams Philosophy

Image Collage © AnneofCarversville.com. UL: © Pharell; UR: London protest Photo by Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona on Unsplash.

Pharrell Williams has launched an epic skincare brand at humanrace.com. Not only does the brand name Humanrace dovetail perfectly with the singer/rapper/designer/entrepreneur’s philosophical mindset. But because the two words are typically split in typography, searching for the single word brings up Pharrell Williams’ new venture in Google’s top position. Nice — and I doubt he paid much for it.

Yes, it helps that Humanrace’s November 25 launch covers the current issue of Allure magazine, lensed by Ben Hassett. All the relevant details of Humanrace’s DNA are covered in Brennan Kilbane’s interview Pharrell Dives Into the Beauty Business.

The chief sensations officer of Humancare is perfectly at home Zooming from his Miami kitchen about the super simple, skin-loving essentials developed with his longtime dermatologist, Elena Jones.

According to Jones, “This routine is formulated from Pharrell’s skin-care experience… We adhered to the European standard of 1,300 banned ingredients as an important starting point and then we went further to develop our own restrictions. We worked to create products that had no rocks, nuts, seeds or plastic particles in our formulas to ensure no microtears occur which can result in damaging your skin.”

Humanrace is sustainability-centered. Each component of packaging is refillable and reusable, constructed from more than 50 percent post-consumer recycled landfill plastic.

Humanrace Skincare launches with a trio of products: Rice Powder Cleanser, Lotus Enzyme Exfoliator and Humidifying Cream.. “I grew up in humidity,” the Virginia Beach native tells Kilbane.says. “The way I think about things... I’m an Aries, but I’m also a Cancer rising. Water makes me feel free. Water is very inspiring to me.”

Returning to the subject of Humanrace skincare as a genderless, vegan, fragrance-free and “clean” brand, Pharrell once again gets philosophical about the complex simplicity of human life.

“Sometimes you need to cleanse your spirit. Sometimes you need to cleanse your mind. Sometimes you’ve just got to get rid of some dead skin.”

Something in the Water Festival: April 23-25 . . . Virginia Beach, VA

SOMETHING IN THE WATER FESTIVAL 2021

April 23-25 . . . Virginia Beach, VA

Virginia Beach Atlantic Ocean image by Ravs Yan on Unsplash

Eyeing the New South

It was an impactful, online New York Times ad recruiting artists to Virginia that first attracted me to Virginia Beach. That July 2017 midnight sighting was followed by the August 12, 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. That memorable weekend left me wondering if a move to Virginia was realistically in my destiny.

My cousin Jo and I spent several November 2017 days in Virginia three months later, and I remained positive about the move — highly impacted by the ‘truths’ about Jefferson that were openly-discussed in our tour at Monticello.

Looking out over a desolate, wintery Civil War battlefield was sobering post-Charlottesville, and I felt more strongly than ever that creating a New South was part of my older and wiser DNA.

I can say with total honesty, though, that news of Pharrell Williams’ 2019 ‘Something in the Water’ festival sealed the deal, removing any further hesitation about moving to Virginia. All systems became GO!

These thoughts are beautifully summarized in Pharrell’s video above on Empathy and how the Virginia Beach ‘Something in the Water’ 2019 festival was born. We all hope that the 2020 COVID-cancelled show will go live again in 2021.

The beauty entrepreneur’s Allure interview with Brennan Kilbane delves into activism in a post George Floyd world.

In previous interviews, Williams has been careful to point out that he is not primarily an activist. But this past summer, shaded by the Movement for Black Lives, his thinking has evolved. He’s been particularly inspired by Michael Harriot and Henry Louis Gates Jr. — their writing has shown him that effecting powerful, meaningful change can be done in myriad ways. “Gates said, there are many different ways to protest, to be on the front lines,” Williams says, referencing protests that have occurred all over the United States since May. “Some people are great orators. Some people are great strategists. Some people can stand and hold a placard, protest sign, for way longer than other people. There are people making sandwiches and bringing nourishment to people who are out there. My activism has [taken a lot of shapes]. Because my culture, our lives matter.

Image Collage © AnneofCarversville.com. Pharrell Williams, the guru of empathy including his adidas sneakers launches Humanrace skincare products.