Reality TV is a lot of things. Salacious? Yes. Voyeuristic? To the highest degree. But kind? Not categorically, no. Not by a long stretch.
No one knows this quite as well as Summer House’s Ciara Miller. Miller, 29, worked the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic as a nurse in Georgia before joining season 5 of the BRAVO reality TV program. The popular reality TV show follows the personal, social and romantic lives of a group of friends who summer in the Hamptons.
Miller quickly became a cast favorite thanks to her no-nonsense demeanor, quick wit and tantalizing aura. From her trysts with potential paramours to her ride-or-die friendship with some of her fellow castmates, Miller came in like a wrecking ball, switching up the status quo of the show with her personality and intellect. It also helps that Miller is “drop dead gorgeous” — a direct quote from Summer House‘s resident playboy, Jesse Solomon. The same personality that made her stand out on the show also opened her up to critiques from the Summer House fan base.
“People often over-sexualize me or say that I’m trying to be someone that I’m not, and I feel like I don’t get the benefit of the doubt. So I often overthink my look, what I’m wearing, and the things that I’m doing on TV,” Miller tells ESSENCE. But this year, Miller says she let the pressure go, and she wanted her Season 9 look to reflect this new carefree era.
And part of embracing this new chapter means enjoying her beauty routines. Most recently, she was focused on prepping for the hit show’s reunion. “I get a spray tan at Sugar and Bronze in the shade level four and it really helps even out my skin tone,” Miller says, adding that self-tanner “isn’t just for white girls anymore.”
Now, to really understand the meticulous decisions behind Miller’s day-of-beauty routine, we first need to understand the conditions in which Bravo reunions are shot. Miller says the cast starts shooting at 10:00 AM, and they don’t wrap until 7:00 PM. But Miller’s reunion day starts much earlier than that. “My alarm goes off at 4:30 AM, so I can be out of the house by 5:00 AM, to get to the studio around 5:30 AM, where we start hair and makeup,” Miller says.
Shooting for 14 hours means Miller and her makeup artist, Kasey Spickard, have to be very diligent about her base routine. To do so, Spickard preps Miller’s skin with Shiseido’s Vital Perfection Lifting & Firming Eye Masks and Bobbi Brown’s Vitamin Enriched Face Base. But the real secret to her making her look last all day is layering her setting spray. “I always say to layer your setting spray between your foundation, the bronzer and the highlight, and we are a big One Size family in this house,” says Miller.
For the beat, Spickard uses Shiseido’s Radiant Lifting Foundation in shade 440 Amber. To conceal, she uses Jouer’s Liquid Concealer in Dark Ochre, and for bronzer, they use Fenty Beauty’s Mocha Mami Bronzer.
Miller says for the season 9 reunion, she was going for a radiant, fairy-like look. “I wanted very natural, light, ethereal goddess vibes,” says Miller, who adds she’s not usually a fan of color on her cheeks. But this time, she wanted to try something new. “I’m not a blush girl, but I’m trying to be, so we did a peachy cheek,” she says. Spickard used Tom Ford’s Cherry Blaze blush and Givenchy’s Prisme Libre in Popeline Mimosa to up Miller’s glow factor. They also opted for a soft but noticeable eye look using Danessa Myricks’ Colorfix 08 as a base and Hourglass’s Ambient Light Palette Volume III, topped off with MAC’s Eye Kohl eyeliner in Costa Riche.
For the lashes, Spickard used Maybelline’s Colossal Bubble Mascara and Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Definer & Brow Freeze Gel in Dark Brown. As for the lips? Ami Colé’s Petit Cola Soft Shape Lip Liner and Tower 28’s Shine On Lip Jelly in Spicy did the trick.
When it comes to hair, “being in majority white spaces, I felt like I had to present myself in a particular way because I’m not seen the same way as my [white] counterparts,” says Miller. But this year, Miller decided enough was enough. For the first time in her Bravo career, Miller decided to rock braids to the season 9 reunion. “The braids are a statement of I don’t give a f*** anymore. I’m not trying to fit in. I’m not trying to live up to people. If you don’t like it, great,” says Miller.
Her stylist, Sade Milinda, styled the braids in a simple half-up-half-down style, and Miller says the look represented so much more than just hair. “We’re conditioned to think that braids are not formal, and I think that’s so important to unpack.”
